as long as i’m picking ~mean gatekeeper~ fights, some people are so hostile to the idea of Jewish identity having any definition or boundaries whatsoever that they’ve come full-circle to proto-evangelism. i’ve seen people actually say that it’s bad to tell someone they might need to convert if they want to be Jewish because “there aren’t many of us so we need as many Jews as we can get”
to be clear this isn’t about patrilineal Jews or w/e, it’s about like…..”last month i found out my grandpa was ethnically Jewish and now i’m reblogging memes about ‘goyim’”
(gentiles don’t touch)
I see this happen a lot, especially from gentiles who are from formerly evangelizing religions (not just Evangelical proper, but also certain ex-catholics, other baptist/fundie-escapees, or like, folks who approached atheism with that same evangelical flare).
It’s weird because there’s this…well a somewhat unclear line of enthusiasm and participation that happens, but also so many people go “I’m thinking of converting” and then months later they’ve spoken to nobody, but are now like “Jewish” on their about. or a distant ancestor was, but they’re usually not say, conversos/bnei anusim and even those people often have to go through a lot of effort and work to reconnect/convert/or be “confirmed” into the tribe.
it can feel very “accept the word into your heart”-y with no real engagement/connection outside of maybe reblogging related topics.
Ahhh I’ve seen folks like that – who use a distant relative – then use it to speak over me (about antisemitism … hmmm) because I converted and they didn’t
And it’s funny how the “Jewish ancestry” always comes up to deflect accusations of anti-semitism when it otherwise doesn’t interact with their identity/experiences at all except for a rhetorical “gotcha” – when really it’s a lot closer to white people who claim their “great grandmother was a Cherokee princess”
Yeah especially when it’s someone like Milo Yabbadabbadopolis who clearly uses it as a cover for Nazi accusations.
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