DEBATE: What Relationship Should American Jews Have With Israel?

The most basic assumptions you have about Jews and Israel are wrong.

I’ve been publishing highly unconventional and controversial takes on Jewish issues for The Black Sheep, and frankly they haven’t exactly been our most beloved content. I don’t merely challenge the details of people’s religious or political beliefs, but the very core of the validity and morality of Jewish ethnic identity. As you might imagine, people don’t tend to take very kindly to having the group identities that give them meaning attacked, especially when that group has been victimized by some of the worst bigotry in human history. But to challenge the entrenched conventional thinking of groups is exactly what a black sheep is supposed to do. This process is the only way groups can become aware of the flaws in their worldview and gain the opportunity to improve.

Thanks to an invite from a fellow member of the group Atheists for Liberty, which I’m the Virginia chapter leader for, I had the opportunity earlier this week to take part in a debate against the founder of the Jewish Insti…