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TIL the term "Semite" refers to both Jews and Arabs collectively.
@freemo Really? So, by that logic, Islamophobia is antisemitic?
@LouisIngenthron Yup, sure is.
@freemo Hmm, interesting. So, I wonder what the more specific term would be. Antijudaic?
@LouisIngenthron Interestingly despite a semite including all speakers of a semetic language, including jews and arabs, in general practice antisemite refers exclusively to jews... very confusing I know.
@freemo @LouisIngenthron I have never understood this. It gets more confusing when the Ashkenazi are Mediterranean Greek ancestry, and not Semitic. I had someone try to explain how "jewish" was both an ethnicity and a religion once, but the argument seemed to revolve around ignoring testable objective reality.
@JonKramer @freemo It's a common argument. Even the Wikipedia page calls the Jewish people an "ethnoreligious" group.
@LouisIngenthron @freemo , yes, it seems to be common. My confusion is why it's common, but only for Jewish peoples. There has to be some historic reason that just stuck, but since the whole silly history of the theory of different races is fairly new, it doesn't seem to have had time to stick.
It would seem its common among muslims as well.. I have often seen muslims as being referred to as an ethnic group as well.
@freemo @JonKramer Hindus and Buddhists as well. Many religions are closely intertwined with ethnic groups.
@LouisIngenthron @freemo , No argument with Hindus and Buddhists. But how do a bunch of ethnic Greeks call themselves middle eastern Semitic people? That makes as much sense to me as a bunch of Irish guys suddenly deciding they are Sub-Saharan Africans.
@JonKramer @freemo In the modern sense, while ethnoreligious groups were founded on ethnic and religious commonalities, today, they seem to be more inclusive (i.e. either/or instead of both/and). "Jewish" can refer equally to a devout Hassidic Jew as it can to a nonbeliever with Jewish parents. The commonality these days is a shared cultural background. Back to the previous example, both the strictest practitioners and the non-practitioners can attend a Bar Mitzvah together and discuss matters with the same cultural context, despite their wide gulf in religious belief.
@LouisIngenthron @freemo , Absolutely. The common cultural background is unquestionably there, but the ethnic background isn't.
@JonKramer @freemo Sure it is. What do you think ethnic means?
@freemo @LouisIngenthron , my error, I intended to use the word "ethnicity" not "ethnic"
That wouldnt change anything.. ethnicity is just the noun form of ethnic, it still refers to culture not race.
@freemo @LouisIngenthron , Ethnicity has the connotation of genetic background, not just cultural similarities.
Often this IS a synonym for "race".
That link provides a definition which makes it clear it is cultural and not race (race is not listed).. it only provides a "usage note" pointing to race, doesnt say, at least at that link, that it is a synonym.
You also have to keep in mind you cant use synonyms to imply additional definitions.. synonyms often list words of similar but different definitions, they arent usually entierly interchangable. So even if it was listed as a synonym (sometyhing you will probably find in some thesaurus that istn a good way to determine word usage.)
Your choice of words just lead to a bit of inaccuracy, easily addressed now that its clear what you meant.
@freemo @LouisIngenthron At worst, I used the vernacular, in describing a concept with no rational basis, "race", using the word "ethnicity" to attempt to imply I was indicating a genetic link of family origins over relatively short evolutionary periods. If anyone doesn't understand my point, I guess I can expend on it, if requested.