Who likes weakness?

Growing up in the United States, the most powerful country in the world, tends to inculcate a feeling of power among its citizens. Most Americans, even those who criticize or protest against the more internationally assertive policies of our nation, come to enjoy, to varying degrees, the feelings of strength associated with being a part of a country unsurpassed economically, militarily, academically, creatively, and in many other ways. The United States, with all its warts and the major setback of the George W. Bush administration, remains a light unto the nations. In contrast, Judaism is the smallest of the "major" religions. In fact, its appelation as a major religion is more due to its historical position as a promoter of monotheism and a precursor to Christianity than to its current presence in the world. The entire Jewish population of 14 million represents one-fifth of one percent of the world's people. By adherents, Judaism ranks 14th among world religions, not only behind Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism, but behind the likes of Sikhism and Juche as well. Not only is Judaism very small in number of adherents, but it is declining as a percentage of the world population with a 0.3% rate of growth compared to a world growth rate of 1.4%. One study predicted that the Jewish population of the United States would decline by a third within 80 years, given the current low Jewish fertility rate and migration patterns. All this leads to an American Jewish identity conflict. Feelings of being a member of an immensly powerful nation contrast strongly with feelings of being part of a small minority group, weak in numbers if not in accomplishment, and persecuted throughout recorded history. And there is considerable evidence of continued negative views towards Jews that will very likely persist into the foreseeable future. In addition to increasing physical attacks on Jews in Europe, a recent survey shows strong negative attitudes towards Jews in several European countries. The weak position of the Jewish people is largely due to its small numbers, which is in turn related to current religious policies that keep it small. The first is the Jewish Orthodox and Conservative tenet of matrilineal Jewish identification that excludes those with Jewish fathers from being considered Jewish without a formal, lengthy, and difficult conversion process. This also affects adoptees whose birth-mothers are not Jewish, even if the child is raised from infancy in the Jewish faith. The difficult conversion process also discourages other people who might be interested in Judaism from becoming part of it. Contrast this with the Christian churches whose affiliation requires no more than accepting Jesus Christ as one's Lord and Savior, and a brief baptism ceremony. Thus, Jewish religious policies perpetuate the numerical weakness of the Jewish people. It's thus not surprising that many Jews have a conflict between their identity as strong Americans and weak Jews. If Judaism is to survive and flourish, it will have to become more inclusionary. After all, the existing exclusionary policies do not date back to the bible, but were developed by rabbinical scholars well into the modern era.