Common Question

What Does "Judeo-Christian" Mean in PragerU's Branding?

PragerU's presenters include people of varied ethnic and religious backgrounds, and its founder, Dennis Prager, is Jewish. source PragerU is nonetheless documented as Christian nationalist in orientation. The mechanism is the specific term PragerU uses to describe its own mission.

Prager's own framing

Prager has described his mission as "to influence as many people as possible to adopt Judeo-Christian and American values." source The phrase "Judeo-Christian," rather than "Christian," has a specific history.

What historians of the term say

K. Healan Gaston, a historian at Harvard Divinity School who has written the standard academic history of the phrase, describes "Judeo-Christian" as a term that projects a false sense of multiculturalism while functioning, in practice, to exclude Muslims, atheists, and members of many other faiths. Researcher Nadia Malinovich describes the term as being used as cover for Christian nationalism. source The Society for Humanistic Judaism states the phrase is used by the religious right to imply broader support for a Christian-nationalist agenda than actually exists, including among Jews. source

PragerU's own record

Reporting on PragerU has documented both its Judeo-Christian, pro-Israel branding and content that erodes the separation of church and state. source A diverse presenter roster and a Jewish founder are consistent with this pattern, not evidence against it.