How are there Jews who don't follow Judaism and Muslims who don't follow Islam?

C

chris

Active member
Joined
May 12, 2008
Messages
2,958
Reaction score
0
Points
36
but not Christians who don't follow Christianity?

Sarcastic remarks are not intelligent or wanted. Are Jews and Muslims a race of people? How are they and why are Christians not if that is the case?

I've head of atheist Jews and Muslims but never an atheist Christian, Why?
 
The truth of the matter is that very few Christians accept or are even aware of Jesus' teachings because of their failure to read the Bible.Want proof?Go to any church in your area and as members of the congregation leave after listening to another warm and fuzzy sermon ask as many as you can speak to if they are supporters of capitalism.
Acts 4:32-35



Believers Share Their Possessions

32 All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. 33 The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. 34 There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them 35 and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.



In reference to atheist Christians :mad: yes they do exist,the majority being in the Jesuit order of the Catholic church employed as university professors.Although they do not accept the church's teachings,they love the job security they have.:stop glass:
And yes Jews are classified as a separate race by sociologists.
 
Jewish answer: because there are responsibilities and privileges in Judaism so Jewish law was instituted to determine who is a Jew.

A lapsed/atheist Jew is someone that can return to the religion at any point. A Jew who converts to another religion would have to renounce the foreign beliefs and convert back to Judaism.

Being Jewish IS NOT A RACE
 
Judaism operates entirely differently from Christianity and Islam, which are far closer to each other.

Judaism = a religion of DEEDS
Christianity and Islam = FAITHS/religions of BELIEFS

If you are a Jew who does not "follow Judaism" (i.e. does not perform the commandments), you are a non-practicing/unobservant Jew, but you are still a Jew. There is no doctrinal/belief-based test for being a Jew. It has *nothing* to do with race. It has to do with the way Jewishness is defined: you are either born a Jew or you convert. That's it.

To be a Christian or Muslim, you must make a declaration of faith. If you stop believing the required beliefs, then you stop being a Christian or a Muslim.

So you can be an atheist Jew, but you can not be an atheist Christian or an atheist Muslim, since both of these religions have required beliefs.
 
The word "Jews" can refer to a distinct ethnic grouping or to the followers of the religion of Judaism, pumpkin. A person can be the descendant of ethnic Jews yet not believe in any gods - an atheist Jew.

A Muslim is, by definition, a follower of the religion of Islam, in much the same way that a Christian is a follower of the religion of Christianity. You have to make a conscious declaration that you belong to those religions - I've never heard of anyone described as an "atheist Muslim," and there is no ethnic group called "Muslim" or "Christian." It's possible that a person could be an atheist, but due to the sometimes extreme disapproval with which atheism is viewed in Islam, might continue to practice Islam to cover up their atheism. I'm sure that happens. Is that what you're talking about? Because there are atheists who do that with Christianity, too.

I have also seen people refer to themselves as "cultural Muslims" or "cultural Christians," or people who don't necessarily believe in the religion but continue to participate in the culture - holidays and rituals and so on. Maybe that's what the "atheist Muslim" you mention really was...and if so, there are "cultural Christians," too.


And there's I?ISLAM, telling Christians they're following their religion wrong again because they're not following it like Muslims (aka members of the 7th Century Re-enactment Society) would do, which is like telling baseball players that they're wrong because they're not playing by the rules of golf.

How tedious.
 
jews are a race so they may or may not follow judaism, but christianity and islam are religions across many races so there is no such thing as an atheist muslim, there are atheist arabs but not all arabs are muslim nor are all muslims arab
 
Polskajason is 100% correct. The confusion that arises because people don't realise that Judaism is a religion of COVENANT, not of belief (like Christianity and Islam) seems to permeate all understanding.

We are NOT a race. In the purely cultural sense, you can call us an ethnicity (but only in the same way that hippies were seen as an ethnicity). Belief is simply not the point, but cultural identity and a commitment to what we do, EVEN IF WE DON'T DO IT, is what makes us Jews.

I've never heard of atheist Muslims. I have heard people describe themselves as cultural Muslims, but what they mean is that they're not mosque attenders - however, their belief is still basically Muslim.
 
The only answer I have may sound sarcastic, but I am sincere. I am a northwesterner who doesn't camp or have a boat. My husband is a Quebecois who prefers to speak English. One is part of a culture by accident of birth. But we are individuals who fortunately think for ourselves.
 
Christianity is not a race, so that is why there are no atheist Christians.

Now, there can be atheist Jews because even though you are born Jewish by race, you don't have to be Jewish by faith.

You can be a christian, and be a Jew, you can even be Muslim, and still be a Jew by race.

I have never heard of atheist Muslims though, Islam is not a race of people, so it cannot describe someones race like the word "Jew" can.

I hope this helped you.
 
Back
Top