The phrase Judeo-Christian tradition often surfaces in the that are currently tearing American society apart. It is presented by its advocates as representing authentic American virtues. American society, according to them, is being torn apart by those who spurn this tradition.
There was an interesting exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum a few years ago on images of the various religions. It showed that Christianity spread in the Roman and Greek Worlds by changing statues of Jupiter etc. to statues of Jesus. Hence, Christianity is a hybrid of Judaism and Paganism, just as Sikhism is Hinduism influenced by Islam, some Hindus have Buddha as one of their gods etc. In England I think of those Christians who emphasise their Jewish origins, their old testament and encourage moral behaviour as following a Judeo-Christian tradition, while those who emphasise the virgin birth, death on a cross and resurrection, as not following that tradition. The latter often talk about Israeli occupation of Bethlehem at Christmas, and Pharisees and Sadducees at Easter.
It seems that Paul used a similar technique when he was preaching early Christianity to the non-Jews. His converts were people who were attracted to monotheism and the ethical values of Judaism, but were less keen on the onerous things like kashrut and circumcision. By telling them that the Torah was abrogated he created a hybrid Judaism based on ethics and faith rather than law. The rabbis of the Mishnah called the early Christians, yirei shamayim, 'fearers of heaven'.
The dogmatic aspects of Christianity, e.g. virgin birth and Trinity entered the religion later under the influence of the Church fathers. This may explain the difference between those who see their Christianity as adherence to values and those who take a more theological- and therefore exclusivist- approach
Very interesting. I agree with your comment that it should be Judeo-Christian-Muslim ethics. The Muslims also claim to be the children of Abraham. I had two colleagues, one a male Jordanian Muslim and the other an Israeli Jew. They called themselves cousins, and had no animosity towards each other.
It is interesting that the oldest known example of Hebrew writing in on a potshard. However, a Professor at Hebrew University said, ancient Canaanite and ancient Hebrew are so similar it is difficult to know which it is. That may indicate that the Israeli and Canaanites stem from the same common ancestor.
In the Old Testament, at least the Christian version, says God told the Israelites to go to the land of the Canaanites and kill all of the people, all of their animals and cut down all of their trees. At that time the Israelite did not seem to recognize the Canaanites as their cousins. Thanks heaven some standard of behavior in the Old Testament have dropped along the wayside.
It is interesting that although the genealogies in Genesis have Israel and Canaan descending from different sons of Noah, and hence are different 'races', their languages are both part of the same Semitic family. The family includes Arabic, Aramaic, Syriac, Ugaritic and Amharic. Although these various languages have now diverged they derive from a common root, hence the similarity between ancient Hebrew and Canaanite.
The injunction to destroy the Cannanites is one of the great ethical problems presented by the Bible. Tribalism runs deep, even today.
Harry, I've always had the impression over here that politicians use "Judeo-Christian" to dodge accusations of bigotry, or of violating church-state separation, or to avoid (in their minds) offending Jewish voters. Otherwise, most would be hardpressed to explain Christianity or Judaism, much less the similarities and differences between them. You might be interested in this piece from NPR. The reporter qualifies the point you make about Jewish views on abortion by referring to Agudath Israel of America's support for the Supreme Court's ruling, without explaining how many people Agudath Israel represent, and that they are a Haredi, not modern Orthodox, group: https://www.npr.org/2022/06/26/1107722531/some-jewish-groups-blast-the-end-of-roe-as-a-violation-of-their-religious-belief
Interesting Annette, thanks. I think that if one is obliged to have a black and white perspective on life, so that things can only ever be good or bad, then Agudas Yisroel are obliged to come down on the Supreme Court's side. Leniency is a slippery slope!
But I think one has to regard their public position as political. I have no doubt that if their courts were faced with a real life situation in which a pregnancy was endangering a woman's life, they would have no hesitation in calling for an abortion. It's just that they can't say that in public in case it weakens their perceived authority.
I don't know how many people Agudas Yisroel represent in the States, but worldwide they are much larger than the modern orthodox. They have much larger families. Not because of their attitude to abortion!
