Czuch Czuckers: Well -- of course there will be people who dispute either of those conclusions. I was not born Jewish but considered converting to Judaism while I was married to a Jewish woman; I would have been accepted into at least some congregations in the US, but I do not know whether as a convert I would have been recognized as Jewish for purposes, say, of Israeli citizenship. I doubt it. There are certainly persons of Jewish ancestry and heritage who have converted to other religions or have abandoned the Jewish faith, and still consider themselves Jewish.

I fear we have strayed far off topic here :-)

For further discussion see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_is_a_Jew