Defiant wrote: ↑Wed Dec 11, 2019 4:30 pm
Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Wed Dec 11, 2019 4:24 pm
Because W isn't a country of origin, it's a religion. That's like saying that every Episcopalian is now to be considered English.
Well, that's the first time the word "country" has popped up - the phrase used was "national origin". Two of the examples I posted included stateless nations.
As for your example, my understanding is that you have to be religiously Episcopalian in order to be Episcopalian. Judaism doesn't require that you be a religious Jew in order to be Jewish . As I said before, Judaism has, historically, been seen as a culture, an ethnicity and as a nation in addition to being a religion.
(I'm also not sure how having another country involved changes anything. "Well, I was going to hate on them damned hyphenated Americans, but now that I know that there's another country involved, I guess that's going to curb my hatred"?)
Defiant, you are losing me when you say that “Judaism has historically been seen as a culture, ethnicity and as a nation in addition to being a religion.” I’m solidly with you on 3 out of 4 there. But not “nation.”
Today, being Jewish can certainly refer to your culture, ethnicity and or religion (you can be Jewish in any one of those aspects or all of them), but I don’t get nationality. Sure, today, Israel is a Jewish state and a designated sanctuary for the Jewish people, but since the diaspora, it’s been entirely separable from being Jewish.
I can be ethnically Jewish because I have Jewish ancestors.
I can be religiously Jewish because I choose to practice the religion (including if I convert).
I can be culturally Jewish if I take part in Jewish cultural celebrations and practices.
But I’m not Jewish just because I live in Israel, and if I live outside of Israel, I’m obviously not an Israeli just because I’m Jewish.
That’s why the reporting on this thing was lazy and stupid from the get go. It just doesn’t make any sense. What it means to be Jewish is a complicated question with many different interpretations, but one thing it unequivocally does NOT mean is that you share some nationality with all others who are also Jewish.