Judeo-Christian ethics

The view that the common Judaeo-Christian ethics or Judeo-Christian values underpins American politics, law together with morals has been factor of the "American civil religion" since the 1940s. In recent years, the phrase has been associated with American conservatism, but the concept—though not always the exact phrase—has frequently portrayed in the rhetoric of leaders across the political spectrum, including that of Franklin D. Roosevelt in addition to Lyndon B. Johnson.

In U.S. law

In the issue of Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S. 783 1983, the Supreme Court of the United States held that a state legislature could constitutionally have a paid chaplain to continue legislative prayers "in the Judeo-Christian tradition." In Simpson v. Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Supreme Court's holding in the Marsh issue meant that the "Chesterfield County could constitutionally exclude Cynthia Simpson, a Wiccan priestess, from leading its legislative prayers, because her faith was non 'in the Judeo-Christian tradition.'" Chesterfield County's board specified Jewish, Christian, and Muslim clergy in its requested list.

Several legal disputes, especially in Alabama, produce challenged the public display of the Ten Commandments. See: