Originally Posted by abaya

Now I KNOW you're from an Asian family! That's the first question out of all of my Thai family members' mouths when they meet someone new through me... especially when they met ktspktsp. Kinda took him by surprise (in the US), though in his culture, it's not all that uncommon, either. My mom was famous for asking my girlfriends (when they would come over to see me while I was home from college/grad school), "Do you have a boyfriend?" before even asking them how they were doing, etc. It was the first question out of her mouth--she was always MOST curious about whether they were all still virgins, etc. Hilarious.

Anyway, off my own topic here... but yeah, in my Asian family, religious discussion was right out on the table just as much as any other "taboo" topic. Quite the opposite with the rest of my family.

Originally Posted by AgadorSpartacus

I answer, "No, I'm Jewish." I was raised Jewish, had a Bat Mitzvah, am married to an agnostic (says he's nothing, but does not deny the existance of GD), had a Bris for my son and plan on sending him to Hebrew and Sunday school. My family celebrates all of the major Jewish holidays. I rarely go to Synagogue, but I don't feel that negates me being a Jew, just like rarely going to church negates someone elses Christianity.

I also feel that being a Jew is also a huge, if not all, of my cultural identity. I live in the suburbs of a major east coast city with a large Jewish population. Most Jews around here are Ashkenazi and really don't celebrate the culture of their ancestral country, but rather the traditions, food, belief systems, etc. that went along with being an Eastern European Jew. I work in a small dental office with a staff of 7, including the dentist. Four of us are jewish. We all have great recipes for brisket and kugel circulating in our families, very similar traditions and stories about "the old country," even if I have no idea which "old country" they are referring to nor do they know which ones I'm referring to. I'm just as much of a mutt as most Americans today. Of my Jewish relatives, I'm Russian, Ukranian and Czech. But, I don't identify myself with any of those nationalities, b/c none of the national traditions, outside of Jewish ones, were passed on to me.
My other nationality is Irish. My paternal grandmother was 100% Irish Catholic. My grandfather's family even sat shiva for him when he married her in the 1930's. Since his father, as well as the rest of my family, was a reform Jew, he is still Jewish. That said, she never instilled any Irish traditions into him before she died when he was a kid, so I don't really identify with being Irish unless it's St. Patrick's Day.

Originally Posted by Devils Rancher

I've never encountered a stranger up and asking me my religion out of the blue. It seems horridly rude, and I think that would be my response. Something like "Why do you ask? Are you with the CIA?"

Essentially, if I don't know you from Adam, it's none of your goddam business.


(Truthfully, I don't know what "religion" I am, anyway. I was raised by devout Athiests, but am more of an Animist/Wiccan/Gnostic/Unitarian Universalist, with a heavy dose of skepticism, but still, it's none of your business if you're a stranger on the street)