Comments

Entry: There's a Jew in my Soup. Wednesday, October 17, 2007

If you've been looking at this thread and that thread, you know that Jews is News. Well, this started as a response to a question there, posed by Daniel. It was:

One of the problems is with the meaning of the word 'assimilation'. Just because a group of people live in a community in some country doesn't mean they are necessarily assimilated.

As with the Bretheren, they live and work in places all over the world but they do not believe they are part of their society. They believe that God will appear and lift them and them alone to heaven without dying (The Rapture). They marry each other and are very secretive.

People of most religious persuasions (including Jews who call themselves the Children of God) have similar fantasies about their special place in the world even if they don't often spell them out.

If people believe such discriminatory, superior things how can you then call them 'assimilated'?

Well, here's how I see it.

They shop at the same malls we do, and buy the same clothes. They eat the same way-too-salty pretzels. They go to the same post office, and we see them at the same Chinese restaurants. They sit next to us at blues concerts. They see the same movies in the same theaters and laugh at the same jokes.

They pay taxes with us, and walk their Jewish dogs in the same parks our Episcopal pooches soil. We flip each other the bird on the freeway, but it's nothing personal. They're our bosses, our employees, the guy in the next cubicle, the guy next door. Our kids go to the same school. They have the same teacher. My kid's going to be a carrot in the school play, the Shapiro kid's a kishke. Maybe he'll be the one who takes her to the prom.

They're our doctors, our lawyers, our cops, our judges. They're our business contacts, our suppliers, our customers. They're the faces on our TVs, and the faces behind the faces behind the faces. They make movies just like that Catholic guy does. They look at us from CD labels and magazine covers. They're next to us in line while we look at those magazine covers.

They're our in-laws and our friends. They get their TV shows pre-empted for a 7-hour screening of It's a Wonderful Life once a year just like the rest of us. They're the people we hang out with. They're the people we fight with. Our pals. Our enemies. They teach in our schools and clean our carpets and fix our cars and stock our shelves and do everything that we do in the same places at the same times for the same reasons in the same ways.

And for some reason, they're still the only ones that can make a really good ham sandwich. Why is that?

Is there bigotry? Of course. But while some people may be quite vocal about it, most folks aren't that militant about religion. That's what pisses off the loud folks so much. Despite haughty claims to the contrary, and despite what people mark in the "religion" box of the census, we have pretty secular attitudes for all practical purposes. More so in urban areas, but we just don't go around worrying if the people we meet in our daily lives have the same religion as us. Those people exist, but are an ever increasing minority.

That is how we can consider them assimilated. I stand by that word. They're in our everyday lives, and we're in theirs. We're all Americans.

We're all us.

26 comments


	Sinja October 17, 2007 08:39 PM PDT I'm insane with anger!!!11one! I'm so offended! Those pretzels are NOT way-too-salty!


	Miz UV October 17, 2007 09:19 PM PDT applause!


	O' Tim October 17, 2007 11:01 PM PDT Great post, Joe, even if Daniel's question was a screwball. Comparing the Brethren with Jews? Guffaw!


	Cheezy October 18, 2007 04:12 AM PDT Well said. The Mayor of London expressed similar sentiments after the bombings here a couple of years ago (correctly stressing that terrorism is an outrage and an offence against Londoners of ALL backgrounds)... In multicultural societies like our's, that (secular-based) tolerant attitude that you mention is absolutely vital.


	Cody Bones October 18, 2007 04:46 AM PDT Nice post Joe, I'm still a little sick to my stomach about his last comment, but, What ya gonna do?


	Joe the Troll October 18, 2007 05:48 AM PDT The only thing you can do, Cody - respond.


	Joe the Troll October 18, 2007 10:13 AM PDT And when I say "respond", I mean plan A, not B. B goes nowhere fast, doesn't it?


	annie October 18, 2007 10:44 AM PDT i have problems with ALL religion. my disgust isn't limited to any one specific belief system. it makes lots of people act like... jerks. i came by this disgust the old-fashioned way-i was raised by hypocritical catholics.


	Lucyp October 18, 2007 11:42 AM PDT Good post. Religion is way down the bottom of any list i make of what interests me in a person which is how it should be. How much someone earns also leaves me cold. A good personality, a kind heart and some good manners are far more important than who you pray, or don't pray, to. If only more people felt this way.


	O' Tim October 18, 2007 02:34 PM PDT I heart Cheezy (not that there's anything wrong with that).


	Tim October 18, 2007 04:10 PM PDT Yes, Jews are assimilated into the American Dream. Just as the Irish, Italian, Black, Hispanic and Muslim have become and are becoming assimilated. Personally, the mixing of diverse cultures seems at least good in that you get somw great dining opportunities like Sushi, Fajitas, Bar-B-Q, etc. I'm tellin' ya: go to England and eat, it's awful!


