The term Judeo-Christo-Islamic is sometimes used to include Islam in discussions about Western religion. According to John O. Voll, associate director of the Washington-based Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, American presidential candidate Jesse Jackson was among the first American high-profile figures to to use the term Judeo-Christian-Islamic in reference to America. [1] While this term may be welcomed by many as religiously inclusive language, some have argued against its use saying that:
- Muslims were not involved in the creation of Western society.
- Muslim values differ from Christian and Jewish values.
- Using the term Judeo-Christo-Islamic would be a form of revisionist history.
- Other religions, such as Bahai, might need to be included in new terms, if society were to choose religiously inclusive language over historically accurate language.
- Muslims were involved in the creation of Western society, as some black slaves were Muslim.
- Christian values also differ from Jewish values, but that the emphasis in inclusive language should be on similarities rather than differences.
- There is no problem with including other religions when engaging in discussions about the similarities between religions, and this should be encouraged rather than discouraged.
- There are currently more Muslims than Jews in Canada and the number of Muslim Americans is slowly increasing as well due to immigration and possibly due to conversions. See [1] for a discussion of the number of Muslims in America.
See also: Judeo-Christian tradition -- Christo-Islamic tradition --Judeo-Islamic tradition