# Are any other religions and ethnicity as closely linked as the Jewish religion/ethnicity **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 25, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-other-religions-and-ethnicity-as-closely-linked-as-the-jewish-religion-ethnicity/823505 "2018-10-25T17:16:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-other-religions-and-ethnicity-as-closely-linked-as-the-jewish-religion-ethnicity/823505/41 "2018-10-28T04:13:36Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > A bit more complicated than that. Like “Israeli”, “Indian” is a nationality, not an ethnicity. India is the largest country on earth and has many ethnic groups in it. Additionally, there are other countries where Hinduism is significant, but not just because of people who trace their ancestry back to India. > > It used to be common to refer to Indians ad “Hindus” or “Hindoos”, but no one today would use that term either for an Indian or to indicate an ethnic group. Saying someone is a Hindu is to indicate their beliefs, not their ethnicity. Actually, the sub-continent is a good example of a place where religion and ethnicity mixed. Muslim nationalism (which eventually resulted in the creation of Pakistan) was based on a sense of nationhood seperate from that of Hinduism but based on India rather than with other parts of the Islamic world. The Khalistan movement for a seperate Sikh homeland is also based on something similar. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-other-religions-and-ethnicity-as-closely-linked-as-the-jewish-religion-ethnicity/823505/42 "2018-10-28T04:39:22Z")
> **[Ethnic religion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_religion)** > > In religious studies, an ethnic religion is a religion or belief associated with a particular ethnic group. Ethnic religions are often distinguished from universal religions, such as Christianity or Islam which are not limited in ethnic, national or racial scope. > A number of alternative terms have been used instead of ethnic religion. Another term that is often used is folk religion. While ethnic religion and folk religion have overlapping uses, the latter term implies "the appropriation of reli... I would expect that many (if not most) religions (noting that most religions have been wiped out or lost in modern day) were probably ethnically minded wherever there were linguistic or cultural boundaries between two groups. Probably the larger your culture was the less ethnically-bound the religion was, because you’re the dominant group and don’t really consider the smaller cultures around yours as significant. The smaller groups, wedged between a lot of others (like the Jews, between Egypt and Tigris–Euphrates) would always be thinking of themselves in terms of how they _aren’t_ part of the major culture, and so they fold their minority status into their religion. (This part is supposition.) ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-other-religions-and-ethnicity-as-closely-linked-as-the-jewish-religion-ethnicity/823505/43 "2018-10-28T09:49:56Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Shinto and Japan are closely intertwined, but it’s devolved into ritual and tradition for the vast majority of Japanese, rather than what we might consider “religion.” Has it ever been more than ritual and tradition? I’m no expert on Shintoism but there really aren’t any set of beliefs or teachings, and my understanding is that there never was. So, I don’t think we we could say it’s “devolved” but rather that is it ritual and tradition. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-other-religions-and-ethnicity-as-closely-linked-as-the-jewish-religion-ethnicity/823505/44 "2018-10-28T12:17:51Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Muslim nationalism (which eventually resulted in the creation of Pakistan) was based on a sense of nationhood seperate from that of Hinduism but based on India rather than with other parts of the Islamic world. That is partially incorrect. There was no “Muslim Nationism” in Bangladesh evidenced by the brutal suppression by erstwhile Pakistan and eventual separation. In today’s terms Afghanistan does not share this “Muslim nationalism” with Pakistan either and there are bitter disputes between the two countries. And Balochistan has rejected “Muslim nationalism” too and has chosen their ethnic identity over Pakistan’s rule and have engaged in a praiseworthy freedom struggle. