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Kosher atheists? Obama adviser breaks with his faith but still abides by its rules
Fascinating commentary (at least for me).
I wonder where Mormonism sits on the continuum. We are heavily infused with both practice and avowals of faith, but it’s our practices that define us as a people, a culture, and a tradition. I wonder if this isn’t at the center of the JD crowd’s struggles: rejecting the faith-based claims but still wanting the tradition, still wanting to be “Mormon.” I think I said elsewhere that the tent is big enough for all, but if you want to be welcome there, you’ve got to obey the rules of the tent. A fellow Mormon’s doubts or disbelief are much more easily understood (or even tolerated or embraced) by the whole (especially a spouse, I would think) when that same Mormon faithfully practices his/her Mormonism. Perhaps this explains JD’s continued affiliation.
Fascinating commentary (at least for me).
Usually when a person ditches religion, he or she also happily ditches the antiquated rules and regulations that go along with a strict observance of faith. Good-bye, stupid rules about who can have sex with whom, and under what circumstances! Good riddance to prohibitions against women doing (or saying) things without the approval of men!
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So when someone does the opposite — ditches God but keeps the rules — it’s notable. Why would someone choose to live within the confines of religious laws but reject the God who commanded people to live by them?
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Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, author of “Kosher Sex,” appears to agree with Emanuel. “Judaism,” he told me in a phone call, “is not a religion primarily of faith. It is a religion primarily of practice. . . . . . Jewish tradition is more than what we believe at any given time.” Christianity, on the other hand, is a religion of dogmas and creeds. Avowals of belief are a requirement of faith. Without them, one is faithless.
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Judaism is a religion, yes, but it’s also a culture, a tradition and an ethnicity. These multiple strands of belonging allow a person to reject the faith while continuing the habit, thousands of years old, of abstaining from pork and shellfish and consuming meat and milk separately — and thus claim a Jewish identity.
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But it is Rebecca Goldstein, the philosopher, atheist and author of the novel “36 Arguments for the Existence of God” who offers the most resonant possible rationale for an atheist to continue kosher practices. Kashrut is a discipline – like running, or writing or yoga – that can put a person in touch with the transcendent aspects of life, even in the absence of God.
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So when someone does the opposite — ditches God but keeps the rules — it’s notable. Why would someone choose to live within the confines of religious laws but reject the God who commanded people to live by them?
-------------------
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, author of “Kosher Sex,” appears to agree with Emanuel. “Judaism,” he told me in a phone call, “is not a religion primarily of faith. It is a religion primarily of practice. . . . . . Jewish tradition is more than what we believe at any given time.” Christianity, on the other hand, is a religion of dogmas and creeds. Avowals of belief are a requirement of faith. Without them, one is faithless.
-------------------
Judaism is a religion, yes, but it’s also a culture, a tradition and an ethnicity. These multiple strands of belonging allow a person to reject the faith while continuing the habit, thousands of years old, of abstaining from pork and shellfish and consuming meat and milk separately — and thus claim a Jewish identity.
-------------------
But it is Rebecca Goldstein, the philosopher, atheist and author of the novel “36 Arguments for the Existence of God” who offers the most resonant possible rationale for an atheist to continue kosher practices. Kashrut is a discipline – like running, or writing or yoga – that can put a person in touch with the transcendent aspects of life, even in the absence of God.
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