Neil is, I believe, Jewish. He was included in two of Clifford Meth's anthologies for Jewish authors (Strange and Stranger Kaddish) and here is a telling entry fro his blog: http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2001/12/growing-up-it-was-easy-pillowcase.asp

More explicit even that that is this quote from an interview on http://www.scifi.com:

quote:

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I think kids need to be raised with stories, yes. But I've always been hesitant to impose my own beliefs, which tend to be pretty amorpheous on them, and tend to reply to questions with "Well, some people think..." and so forth. As a kid, I was the jewish boy in the High C of E school who won the religious studies prize...

http://www.scifi.com/transcripts/1998/NeilGaiman.html

---

(I presume High C of E is "High Church of England," which in the U.S, would be equivalent - I think - to Episcopalian.)

- Cho

The short story 'One Life, Furnished in Early Moorcock' kind of hints at it as well, well if it's a little autobiographical, (or even just drawing from past experiences?).

Oh and it's in Smoke and Mirrors.

Would it be right to consider him to be Jewish though? I don't know about anyone else, but if he is ethnically Jewish that would not automatically make him so religiously. But perhaps I'm wrong.

As long as he was born Jewish and hasn't declared himself something else, most other Jews would consider him Jewish. (So would most anti-Semites, for that matter ... .) Maybe not an observant Jew, or a practicing Jew, or even (if they're the judgemental type) a good Jew, but still Jewish.

- Cho

Authors and Artists for Young Adults, Volume 42, Gale Group publishers, lists his religion as Jewish.

Mythology is Neil's plaything

(where's Keith and Cobalt when I need em? WWJD - unite!)

I've had this conversation with some of my Jewish friends on more than one occasion, and they have stated that it's a different thing to be Jewish and to practice Judaism. The first is your heritage and the second is your religion. To use another example, one shouldn't assume all Chinese Americans are Buddhist.

The same thing goes for what school he attended. Not all people who go to Catholic school are Catholics. (If you've seen the movie SAVED think of the girlfriend of Macauly Culkins' character) It could just have been the best school around- they usually are because of private funding.

I know this is a topic that seems to inflame strong emotions, but for the sake of answering the question I've got to point out that Neil was, until the early '80's, a pretty high ranking member of the Church Of Scientology. I know it's been mentioned before that his family didn't sign on for the whole fame scrutiny thing, but if you do a search on Gaiman Scientology you'll find that his parents have been members since before he was born and he left in '83 or '84, so that would be all his life until his early twenties. Also, his wife Mary seems to still be a member, or at least was up until and through 2002.

I don't know much about the church except that people feel very strongly about it. Seems to me some really succesfull people have been involved, though.

1) There is indeed a person named David Gaiman who is a big deal in Scientology.

2) But a Google search on

"David Gaiman" neil gaiman's father

turns up very little - in fact, your message above is one of the few things it does turn up. As well as another post on this very board where someone else is speculating as to whether the Scientology Gaiman is a relative.

I also found a posting on another board where someone notes that yet another person is assuming that the Scientology David Gaiman is Neil Gaiman's father.

I'm curious about where you heard this. Somehow all I'm finding is rumors passed from board to board.

Neil's work shows a great fascination with all sorts of religion and belief, and he has mentioned his Jewish heritage himself a number of times. Wouldn't you think he'd mention Scientology if this was indeed part of his background?

- Cho

Neil's name turned up a couple of years ago on some anti-scientology websites. There appeared to be evidence that he had in the past been a member (when he lived in the UK). He was declared a Suppressive Person though in the early eighties when he left scientology (kind of like being excommunicated I believe).

So basically he may have been in the past, but definately isn't now seems to be the consensus.

A quick google didn't show up any of the stuff that was around a few years ago, just folks talking about that info (not unusual as I believe the scientologists try to close down the sites quite a lot)

And if he was it's fairly unlikely he'd mention it now. They can (allegedly) be a fairly vicious bunch when it comes to ex members and if they're leaving you alone it's wise to let it lie.

If you google under "groups" instead of "web" you will see the first hand account of a fan who was curious about all of this and approached Neil himself, politely. He replied that it was a private family mattter and he would rather not comment. If it weren't true, don't you think he'd take the opportunity to dispell a rumor? (using his characteristic charm, no doubt? )

I'm sure the intrepid and all knowing GMZoe could dig up Neil's parents' names somewhere, yes?

And bring up that Neil has mentioned his Jewish heritage many times, and once again I say there's a difference between bloodlines and Religion. Really, that's the biggest point I'm trying to make. (as an Asian American who was raised Catholic, I know of whence I speak!)

Sorry Lady Jane, but if it's a private family matter like your last post said, it's not something I'm going to explore. Either it's true and he considers it private, or it's not true, so either way I don't see why I should dig around for more info.

Scientologists are very lawsuit happy. I think even Google's been scared by them... so keep that in mind

oh, and William S Burroughs was briefly a Scientologist. just read that yesterday. perhaps its part of the conspiricy?

As someone who has had a bit of interest in Scientology (I am not going to say whether I was a member) I can tell you what ex-scientologists have told me on the Scientology newsgroup.

-Neil's father is a prominent Scientologist
-Some members remember Neil as playing the piano as a youngster at various Scientology functions.

Now, is this true or unfounded? My hunch is that it is true. Why does Neil not talk about it? Well, imagine if your parents are devout believers in something you don't. It's often best to let sleeping dogs lie - to say publicly 'I left Scientology' invites the question 'Why?' which invariably leads to a criticism of said organisation which would cause his parents pain.

Also, Scientology is well known for using the law 'to defend itself' if you catch my drift.

Is this a private matter for Neil, that we have no right to discuss? Yes and no. Scientology is a subject that invokes great passion in those who have had dealings with it - and it is only natural for those people to want to know where Neil stands. Neil has every right to stay silent on the topic - but I feel we do have the right to discuss it even in the face of Neil's silence.

I have wrestled with the idea of asking Neil personally about the subject at signings but because of his silence felt it would be unfair to put him on the spot. I do feel I have the right to discuss his possible involvement in the movement because:

-It is in itself an interesting topic
-Gaiman is an interesting fellow and it would be illuminating to get his view on such a controversial organisation
-If Neil did grow up learning Scientology doctrine - perhaps it became a part of his imagination and influenced his writing.

Put it this way, supposing Gaiman becomes canonised as one of the greatest modern British writers and is studied in English Lit courses in the space year 2222 - They'll be mulling over Scientology's possible hold on his thinking and work in minute detail.

>> They'll be mulling over Scientology's possible hold on his thinking <<<

Heh. Given everything I've read about Scientology and everything I've read about and by Neil, my own opinion is that it has little to no "hold" over his thinking at all.

He seems to have a profound respect for others' belief systems, for example, whereas Scientologists seem smugly certain that they are the only ones who know what's what.

- Cho

just something I noticed... the ever-reliable wikipedia has mention of Neils dad being a sceintologist. So I guess this pretty common knowledge now.

Interesting, scientology, if nothing else, gets an "A" for being creative.... body thetans, souls in volcanos, aliens... its all very different than your run of the mill human sacrifices himself for the good of mankind thing that most religions have going.

....

I'm not exactly entering this discussion, or disputing anything because I have no idea, but I would NEVER go as far as to say that Wikipedia is "reliable." Any moron can go on Wikipedia and talk about how the sky is actually green.

So in a nutshell, I wouldn't trust something for a fact just because Wikipedia Said So. And I know nothing on the topic of whose religion is what, nor do I really care, just as long as he keeps writing good books