Recently, a friend of mine’s very young daughter told her class that her favorite holiday was Christmas. My friend was in a panic about it. It was like she failed as a Jewish parent.

But I would doubt that this kind of reaction would come from a Jewish parent if their son or daughter suddenly took an interest in Tibetan Buddhist meditation or started wearing healing Majick Crystals from the local New Age supply store. It seems that turning away from G-d is just a hobby until you start talking about your-personal-lord-and-savior and listening to Paramore and Anberlin.

So why are we OK with JuBus (Jewish Buddhist), Hin-Jews (Jewish Hindus) and the Jewnitarian Jewniversalists, but we freak out about Messianic Jews? Isn’t it all the same?

Idolatry is idolatry, whether it’s bowing down to a Buddha statue or wearing a crucifix around your neck. Jesus is really no different than Mohammed or Thor or anything else that doesn’t have the OU or Star-K symbol stamped on it. And nowhere in the Torah does it say, “thou shalt have no other gods before me, but L. Ron Hubbard is totally chill.”

So why the double standard? Just askin’.