Saphisto wrote:

Eulogos wrote:
Other than the fact that their religion happened to be the first to offer a good afterlife for anyone who has faith, they weren't all that influential of a culture. They were barely organized past a city-state level.

There are a lot of civilization in the game who had even less influence, some of them people never heard of :) 

The degree of influence of a Civilization and its popularity in the modern world are two completely different things.

They're closer to a city state than a civilization 

Tnecniw wrote:

I mean, I can absolutely see them maybe avoiding that civilization...
Maybe because it can result in some... ehem, unfortunate responses from certain people.
I am not saying they will, I am just saying I absolutely understan if they avoid them.

The Jewish history of the land, whether some people like it or not, is historical fact. It shouldn't be considered controversial to acknowledge that.

Eulogos wrote:
Other than the fact that their religion happened to be the first to offer a good afterlife for anyone who has faith, they weren't all that influential of a culture. They were barely organized past a city-state level.

Not exactly... Jewish religion doesn't put much emphasis on afterlife; it's teachings don't make much reference to the afterlife at all; most of the focus is on living your life on Earth. Most modern concepts of "heaven" and "hell" were derived from Greco-roman tradition through Christianity. In fact, Judaism doesn't actually have the christian concept of "hell".