I see in this article that you also use anti-Semitic to mean Anti-Jew. But Arabs are also a Semitic people. If an Arab is anti-Semitic he is Anti-Jew and Anti-Arab.
The Semitic people are the Hebrews, Arabs, Assyirans, Akkadians, Canaanites, and Phoenicians.
Anyone who is anti-Semitic is anti all of these people.
Arabs are indeed a Semitic people. But words often take on meanings not strictly related to their definition. In common parlance an antisemite is someone who hates Jews and that is how the word is regularly used in the current distressing climate. I am not aware of any occasion in which someone who dislikes Arabs has been referred to as an anti-semite.
Harry I certainly agree that anti-Semitic is in common use, restricted to Anti-.Jew, but not anti all of the other Semitic people.
But in cases, like this it started by a person who did not know what a Semite is. It sounded more clever than Anti-Jew, so it was spread by other people who also did not know what a Semite is, until it became colloquial English.
I hope I do not sound like nitpicker, but there are lots of words like this that become clichés that sound clever.
Another one heard every day on CNN is "we must warn you that what you about to see is Graphic", when they mean horrific.
Graphic is a weak word that simply means graphs and charts.
I am sure as a writer you know that there are power-words that cause a strong emotional response. There are plenty of power-words that should have been used instead of graphic, such as dreadful, horrendous, horrifying, horrible, frightful, awful, terrible, fearful, shocking, appalling, atrocious, hideous, grim, grisly, ghastly, harrowing, gruesome, unspeakable, monstrous, nightmarish, sickening, nauseating.
If they used one of these each time something horrific happened, they could report a great many events without repeating themselves.
I see in this article that you also use anti-Semitic to mean Anti-Jew. But Arabs are also a Semitic people. If an Arab is anti-Semitic he is Anti-Jew and Anti-Arab.
The Semitic people are the Hebrews, Arabs, Assyirans, Akkadians, Canaanites, and Phoenicians.
Anyone who is anti-Semitic is anti all of these people.
Excellent piece
Thanks Vivian
There was an interesting exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum a few years ago on images of the various religions. It showed that Christianity spread in the Roman and Greek Worlds by changing statues of Jupiter etc. to statues of Jesus. Hence, Christianity is a hybrid of Judaism and Paganism, just as Sikhism is Hinduism influenced by Islam, some Hindus have Buddha as one of their gods etc. In England I think of those Christians who emphasise their Jewish origins, their old testament and encourage moral behaviour as following a Judeo-Christian tradition, while those who emphasise the virgin birth, death on a cross and resurrection, as not following that tradition. The latter often talk about Israeli occupation of Bethlehem at Christmas, and Pharisees and Sadducees at Easter.
It seems that Paul used a similar technique when he was preaching early Christianity to the non-Jews. His converts were people who were attracted to monotheism and the ethical values of Judaism, but were less keen on the onerous things like kashrut and circumcision. By telling them that the Torah was abrogated he created a hybrid Judaism based on ethics and faith rather than law. The rabbis of the Mishnah called the early Christians, yirei shamayim, 'fearers of heaven'.
The dogmatic aspects of Christianity, e.g. virgin birth and Trinity entered the religion later under the influence of the Church fathers. This may explain the difference between those who see their Christianity as adherence to values and those who take a more theological- and therefore exclusivist- approach
Very interesting. I agree with your comment that it should be Judeo-Christian-Muslim ethics. The Muslims also claim to be the children of Abraham. I had two colleagues, one a male Jordanian Muslim and the other an Israeli Jew. They called themselves cousins, and had no animosity towards each other.
It is interesting that the oldest known example of Hebrew writing in on a potshard. However, a Professor at Hebrew University said, ancient Canaanite and ancient Hebrew are so similar it is difficult to know which it is. That may indicate that the Israeli and Canaanites stem from the same common ancestor.
In the Old Testament, at least the Christian version, says God told the Israelites to go to the land of the Canaanites and kill all of the people, all of their animals and cut down all of their trees. At that time the Israelite did not seem to recognize the Canaanites as their cousins. Thanks heaven some standard of behavior in the Old Testament have dropped along the wayside.
