Sure, both Judaism and Christianity emanate from the Torah; there certainly are shared values.
These values, however, are not what the term “Judeo-Christian values” refers to.
Rather than reference traditional and contemporary shared values between the 2 traditions, the term is utilized by those who wish to imply the existence of a contemporary cultural war and evoke the visceral responses that come from such war.
The term, as used by the GOP, is not reflective of Jewish inclusion in Republican politics, but of an ideological strategy to unite 2 camps — the anti-immigrant nationalists and the evangelicals.
For anti-immigrant nationalists,“the promise of “Judeo-Christian values” implies a return to dominant whiteness.
For evangelicals, the promise of “Judeo-Christian values” implies returning Christian hegemony, privilege, and Dominionism.
Contemporary U.S. Jewish values — values which are largely liberal — are simply not reflected in the right’s usage of the term. The term is not one of Jewish inclusion and Jewish values, but of cynical Republican politics.
Using Judaism to posture to two groups – nationalists and evangelicals – whose values diverge so emphatically from those of the contemporary Jewish community is outrageous.
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