#interfaith family

[samwisethewitch]

There's a special kind of irony in me, a pagan, preparing kosher food so my Jewish brother-in-law will have something to eat at my family's Christmas potluck.

[shalom-iamcominghome]

So I learned the reason why my dad (and some other xtians) believes a rabbi has to bless things to make them kosher is because priests actually do bless things and those things become Super Special

Like, he said that the bread they get for communion is bought from a supermarket and then is blessed by the pastor, and the moment she blesses it, it cannot be tossed - it has to be used up. So somebody took the leftover Holy Bread and made a grilled cheese out of it, which is... actually, it's iconic. Imagine having Holy Grilled Cheese

[belalugosisdeadname]

HELP I thought my gentile husband said the Tetragrammaton, and I was like preparing to explain to him how it’s not usually what we call God, and some Jews definitely find if offensive if you throw it around. But uh it turns out he was saying “Huawei”, like the electronics company.

[musicalanthrop]

Happy Chanukah and belated Merry Christmas to those who celebrate!

[kick-a-long]

Forgot to explain antisemitism to my husband for the hours and months and years required for an interfaith relationship before marriage,

But he believes me unconditionally. I’m lucky I picked a good one. We even talked honestly about where we would run to (and what would happen to his law license) which he usually laughs off. The difference this time? He works at a very leftist ngo and has seen the statements his colleagues have been making.

Not all Jewish/goy unions are like this. I’m very very relieved that I got lucky.

For example:

Alice Walker, deeply and unapologetically antisemitic, was not always that way. her first marriage was to a Jewish man who worked in tandem with black organizations to legally dismantle black discrimination in the south. His family hated her for not being Jewish and for being black. They were awful. But their marriage ended many years later when she became very conspicuously antisemitic and refused to listen about its history.

My own mother converted to Judaism and was FAR more observant than my Jewish father but later in life became what I would generously call “Jewish hostile” when their marriage began breaking down.

I always knew there was a possibility of me becoming more Jewish or marriage related friction causing that same kind of situation. But we’ve been married 5 years and together 13. He has spent his time, body and soul helping poor renters protect themselves from being evicted. He doesn’t have illusions about the poor being “innocent victims” or even expecting his clients to be “worthy of help.” Some of them have threatened to kill him, one spent everyday spending hours yelling at him and then got her mother to call to do the same. He doesn’t need “good” clients to help him. I know that he’s a believer that all people are capable of switching between monsters and humans but that doesn’t diminish his work to help the vulnerable. In some ways he has a more Jewish perspective on humanity than I did.

If you’re Jewish and losing friends because they were easily converted into conspiracies and antisemitism try to keep your partner in the loop without letting your anger and suspicion get between you.

If your partner is Jewish and you aren’t, remember there is no Jewish history about finding lasting safety. Believing that you (Jewish) must be kind and respectful of others culture and defending peoples rights and also that at any given moment you (Jewish to any 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, degree) will have to drop everything and RUN because the people you helped, the people you loved, want you dead, are the twin beings inside almost every Jew.

One of the reasons why you don’t see a lot of Jews attacking the character of “good” anti Zionist Jews, is we all get it. They think they can bargain their way out of antisemitism. Just like house slaves that thought they could escape being a “real” slave by fully buying into racism (and maybe getting off on the power of being the slaves elevated by slave owners for hating blackness.)

It’s a lot to ask of any person to “get” the cultural history let alone the cultural trauma they partnered into. Forgive, forget, but don’t be shocked if either of you sounds a little nuts sometimes. I sometimes go full doomsday prepper on him. And he lets peoples shitty behavior slide when I would go full flaming sword. It’s important to remember the daily reality.

Politics is NEVER as important as deep love between two people. It’s essential to remember that and remind loved ones you want to keep of that. Politics is theory and your life together is reality.

I used to like the idea of relationships as romantic and dreamy, now I thank god it’s reality. It’s hard as a rock and just as flexible sometimes. That has its cons but I’ll take every single one for the pros.

Ride or die for each other is what it means. Be ride or die and expect nothing less from any partners in your life. Ask them for it but only if you can truthfully tell them they have it from you. You can’t be the singular unique person that anyone loves if you are only your identity and vise versa.

[hstud]

share you thought on this 💝

You want this type of akhand bharat?

Where your mom/sis daughter/wife getting fucked everytime by muslims infront of you....

[haorev]

My mom and I agreed that me lighting my Hanukkah candles in the living room was the best place to do them

It’s just really funny that if I take a picture of them, my parents’ nativity set is blurry in the background lol

Interfaith family moments for the win I guess

[forestscribe4]

[kitchen-scamp-vibes]

Making the best of cookie decoration traditions with my extended family this year:

[leadingmusetta]

Our interfaith holiday corner!!

[i-have-all-these-freakin-uwus]

what do you plan on doing on shavuot?

