So real talk. During my conversion process, a senior Reform rabbi addressing my class brought up that Jewish atheists and even Jewish atheist clergy exist.

He then said ‘but they really should just shut up then.’

And this was a Reform rabbi in a Reform temple.

You better believe I made some noise, and several clergy (all women, I’ll add) went to bat for me and others like me.

I’ve met much less hostility for being atheist in Jewish spaces than I ever would in any Christian space. But I have met it.

And I had to expend labour and energy I never should have had to in order to be welcomed completely into Jewish spaces.

Nothing is perfect, I get that. But the point is that the non-religious and minority religions SHOULD be natural allies.

We all have Christian abuse (spiritual, verbal, physical, societal) beating down on us.

But atheists of Christian heritage so often cannot disentangle Christianity from other religions. And other religions have disdain for the non-religious reinforced by Christian normativity.

Only one point to this thread, I guess. Non-religious communities and minority religious communities are natural allies and I’m going to work as hard as I can to make us actual allies.