SJ

Hello and Happy Saturday!

I wish to thank Diana for her very interesting interview last week. It was wonderful to learn more of the Bahai faith. Thank you for sharing Diana!

This week we have a new interview so please welcome SJ.
SJ is a Messianic Jew and I know you will enjoy his interview as well!

Here Is SJ's Introduction:


I am SJ. I am a Messianic Jew after reading about Christianity for a long enough period of time. My beliefs changed gradually.


1) What religion do you practice?
Messianic Judaism, I'm not involved in any organization though.

2) Are you a convert/revert or were you raised within this religion? If you converted, what did you need to do to convert? And what did you practice prior to converting?
I don't feel a need for conversion since I am not apart of any org.

3) Within your religion are there degrees of observance (ie. Orthodox,conservative, moderate, liberal)? What are the defining differences between the degrees of observance?
It depends on the issue.

4) Within your religion what degree of observance are you (ie. Orthodox, conservative, moderate, liberal) ? Why did you choose this degree of observance?
Someone conservative is someone who believes the Bible and is as social conservative as well (being against gay marriage and abortion). I am basically conservative except I'm not a young earther, God is not going to tell modern science to people from thousands of years ago.

5) What is the Afterlife within your religion? For example: what happens when a person dies? Are there places for reward/punishment? (such as a Heaven/Hell concept).
Heaven is a place of joy that does not seem to take up space the way we understand it so to speak of it in 3 dimensional or human terms I'm not sure is too accurate.

6) In your opinion, does everyone make it into heaven/paradise? If they do not, why?
Everyone does not go to Heaven. There is evil in the world. As for atheists who are good people, that's for God to decide, I don't know.

7) What makes your religion a good fit for you?
It's primary focus is on morals.

8) What are your holy days and what do you do to celebrate them?
I'm basically Christian in belief. The only reason why I'm not jumping ship from Judaism is that there are still fun aspects to it that I'd like to partake in. (In Judaism holidays and holy days are the same thing.)

9) Do you consider people of other faiths to be your friends?
Yes.

10) Would you ever join people of another faith to celebrate one of their holy days? Please explain why?
Yes as long as they don't expect me to pray. I'd come, be respectful, and have fun.

11) What are your thoughts on the burka, and Shariah Law?
You can bet that if it's a younger girl then the girl is being forced. You can bet that if it's in a totalitarian country the women are being forced.

12) Are women allowed to hold religious office (priest, minister, rabbi, iman etc) in your religion and how do you feel about it?
I am not into organized religion but people who are against female clerics have the right to go to a place where there's a male cleric and people who want a female cleric have the right to go to where there is a female cleric.

13) Does your place of worship segregate? If yes, how does this make you feel?
I pray by myself. I would only go to places without female clerics. I don't care about segregating the genders.

14) How much does your religion affect your daily life and how much thought do you give it when making a decision? Does it affect in any way your decision on abortion, gay marriage, etc?
I've definitely been praying more often since I switched from being an atheist to messianic jew. Not out of fear though, out of belief. XD

15) How would you react/feel if your child wished to marry outside your religion?
I'd prefer my kids stay within the Judeo-Christian framework.

16) In your opinion, if someone is not of your faith, will they go to hell?
That's for God to decide.

17) Who do you think is not a practicing ----- in your religion and why? ie who in the public domain claims to speak for your religion? Do you agree with them or not?
People who are immoral don't practice.

18) Have you ever been the target of a hate crime? Please explain.
No.

19) Do you ever feel like your religion devalues you?
Nooooooooo. Firstly, Judaism practically invented the concept that mankind is created in the image of God. Christianity says that God came down to Earth as a human to take the heat for our sins.

20) Does your religion give you peace of mind?
Yes. Believing in Christ adds a level of confirmation of the Old Testament that I couldn't get from being Jewish alone.

21) Do you believe in reincarnation? Why or why not?
There is an element of reincarnation in Judaism if a person didn't do what s/he was meant to in life.