I encountered this claim first on Wikipedia, without a citation. I was skeptical but intrigued. Then I encountered the same claim in the book by James R. Lewis, Perspectives of New Age. The sources cited are surveys by Melton in 1979, and Adler, 1985.
Why should people with Jewish backgrounds be twice as likely as the general U.S. population to turn to Neopaganism? Given my mother's side of the family, I may be an example in this statistic. I have personal theories as to why exposure to Judaism may have guided me toward neopaganism.
Looking at things from the perspective of a minority religion may have opened my mind. Learning more about Judaism also made me less receptive to Christianity, which likely turned me away from mainstream religion. Then there's all the research suggesting that the Jews were originally polytheists. Or, it may just be that a lot of the most liberal religious people in the U.S. are Jewish. That's all just speculation based on personal experience. Do these factors play a role? Why do you think this trend exists?
Why should people with Jewish backgrounds be twice as likely as the general U.S. population to turn to Neopaganism? Given my mother's side of the family, I may be an example in this statistic. I have personal theories as to why exposure to Judaism may have guided me toward neopaganism.
Looking at things from the perspective of a minority religion may have opened my mind. Learning more about Judaism also made me less receptive to Christianity, which likely turned me away from mainstream religion. Then there's all the research suggesting that the Jews were originally polytheists. Or, it may just be that a lot of the most liberal religious people in the U.S. are Jewish. That's all just speculation based on personal experience. Do these factors play a role? Why do you think this trend exists?
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