Posters debate whether discussing characters' religious backgrounds is relevant to the show, with some defending it as an intellectual exercise while others think it belongs elsewhere.
What's with all the "Is (name here) Jewish" posts? Who cares? Is there some secret society charged with keep tabs on the religious faith of sitcom characters? Should we start asking who is an Anabaptist?
What's wrong with you people? Let's see more talk about Jerry's girlfriend or some other worthwhile topic? (BTW, do you think she is Lutheran?)
Mac
In a way you should be grateful. Many other newsgroups would be filled with endless "is (name here) gay?" posts.
As the person who started the :Is George jewish thread I must come to the defense of what i consider a useful thread. Both jew & gentile have pored over past episodes in order to find any evidence on either side of the fence. It is a sort of intelectual scavenger hunt. I grew up listning to the jewish comics on the Ed Sullivan show.
Judging from the many posts on this thread the same thing can be said about many people in this newsgroup. Besides a person's religon is no trivial matter. It roots one to a long tradition & to a large group of fellow co-religionist.
I think a religious NG is more appropriate for that. -Eric
In F_Jackie writes:
gentile
either
grew
Hey - maybe Eric's right...and we could also have a cereal newgroup, and a BO newsgroup, and a Jerry's computer newsgroup, and a Bosco newsgroup, and a George's best line newsgroup, and......
--Susan
What's Anabaptist?
Bo (hoping to start another silly never-die thread)
In article , L.B. Peep writes:
Anabaptists have some connection with the Amish, though I can't remember exactly what the connection is. *I think* the Amish were a "breakaway" group from the Anabaptists, and in fact, are stricter in their observances.
[email] wrote:
:
It's the game Americans love to play "Jew, not a Jew."
[email] (Heidi Cooper) wrote:
Cooper was probably once Cooperstein, but Heidi sounds very Swiss. A real dilemma! Are you going to tell us, Heidi?
Because, every white in New York is Jewish, Italian, or Irish. We're just tryin to figure them out.
Julia Louis Dreyfus is Jewish but her character isn't. Jason Alexander is Jewish but his character isn't. Michael Richards is Catholic, but Kramer is as far as I know only possible-Jewish. Still, it's funny that aside from Seinfeld, everybody seems to be acting on the other side of the chapel.
Mark L. Levinson wrote:
But aren't his parents jewish? just a thought--jane.
Certainly Jerry Stiller is Jewish, though he plays a Tuscanese(?). Stiller's Jewishness was the whole point of every comedy routine he ever did with Anne Meara back on the Ed Sullivan show. I don't know about the woman who plays Mrs. Costanza, but I assumed (rashly?) that her character was supposed to be a fellow Italian...
Farrakhan sure does
In article , L.B. Peep writes:
The name "Anabaptist" means, literally, "rebaptizer". The Anabaptists were radical Protestants from 16th century Zurich who repudiated infant baptisms, instead preaching the rebaptism of adult converts.
Andrew E. Magidson WDI
There are such a thing as Italian jews. Also as more than one member has pointed out it hasn't been ruled out that his mother is jewish thereby under jewish law making him a jew. Wheels within wheels.