What is Nastia Liukin's religion?

Question

as far as why I'm asking this goes, I'm just curious because I'm Jewish and you don't see that many Jews winning Olympic gold so it would've been nice to see. I wasn't sure because the majority of Russian-Americans I know are Jewish but she's going to SMU...just wondering if I can put some pride in her victory :P

Answer 1

who gives a ****

Answer 2

does it really matter?

she did go to SMU before leaving to train full time for the Olympics...

but really though... why does it even matter..

Answer 3

Seems like she is not (see source)  & you are correct very small percentage of American Russians are not Jewish.

Answer 4

...uhh christian ?

Answer 5

This isn't so much an answer as to correct a couple of things, though it may give an answer.

I don't think the majority of Russian Americans are Jewish (and this is not meant to be anti-Semitic/prejudiced, etc. my knowledge of this is as a person who is of "Russian" Jewish ethnicity on both sides and whose father grew up as a boy in the old Soviet Union before emigrating with his family as a teen).  However, in certain areas considered "Russian" ethnic neighborhoods like Brighton Beach of the NY City borough of Brooklyn, the majority (though not all) of the "Russians" are of Jewish extraction, however, because they grew up in the communist Soviet Union usually with little knowledge of Jewish religion or culture (save for experiencing anti-Semitism), most ethnographers consider them to be more "Russian" culturally than "Jewish" compared to the ethnic/religious sense of other Jews in the United States (this said, there are lots of organizations such as Federation of the Jewish Communities of the CIS that help these groups learn more about their Jewish heritage).  This may be where the person answering the question gets this idea.

Going to SMU does not mean you are not Jewish.  Many colleges under religious auspices have excellent secular programs that people of all faiths attend.  Georgetown University in DC despite being Jesuit has a significant Jewish student population.  I took graduate courses at Manhattan College in Riverdale, NY (a "Catholic" institution).  Consequently a few non-Jews actually go to Yeshiva University in New York for their excellent Med and Law programs.  And finally, famed TV producer Aaron Spelling is very much Jewish (and Texan!) and went to SMU (Google "Aaron Spelling and Southern Methodist University"!).  A more likely reason for her not to be Jewish would be that her father is from the republic of Kazahkstan, which relative to other parts of the old Soviet Union had few Jews.

I have been curious about Liukin as well, my guess is "no".  However, because it was very hard for someone who was Jewish to advance in Soviet athletics, ever since the 1990s there have been quite a few cases of Soviet Olympians who reveal (or sometimes just learn post-Communism) their Jewish heritage (both of her parents were Soviet gymnasts), I think it's possible that she may "partially" be Jewish, more likely on her mother's side since she is from Moscow which has a large Jewish population.

I hope that helps, I know it's not a perfect answer but I also wanted to straighten out some things on here.

Answer 6

Who cares?

Answer 7

What difference does that make?

Not sure why you would ask this question...