30 Days: Day 09 Your beliefs

…See the whole list here…

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My beliefs. This should be easy, right?

I was raised in a reform Jewish synagogue. I went to Sunday school, then Hebrew school. At 13 I was bat mitzvahed. At 16 I was confirmed. That’s where my Jewish education ended. In college I hung out with a girl that grew up in a more conservative Jewish household. We went to conservative high holiday services and it intrigued me. Growing up the services were about 90% in English. At the conservative services it was more like 50%. I vaguely remembered some Hebrew from when I was in Hebrew school classes, but not much. Kinda like how much Spanish I know after 9 years of classes…

Anywho, these days I am far more “spiritual” than “religious” in terms of my beliefs. I have not set foot inside a synagogue since my youngest cousin’s bar mitzvah umm.. 4 or so years ago. (Sorry, Eric, I can’t remember how old you are!) My ex-fiance was the only Jewish guy I’ve ever dated. BD was half-Jewish, but he was before that. My first love was Jewish, but we never dated. Since those 3 guys in college, every single guy I dated was not Jewish. But then, religion was never an issue until now. And even now it’s mostly a non-issue.

By now, I mean that I am marrying a Protestant and we will be having children in the not so distant future. Technically according to Jewish law, the children’s religion is their mother’s religion as the father was not always known. We won’t be having that problem. My childrens father will be my amazing almost-hubby, Steve. We have had this discussion. We agree on our beliefs, even if they are not the traditional Jewish or Protestant views. We both believe in a higher being, say our prayers and don’t believe in organized religion.

This is what I believe in

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In the non-religious aspect, I believe in fairness, justness, tolerance and creativity. I believe everyone should have their own beliefs and no one should ever try to foist their beliefs on anyone else. I believe in respect and in respecting others. I do not believe that anyone has a right to make anyone else feel small, insignificant or incorrect about their beliefs.

I had a job where my boss and the owner of the company told me I needed to believe in Jesus and attend church with her in order to save my soul. She constantly gave me religious gifts with notes inside about Jesus and Christianity. It was the most uncomfortable time in my life. Ironically, she fired me for noncompliance on the job. I was trying to make them more efficient and easier to work with and for and she would have none of it.

What do you believe in?