Regards,
William McCreight
It is interesting that although the genealogies in Genesis have Israel and Canaan descending from different sons of Noah, and hence are different 'races', their languages are both part of the same Semitic family. The family includes Arabic, Aramaic, Syriac, Ugaritic and Amharic. Although these various languages have now diverged they derive from a common root, hence the similarity between ancient Hebrew and Canaanite.
The injunction to destroy the Cannanites is one of the great ethical problems presented by the Bible. Tribalism runs deep, even today.
Thank you for reading
Harry
Harry, I've always had the impression over here that politicians use "Judeo-Christian" to dodge accusations of bigotry, or of violating church-state separation, or to avoid (in their minds) offending Jewish voters. Otherwise, most would be hardpressed to explain Christianity or Judaism, much less the similarities and differences between them. You might be interested in this piece from NPR. The reporter qualifies the point you make about Jewish views on abortion by referring to Agudath Israel of America's support for the Supreme Court's ruling, without explaining how many people Agudath Israel represent, and that they are a Haredi, not modern Orthodox, group: https://www.npr.org/2022/06/26/1107722531/some-jewish-groups-blast-the-end-of-roe-as-a-violation-of-their-religious-belief
Interesting Annette, thanks. I think that if one is obliged to have a black and white perspective on life, so that things can only ever be good or bad, then Agudas Yisroel are obliged to come down on the Supreme Court's side. Leniency is a slippery slope!
But I think one has to regard their public position as political. I have no doubt that if their courts were faced with a real life situation in which a pregnancy was endangering a woman's life, they would have no hesitation in calling for an abortion. It's just that they can't say that in public in case it weakens their perceived authority.
I don't know how many people Agudas Yisroel represent in the States, but worldwide they are much larger than the modern orthodox. They have much larger families. Not because of their attitude to abortion!
Very interesting! Thanks, Harry.
Hello Harry,
I see in this article that you also use anti-Semitic to mean Anti-Jew. But Arabs are also a Semitic people. If an Arab is anti-Semitic he is Anti-Jew and Anti-Arab.
The Semitic people are the Hebrews, Arabs, Assyirans, Akkadians, Canaanites, and Phoenicians.
Anyone who is anti-Semitic is anti all of these people.
Regards,
William McCreight
Arabs are indeed a Semitic people. But words often take on meanings not strictly related to their definition. In common parlance an antisemite is someone who hates Jews and that is how the word is regularly used in the current distressing climate. I am not aware of any occasion in which someone who dislikes Arabs has been referred to as an anti-semite.
Best wishes
Harry
Harry I certainly agree that anti-Semitic is in common use, restricted to Anti-.Jew, but not anti all of the other Semitic people.
But in cases, like this it started by a person who did not know what a Semite is. It sounded more clever than Anti-Jew, so it was spread by other people who also did not know what a Semite is, until it became colloquial English.
I hope I do not sound like nitpicker, but there are lots of words like this that become clichés that sound clever.
Another one heard every day on CNN is "we must warn you that what you about to see is Graphic", when they mean horrific.
Graphic is a weak word that simply means graphs and charts.
I am sure as a writer you know that there are power-words that cause a strong emotional response. There are plenty of power-words that should have been used instead of graphic, such as dreadful, horrendous, horrifying, horrible, frightful, awful, terrible, fearful, shocking, appalling, atrocious, hideous, grim, grisly, ghastly, harrowing, gruesome, unspeakable, monstrous, nightmarish, sickening, nauseating.
If they used one of these each time something horrific happened, they could report a great many events without repeating themselves.
Hello Harry,
I see in this article that you also use anti-Semitic to mean Anti-Jew. But Arabs are also a Semitic people. If an Arab is anti-Semitic he is Anti-Jew and Anti-Arab.
The Semitic people are the Hebrews, Arabs, Assyirans, Akkadians, Canaanites, and Phoenicians.
Anyone who is anti-Semitic is anti all of these people.
Regards,
William McCreight