Although it is a common term Judeo-Christian is a misnomer, originally a mishmash Judaism and paganism, in time the Judeo part was demonized and cut from the root. By the time of the writing of John the Jews were the enemy. Early Christianity was characterized by pluralism and the indwelling and witnessing of spirit. The self-appointed "Church Fathers" systematically destroyed this and all but those who ascribed to the vision of a single unified and codified Church were branded as heretics, ostracized, and discredited. Jesus would have been appalled to learn that he had been made a god. Paul, who was already troubled by the fact that the promised end had not come and by the schism he had created, would not know what to make of all that came to be, all that was so contrary to his vision.

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By my rejecting it.

I was raised within the Mainline Protestant province of the Judeo-Christian religious empire, and I wish I could tell you how it framed my core values and moral judgements. Because it was ubiquitous in the small town (1800 people), the framing was invisible and the influence was near total. Until, at least, I was in the more secular atmosphere of a state college. This was in the 1960s. Secularism wasn't forced, it was just closer to to being background, the same way the J-C content had been. Life after college was much more secular, but I didn't reject the moral framework.

The major break with my religious tradition was a result of getting involved in the gay community and a socialist organization, both of which ranged from critical to definitely hostile toward the J-C tradition. The creedal claims of Christianity were no longer acceptable to me. I had not been a member of a church for many years, but I found that relinquishing a grip on the warmth I felt for the faith of my youth was more difficult than I thought it would be.

In time I managed to work through the spiritual nostalgia, and discard much of the moral sauce that had long been mixed with a vaguely conservative political stew. I still live in the same cultural community that I grew up in; Minneapolis is not Manhattan, in ever so many ways. If, as an old man, I want to have some sort of social life it makes sense to be involved with a church. The gay community isn't what it used to be (actually, it never was), so I belong to the Lutheran church directly across the street. Location, location, location. It serves me as a low-overhead social outlet and drop-in center. It does what a gay bar used to do for me. There are, actually, quite a few gay people in this congregation. The asst. pastor is a gay man.

Like most churches, whatever they profess, this church is dominated by real estate concerns. Maintaining buildings that were built for much larger congregations drives almost all churches--sometimes driving them right into the ground they are built on.

I am now an atheist Lutheran. I don't believe in God, the father almighty, creator of heaven and earth... I don't feel I owe allegiance to the church, either. I like quite a few of the people there, but the organization itself is like any other organization, and not as good as some.

By my rejecting it. — Banno

Such rejection is largely illusion.

As example, Catholicism dominated every aspect of Western culture to a degree unimaginable today for 1,000 unbroken years. A thousand years. None of us can fully walk away from that influence, however much we may delude ourselves in to thinking we have such a choice.

I left the Catholic Church 50 years ago as a teen. I think the Church structure is a total mess, and I never really connected with the Jesus character. My list of complaints with Catholicism is endless etc. But...

I've been faithful to my wife every day for 40 years, even though if you saw me in person you'd be sure I must have just gotten back from attending Woodstock.

Centuries of Catholic DNA up my family tree still speaking to me, still guiding me, still helping me keep from totally screwing up my life.

The point here being that there are some influences which are beyond choice.

You meant “delusion” I think. It is like saying “I reject being born!” it’s complete nonsense and probably due to a lack of understanding what the term means.

For Banno -

Basically, you speak English. English is infused with analogy, myth and sociopolitcal content; a lot of this is grounded in Greek mythos, Celtic mythos, Norse mythos, all of which have been encapsulated by Judeo-Christian traditions. This tradition has been a huge part of western culture for well over one thousand years.

All said and done I do think sometimes people overstate the influence of this and mistaken basic human characteristics for innate human nature. Various institutions, other than relgious ones, have kept cultural traditions alive and preserved knowledge. This is a global phenomenon in which narratives have stood the test of time because people have found them meaningful and useful as tools of memory.

In summation I think it is better to say Judeo-Christian mythos has survived because it is a culmination of something human society attaches too. The less substantial traditions fall by the way due to having no social human relation - good or bad.

In soem far-flung future we may be saying we all possess a Jedi tradition. If so this grew from a collection of archetypical ideas sourced from the prehistoric tradition of storytelling culminating in various archetypal representations common to all languages and cultures the world over, albeit in different schemata and geopolitcal divisions. It is a volatile evolution and much more crude that scientific exploration, yet still meaningful in it’s slow burning process.