Malintent
Veteran Member
I was at a bar with some friends and we were talking about something a doctor said to one of us in response to the question of why breast cancer rates are so high in our geographical region. Their doctor said it was because of the higher than average density of Jewish people skewing the statistics. According to the doctor, Jewish people have a higher instance of cancer markers in their DNA than other groups.
Overhearing us, a man at the bar jumped into the conversation. He politely interjected that he recently had an Ancestry DNA test done, and he was shocked that part of his pie chart said, "Jewish". He said that when he saw that he was outraged that this company (Ancestry) has declared a Religion as part of his DNA. He was Irish Catholic (praise Jesus - his words) and was offended they called him part Jewish.
I am of the opinion he was anti-Semitic and mistook what he heard of our conversation as being anti-Semitic, referring to the Jewish people as having "bad DNA" (not what we said, but what he took us to be saying). He took the opportunity to espouse his feelings of revulsion being associated with that people.
I explained to him that "Jewish" is both a religion and also a reference to the Semites from the Middle-East... That his ancestors must have migrated out of that region, is all.
He just repeated that he was surprised that "Jewish" is a DNA marker. How many times can you explain something to someone with an agenda that does not want to understand what it really means?
Two questions for ya'll...
1) Does this make sense? Was my explanation accurate? "Jewish" is both a religion, as well as a genetic path.
2) Have you ever been approached by someone who mistook what you were talking about and thought you were on "their side", but in fact were on the opposite "side" of the "argument"?
This happens to me when I talk about religion in public... my knowledge is mistaken as devotion, and then the conversation gets awkward, like immediately.
Overhearing us, a man at the bar jumped into the conversation. He politely interjected that he recently had an Ancestry DNA test done, and he was shocked that part of his pie chart said, "Jewish". He said that when he saw that he was outraged that this company (Ancestry) has declared a Religion as part of his DNA. He was Irish Catholic (praise Jesus - his words) and was offended they called him part Jewish.
I am of the opinion he was anti-Semitic and mistook what he heard of our conversation as being anti-Semitic, referring to the Jewish people as having "bad DNA" (not what we said, but what he took us to be saying). He took the opportunity to espouse his feelings of revulsion being associated with that people.
I explained to him that "Jewish" is both a religion and also a reference to the Semites from the Middle-East... That his ancestors must have migrated out of that region, is all.
He just repeated that he was surprised that "Jewish" is a DNA marker. How many times can you explain something to someone with an agenda that does not want to understand what it really means?
Two questions for ya'll...
1) Does this make sense? Was my explanation accurate? "Jewish" is both a religion, as well as a genetic path.
2) Have you ever been approached by someone who mistook what you were talking about and thought you were on "their side", but in fact were on the opposite "side" of the "argument"?
This happens to me when I talk about religion in public... my knowledge is mistaken as devotion, and then the conversation gets awkward, like immediately.