Thread by @jessfromonline

don't say "Judeo-Christian" when you're trying to say "white"

the concept of "Judeo-Christian" is less than two centuries old, and originally invented by antisemites. has it (later) been self-consciously adopted by some christians and some jews? yes, primarily in america, primarily as part of assimilating white jews into whiteness.

the vast majority of things which are described as "Judeo-Christian" have little to do with being rooted in the diversity of jewish (or even christian!) historical practice and everything to do with universalizing a white, western perspective.

also if the idea of white jews being assimilated into whiteness is new to you, this somewhat adjacent thread on jews, whiteness, and the holocaust can provide some background info

https://twitter.com/jessfromonline/status/1255894284517232641

prior to jewish liberal emancipation and white jewish assimilation into whiteness, the primary "Judeo-Christian Tradition" throughout christendom was the tradition of jews being killed by christians

got to say, i've had a lot of viral tweets bring out annoying replies/QTs, but this one might be kinda unparalleled for that

to everyone saying "don't say Judeo-Christian at all" you're thoroughly missing the point. a significant number of white jews self described themselves as part of a "Judeo-Christian" tradition during the 20th century. they were describing a real phenomenon it just didn't

have anything to do with being uniquely Judeo-Christian, and what they were actually saying was "we want to be seen as part of whiteness." this is well documented, and connected to the history i cite pretty thoroughly in the linked thread.

obviously you shouldn't use "Judeo-Christian" except to describe the invention of "Judeo-Christian" as a category, but understanding why thst category was created & popularized (and why christians *and* jews participated in it) is incredibly important.

also because the further this spreads the more people fail miss the point, i'll repeat, as i attest to in the thread:

use of "Judeo-Christian" when someone means "white" actually erases non-white jews and christian. much of what gets called "Judeo-Christian" is actually specific

to a white western perspective that is then depicted as if it's universally true for jews and christians, when no such "Judeo-Christian" tradition existed in history. what that person is referring to is a real phenomenon & it's called whiteness, and they don't want to admit it.