Reply #94: What you have observed is the division between

[nadinbrzezinski]

the Secularists and the orthodox... the division is pretty close to that you observe in other faiths.

Among the Secularists there is a strong group, I would not call it a majority either, of atheists.

But in strict Judaism one of the principles of the faith is the existence of one god...

Another is that this god gave the Law to the people of Israel at Sinai.

Both principles require a god. And both are CENTRAL tennets of the faith.

They are like principles in other faiths, such as the virgin birth. They are not provable, Why they are called faith.

Of course all religions have folks who only attend shul, temple, church, what have you, only for births, deaths and high holidays... and there are people who are there every week. Those are still the minority in the US, even if the US is the most religious society of OECD economies. I posted Gallup's for this year where we are at 43% who attend church (includes all religions) regularly. It's inched up, it does that in economic stress.