Ethnic Religions...

The following is from an interesting article over at the Patheos Pagan Channel, written by Aliyah Baat Stam. The whole thing is worth a read, but this next paragraph leaped out at me. Change the word Jew to Italian and this is close to how I have described my tradition. I've talked before about the conferring of ancestors.

“My truth doesn’t have to be your truth.”

Orthodox Jews have an extremely ethnocentric view. The laws and taboos have nothing to do with non-Jews. Why would they?

...In order to join Judaism, you need to be initiated, essentially acquiring Judaism as your ethnic identity. When a proselyte joins Judaism –after years of study and an extensive investigation examining their ability to keep the traditions — it is considered that our ancestors become their ancestors. Only by spiritually sharing these ancestors can a person become Jewish. Only by having Jewish ancestry can you worship the ancestral deity.

Interesting where you find similarities; Here I thought it was that we all landed in Brooklyn...