Interesting observations re: Jews

[Uncle Ted]

Perhaps in common cirlcles it has died a death. It was very common in the mission field, at least in mine. If a guy had a tie on that was loud, someone would say, "that tie is quite gentile Elder". As a matter of fact Elders who did not obey the rules to the full extent of the law were referred to as "gentile Elders". I myself had that label, though I did make ZL!

It was quite common to refer to members not of our faith as gentile.

As we all know though, my mission days were before most of you were born.

It most likely died off like the use of "lamanites" when referring to those of american indian descent. I recall being called a 'lamanite' by a few of my fellow ward members growing up. I referred to them as 'gentiles" in return.

[BlueHair]

In this situation Ghadaffi reminds me of my father. He's convinced that every bad call that goes against BYU is a result of the referees' anti Mormon bias.

I wonder if we sit by to your dad at LES. There's a guy in the row in front of us that about has a heart attack everytime a call doesn't go BYU's way.

[old_gregg]

Please feel free to change the title of the thread. It wasn't intended to be offensive. The "Jewish Conspiracy" would be, as Ox suggested, more fitting of the sentiments I wished to express. To be clear, I don't believe there is a conspiracy.

sorry if i implied that the thread was offensive; i didn't think so at all. great posts, viking and ox. definitely agree.

[LA Ute]

I am not sure I have ever heard Mormons use that expression. Certainly isn't common.

It was very common on the BYU campus in the late 70s as a term to describe practices inconsistent with LDS beliefs. When I was a student there just after my mission I remember asking a BYU grad who was attending the U of U law school what the environment was like there. He said, "It's very Gentile." I knew exactly what he meant.

Ox's description of modern American Judaism is spot-on. I also think it is a mistake to generalize about today's Jews. I have close friends and colleagues of many years' standing, some Reformed, some Conservative, some Orthodox. The disagreements among them are profound and often remind me of some of Mormonism's internal tensions.

[Lost Student]

It was very common on the BYU campus in the late 70s as a term to describe practices inconsistent with LDS beliefs. When I was a student there just after my mission I remember asking a BYU grad who was attending the U of U law school what the environment was like there. He said, "It's very Gentile." I knew exactly what he meant.

Ox's description of modern American Judaism is spot-on. I also think it is a mistake to generalize about today's Jews. I have close friends and colleagues of many years' standing, some Reformed, some Conservative, some Orthodox. The disagreements among them are profound and often remind me of some of Mormonism's internal tensions.

I think you must have misunderstood. He probably actually said "it's very genteel" due to how refined and polite everybody is.

[Borderline Divine]

I have a Jewish friend from New Jersey who was quite amused to learn that Mormons refer to non-Mormons as gentiles.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

For the same reason that Jews excel in business and government ventures, they can also kick some serious ass on the battlefield. Israeli technology and ingenuity faaaaaar exceeds the that of the nomadic, medieval, brutal tribal culture that dominates the rest of the region.

[old_gregg]

For the same reason that Jews excel in business and government ventures, they can also kick some serious ass on the battlefield. Israeli technology and ingenuity faaaaaar exceeds the that of the nomadic, medieval, brutal tribal culture that dominates the rest of the region.

i agree. much of their tech is integrated with american ingenuity, e.g. their avionics upgrades on their built in the usa f-16 fleet. they do have a lot of ground up designs that tzahal use and israel is largely responsible for, and there is some very impressive stuff going on vis a vis uav tech.

conscription has also been very very good for the effectiveness and cohesion of the idf. israel is likely the only nation on earth where mandatory military service is a good thing.

[NorthwestUteFan]

conscription has also been very very good for the effectiveness and cohesion of the idf. israel is likely the only nation on earth where mandatory military service is a good thing.

It seems to work well enough for Switzerland too. Granted the Swiss are not surrounded on all sides by a group who wants their land for religious reasons.


Uziel Gal's brilliant SMG design, the Uzi, and later his Mini, Micro, and Carbine variants, are true works of Israeli industrial and mechanical art. He later designed the Ruger MP9.

[YOhio]

Interesting article from the Harvard school paper about an LDS-Jewish interfaith dialogue event.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/4/14/church-interfaith-mormon-jews/

[pellegrino]

I wonder if we sit by to your dad at LES. There's a guy in the row in front of us that about has a heart attack everytime a call doesn't go BYU's way.

no, he doesn't go to the games any more. He hates traffic and so long as he can watch it on TV he's fine. It doesn't surprise me that there are more who feel like he does though. I've had to work hard to overcome the conditioning, my siblings haven't been as successful.

[Paperback Writer]

It most likely died off like the use of "lamanites" when referring to those of american indian descent. I recall being called a 'lamanite' by a few of my fellow ward members growing up. I referred to them as 'gentiles" in return.

I think the use of "gentile" has died off for the most part. But it was used quite often by my extended family growing up. Since my family was the only family located outside of the "Mormon West" on either side of two large families, we were often referred to as "the gentiles" by our Utah cousins and uncles, etc. even though we were probably more LDS observant than many of our relatives.

The “gentile” term was also used heavily in the mission field in the 1980s and I remember hearing it at the MTC on more than one occasion by instructors.

I was given the moniker “Mormon Jew” by my peers (LDS, Jew, Catholic, Lutheran, etc.) because I reminded them of the Jewish kids in our high school who were very achievement oriented and because I had similar mannerisms and personality to Michael J. Fox’s character Alex P. Keaton of Family Ties fame. It got simplified to “MJ” for “Mormon Jew” and “Michael J.”.

[Viking]

I am not sure I have ever heard Mormons use that expression. Certainly isn't common.

Used to hear it a lot in random EQ lessons and in BYU religion classes all the time. Oh yeah, grape says this a lot, too. So I'd generalize his ilk as being the perpetrators.

Bluehair I didn't think you were trying to be offensive just that the title could be construed as such.

[RC Vikings]

They suck at sports. Their are more Jews in the owners boxes than their are on the field.

[wuapinmon]

I have observed Jewish women many times in my life, amazingly interesting observations.