A fun thing about having an Interfaith family is me and my family will be attending a wedding. /hj

[thatblewateverystrand]

I'm not into traditional religions at all, but I remember when I was a kid and a Catholic priest called the Jewish "our older brothers" during Christmastime and I think that was nice

Texts From Superheroes

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[shalom-iamcominghome]

My dad and I are very similar people, but our superficial differences are very funny

You'll see us together and I'm wearing my kippah and he's in his xtian motorcycle T-shirt and I just think that's very funny. Interfaith families can honestly be so interesting like that 😭

[thechurchoftheatom]

Sermon for January 29th: Fusion of Faiths and Futures

Brothers and Sisters in the Atom, let us begin today by turning our attention to a humble yet extraordinary symbol: the hyphen. Often overlooked, this small mark carries profound meaning. It unites two separate ideas, forging a connection that transforms them into something entirely new. It is, in essence, a fusion.

And isn’t fusion at the heart of what the Church of the Atom stands for? At the most fundamental level, the atom reveals to us the beauty of connection. When nuclei fuse, they do not erase each other; they unite to create something greater than the sum of their parts. Fusion powers stars, lights up our skies, and gives life to our world.

In the same way, the hyphen shows us that we do not need to choose between one identity or another. We can honor the traditions, beliefs, and identities that shape us while embracing the Church of the Atom’s mission to safeguard the future. The hyphen is not a divider; it is a bond, a bridge, a celebration of unity.

Faiths in Harmony

To join the Church of the Atom is not to abandon your current faith. It is to weave it into the fabric of our shared mission. Perhaps you are a Catholic-Atomist, a Pagan-Atomist, a Buddhist-Atomist, or an Atomist who follows no specific faith but carries a deep reverence for life. The hyphen allows you to be both—to honor your past while looking forward to the future.

Our Church does not demand exclusivity. We recognize that faith is deeply personal, rooted in family, culture, and individual experience. Whatever your path, we welcome you. Together, we form a constellation of beliefs, each shining brightly yet part of a larger whole.

The Hyphen as a Bridge

Consider the power of the hyphen in language. It connects "well" and "being" into well-being, "self" and "care" into self-care, and "long" and "lasting" into long-lasting. In each case, the hyphen does not erase the individuality of the words but enhances their meaning through connection.

So too does the Church of the Atom strive to connect rather than divide. We seek to amplify the values you already hold—values of compassion, stewardship, and responsibility. Your faith and ours are not at odds; they are complementary, like two sides of a bridge that meet in the middle.

Fusion for the Future

Fusion is not merely a scientific principle; it is a way of being. In the core of the sun, fusion gives us light and life. In our hearts, fusion enables us to find common ground, to build something greater together.

By embracing the Church of the Atom, you are not leaving your traditions behind. You are carrying them forward into the future, enriched by the knowledge and purpose that the atom inspires. You are joining a community that values diversity and seeks to unite people under a shared vision of stewardship for the world we will leave behind.

Closing Words

Let us take inspiration from the hyphen and its ability to connect without erasing. May we see in it a symbol of our shared purpose: to safeguard the future while honoring the past. And may we continue to build bridges, to forge connections, and to illuminate the path forward together.

Whether you come from a long line of faith, no faith at all, or somewhere in between, know this: You are welcome here. You are part of this fusion, this light, this future.

Brothers and Sisters in the Atom, let us go forth as hyphens in the story of humanity, joining what was with what can be, and shining brightly as we do so.

Go forth and be radiant.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

💙❤️Happy Holidays!❤️💙

[unbidden-yidden-deactivated20240]

In Judaism, one alternative way of referring to converts is "Jews by Choice."

If a parallel term exists in Xtianity I am not aware of it, but I would like to propose that it really should exist, albeit not just in reference to converts but to all Xtians. Every Xtian should get the opportunity to fully understand their faith in context and to make an informed decision to choose it for themselves. As it stands, many Xtians are deeply ignorant about Jewish history (before and after the formation of Xtianity), the original cultural context for the stories in the Old Testament, the cultural Jewish context that Jesus existed and taught in, the critical historical (scholarly) read of these texts, what they probably meant to the Israelites who produced them, and what they mean to Jews today and how we read these same texts differently in our religious context.

This creates a problem, where Xtians are taught only the narrow band of context that their church deems it important for them to know, and even that is frequently inaccurate or so limited in scope as to make it inaccurate by omission.

And this is because the reality is that the Tanakh (that is, the Hebrew and Aramaic scriptures that the Old Testament is based on) does not naturally or inevitably lead to the Jesus narrative. If you are starting from a Xtian perspective, and especially if you read the New Testament first and then and only then dive into the Old Testament, the Jesus narrative is obvious to you because you are looking for it, expect to see it there, and are coming at these texts with that reading lens in mind. And it's not that you or anyone else is nuts to see that narrative there - there are plenty of solid Xtian reads of these texts that make sense if you already believe in Jesus as presented by the New Testament.

