I'm sure I get your meaning here: you're speaking of ethnicity, not religion, and addressing your expectation of the perceptions of strangers in a political context, yes? Still, I found it surprising, since you've described your upbringing as completely secular.
Honestly, I'm speaking about *looks* as much as anything -- I may not be very Jewish, but I certainly look it, and people will subconsciously factor that in. Much though we might want to believe otherwise, that matters -- not overwhelmingly, but it's a handicap. Religious questions I'm not that worried about -- frankly, I'd be more worried about being painted as an atheist, since my sort of vague philosophical Deism is a hard sell to a public that likes simple soundbites. But it all adds up.
(Not to mention the fact that I don't think I'm willing to compromise my principles enough to overcome those handicaps, which is the typical politician's way of dealing with it. You've got to have a fair amount of charisma to be able to afford having any principles in politics.)
As for York Rite: one of these days, yes. Won't happen in the next year (I am taking on precisely *zero* new commitments through next October), but perhaps after that...
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Date: 2009-12-02 02:11 pm (UTC)Honestly, I'm speaking about *looks* as much as anything -- I may not be very Jewish, but I certainly look it, and people will subconsciously factor that in. Much though we might want to believe otherwise, that matters -- not overwhelmingly, but it's a handicap. Religious questions I'm not that worried about -- frankly, I'd be more worried about being painted as an atheist, since my sort of vague philosophical Deism is a hard sell to a public that likes simple soundbites. But it all adds up.
(Not to mention the fact that I don't think I'm willing to compromise my principles enough to overcome those handicaps, which is the typical politician's way of dealing with it. You've got to have a fair amount of charisma to be able to afford having any principles in politics.)
As for York Rite: one of these days, yes. Won't happen in the next year (I am taking on precisely *zero* new commitments through next October), but perhaps after that...