I got in a Twitter fight once for claiming the title Judeo Christian. I want to explain this.

I am ethnically and culturally Jewish. I am even more than that in my own expression and love for the Jewish faith and how much I stand firm on their critiques of Christianity as being very valid.

I also am Christian in that my religious beliefs are based in Christianity. I have gone to church for nearly my entire life and have a strong relationship with Jesus (which I’m told is a big deal).

Being Judeo Christian is not a way of saying that I don’t see the differences in the faith dimensions or even that I am pretending to understand everything about the Jewish religion.

It is a way to make sure people know that I will put up with a lot of church stupidity, and I will never put up with antisemitism. I have heard all the arguments from the Christian community about why discrimination and bullying are allowed.

They call it apologetics.

That’s a fancy term of saying that they are not apologizing for their systemic failures as a church and have scripture to double down on those. I don’t respect apologetics any more than I respect people who throw scripture at the oppressed.

It’s the same concept and it’s gross.

As a Jewish woman who loves Jesus but doesn’t vibe with the whole Cristian culture, I often get asked why I don’t convert to Judaism if I love it so much more and have more faith for it.

And to me that’s the offensive aspect of this.

I know the difference between Judaism and Christianity on a literary level. I actually love the ministry of Jesus. I in fact believe in it so much that it gets me into trouble in Christian circles.

I don’t want to convert not because I don’t think I would be welcomed or appreciated. It’s not even about thinking Judaism is lesser. I’ll be blunt in saying that Jewish people are kinder than Christians. I love a community of believers who aren’t afraid to speak up for oppressed people.

My critique of Christianity is often that there are fields like apologetics within it. I don’t think it’s realistic to make a theological argument about why you know better than Jesus who belongs to Him.

To me that’s the epitome of blasphemy.

And that’s why I claim the title of Jewish. Because of the cultural dynamics of a community whose critiques and criticism of Christianity are actually pretty on point. I recently have been looking into more of the Jewish orthodox traditions and practices and their interpretations of Christian culture is not only really funny, but fairly accurate.

When Jewish communities say the Christian Trinity is actually polytheistic, I see it as the best argument for why it makes no sense. I taught Sunday school and I loved hearing why the Trinity was confusing.

To hear the Jewish stance on why illuminates the heart of why I loved being a Sunday school teacher. I got to field inquiries and confusion. I may have been the only one to encourage such behavior in young students in 1st and 2nd grade.

I claim being Judeo Christian simply because I believe equally in the stances of Jewish and Christian faiths. I hold them as equal to my religious and spiritual worldview.

To me, I think it’s fun to hear kids actually being critical of the Bible. I was a lovely teacher in that I wanted kids to know that faith is not contingent upon a blind acceptance of the whole Bible.

One kid asked me why and how come, when Jesus met the disciples, they knew to follow Him.

“How did they know that he wasn’t a random stranger who was lying to them?”

At that age, the most logical churchy answer is, “They were led by the Holy Spirit”. I knew enough to know that wasn’t the most complete description for a lot of reasons. But I also knew that there wasn’t a parent or church staff member alive who would take issue with that answer from me.

Because as a Jewish woman, I know fundamentally that Sunday school is meant to teach about the ministry of Jesus and what it meant for us.

As a Jewish woman, I loved asking this question: “So was there anything in today’s story that just didn’t make sense or was confusing?”

Because what people don’t get about claiming the title of Judeo Christian is that I am truthfully admitting my beliefs on approaching Jesus. I take some Jewish perspective and methods to it.

I hold true that if an adult really wants to become aware of the Old Testament meanings, then they should consider applying a Jewish cultural context to the verses. Taking the Bible out of its socio cultural context is ignoring the meanings of it.

There’s a verse about covering your head as a sign of marriage. In Christian tradition this looks more like a ring or something similar. In Jewish tradition this is looks often like a literal head covering.

Some Christian women read this and say, “I feel convicted in my love for God to do this.” And I, knowing the truth of what that action means for their cultural and religious beliefs, often think it’s important to encourage Christians that taking up the Jewish culture is not necessary for them.

I don’t say this as a way to say not to be appreciative of other cultures and traditions.

I actually say this because it’s what it means to stand up for the Jewish community in an appropriate context that is kind and respectful.

As a Jewish woman, I host a yearly Seder.

I’ve invited church group after church group to attend my Seder. They are all excited to celebrate Passover with me until they realize I am following the direct Haggadah with no changes to it.

Many pastors respond to me calling out this antisemitism by throwing scripture at me, such as verses suggesting that I am offending God by being a woman (who is both single and not a rabbi) and how me hosting a Seder is anti biblical.

I could be as upfront to them as possible that I am culturally and ethnically Jewish. I could be very clear that it’s a cultural celebration to me and I only want people to respect the ceremony even if they aren’t religious or spiritual, or don’t agree with all the words of the Haggadah. I am clear that I don’t expect people to say words they don’t mean or don’t think are theirs to say, express, or claim.

To me this is exactly why I’m not being offensive to God with my Seder. Being offensive would be forcing non believers to believe. Being offensive would be using the Seder to make people think I demand them to appreciate my culture and heritage. Being offensive is not being upfront that it is a religious thing for me but that I want to share my culture and heritage with others.

Wouldn’t it be most offensive to God to deny someone an invitation to see his faithfulness due to them being different from you?

Wouldn’t it be most offensive to God to deny someone a realistic answer and throw scripture at them to prove you are better for not going?

Wouldn’t it be most offensive to deny someone in your church the chance to see their heritage and cultural identity because you think it’s not something worth celebrating?

Being offensive to God is not about if I follow the biblical teachings around hosting a Seder.

I know I’m a woman. I know I’m not a rabbi.

And yet denying me your attendance is not the spiritual win you think it is. It actually shows me your inability to respect my heritage rather than your commitment to yours.