Description
Book SynopsisThe term Judeo-Christian is remarkably easy to pass over without consideration. It seems obvious that Judaism and Christianity share texts, tenets, and values--and that these influenced the founders of the United States. However, in this ambitious book, K. Healan Gaston dispels the myth of a monolithic Judeo-Christian America. She argues that the idea of America as a Judeo-Christian nation is a relatively recent construct, and a potentially imperiling one if we fail to understand how various groups have mobilized Judeo-Christian rhetoric for their own political, cultural, and religious ends. Ever since its inception in the 1930s and its widespread adoption during World War II, the apparent inclusiveness of the term Judeo-Christian has masked competing conceptions of religion, secularism, and politics. Gaston demonstrates that this choice of terminology was deeply rooted in arguments over the nature of democracy and totalitarianism that intensified during World War II and the trans
