On Psalm 109 and Faith

[Ghoulish Delight]

Oh, you mean pretending for other people. In that case, I personally consider neither a good option, but yes I consider the former worse because the latter does not require accepting magic as truth. For the most part, I do not lie about the reasons I continue to take part in Jewish rituals. I'm fairly open with (or at least I would be if they asked) most of my family that I do so simply for tradition's sake rather than belief. And the negative reaction I'd anticipate would be purely because of the break in tradition and the fear that it would distance them from their grandchild, not because of some concern for my eternal soul.

With the exception of a select few for whom that truth would cause more family strife than it's worth. In that sense, yes there is pretense there. But the harm that would cause by being honest is not worth it to me.

Sure, said rituals do involve voicing certain supernatural beliefs. But I don't consider taking part in that "pretending to believe in god" any more than I consider reading The Giving Tree "pretending to believe that trees have human-like emotions." It's just a story framework to teach and reinforce certain lessons. And as soon as my child is old enough to understand that, that's what they'll learn.