avi@pegasus.UUCP (02/09/84)
The net seems to generate one of these every few months. I have had the
pleasure of starting one of them, and it really does not seem to help much.
The bottom line is that many Jews (and probably some Christians) object to
being lumped together for all practical purposes. We share a few historical
books, but the interpretations are totally different. Since Moslems also
acknowledge the existence of those books (and even acknowledge the divinity
of Christ) why don't people use the expression "Judaeo-Christian-Islamic", or
even Christian-Islamic"?
Bob Brown (akgua!rjb) suggests that:
B I suspect that the origin of "Judaeo-Christian" has to do with general
O subscription to moral codes by Christians and Jews and behavior of
B individuals in a society - not fine points of theology about who
prosyletizes (sp ?)
I would tend to agree that the "origin" may have been the way he says, but
what many people (including myself) are complaining about is the way the
words are used today. A Catholic School, is NOT doing things in accordance
with Judaeo-Christian principles, and neither is an Orthodox Jewish School,
or even a typical Public School. Each is doing things according to their own
set of principles. America was NOT built totally by Judaeo-Christian
principles, or even completely by Christian principles. It was built on a
collection of the beliefs and aspirations of the people who happened to be
around at the time.
Nowadays, there is not even a real "Judaeo" attitude in the world. Orthodox,
Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist and unaffiliated Jews have radically
different attitudes and don't have any more in common than the different
branches of Christianity.
Part of the problem is that most people have absolutely no idea about what
"Judaism" means to the Jews. Much of their knowledge of Judaism comes from
people who are actually Christians and are trying to give their religion a
heritage that stretches back across the ages. This topic, although it fits in
nicely in this newsgroup, illustrates one of the reasons why I, among
others, are suggesting a forum where Jews can discuss issues that are unique
to Judaism (in its many forms). Too many people expect Jews to be almost
Christian, and wonder why we don't exchange Christmas presents and ....
Maybe we should just post articles like this every few months -- so new
users will know the answer before it is asked. What other topics should we
include? (-: :-)
--
-=> Avi E. Gross @ AT&T Information Systems Laboratories (201) 576-6241
suggested paths: [ihnp4, allegra, cbosg, hogpc, ...]!pegasus!aviamigo2@ihuxq.UUCP (John Hobson) (02/10/84)
Avi E. Gross says: >> Part of the problem is that most people have absolutely no >> idea about what "Judaism" means to the Jews. O.K., Avi, what does Judaism mean to the Jews? Or, at least, what does it mean to you? John Hobson AT&T Bell Labs Naperville, IL (312) 979-0193 ihnp4!ihuxq!amigo2
smb@ulysses.UUCP (Steven Bellovin) (02/13/84)
In my own rather cynical opinion, the phrase "Judaeo-Christian" (when not used in a strictly technical sense, i.e., "Islam is a Judaeo-Christian religion") is used primarily by public figures who want to speak of "our" Christian heritage, but have had it drummed into them that not everyone here is a Christian, or even of Christian ancestry. Since Jews are the largest organized non-Christian religion in this country, we get include -- and there's this comfortable historical link besides... I wonder what phrase would be used if some other religious group became numerous here. On the other hand, maybe I shouldn't bother wondering about such things. There was an interesting article in the NY Times last week about a Buddhist community in a small, mostly-Baptist town in Texas. The Buddhist community -- comprised of refugees from Vietnam -- is seeking permission to build a small temple. Among the more logical reasons cited for opposing the request is that "they're a bunch of communists".... The really amusing part, though, is that this particular group *deliberately* chose to move to a small Baptist town, because of all the shared values: no alcohol, no dirty movies, etc... Don't mind me, it's been a bad several weeks.