Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site pegasus.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!harpo!eagle!hou5h!hou5g!hou5f!hou5e!hou5d!hogpc!pegasus!avi From: avi@pegasus.UUCP Newsgroups: net.religion Subject: Yet another "Judaeo-Christian" discussion Message-ID: <919@pegasus.UUCP> Date: Thu, 9-Feb-84 13:22:58 EST Article-I.D.: pegasus.919 Posted: Thu Feb 9 13:22:58 1984 Date-Received: Sat, 11-Feb-84 06:04:11 EST References: <230@wxlvax.UUCP> <555@akgua.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Information Systems, Lincroft NJ Lines: 45 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!avi