A ‘Jewish atheist’ lets go of the ‘Jewish’

[rug]

David Silverman stirs dismay by insisting Judaism is just a religion



Seated behind his desk at his Cranford headquarters, David Silverman insisted: “I am an atheist, not a Jew.” (Photo by Robert Wiener)

by Robert Wiener
NJJN Staff Writer
March 28, 2014

At the age of six, some 40 years before he became president of American Atheists, David Silverman came to the conclusion that there was no God.

“My mother told me I was too old to believe in Santa Claus. At that point Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and God all went away,” he told NJ Jewish News as he sat behind his desk at his organization’s national headquarters on a quiet street in Cranford.

His belief was reinforced when his parents insisted he attend Hebrew school and become bar mitzva at a Reform synagogue in his hometown of Marblehead, Mass.

While he was on the bima saying, “Let us declare the greatness of our God,” Silverman remembered thinking: “I was lying to everyone in my world. That is when I came into the idea that religion was a lie.”

http://www.njjewishnews.com/article/22462/a-jewish-atheist-lets-go-of-the-jewish#.UzXEfrlOX5o

"Jewish atheism is an oxymoron"

I hope he can get his mumar notarized.

[aquart]

1. Sigh. Not an oxymoron at all.

I grew up with loads of them. My mother, my uncles, grandparents...

(Try years of Passover using a Haggadah from which every mention of God has been excised.)

And, of course, Lewis Black.

[cbayer]

2. I just don't get this guy.

If what he wants is attention, then he is getting it.

If what he wants is to increase understanding and acceptance for atheists, I think he is failing.

Why go out of your way to denounce a person's identity as Jewish? It is a well established and accepted definition of one's cultural heritage.

[genwah]

3. Umm...even Reconstruction-Judaism is out of the question?

[el_bryanto]

4. I don't know what his situation is with his family or the community he grew up in

Perhaps he feels he has to make a clean break or be identified as a member of the Jewish religion.

Bryant

[Behind the Aegis]

5. 2 Jews, 3 opinions...Here are mine.

"Jewish atheism is an oxymoron." Nope, not even close. Perhaps by his narrow definition, then yes, it could be. Like it or not, Jewish identity can be "ethnic". There may be a variety of types of ethnic Jews, but it call comes back to one singular word, Jew. In the grand scheme of things, it would have been better had the past gone something like...."the Hebrews (in place of the word Jews) were blah, blah, blah and their religion, Judaism, was blah, blah, blah..." Then, today we would have Judaism as a religion whose followers are Jewish, and Hebrews, the historic Jews, who could be anything, including Jewish or atheist.

Our community is always wrestling with who is and isn't a Jew, but the sad thing is, the outside communities have already decided it for us, so no matter what he says, thinks, believes, or claims, he will always be seen as a Jew. If the trains came rolling for us again, his ass would be right in the car, and it wouldn't be because he is an atheist!

[LiberalAndProud]

6. I'm pretty sure that

there were survivors of the Holocaust who were both Jewish and atheist. Maybe it's only a political thing. I'm not Jewish, but I think it would be hard to shed that particular identifier.

[struggle4progress]

7. Many of us are just glad he survived his terrifying ordeal at TD Bank Tuesday

... Silverman said the notary asked about their organization ... The employee got another notary, Silverman said, and he notarized the documents ... New Jersey has an extremely strong law against discrimination, according to ACLU-NJ Legal Director Ed Barocas ... American Atheists .. has been based in New Jersey since 1998 ... According to their mission statement, the group promotes ... mutual sympathy and understanding ...
TD Bank notary in Cranford accused of denying service to atheist organization
By Tom Wright-Piersanti/The Star-Ledger
on March 26, 2014 at 5:10 PM
updated March 27, 2014 at 11:15 AM

[edhopper]

8. I am quite comfortable with the term

Cultural Jew.

That said Silverman seems good at garnering publicity, sometimes in a dickish way.
Of course the media loves this so that they can portray atheist as assholes.