Usually, my last name is a giveaway that I come from a Jewish family, and typically the assumption there is that I am Jewish also. This is not a necessarily incorrect assumption, but the additional fact that I am an atheist is usually not known. Generally, the term atheist precludes identification with any sort of organized religion, as most religions involve the worship of at least one god. Judaism however is special in the regard that atheists can still find themselves a part of the Jewish community, and here's why.
Despite being a religion, Judaism has a strong cultural aspect to it that for many puts into the realm of ethnicity and culture in addition to its religious components. It’s this culture that gives atheists like me a chance to still be connected to our people; and allows for the surprisingly great number of atheistic Jews.
Even with a place already carved out for me in Jewish society as an atheist, I wonder what exactly makes me Jewish. I’ve never been particularly religious, only attending temple during the high holidays, and while I have knowledge of the religion’s tenants and the history of the Jewish people, I have no spiritual connection to either. Yet, I find myself celebrating the holidays, keeping kosher to some extent, not eating leavened bread on Passover, and identifying myself with Judaism.
Part of why that is certainly comes from how I was raised. Despite the fact that my family didn’t go to temple often, there was never any doubt that we were Jewish. Yes, we kept kosher, celebrated the holidays, and my sister and I were sent to Hebrew school, but it was more than that. There was this understanding that this was the lineage we came from, and that this was a community for us. This was a community of more than just religious people. This was a way of life, containing every aspect that made up a culture. I didn’t have to believe in God to be a Jew. I didn’t have to go to temple every week, or be a religious person in any way. There would still be mutuality between myself and other Jews.
We don’t make up a lot of the world. In the US, we’re around 2% of the population, and typically we live in pretty concentrated areas. With that in mind, there’s an acknowledgement that we are part of an incredibly small group and one that people may know of but not about.
That has put me in the position of wanting to talk about Judaism, the religion and the culture, so that there might be a greater understanding of it in the world. That should go for all religions too, I think. I might not be a religious person, but having an understanding of what other’s believe and how they think can only create more unity in the world. In that regard, my obligation is to be an ambassador for both Judaism and atheism.
It seems like a great burden that we all have to be ambassadors in some way for our various affiliations, but when there is such controversy and fighting between these groups, we are the only ones that can facilitate understanding. To continue forward as a species, to solve the issues that plague us as a society, we need to communicate.
No, we don’t need to be models of our various religions, or lack thereof, at all times, but we need to be ready to facilitate understanding and compassion between the many forms of faith. I may not be religious but it is important that my culture be understood and respected, and that there is an open dialogue between people of all faiths. If I don’t contribute to that then I am just adding to the problem.
