A Bertram Manifesto

This is a (semi) old post I made on Facebook:


Every once in a while, people make a comment they believe to be simply careless, or even benign, that, in fact, can damage the very core of people. I admit that I have not been remotely careful enough as to what I say, or how I say it. However, there are certain comments and assertions that people can make that clearly cross any of innocent, feigned or real, insult. These are the comments that assert a particular point about the person making them, in regards to their respect, or usually lack thereof, for the person they have made the comment about.

Oddly enough, I feel like I am an outsider coming in at the University of Bristol. Not only am I an American, a nation which is the subject of constant 'casual' derision, but I am also a Jew. There are very few Jews in England, fewer South of London, fewer in the city of Bristol, and an almost paltry amount in the University itself. That would be difficult even were the setting America.

However, this Enlgand- a Christian country, and especially in the South. Even worse is the fact that part of my degree is Theology and Religious Studies, which in this country, is an outgrowth of programs formerly religious. Although the content of this course is now devoid of such a 'faith commitment' many of the students are not.

Despite feeling at such a disatvantage, I nonetheless have tried to acclimate to my environment, within the context of who I am as an America, Jew, and more importantly- an individual.

However, a line has been crossed today which I fear cannot be uncrossed. You see, in my attempt to acclimate to this country, to the University, and to the people on my courses I have held one maxim- I am who I am, and the respect that I afford myself is the respect that I will afford others, and that others will afford me. As people may have noticed, I am hardly shy about my beliefs. Neither am I willing to apologize for them.

My convictions are ones felt wholeheartedly. They are ones that I have discovered throughout my journey in life, as an individual and as a memeber of a wider community.Indeed, I am more than willing to 'stick up' for my own beliefs. They are not matters held lightly by me, for they are not matters arrived at lightly by me.

At the same time, I do not presume that everyone will think I am right. In fact, I am convinced most will think my beliefs, conceptions, and conviction borderline absurd; I know I think the beliefs of many others are as such. I can accept that- I dish it out, and I am willing to take it. You who want to criticize America, the land that I DO love, Judaism, my religion of choice, or the Jewish people, my people by fate- feel free to do so. However, do so with one caveat in mind- I am who I am, and that I am that way is my own choice, and not anyone else's. Above all, and beyond all, I am an autonomous individual who choices his path- rightly or wrongly. I will suffer any criticism; I will not suffer any coercion. If I am wrong, then show me. And if you cannot, I will not accept your mere conjectures. But, if when I die, I am shown to be truly wrong before the tribunal of truth, let me be damned for it. I will offer only this in my defense- I live only by my own convictions, and no one else's.It is within this frame of reference that I find the particular remarks made to me today beyond particularly insulting. My right, as anyone else's, is to live my life as I see fit. Anyone who denies that fact, does not my conception of the good, but rather denies me as a human being.

You see, I was told today that it is incorrect to call non-Christians (by association and context, I am included) 'not Christian,' the correct term is 'not Christian yet.'

What is implied in this term is not only that non-Christians are wrong, but they, as soon as they take their blinders off, will become Christian. Aside from the obvious descriptive absurdity that the vast majority of people who grace this earth with their presence will not become Christian, this comment has the insidious connotation that I do not have to autonomy to choose my own path. Particularly startling is that one of the persons who made this comment ought to know better. That person should realize, at least through any due deliberation on the history of that person's people, that such an attitude has been the general cause of calimnity for them.

Perhaps it is startling for non-Jews to be confronted by a Jew who asserts his right, either within his community as a Jew, or as an individual, to choose his own destiny. Perhaps Christendom's frame of reference towards the Jews is not yet able to conceive of him as different and equal, being. Perhaps Jews had been too complacent in allowing such an attitude to be fostered.

But, we, and I, no longer accept those terms. We, and I, are no longer outside the recognized realm of proper society. We, and I, no longer wish to be dominated by you, subjected to you norms and scorn. We, and I, have realized that we are autonomous and are not granted the right to anythng, be it life, happiness, freedom, or the pursuit of any goal, by you or anyone else.

We Jews, myself included, grant our own licences to live. I do not, nor do any other Jews, need your 'sanction' to live. In fact, I refuse and utterly reject it. My life, and that of my people's, is our own by rights.

Be you a colleague, a friend, a teacher or a stranger, this is all I expect of you. I do not ask it, for it is not yours to refuse. I will state this clealy and emphatically: I am a Jew becaue it is my right, and because I choose to be. And if I become, at any point, a Christian- it will be nothing other than my choice, and my right. It is my life, not yours, that I must account for. And it is your life, not mine, that is your sole responsibility. Those who deny this fact, disrespect me as a Jew, and as a human being. And to this, I will not submit.