I'm Jewish AND Mormon!

[_MrStakhanovite]

So you contend that Rosa is able to distinguish between cultural and theological identities, and is speaking specifically about a theological identity? I don't see anything in her comment that suggests that.

At 6 years old, she doesn’t really understand what it means to be Jewish or Mormon; she’s just parroting what Mommy and Daddy have been telling her. Rosa isn’t at fault here; her parents are the ones giving her a mishmash of bad ideas that are not really sustainable.
The passage oozes theology, look at how it’s nestled between paragraphs that go out of their way to show just how inclusive Joanna’s house is:

At a 1950s-style house nestled in a peaceful neighborhood nicknamed “Hanukkah Hill,” a smiling Buddha on the porch greets visitors – his arms raised as if to say all are welcome.

Affixed to the doorpost is a mezuzah, a decorative case holding blessings for a Jewish home. Inside, on the family’s refrigerator, hangs a magnet from the Feminist Mormon Housewives blog that says, “Jesus loves us. Who cares what you think?”

In the kitchen stands Joanna Brooks, an accidental, unofficial and admittedly unauthorized source for all things Mormon. She’s making “funeral potatoes,” a classic Mormon casserole, and heaped on the counter are the ingredients: a not-so-healthy dose of cheese, butter, sour cream, hash browns and chicken soup. Her Jewish husband strolls by, takes a look at what’s cooking, and grimaces. Bespectacled and freckled 6-year-old Rosa, standing atop a chair, proudly announces, “I’m Jewish and Mormon!”

The home and life Brooks has created is the product of a complicated journey.

She cannot separate The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from her identity any more than she can leave cheese out of funeral potatoes. But like her persecuted ancestors who braved the unforgiving plains to reach the promised land of what is now Utah, Brooks, 40, fights for her faith.
The battle has, at times, left her feeling beaten.

[_honorentheos]

Stak -

The question really IS why it matters. It gets at the questions of self-identity and what, as a 6 year old, is a healthy functional identity versus an unhealthy one.

in my opinion - at 6 if she feels embraced in the folds of her mother and father's view of her and included in their views of themselves in a manner that engenders confidence, acceptance of herself and others, and above all fosters her feelings of home being a place of love and safety then she's doing just fine.

I have to believe that with the above taken care of, at later stages of development more complex notions of what it means to be jewish or Mormon (and all the other issues of identity that accompany becoming an adult) will sort themselves out. Otherwise, all children are basically screwed to some extent. Most aren't as fortunate as she appears to be anyhow.

srsly, bro, you're sounding a bit like a Jewish Why Me here.