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-other-religions-and-ethnicity-as-closely-linked-as-the-jewish-religion-ethnicity/823505/45 "2018-10-28T18:55:28Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > That is partially incorrect. There was no “Muslim Nationism” in Bangladesh evidenced by the brutal suppression by erstwhile Pakistan and eventual separation. > > In today’s terms Afghanistan does not share this “Muslim nationalism” with Pakistan either and there are bitter disputes between the two countries. > > And Balochistan has rejected “Muslim nationalism” too and has chosen their ethnic identity over Pakistan’s rule and have engaged in a praiseworthy freedom struggle. I don’t see any of that as a refutation of what **AK84** said. Clearly rather a lot of people subscribe to the two-nation theory and view their primary ethnic identity as “Muslim”. Equally clearly, most Bengalis (by 1971) and many Baluchis today don’t. I subscribe to the many-nation theory myself, i.e. I think the subcontinent would be better off if different ethnic groups like Tamils, Bengalis, Balochis, the northeastern tribes, etc… all had been allowed to have their separate nation-states, but at least the Pakistani model is closer to being right than the Indian one. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-other-religions-and-ethnicity-as-closely-linked-as-the-jewish-religion-ethnicity/823505/46 "2018-10-28T18:57:06Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Most. Also: [Irani (India) - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irani_(India)) There’s a few in Tajikistan too, I think some disaffected youth there are turning back to Zoroastrianism because they see it as their ancestral religion before Persians embraced Islam. Kind of like people in Europe returning to neo-paganism. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-other-religions-and-ethnicity-as-closely-linked-as-the-jewish-religion-ethnicity/823505/47 "2018-10-28T21:02:23Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Has it ever been more than ritual and tradition? I’m no expert on Shintoism but there really aren’t any set of beliefs or teachings, and my understanding is that there never was. > > So, I don’t think we we could say it’s “devolved” but rather that is it ritual and tradition. Rituals and traditions are what most religions are about. But so, in the case of Shinto, the principal idea was that you want to keep the gods happy, so you need to entertain them, thus you hold festivals (matsuri), and you call forth a god into an object (like a paper doll) and bring it to the festival so it can watch. Having thus pleased the god, he’ll protect the local region. Shinto has further rules on cleanliness and offerings to keep the gods happy. It doesn’t have any moral system, that’s true, and not much of an idea of the afterlife (your soul goes into a giant cave and floats around bored), but it is a full religion and pretty consistent with most nomadic/tribal religions. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-other-religions-and-ethnicity-as-closely-linked-as-the-jewish-religion-ethnicity/823505/48 "2018-10-28T22:44:56Z")
> [@Hector\_St\_Clare](#): > > There’s a few in Tajikistan too, I think some disaffected youth there are turning back to Zoroastrianism because they see it as their ancestral religion before Persians embraced Islam. Kind of like people in Europe returning to neo-paganism. Also the only place in the world with a region to have a Nizari majority: [Gorno-Badakhshan - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorno-Badakhshan_Autonomous_Region) ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-other-religions-and-ethnicity-as-closely-linked-as-the-jewish-religion-ethnicity/823505/49 "2018-10-29T03:55:46Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Also the only place in the world with a region to have a Nizari majority: [Gorno-Badakhshan - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorno-Badakhshan_Autonomous_Region) That’s amazing! I didn’t know there were any majority Ismaili ethnic groups out there. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-other-religions-and-ethnicity-as-closely-linked-as-the-jewish-religion-ethnicity/823505/50 "2018-10-29T05:18:12Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > That is partially incorrect. There was no “Muslim Nationism” in Bangladesh evidenced by the brutal suppression by erstwhile Pakistan and eventual separation. :dubious: You do realize that Muslim Nationalism started in the United Provinces and Bengal don’t you? The All India Muslim League was founded in Dacca and the Partition of Bengal of 1905 was one of the kickers for the movement? > [@](#): > > In today’s terms Afghanistan does not share this “Muslim nationalism” with Pakistan either and there are bitter disputes between the two countries. Not part of the sub-continent so irrelevant. > [@](#): > > And Balochistan has rejected “Muslim nationalism” too and has chosen their ethnic identity over Pakistan’s rule and have engaged in a praiseworthy freedom struggle. No. The “struggle” is the former Kalat state not the whole of the province. And FYI, the majority of Baloch in Pakistan live outside of the province; in Western Sindh and South Western Punjab. By the way one of the “praiseworthy” struggles you mention include the r[ight to bury women alive](https://www.dawn.com/news/318948). Such a courageous freedom fighter. Makes me physically sick every time I remember that his party is now pary of the new center Coalition. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-other-religions-and-ethnicity-as-closely-linked-as-the-jewish-religion-ethnicity/823505.md?page=2)