Judeo-Christian ethics

===Franklin D. Roosevelt===
The [[First inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt|first inaugural address of Franklin D. Roosevelt]] (FDR), in 1933, the famous speech in which FDR declared that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself", had numerous religious references, which was widely commented upon at the time.  Although it did not use the term "Judeo-Christian", it has come to be seen by scholars as in tune with the emerging view of a Judeo-Christian tradition.  Historian Mary Stuckey emphasizes "Roosevelt's use of the shared values grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition" as a way to unify the American nation, and justify his own role as its chief policymaker.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mary E. Stuckey|title=The Good Neighbor: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Rhetoric of American Power|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3_tHBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT55|year=2013|publisher=MSU Press|page=55}}</ref>

In the speech, FDR attacked the bankers and promised a reform in an echo of the gospels: "The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit."<ref>See [http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/  Roosevelt, "'Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself': FDR's First Inaugural Address"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604164155/http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/ |date=2022-06-04 }}</ref>  Houck and Nocasian, examining the flood of responses to the First Inaugural, and commenting on this passage, argue:
<blockquote>The nation's overwhelmingly Judeo-Christian response to the address thus had both textual and extratextual warrants. For those inclined to see the Divine Hand of Providence at work, Roosevelt's miraculous escape [from assassination] in Miami was a sign—perhaps The Sign—that God had sent another Washington or Lincoln at the appointed hour. ... Many others could not resist the subject position that Roosevelt ... had cultivated throughout the address—that of savior.  After all, it was Christ who had expelled the moneychangers from the Temple. ... [Many listeners saw] a composite sign that their new president had a godly mandate to lead.<ref>Davis W. Houck and Mihaela Nocasian. "FDR's First Inaugural Address: Text, Context, and Reception." ''Rhetoric & Public Affairs'' 5#4 (2003): 649-678, quote p 669.</ref></blockquote>

Gary Scott Smith stresses that Roosevelt believed his [[Social programs in the United States|welfare programs]] were "wholly in accord with the social teachings of Christianity."  He saw the achievement of social justice through government action as morally superior to the old [[laissez-faire]] approach.  He proclaimed, "The thing we are seeking is justice," as guided by the precept of "Do unto your neighbor as you would be done by."<ref>{{cite book|author=Gary Scott Smith|title=Faith and the Presidency From George Washington to George W. Bush|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195300604|url-access=registration|year=2006|publisher=Oxford UP|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195300604/page/236 236]}}</ref> Roosevelt saw the moral issue as religiosity versus anti-religion.  According to Smith, "He pleaded with Protestants, Catholics, and Jews to transcend their sectarian creeds and 'unite in good works' whenever they could 'find common cause.'"<ref>Smith,  ''Faith and the Presidency '' p 194.</ref>

Atalia Omer and  Jason A. Springs point to Roosevelt's [[1939 State of the Union Address]], which called upon Americans to "defend, not their homes alone, but the tenets of faith and humanity on with which their churches, their governments and their very civilization are founded." They state that, "This familiar rhetoric invoked a conception of the sanctity of the United States' Judeo-Christian values as a basis for war."<ref>{{cite book|author=Atalia Omer and Jason A. Springs|title=Religious Nationalism: A Reference Handbook |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=blLVIW8sthYC&pg=PT72|year=2013|publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=72}}</ref>

Timothy Wyatt notes that in the coming of World War II Roosevelt's isolationist opponents said he was calling for a "holy war."  Wyatt says:
<blockquote>Often in his Fireside Chats or speeches to the houses of Congress, FDR argued for the entrance of America into the war by using both blatant and subtle religious rhetoric. Roosevelt portrayed the conflict in the light of [[good versus evil]], the religious against the irreligious.  In doing so, he pitted the Christian ideals of democracy against the atheism of National Socialism.<ref>Timothy Wyatt, "America's Holy War: FDR, Civil Religion, and the Prelude to War" ''Memphis Theological Seminary Journal'' (2012) v. 50 [http://mtsjournal.memphisseminary.edu/vol-50-1/america-s-holy-war-fdr-civil-religion-and-the-prelude-to-war-by-timothy-wyatt online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220618131638/http://mtsjournal.memphisseminary.edu/vol-50-1/america-s-holy-war-fdr-civil-religion-and-the-prelude-to-war-by-timothy-wyatt |date=2022-06-18 }}.</ref></blockquote>