I like Reform theology, but my synagogue’s acceptance of Messianics is making me question my affiliation with the movement

Before I get into this post, I just want to say I know (or at least hope) most Reform synagogues aren’t like this, but the fact mine apparently is has me questioning aspects of the movement. It seems we are so concerned with inclusion, we are basically allowing people to pretend to be Jewish. It disturbs me.

I’m not going to mention names, location, etc but this stems from a Torah study today in which we had 2 Messianics present, and they spoke up about how glad they were to be accepted into the community. I’ve been bothered by their presence for a while now, but I just politely ignore them. I thought everyone else did the same, but this conversation went overwhelmingly in their favor. Everyone happily welcomed them and didn’t question the fact they were calling themselves Jews, even though I know for a fact at least one of them is not halachically Jewish at all (the other probably isn’t either but I don’t know definitively). They were equating acceptance of Messianics into the community to the Reform value of welcoming LGBT, which is just ridiculous to me. It’s a slap in the face to the members who actually put in effort and go through the official channels to become Jewish. These people just decide they’re Jewish, and suddenly they are? They were even counted in a Minyan.

I just bit my tongue and left somewhat early. The environment of the room made me feel like I’d be labeled a bigot if I said this wasn’t okay. I really do like the Reform movement, but this thoroughly disturbed me. I think I’m going to look for a Conservative synagogue when I can move.