Donald Satz wrote:

>I don't have a religious bone in my body, but I could never forsake my
>heritage except to protect the lives of loved ones.
>
>Perhaps the controlling element is simply - dump the religion to get a
>better job.  I don't know how an individual would delude him/herself to
>reach that conclusion, but humans are very adept at conjuring up reasons
>to justify "lowering" themselves and calling it something else.

There is something called the Judaeo-Christian Tradition or heritage, and
-- leaving aside the rights and wrongs of the forsaking of heritage (in the
Old Testament, Abram did just that, not to mention Ruth and Naomi, among
others) -- it is at least arguable that for a Jew to become a Catholic does
not have to involve the forsaking of heritage.  How about Edith Stein, and
Francis Liebermann, prominent Catholics who each continued to own and
revere their Jewish heritage? It is also the case that for a Jew to forsake
his heritage, baptism is not essential.  Only forsake religion, and --
don't kid yourself -- the heritage will soon vanish.

Now if only Mahler had become a Hindu to get a better job, that might
have made for a much more interesting discussion!

Alan Moss