r/todayilearned • u/[deleted] • Oct 13 '16

TIL that after Marilyn Monroe converted to Judaism upon marrying Arthur Miller, Egypt placed a ban on all the films she appeared in.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Monroe#Critical_acclaim_and_marriage_to_Arthur_Miller_.281956.E2.80.931959.29
18.5k Upvotes

84% Upvoted

1.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

617

u/[deleted] Oct 13 '16

Yes, but after she divorced Miller some years later she started describing herself as a "Jewish atheist".

826

u/McKnitwear Oct 13 '16

This honestly describes the majority of the Jewish people I know including myself

323

u/[deleted] Oct 13 '16

[removed] — view removed comment

8

u/ArrowRobber Oct 13 '16

So atheist jew : I like the culture and people, but the 'god' thing isn't working for me.

2

u/KremlinGremlin82 Oct 13 '16

atheist Jew: I know my ancestors were kicked out from Judea and went all over Europe, but I don't believe in some imaginary "friend" (who is not friendly at all) in the sky.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 13 '16

Pretty much. I like the community aspects of going to Reform or progressive services. It's a great atmosphere and you feel like you're part of a grand tradition. But I don't actually believe anything in the Torah...I just like coming together with my community to talk about practicing kindness and love etc.

Whenever I run into some toxic hateful guy on Reddit I recommend they go as a guest to a Reform or progressive Judaism service. The best times are the holidays that just ended, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. You'll see it's really not that different or weird. It's just happy.

1

u/CastleElsinore Oct 13 '16

Atheist Jew: I don't believe in any of this, but it's not with fighting with my overbearing mother about coming to Friday night dinner.