Perhaps any one of us has the right to say...

Posted by EBerlin (A) on March 25, 2007 at 09:36:14

In Reply to: Re: Why is that a horrible thing to say? posted by Victor Khomenko on March 25, 2007 at 08:23:36:

...what we are or aren't. It appears to me that what the Nazis did was precisely to deny this. It was all about your blood, which is not how I view it, even though I do recognize the reality of cultural memory, generally speaking.

Sorry, but I don't see how my statement could be construed as "potentially" insulting. I think you're passing my comment through an internal filter of your own that is not common to others. Certainly I don't recognize it. If I was inclined to cast aspersions on Jewishness would I have led with an acknowledgment of my own Jewish origins? And, as a director of the documentary "Paper Clips" I dare say I hardly risk being accused of being insensitive on the subject.

Growing up in a cosmopolitan part of the Eastern US the cultural memory one might acquire in an observantly Jewish home or, say, in an intimate village shtetl setting was, in my case, deeply and inevitably diluted by the more pressing, immediate, and to me more real influences of my generic culture. Two of my three sisters have become reasonably observant secular Jews and the son of the other also had his bar mitzvah even though she's less attendant to the religion. So it was never inevitable that I'd veer off this way. It's a personal thing. In fact I've been very interested in religion over the years and my college major was comparative religious studies. Although it sounds pretentious to say so as I'm far from an expert in any of it, I consider myself a religious free-thinker above all.

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Sixty Six - dave c 23:39:15 03/24/07 (22)

"it's not Brigit Jones" I sure hope not. Who needs that stupid formulaic garbage? - Victor Khomenko 07:55:14 03/25/07 (1)

whist I may (or may not)... - dave c 19:57:14 03/25/07 (0)

I had my bar mitzvah in '66... - EBerlin 06:44:58 03/25/07 (19)

Re: I had my bar mitzvah in '66... - Victor Khomenko 07:47:25 03/25/07 (18)

in fact my imitial description is wrong - dave c 13:22:39 03/25/07 (4)

Re: in fact my imitial description is wrong - Victor Khomenko 06:02:10 03/26/07 (3)

a post carefully maked as my opinion - dave c 13:23:40 03/26/07 (2)

It's your one-sided kaka materialist education speaking - Victor Khomenko 13:29:39 03/26/07 (1)

you mean an application of reason to the world. - dave c 14:05:01 03/28/07 (0)

Why is that a horrible thing to say? - EBerlin 08:08:40 03/25/07 (12)

Re: Why is that a horrible thing to say? - Victor Khomenko 08:23:36 03/25/07 (11)

There are people who were born in Russia, and who no longer think of themselves as such. What makes Jews different? (nt) - orejones 04:50:53 03/26/07 (2)

You don't even know how to ask a question right. - Victor Khomenko 05:56:49 03/26/07 (1)

Sure, dear pretender. Sure... (nt) - orejones 02:25:30 03/27/07 (0)

A view - dave c 13:31:08 03/25/07 (2)

I have no concern of Judaism - Victor Khomenko 06:22:11 03/26/07 (1)

"Jewish" isn't a place - dave c 13:24:57 03/26/07 (0)

Perhaps any one of us has the right to say... - EBerlin 09:36:14 03/25/07 (0)

And some would argue you can be an Aryan, too---like it or not!! nt - tinear 08:52:20 03/25/07 (3)

Well, of course you can, the Nazi do not own the word. - Victor Khomenko 09:11:00 03/25/07 (2)

That's regional. Their kids who don't live in the region probably - tinear 12:51:53 03/25/07 (1)

Help you with your confusion - Victor Khomenko 05:59:39 03/26/07 (0)

Follow Ups

Perhaps any one of us has the right to say... - EBerlin 09:36:14 03/25/07 (0)

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