	Jefe October 18, 2007 06:01 PM PDT First, related to what Annie said, I can think of a whole lot of things that make people act like jerks. No, let me rephrase that -- I can think of a whole lot of things, religion being only one, that make <i>jerks</i> act like jerks. Sports, money, politics, parenting, automobiles, education, lack of education, and alcohol are some others. I'm the kind of person who's interested in what makes someone tick. So I'm absolutely interested in someone's religious beliefs, if it's a person I'm interested in getting to know better. And as far as assimilation goes, nobody's better than the Borg.


	Joe the Troll October 18, 2007 06:16 PM PDT That's one thing, Jefe, but not what Daniel was suggesting. He was suggesting that so many of us are sequestered amongst people who have identical beliefs and values that it is impossible for Jews to be a part of the same society, and that is just plain wrong. In fact, touching on what you just said, there are many times you won't even know unless you ARE trying to get to know that person better.


	Miz UV October 18, 2007 07:28 PM PDT I seriously would like to know where Daniel gets his ideas about Jews, but so far he hasn't answered me. There are some "unassimilated" Jews here, of course, but in general I think they mostly keep to themselves like the Amish and certainly aren't running around saying they're better than others. In any case, these Jews are a small percentage of the total.


	Cheezy October 19, 2007 05:36 AM PDT I would never try to excuse what Daniel said, but as a possible explanation.... Maybe he's letting his anger at one group of Jews (for example, it could be the Israeli government, or perhaps it's a particularly idiotic & chickenshit blogger) infect his thinking about the ethno-religious group as an entirety. This kind of "tarring them all with the same brush" thinking is incredibly stupid and racist - of that there is no doubt. And I reckon a lot of Muslims would know this better than most. PS: Cheers O'Tim. I heart you too! (In a healthy manly all-guys-together-drinking-beer kinda way!)


	Miz UV October 19, 2007 07:53 AM PDT Maybe, Cheezy, but as you say it's still stupid and racist even if he has a "reason." Frankly, I was expecting Daniel to return to Cody's and explain that he mis-wrote and didn't mean it that way. The fact that he hasn't indirectly answers my question at Lucy's, I guess. His hatred is irrational, as most hatred is, and he's manufactured this rationale that "Jews believe they're better than everyone else" out of thin air and is sticking with it. BTW, I say "most hatred" because there are some that are rational -- such as hating all KKK members.


	O' Tim October 19, 2007 08:19 AM PDT "In a healthy manly all-guys-together-drinking-beer kinda way!" Nothing wrong with that! Oh, you left out the big brown chunk of hash.


	Joe the Troll October 19, 2007 08:23 AM PDT Paula- and lunch thieves. Perhaps we should all go back to the poetry corner for a moment, eh?


	Jefe October 19, 2007 04:20 PM PDT To be honest, Joe, I haven't gone back and read Daniel's comment, so my comment here was only a reference to preceding comments in your, erm, comments. And my assimilation line was merely an acknowledgment that yes, I watched TNG.


	Joe the Troll October 19, 2007 04:34 PM PDT My "working title" for this post (which I needed so I could save it as I wrote) was "You Will Be Assimilated. Resistance is Cute."


	annie October 20, 2007 07:23 PM PDT many things make human beings jerks. from a historic standpoint, i happen to believe that religion is the biggest one. hopefully, i am entitled to my opinion.


	Joe the Troll October 21, 2007 08:18 AM PDT Absolutely, Annie.


	Jefe October 21, 2007 09:45 PM PDT "hopefully, i am entitled to my opinion." I hope that wasn't a swipe at me, Annie. I certainly didn't say nor even insinuate that you weren't entitled to your opinion, I merely disagreed with it. Hell, it wasn't even a complete disagreement, more of a "yeah, but..."


	Jennyjinx October 23, 2007 08:38 AM PDT "but in general I think they mostly keep to themselves like the Amish and certainly aren't running around saying they're better than others. " ________________ I happen to live on the fringe of a huge Amish community and have to say the only reason the Amish are so "clannish" (to a use a worn out term) is because they get a lot of shit for their beliefs. The jerks around here don't have a whole lot of other minorities to harass so they pick the Amish- beat 'em up, run 'em down with their cars, trash their homes and businesses, etc. The Amish are a very forgiving people though, and so it seems to continue. TheMan works with a lot of Amish folk in his plant and my great-grandmother was, gulp, Amish. Oh, the fun! Of course, that has nothing to do with this awesome post. For that I give applause. And now I must go back in hiding. :)


	Jennyjinx October 23, 2007 08:59 AM PDT I was over at Cody's and had a thought while I was composing my comment. So, I thought I'd throw it in over here too. ______________ All this talk of assimilation makes me feel like I'm reading Orwell, though. Kind of makes me sweat. How about "blending of the cultures", where the culture of one people isn't lost, but is added to another culture and the whole is made better? I think I like that better. Just a thought. ____________ I really am going back to hiding now. :)


	Joe the Troll October 23, 2007 09:31 AM PDT No hiding! You are describing exactly what I mean by "assimilation." You just like to use a lot of words, I guess. :-) Or I guess you could put it this way "Your distinctiveness shall be added to our own." I know Jefe would. ;-)

Leave a Comment:

Name

Homepage (optional)

Comments