But what the vast majority of Xtians aren't taught is how to approach the Tanakh from a Jesus-neutral perspective, which would yield very different results.

Now you might fairly ask, why would they *need* to approach the Tanakh with a Jesus-neutral perspective? They're Xtians! Xtians believe in Jesus, that's what makes them Xtians!

My answer is multi-pronged: First, I believe that G-d wants a relationship with all people, and speaks to us in the voice we are most likely to hear. That's inherently going to look different for everyone. And that's okay! G-d is infinite, and each of our relationships with G-d are going to only capture the tiniest glimpse into that infinite Divine. Therefore, second, when approaching religion, everyone sees what they want to see. If you nothing religion but find your spirituality in nature, you're going to come at these biblical texts with that lens and take away from them similar things that one might take away from other cultural mythologies. If you, like me, are coming at these texts with a Jewish mindset, you are going to come away with a portrait of Hashem and our covenantal relationship as Am Yisrael. And, of course, if you read with a Xtian lens, you're going to see the precursor narratives leading up to Jesus. That reading bias is not only understandable but good or at least deeply human. Everyone sees what they want to see in these texts. There is no objective or flawless way to read them, and to claim that there is, is to claim that not only is there only one answer, but only one kind of relationship that G-d wants to have with people, that you personally happen to know what that is, and that everyone else is wrong. I am sorry, but if you believe that - if you truly think that you in particular (and/or the people you happen to agree with) know the mind of G-d, then you do not worship G-d. You worship yourselves, because to know the entirety of G-d would require you to be G-d. There's a term for that. That doesn't mean there aren't wrong answers too. But it does mean that there is no singular unimpeachable reading of the texts. What you see in these texts then, says far more about you than it does about the texts themselves or G-d.

So the question then becomes: Why do you want to see this? (Whatever your "this" is.) If your read of these texts is something you choose, why do you choose to see what you see? And is it a meaningful choice if you are not taught other ways of knowing, other perspectives on these texts, and to think critically while exploring them?

Judaism inherently teaches a multiplicity of opinions on the texts, and maintains that they can be read to mean different things, even at the same time by the same person. Deep textual knowledge and methods for learning more, asking questions, challenging accepted answers as a way to discover new meaning, and respectful disagreement are baked into our culture and methods. Some Xtians of some denominations have analogous processes, although on the whole still emphasize correct unified belief over correct action with a multiplicity of belief. I am not suggesting here that Xtians stop approaching their own scriptures as Xtians or adopt Jewish methods instead. What I am suggesting is that Xtians should be taught a fuller picture of these texts and learn other perspectives so that they (1) understand their own beliefs and why they believe them (or after further inquiry if they believe them), and (2) understand and respect that this is what they are choosing to believe and that it is not the only thing one could reasonably believe. Because (3) if not, they are more susceptible to having their faith shattered at random by something unexpected, and will connect less to their faith as a relationship with G-d and more as an obligation based on an unchallenged world view.

And, frankly? (4) It will help them to be better neighbors, to love their neighbor as themselves, and to give to others the respect that they would like to receive.

Being taught the historical context, Jewish history before and after Jesus, the differences between the Old Testament and the Tanakh, the timeline of the development of Xtianity in relationship to rabbinic Judaism in the wake of the destruction of the Second Temple, the development of church doctrine and the various splits amongst the denominations, and Jewish readings of the Tanakh would give clarity and desperately needed context to Xtians about their religion. Is there some risk that some people, upon understanding these things would drop out of faith entirely or, like me, discover that they are actually meant to be Jews? Yes, definitely.

But let me let you in on a little secret: you don't want those people to begin with. You really don't. Because the reality is that if a person is not called to relate to G-d through Jesus, eventually that person will learn this about themselves one way or another. If they are given the information and tools to make a meaningful choice, they will part company on good terms. If not, they will likely become disillusioned and leave the church in pain, anger, and even trauma. They will bring that out into the world with them, and spread the bad news about the Good News making it even more likely that other people who were already on the fence will jump ship on bad terms. You cannot trick people into a meaningful relationship with G-d. You can only give them the tools they need in order to explore on their own and the rest is between them and G-d.

And the bottom line is that you don't need to and should not be afraid of knowledge. If your faith cannot stand up to scrutiny, then it deserves that scrutiny tenfold. The people you lose from the flock? You would have lost them anyway, because we aren't in the driver's seat here. G-d is. Hashem called me to be a Jew with just as much love and desire to connect as G-d calls Xtians to the church and to Jesus. A faith examined is a faith deepened or exposed in its weakness. And if it is the latter, don't you want people to know this sooner rather than later in order to fix it?

So my proposition and wish for Xtians is that they become Xtians by Choice. That they delve deeply into the origins and context of their faith so that they can be 100% certain that they understand their Xtian faith and why they choose to relate to G-d through that lens.