What’s with religion and ethnicity?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:08 pm by Richard Ostling

What’s with religion and ethnicity? 2015-03-13T22:08:16-04:00 Richard Ostling

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

ERIN ASKS:

Why are religion and ethnicity so closely linked? Why are they especially close in Judaism whereas in Christianity not so much?

THE GUY ANSWERS:

A few random observations. The Guy is no anthropologist or sociologist. But it’s obvious that the quest for transcendent religious meaning is virtually universal among humankind and till modern times was necessarily intertwined with ethnic identity on a tribal, regional, and even national basis. Thus to be Indian is essentially to be Hindu. Thus also for Christian branches through much of history. To be Spanish was to be Catholic, to be Russian was to be Orthodox, or to be Swedish was to be Lutheran Protestant. With easy transportation and massive emigration this pattern has faded. Active church commitment as part of ethnicity is weak in much of Europe even though once-dominant church bodies retain large nominal memberships thanks to indiscriminate “firehose baptism.”

In European times past, religious minorities were socially at the margins and oft persecuted. Ask any Quaker or Jehovah’s Witness. England even threw “nonconformist” (that is, non-Anglican) John Bunyan, author of “Pilgrim’s Progress,” into jail off and on for a dozen years. In 21st Century Islam an extreme example survives among certain hardliners who believe religious law regards conversion to another faith as no mere matter of conscience but treason against one’s own people that deserves state execution. In this version of Islam, religious identity transcends all ethnic lines.

The United States was the first and greatest exception to all that. “Free exercise” of faith with no “establishment of religion” was guaranteed by the Bill of Rights because no one denomination claimed majority support. Since then the nation has developed an amazing variety of creeds. The U.S. citizenry’s identity is not drawn from either shared religion or ethnicity, but only a shared heritage of political concepts, moral values, culture, law and language inherited from Britain.

Erin is correct there’s a difference between Christianity and Judaism. In the Jewish Bible (the Christians’ Old Testament), Abraham’s call is to bless “all the families of the earth,” and the prophet Isaiah proclaims a responsibility to be “a light to the nations.” But much of biblical law sharpened separate identity to shield the faith from Gentile paganism. This heritage fostered Judaism’s remarkable survival across centuries of dispersion and oppression — all too often at the hands of past Christians. Today, ethnicity is stronger for many Jews than any religious bonds.

As for Christianity, in the New Testament Jesus says “go therefore and make disciples of all nations,” and his early Jewish followers believed God had directly removed the required ethnic markers of circumcision and kosher food laws for Gentile converts, followed by other legal liberalizations. Today Christianity is the most universal of faiths, existing within nearly all nations and ethnic groups and with surprising power in enclaves within many non-Christian lands — though not Israel or heavily Muslim countries.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

September 14, 2013

Mormon women & those lifestyle blogs

Next Post

September 30, 2013 How to become a Catholic

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Proverbs warns against what kind of woman as a symbol of temptation?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Adulterous woman Mother-in-law Queen Widow