Wednesday, March 12, 2014

The Push for a Judeo-Christian Curriculum

Beware the J-C word:

"The inclusion of an additional cross-curriculum priority that ensures the continued recognition of the 'Western/Judeo-Christian influences on our society may help to address these concerns'." Christian Schools Australia submission to the national curriculum review, quoted in Christian schools eye 'rebalance', Justine Ferrari, The Australian, 10/3/14)

Here's why:

"First used by early 20th century biblical scholars to describe the scope of Old and New Testament studies... The concept [of Judeo-Christian heritage/values] all but disappeared until the 1980s when it was revived by Ronald Reagan... After a 1990s hiatus, the Judeo-Christian tradition was more recently given the kiss of life by the US religious right as anti-Islamist sloganeering. Borrowed willy-nilly from these US sources, where it is code for Christians against Islam, the phrase has now become a constant theme in Australian neoconservative rhetoric..." (Australia's 'Judeo-Christian heritage' doesn't exist, Tony Taylor, theguardian.com, 13/1/14)

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