Judeo-Christian is a contradiction in terms

Wow, what a fantastic debate this has been, kudos to quantum on a great first debate. I have been informed a great deal in these three rounds but I think it's fairly clear that the term in question is not a contradiction in terms. It may indeed be mildly offensive to some and may often be used inappropriately but that is not enough justification to write it off completely. My opponent graciously concedes the matter here: Pro: "There are, I concede, ideas that could be referred to as Judeo-Christian. Probably the prohibition against blasphemy, for a good example. Monotheism. A connection and shared reverence for the patriarchs-Moses, Abraham, Isaac, etc. But none of these ever seem to be cited as what constitutes a Judeo-Christian idea." Although my time is quite limited right now, I'm still going to continue this fascinating discussion despite the fact that the debate appears to be settled with this concession. ------- Adherence to the laws of Moses varies a great deal among different branches of Judaism ( http://www.templesanjose.org... ) as well as between different Christian denominations but almost all religious Jews and Christians follow the same ten commandments. I'm not totally sure what 'fulfil' means in this context either but it seems to suggest that Christians have not abandoned the law completely. Pro: "The body of text is indeed somewhat shared". That is quite an understatement if we are talking about the Tanakh and the Old Testament, as these are two collections of the same books in a slightly different order. http://gbgm-umc.org... Pro: "the precepts and morals referred to as Judeo-Christian". It's a shame that these specific precepts and morals have not been established as it's difficult to say how passages apply to unspecified values. ---------- It is not hard to find similarities between different religions and obviously when Europeans were converted to Christianity by the first Christians (Jews) the faith had to adapt to be more appealing to followers of different religions. I don't think there is much evidence of Jesus being inspired by the pagan religions as much as he was by his own (Jewish) faith. Judaism is no exception to religions being influenced by their predecessors. Judaism incorporates elements of Zoroastrianism in the same way as Christianity is influenced by Judaism. http://en.wikipedia.org... -------- Pro: "no one ever refers to Greco-Christianity or Pago-Christianty." The term Greco-Christian is in fact quite widely used, see the following links ( http://books.google.co.uk... , http://books.google.co.uk... , http://www.jstor.org... ) but no I can't see Pago-Christian catching on. Pago isn't even a real word. Pogo-Christianity might be fun though. :] ------ Very interesting to hear about Harvard's history of anti-semitic entrance policies. I wonder if other minorities were well represented there. My opponent seems to accept that the inscription on the liberty bell is a pretty good example of Hebrew philosophy being a central component of American values and tradition. ------- While it may upset people on all sides to hear it, Islam has a great deal in common with Judaism and Christianity. Arguably more with Judaism as it split from the original religion later than Christianity did. When describing things shared by all three faiths the term Abrahamic is most commonly used. http://en.wikipedia.org... The reason people don't normally make direct comparisons between Islam and either faith these days is because of the political world war being waged by and against some Muslims at the moment. ---- It is natural that Christians believe it is the same entity and Jews don't because of the way Christianity diverged from Judaism. Almost every religious group thinks that they alone are correct. ---- Yes the distinction between so-called 'ethnic' Jews and religious Jews is confusing for some. I understand that it is possible for a gentile to convert to Judaism but of course many people of Jewish heritage are atheists or have other beliefs that are contrary to the Jewish faith. There are also many people (such as myself, my maternal grandfather was Jewish) with some heritage who don't qualify as Jews (except in the eyes of Nazis and some other anti-semitic groups.) So Messianic Jews are born as Jews but don't qualify as religiously Jewish because they believe Jesus is the messiah? Interesting indeed. ---- There are thousands of similar conflations or compound words in English. I think the only "special something" that necessitates such a conflation is suitability and practical use. --- I would have thought the outcome of this debate was clear although it will of course be up to the voters to decide. My opponent has conceded that it is a valid term of description for some ideas and that it is agreeable to some Jews as well as many Christians. It is sad if the term is used inappropriately to imply Jewish values when they are not present but this is not a reason to condemn accurate use of the phrase. It is clearly not a contradiction in terms. -- Once again thanks to quantum-mechanik for the enlightening discussion. Con.