Common ideas do not become true, and there is still a great ammount of debate within the Jewish community as to the ‘essence’ of being a Jew.
This thread is not about a group, it’s about an individual. If it makes you happier you can substitute the question, “Was one of Hitler’s grandparents Jewish?” in place of “Was Hitler one quarter Jewish?”
Um, but they do? I don’t understand what’s wrong with that. Darkish skin, curly brown or black hair, brown eyes. It’s entirely normal to say that someone “looks Jewish”. Obviously not everyone does, I for example, take after my dad and look Scottish. But my mum and brother both look Jewish.
We’ll just have to agree to disagree on whether you can be ethnically Jewish. But it’s not something definite, there are people on both sides on that one.
If you’re going with the “Jewishness is an ethnicity” approach, as many of my Jewish friends do (yes, that’s anecdotal evidence, and I’m fully aware), then someone can definitely “look Jewish.” Adam Goldstein and Sarah Silverman, for example.
On preview, what Silentgoldfish said.
It’s a matter of ontology, yes, one of his grandparents may have been Jewish. But that doesn’t mean he’s 1/4 “Jewish”.
Again, this is fallaciously fungible. There are plenty of blond haired blue eyed Jews. If you cut them out becuase they dont’ fit your model, it’s not reality based. Are blond girls who are Jewish not “looking Jewish?” Why not? If we cut out reality in order to make a generaliztion, all you’ve said is that those specific examples which fit your model will be taken as examples of the whole ‘group’.
Since you admit it’s a contentious issue, how can you be so adamant about it?
And where are getting this from, anyway? SPOOFE made a couple of innocuous comments and you’ve extrapolated this into Nazi racial doctrines.
I consider Jewishness an ethnicity; I am an agnostic (bordering on atheist) Jew and I take no offense at someone remarking on my Jewish facial features. In fact, I would go so far as to say that most Jews currently believe Jewishness to be at least partly cultural, if not overtly so.
Can someone be 1/2 Swiss, Scottish, or Chinese? Surely there are dark-haired Germans (who are fully integrated in German culture) and Scottish people whose physical appearance differs greatly from the norm. I agree with you that one shouldn’t draw any huge conclusions from the way a person looks (or ascribe certain traits based on culture, especially when the person’s actions belie them), but it’s no crime to observe the characteristics of a culture.
Well, as I’ve gotten older, my blond hair has darkened to brown, but my eyes are still blue, and my fair skin burns easily. But I am Jewish and that is (partially, anyway) my ethnicity. If someone asks me my ethnicity, I’ll tell them I’m an Ashkenazi Jew, and if they have problems with it because of my light coloring, fuck 'em.
“And where are you getting…”
Yeah, and there’s lots of black-haired, black-eyed Irishmen, too. Doesn’t stop people from saying how Irish my blue-eyed, red-haired self is. Making generalizations is, practically by definition, “cutting out reality.” That’s why they’re called generalizations.
Hell, I AM a blond haired blue eyed ethnic Jew and aside from a couple of people in my Jewish religion class in highschool saying “You’re Jewish? You don’t look it. Oh well.” no one’s ever raised an eyebrow.
I had a boss (who was Israeli!) refuse to give me Yom Kippur off. I had to practically make a fuss to convince him to give me the day off. Yes, that was neat.
I just realized that that can be read as a truism, so I’ll restate: Even by the more stringent guidelines that you advocate, FinnAgain, a majority of the people who are identified as Jews would consider Jewishness to have a cultural component.
Ya, you’re too white for us-out of the club! 
Anyhow, Finnmeister, many of us Jews subscribe to Jewishness as an ethnicity as well as a religion and a culture. Many of us do fit into a general profile, though quite obviously not everyone does. It’s certainly nothing to get your panties in a bind about, especially among friends.
Sam
I was about to point his out also. By the way, do you know why the Austrians are the smartest people in the world? Because they have everyone believing Hitler was German and Beethoven was Austrian. 
(Beethoven was born in Bonn and didn’t settle in Vienna until he was 22).
Just wanted to point out that I’m not upset or emotional over this issue, Identity Politics is just a pet issue of mine. I’ll respond to this thread as I’m able.
Let’s simplify----Hitler was an asshole!
There. All better.
Huh? “Jew” isn’t a country. How the hell can someone be 4/10ths Jewish?
The western obsession with catagorizing and stastics will be the death of me!
Another person who considers her ethnicity ‘Ashkenazi Jew’ checking in. I’ve been told I look Jewish, I don’t really care. And if you want to say Jewish girls are hot - fine by me.
As such, I see no problem with someone being 1/2 Jew, just as I’d have no problem with someone being, for example, 1/2 Cherokee. I DO have problems with stupid teachers who disseminate false history when they’re messing other teachers’ curriculum to do so.
I don’t think anyone can be 4/10ths anything. 
But a person can be part Palestinian, part Kurd, part Romany Gypsy, and part Basque, and none of those ethnicities have countries attached to them either.
There are no problems with saying a person is 1/4 Jewish, or Cherokee, or Basque, or Mormon, if that’s shorthand for saying one of their grandparents had that ethnicity or religion.
What is wrong is thinking that has much to do with their “race” (whatever that means).
And, of course, a real no-no is saying that people who have particular ancestors ought to be put in concentration camps or in gas ovens.
But if people prefer dating Jewish girls/boys to Chinese girls/boys, or vice versa, where’s the harm in that?