Kasich proposes goverment agency to spread Christian values around the world

[ag]

There are few words I despise more than "Judeo-Christian" (unless, of course, "Judeo-Christian" refers to early Jewish communities of the Jesus followers, or, perhaps, the modern Jews for Jesus movement - that is the only context in which it is ok).

Leave the Jews alone!

[ag]

I am sure when Kasich refers to Judeo-Christian values, he is speaking about basic values that most of us share, be we religious - or Godless, like myself. He might have said pluralistic, democratic values, under the rule of law impartially and fairly applied, but that's more complicated. Kasich is not a theocrat.

The thing about this is that if he had left out the phrase "Judeo-Christian" and gave it the same content no one would object all that strongly. Heck, the US has been doing that sort of thing for decades when we give out aid to places. The ideology we project is basically that of whoever is in power.

I would not even care if he just said "Christian": though, of course, I think Christianity has nothing to do with those values, but, hell, that is no different than Soviets citing Marx or Lenin on ritual occasions or in book introductions. But the "Judeo-" part I, as a Jew, find deeply offensive.

[ag]

I am sure when Kasich refers to Judeo-Christian values, he is speaking about basic values that most of us share, be we religious - or Godless, like myself. He might have said pluralistic, democratic values, under the rule of law impartially and fairly applied, but that's more complicated. Kasich is not a theocrat.

The thing about this is that if he had left out the phrase "Judeo-Christian" and gave it the same content no one would object all that strongly. Heck, the US has been doing that sort of thing for decades when we give out aid to places. The ideology we project is basically that of whoever is in power.

I would not even care if he just said "Christian": though, of course, I think Christianity has nothing to do with those values, but, hell, that is no different than Soviets citing Marx or Lenin on ritual occasions or in book introductions. But the "Judeo-" part I, as a Jew, find deeply offensive.

If you were Greek would you be offended by the term "Greco-Roman"?

a) it is up to the Greeks. They, actually, used to say "roman".

b) Unlike the "Judeo-Christian" it, actually, describes something beyond: "we have recently decided that killing Jews is in bad taste, so we now invite Jews to join us in other merry endeavors of the sort".

As for the Jewish side of it, please refer to the resident "Judeo-Christians'" reaction to thevidea of conversion. I am sure a certain Dutch resident here has had something to say on the topic: he seemed a bit less than eager for an extatic merger of faiths implied here.

[ag]

I am sure when Kasich refers to Judeo-Christian values, he is speaking about basic values that most of us share, be we religious - or Godless, like myself. He might have said pluralistic, democratic values, under the rule of law impartially and fairly applied, but that's more complicated. Kasich is not a theocrat.

The thing about this is that if he had left out the phrase "Judeo-Christian" and gave it the same content no one would object all that strongly. Heck, the US has been doing that sort of thing for decades when we give out aid to places. The ideology we project is basically that of whoever is in power.

I would not even care if he just said "Christian": though, of course, I think Christianity has nothing to do with those values, but, hell, that is no different than Soviets citing Marx or Lenin on ritual occasions or in book introductions. But the "Judeo-" part I, as a Jew, find deeply offensive.

If you were Greek would you be offended by the term "Greco-Roman"?

a) it is up to the Greeks. They, actually, used to say "roman".

b) Unlike the "Judeo-Christian" it, actually, describes something beyond: "we have recently decided that killing Jews is in bad taste, so we now invite Jews to join us in other merry endeavors of the sort".

As for the Jewish side of it, please refer to the resident "Judeo-Christians'" reaction to thevidea of conversion. I am sure a certain Dutch resident here has had something to say on the topic: he seemed a bit less than eager for an extatic merger of faiths implied here.

The point of saying "Judeo-Christian" is that America's civic culture has been strongly influenced by both Jewish and Christian sources.   It is not saying that the two religions are the same in all respects.  To take offense at the claim that there is a Jewish influence on the ethics and religious experience of the United States, in some ways more directly and in others mediated through Christianity, is just bizarre.

Bull. Jews have been outsiders in the US until very recently, with minimal impact on civic culture: except as targets of discrimination. To the extent Jews had impact on US civic culture in the last few decades, these were secular Jews (many of them socialists), who defined their political ideas as the opposite of traditional Judaism. The impact of proper Orthodox Judaism on the US at large is negligible. Which, by the way, is extremely fortunate.

Now, do not get me wrong. I, actually, like the ultra-Orthodox a lot. I would not want to live in a society they dominate, but I sympathize a lot with their plight. This does not change the fact that proper Orthodox Judaism is, in fact, very close to conservative Islam in terms of the political culture it would generate inside the community, except that Islam, of course, is a lot more tolerant and welcoming of outsiders.

Then, again, the traditional Christianity is the least tolerant of the three.

[ag]

But the "Judeo-" part I, as a Jew, find deeply offensive.

That's kinda acting like the stereotype of looking for reasons to be offended. I could give a shinks, but the whole reason fundies say "Judeo-Christian values" is Jewish groups claimed to be really offended by the term "Christian values" in the early 90s.

You know, there is a Russian proverb: "An uninvited guest is worse than a Tartar". So, apparently, Tartars protested, so the Russians decided to correct the proverb. Now it says: "An uninvited guest is better than a Tartar". The sort of cultural sensitivity your fundies have

[ag]

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I'm not sure how the Russians will react to Kasich trying to convert them to Christianity.

Or to Judaism?