A WAY OF LIFE

There is a Jewish saying to the effect that Judaism is not a religion, but a way of life.

I have no quarrel with its second half. Granted, Judaism is a way of life. But the only way I can conditionally accept the first part is when we are talking about a Jewish atheist who chooses to maintain a “Jewish” way of life, loosely based on the precepts of Rabbinical Judaism. I stipulate that in his or her personal opinion, the experience of Jewish culture is not a religion, just because he or she does not believe in God. End of story.

The reader may already have guessed what I am driving at. In the context of history, of national culture, of national tradition, religion is the foundation of that culture. It is unquestionably the determining factor in forming a peculiar way of life…

In fact, we can safely say that religion is the way of life for those who follow that religion. Islam is a way of life. Buddhism is a way of life. Mormonism is a way of life. Etc., etc...

If we look at the history of early Christianity, religion was overwhelmingly the way of life for its adherents. As the religious zeal diminishes, religious worship plays an ever diminishing role in society, becomes diffused in social custom. But it is a mistake to separate religion from culture and to deny its presence in what we call the way of life.

After all, religion is a way of life. Religion is about eternity. An atheist can be absolutely convinced in his or her mortality and finality of death for an individual life. But national life does not perceive itself in the context of human mortality. Nations are attuned to the concept of immortality. Life for them is eternal, or else they could never aspire to self-identification as a nation and they would never be able to grasp the concept of greatness.