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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   1913 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 3, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Do you consider Israel culturally part of the West? Partially part of the West?

I've been thinking about this, and I think it's an interesting and not necessarily straight forwards question. I think secular Jews and those in the Reform tradition are undeniably Western; one of the core points of the Reform tradition was to integrate Judaism into Western Traditions and vice versa. The Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox I think are their own distinct, more ancient civilization. My answer to the above question is I think Israel is mostly Western, given the cultural roots of the Reform/Seculars, but not entirely.

I'd say it's the Western periphery, like Russia or Turkey or Georgia and Armenia. Less Western than the US or even Mexico, more Western than Japan.

I like the Mexico/Latin American comparison. Those nations are a mix of clearly western populations, criollos mestizos, and pardos, and non-western populations, the unassimilated indios.

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