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Judeo-Christian
Preach to the choir Religion |
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Crux of the matter |
Speak of the devil |
An act of faith |
“”"Judeo-Christian” isn’t a thing. It a) positions Jews & Christians against Muslims, is Islamophobic b) elides Christian oppression & murder of Jews over more than 1000 years & c) ignores Jewish civilization worldwide & facts of key Jewish developments in Middle East & N Africa.
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—Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg[1] |
The term Judeo-Christian can refer to the aspects of a culture (including an assumed direct connection and shared history) that reflect that culture's roots within the Christian and Jewish world. In a historical or academic context, it would refer to anything that rises from ancient Christianity or from Judaism; however, in the real world, the "Judeo" generally only refers to Judaism in so far as Christianity adopted the Old Testament "from" Judaism. "Judeo" does not refer to actual practices, beliefs, or worldviews of contemporary Jewish people, or of contemporary Judaism as a religion.
Originally, the term was used simply to refer to Jewish converts to Christianity. It didn't come into use in its modern sense until some time during the interwar period (WWI-WWII) in the US.[citation needed] Growing anti-Semitic sentiment led theologically liberal Christians and Jews to promote the notion of a common "Judeo-Christian" heritage as a reaction. It wasn't until the post-war era that conservative and fundamentalist Christians would lay claim to Judeo-Christian values (but remain uninterested in the inclusion of liberal Christians, liberal Jews, and non-Republican Palestinian Christians).
Since 9/11 (2001), conservative rhetoric about the "Judeo-Christian roots" of the United States has often carried an unspoken subtext of expressly excluding Muslims. Dennis Prager, who was born into an Orthodox Jewish family, is an example, making sure that good old Christian values have the prefix "Judeo-" in them, while never mentioning that other Abrahamic faith with which they also share principles.[2] Of course, Jews and Catholics are still trying to figure out why 9/11 changed everything.
See also
External links
- What Do We Mean By 'Judeo-Christian'? Shalom Goldman, Religion Dispatches
References
- ↑ Judeo-Christian” isn’t a thing. It a) positions Jews & Christians against Muslims, is Islamophobic b) elides Christian oppression & murder of Jews over more than 1000 years & c) ignores Jewish civilization worldwide & facts of key Jewish developments in Middle East & N Africa. by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (8:24 PM - 27 Jan 2019) Twitter.
- ↑ See his videos about morality on PragerU (YouTube channel).