and I call myself an atheist jew, a common thing in Judaism.
I don’t think it makes sense to equivocate Jewish identity with Christianity, because Christianity is a universal religion, not an ethnic religion. Atheists I know who celebrate Christian holidays don’t consider themselves Christian, Christianity is considered to be about the belief system, not the culture surrounding it. Any remaining Christian influence is treated more like a cultural tradition than a religious event. The way Christmas is celebrated in the ones I’ve been to, you could simply change the name and it would then be a completely secular feast. It’s derived from (not influenced by!) a pagan event, so most of its core features aren’t even related to Christianity in the first place, not even the date. Christianity is surprisingly arbitrary in Christmas.
Like you mentioned, Christian atheism appears to be an established concept in other countries, along with similar concepts like lapsed Catholics. I only personally know one person like this, who identifies as a Lutherian but not believing in a higher power, and other people I’ve mentioned it to consider that to be odd and contradictory.
It’s not even about declaring themselves default. Many countries used to have 90+% of population identifying as Christian, with persecution against non-Christians. Christianity was/is taught in schools, determines the public holidays, and was historically written into law, among a million other things. In these countries, they were the default. They were normal and their cultural legacy is still normal. Retaining the status quo of their traditions is not seen as religious celebration or worship, it’s spiritually empty.
Thought experiment: If a Christian attends a friend’s Hanukkah each year, watches the rituals and enjoys the food and company, do you believe this alone now makes them a Jew?
I don’t think it makes sense to equivocate Jewish identity with Christianity, because Christianity is a universal religion, not an ethnic religion. Atheists I know who celebrate Christian holidays don’t consider themselves Christian, Christianity is considered to be about the belief system, not the culture surrounding it. Any remaining Christian influence is treated more like a cultural tradition than a religious event. The way Christmas is celebrated in the ones I’ve been to, you could simply change the name and it would then be a completely secular feast. It’s derived from (not influenced by!) a pagan event, so most of its core features aren’t even related to Christianity in the first place, not even the date. Christianity is surprisingly arbitrary in Christmas.
Like you mentioned, Christian atheism appears to be an established concept in other countries, along with similar concepts like lapsed Catholics. I only personally know one person like this, who identifies as a Lutherian but not believing in a higher power, and other people I’ve mentioned it to consider that to be odd and contradictory.
that’s some bullshit.
Christians declares themselves the default and therefore everything they do is “normal” rather than a Christian thing.
It’s not even about declaring themselves default. Many countries used to have 90+% of population identifying as Christian, with persecution against non-Christians. Christianity was/is taught in schools, determines the public holidays, and was historically written into law, among a million other things. In these countries, they were the default. They were normal and their cultural legacy is still normal. Retaining the status quo of their traditions is not seen as religious celebration or worship, it’s spiritually empty.
Thought experiment: If a Christian attends a friend’s Hanukkah each year, watches the rituals and enjoys the food and company, do you believe this alone now makes them a Jew?