澳大利亚国会议员Pauline Hanson宣称澳大利亚是"以犹太-基督教为主的社会"，并主张澳大利亚应该在"一个文化伞"下生活[1]。然而，学者指出这一表述所依据的术语本身存在根本问题。
"犹太-基督教"这一术语是战后才出现的现代发明[1]。该词在二战前几乎不为人知，真正兴起于1930-1940年代的美国[1]。这个术语最初被创造出来是为了对抗当时日益增长的反犹太主义，代表了战后的和解姿态[1]。
然而批评者指出，这一术语掩盖了基督教历史上对犹太人的根本性迫害。基督教自其起源以来就认为自己取代了犹太教，将犹太人排除在"被选中的人民"之外[1]。反犹太主义甚至被视为基督教自我理解的核心部分[1]。澳大利亚前总理John Howard曾在2007年宣称，"在对澳大利亚社会所有影响中，没有比犹太-基督教伦理更深远的"[1]，但这种表述忽视了犹太教和基督教之间的根本差异[1]。
Australian Member of Parliament Pauline Hanson has characterized Australia as a "Judeo-Christian society," advocating that the nation should operate under "one cultural umbrella."[1] However, scholars contend that the term "Judeo-Christian" itself is a relatively recent invention that obscures rather than clarifies Australia's cultural and religious foundations.
The phrase "Judeo-Christian" emerged in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s and was virtually unknown before World War II.[1] It was originally deployed as a counter to rising antisemitism, functioning as a postwar gesture of reconciliation.[1] Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard invoked this framework in 2007, declaring that among all influences on Australian society, "there is nothing more profound than the Judeo-Christian ethic."[1]
Yet the term masks a more troubled historical relationship between the two faiths. Christianity, from its origins, understood itself as having superseded Judaism and excluded Jewish people from the status of "chosen people."[1] Antisemitism has been integral to Christian self-understanding throughout history.[1] By collapsing these distinct traditions into a single conceptual category, the "Judeo-Christian" framing obscures fundamental theological differences and Christianity's historical persecution of Jews.
