Quote:
Originally Posted by ngdawg
But, if I was asked if I was Jewish, I, too would answer "sorta".
My mother is Jewish, meaning, by Jewish dictates, I am as well. And Jewish is a culture as well-in addition to the religious practice
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Yeah, this is what I needed to process about ktsp's response. Religion in Lebanon goes hand-in-hand with ethnicity, for good or ill. It's something that I have a hard time understanding as an American--though I do see how it works from a Thai perspective. To be Thai is to be Buddhist--that's one major reason why Christian missionaries have always struggled for converts in Thailand. In some places, religion is so strongly tied up with culture, that there is almost no way of disentangling them for the average person.
Would you guys say that Christianity has a "cultural" identity in North America? It definitely does in Iceland--religion is institutionalized here, and yet it is a nation full of functional atheists. And yet, the vast majority of Icelanders are baptized, married, and buried in the church. They can't imagine doing it any other way, even if there is no faith or practice remaining.
I don't personally know many Americans who identify as Christian in a purely cultural manner--they're either very serious about their religion, or they're as far away from that as you can get. But my sample is biased according to my group of friends.