[susan]

15 years ago I was a starving grad student. $20 was a lot for a shirt and $15 for a restaurant meal was a special treat. Now I’m a well-compensated lawyer. $70 is a lot for a shirt and $50 for a restaurant meal is a special treat. I have friends who make more money than I do, whose standards for what’s expensive are even higher than mine. It’s very much a function of how much money you have. As for not just buying practical army surplus even when you can afford Prada, well, Prada is just nicer. It looks nicer. It’s more fashionable. It fits better. And yes, for some people, there’s a snob appeal. Some people aren’t into stuff, but for some of us, there’s a pleasure in having nice things.

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Name : susan, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 39, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : attorney, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[susan]

There are any number of species that engage in homosexual behavior. Not to mention any number of humans who do not think that homosexual behavior is a sign of ‘lower’ morals or intellect or evolutionary development, or whatever you meant when you used the word ‘higher.’

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Name : susan, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 39, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : attorney, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[susan]

John: Actually Judaism teaches that all righteous people have a place in the world to come. Jews are obligated to abide by the 613 commandments that Judaism traditionally teaches are found in the bible, but non-Jews are obligated only to follow the 7 Noahide laws (given to Noah). 1) to establish courts of justice; 2) not to commit blasphemy; 3) not to commit idolatry; 4) not to commit incest and adultery; 5) not to commit bloodshed; 6) not to commit robbery; and 7) not to eat flesh cut from a living animal. (For more information, see http://www.jewfaq.org/gentiles.htm from which I plagarized shamelessly to write this answer.)

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Name : susan, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 39, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : attorney, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[susan]

First, there’s no such thing, really, as a Messianic Jew. One of the many things that makes Christianity different from Judaism is that Christians believe that Jesus is the messiah predicted in the Jewish Bible (New and Old Testament are Christian terms), while Jews believe that the Messiah has not yet arrived. If you believe that Jesus is the Messiah you are not a Jew, you are a Christian. Messianic Judaism is generally a cover for attempts to convert Jews to Christianity. Suggesting that a Jew can or should consider Jesus to be the Messiah does nothing more than perpetuate anti-semitic attitudes. Jews through the centuries have been tortured and killed for not having Christian beliefs. Whether you intend it or not, the claim of the messianic Jew insults the memory of every Jew who died in the Crusades or the Inquisition or church sponsored pogroms. As for your specific question, if by ‘traditional Jews’ you mean Orthodox Jews, they will not recognize a conversion by anyone other than Orthodox rabbis and I promise you that no Orthodox rabbi is going to convert you, with beliefs like those. If you mean the wider spectrum of American Jews, including Reform and Conservative, they are more liberal in the issue of which conversions they accept (ie which rabbis do the converting) but I can’t imagine that any of those rabbis would convert you either. I also strongly doubt that they, or any mainstream Jew, would recognize a conversion by a messianic ‘rabbi.’ In short, if you believe that Jesus is the Messiah, by all means, be a Christian and continue to look until you find a Christian denomination that fulfills you spiritually. IF you want to be a Jew, be a Jew. But you can’t be both.

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Name : susan, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 39, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : attorney, Social class : Upper middle class, 

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