[rdb3]

On the other hand, if this same professor one day accepted Jesus as his Savior and became a new-born holy roller Christian, that would become his primary cultural identity.

That was an unwarranted, unappreciated jab at my faith. Watch it. It's not "new-born." It's "born again."

Have I disrespected the Jewish faith? I think not. Nor will I under any circumstance. I ask for the same respect.

Also, there is no such thing as a Christian culture.

Lastly, I haven't seen anything yet that disproves me, but, either you are ethnically Jewish or you are not. It's like being "a little bit pregnant." You either are or are not. And if you wish to deny the Jewishness of a Jew who professes faith in Jesus, how is that not blatant bigotry?

[babble-on]

I apologize profusely, I certainly didn't mean any disrespect. In the case of the "born again" I really did not know that term would be used to describe a convert. And "holy roller" is a term in common parlance which I did not intend to cause offense. Please accept my sincere apologies, honestly.

In your last paragraph I think I now see your confusion. You want Jewishness to be a "race." It is not, it is a religion first and foremost. I would call Sammy Davis Jr. a Jew without any reservations, and the CCNY professor who converts to Christianity is not a Jew. His grandparents might have been, but he is not. Jewishness really is not a "race", even as vague as that term is. Jews have certain cultural characteristics that serve to group them, which is why the "ethically" Jewish term is useful in conversation, but there is no way that there is a Jewish race.