@ Bedstuy: I don't think religion really determines how family-oriented people are, at least not nearly as much as you seem to be suggesting. Honestly, the notion that being an American who happens to be Christian makes you inherently less family oriented than being an American who happens to be Jewish is pretty gross. Do you really think Christians automatically love their family members any less than Jews do? I'm not sure if that was what you meant, but it sure came across that way. It's not like there aren't plenty of Christian parents who have a gay or lesbian child and love him/her all the same. If you think this sort of thing doesn't happen in Jewish families, you're very wrong. How do you think the average parents in, say, Borough Park would react if one of their children came out to them? That said, I agree with the other parts of your post.
It's not religion, it's culture. The average American is not very family-oriented compared to the rest of the world. There are pluses and minuses to that, but it's a fact. And, when I say Jewish people, I mean the standard American Jews, not Hasidim. And, that's not unique to Jewish people, the same would go for Indian Americans, Greek Americans, Italian Americans, Mexican Americans and many other cultural groups.
And, I don't mean Christians either, I mean, standard generic American white people who just happen to be Christian.
