[DNA.2012]

When I speak of “Judeo-Christian values” in a secular governmental context, I typically use that term specifically to focus on the commonly-shared values of both the Jewish and Christian faiths. A short way of summarizing that would be to say that the Old Testament (or as Jewish people often prefer to say, the “Hebrew Bible”) teaches many things about how individuals, families and societies can govern themselves, and those are very good principles regardless of whether we profess the Jewish or Christian religions.

In that case, why not simply refer to them as "Judeo" values since nothing about them is distinct to Christianity?

[darrellmaurina]

I'm on the way out the door so I need to give an answer which is far from complete.

I can't say that America is a Jewish nation, or one founded on Old Testament principles. That would not be accurate since it would include many things on which Jews and Christians disagree. I do believe America was founded on a common core of Judeo-Christian principles, with deliberate and intentional decisions made to include people who would not have been part of the acceptable consensus of churchmen and dissenters in contemporary Britain, such as Roman Catholics and Jews. While “freethinkers” such as Jefferson and Franklin were certainly part of the mix, they shared what in those days was considered a common moral consensus and were a pretty small minority.

Got to go...