Sarahbeth Caplin's Blog, page 2

Humans can’t die without dignity

I’ve been following the progression of “right to die” laws with special interest. The “Medical Aid in Dying” act (MAiD) recently passed in the state of New York, though it still faces a vote in the senate before it becomes official.  Euthanasia is not new, but MAiD is different. The “right to die” used to… Continue reading Humans can’t die without dignity

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How anxiety pointed me to the gospel

I’m occasionally asked if I ever consider myself a “completed Jew,” and Christians tend to be surprised when I answer no. The main reason for that is because it’s considered highly offensive to Jewish people. The gospel is offensive enough; I don’t see a need to use language that is inflammatory if I don’t have… Continue reading How anxiety pointed me to the gospel

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The vibes are off, time to get on a boat

I saw a meme recently about the Jewish propensity for anxiety: “Of course Jewish people are anxious. The non-anxious ones didn’t survive. Every Jewish person alive today is here because some ancestor, at some point in history, said ‘Hey listen up! The vibes are off; time to get on a boat.’” I feel that. It’s… Continue reading The vibes are off, time to get on a boat

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Pope Francis and the importance of moral clarity

If there’s one takeaway from my brief stint in progressive Christian spaces, it’s this: certainty in faithful matters is not a goal, but rather an enemy (ironically, they seemed pretty certain about that). But when I read books and blog posts about people’s de-conversion journeys, it seemed that certainty itself was not always the problem:… Continue reading Pope Francis and the importance of moral clarity

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The answer to “What would you have done?” isn’t that simple

Normal people perhaps don’t grow up thinking what they would have done had they lived in Nazi Germany, but I did. The answer was simple: good people helped hide Jews, or otherwise volunteered their skills to the Resistance. Bad people looked the other way and did nothing, or worse: reported their neighbors who did those… Continue reading The answer to “What would you have done?” isn’t that simple

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The Protestant to Catholic pipeline

I recently came across this Christianity Today article on why there seems to be a surge of Protestants turning to Catholicism: It’s no secret that a growing number of Protestants in the US have become embittered with American evangelicalism. There is, of course, the disillusionment with sexual abuse scandals among well-known leaders and institutions—as well… Continue reading The Protestant to Catholic pipeline

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The cultural gaslighting of moms who miscarry

Two years ago at this time, I was joyfully expecting my first baby. What I didn’t know, and wouldn’t until mid-March, was that my baby girl passed away in my womb, near the end of the first trimester. When I thought I was growing life, my womb carried a corpse instead. It was, and remains,… Continue reading The cultural gaslighting of moms who miscarry

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“Joyous despair” is a real thing

The social media algorithms want me to be angry, and there’s certainly no shortage of things to rage over. Headlines are purposely alarmist to get clicks: I know this. I used to be in that line of work. I used to live in a place of perpetual anger, and while I made decent money doing… Continue reading “Joyous despair” is a real thing

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To rebuild or not to rebuild

I remember going through my Facebook friends list in 2016 and removing everyone I knew who voted for the candidate the media said was a Nazi. Their reasons for their vote didn’t matter: they supported Hitler 2.0, and therefore they were a threat to my very existence.  Most people in that cut were acquaintances I… Continue reading To rebuild or not to rebuild

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I left Judaism, but can’t fully leave

In my last post on antisemitism, I touched on Christians celebrating Jewish feasts, and how it causes offense to many Jewish people. I’d be a hypocrite to not expound further on how my own actions as a Jew-“ish” believer can be just as offensive.  To an extent, there’s not a whole lot I can do… Continue reading I left Judaism, but can’t fully leave

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