Address at a Luncheon of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.

Mr. President, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chief Justice:

I congratulate the National Conference of Christians and Jews on another year of widespread and effective work in the cause of human brotherhood at home and abroad. I assure you of my support and enthusiasm for your program for the coming year, and in particular, for your Brotherhood Week, which is to be held next February.

I know of no organization that renders greater service to the basic principles on which this country is rounded than the National Conference of Christians and Jews. This country is rounded upon an ideal--the ideal of the equality of men before God and under the law. On the basis of this ideal, we have created a Nation composed of people from many lands with many faiths and many beliefs. Here in this country men of different traditions and different faiths have worked together for the common good.

I have just come from the National Cemetery at Arlington, where I laid a wreath on the grave of an American hero. No American knows, no real American cares, whether that man was a Catholic, a Jew, or a Protestant, or what his origin and color were. That grave--the grave of the Unknown Soldier--symbolizes our faith in unity.

We have achieved our unity in this country, not by eliminating our differences in religion and tradition, not by hiding or suppressing our political and economic conflicts, but by holding to a concept which rises above them all, the concept of the brotherhood of man.

The first step of every enemy of this country has always been to attempt to separate the different strands of faith and belief out of which this Nation has been woven. Our enemies have tried to set up group against group, faith against faith--to create prejudice and to spread hate and distrust among our people.

The great service of the National Conference of Christians and Jews is to fight against the forces of intolerance, to bring light to the dark by-ways of prejudice, and to spread the spirit of tolerance and brotherhood which unites our country. This is a great patriotic service, and the country is indebted to the men and women in this organization who have given so much of their effort and substance in performing it.

In looking over your record of performance for the last year, I have been impressed by your comprehensive day-to-day program of education. Your efforts to promote understanding and eliminate prejudice have extended to almost every kind of organization in our society. You have reached not only the schools and the colleges, not only the churches and synagogues, but factories and shops, the press, the radio and the movies, and organizations of veterans, women, and young people. You will, I am sure, go on to reach more of these groups and bring your message to every agency that helps shape those attitudes of mind which are important to good citizenship.

This fine work by your organization will reach its peak again next February in Brotherhood Week. I am happy to have the opportunity to serve again as Honorary chairman of that event. I am sure that it will be a notable success under the leadership of my friend John Sullivan, and with the help of those associated with him, who are gathered here today and who are listening in.

The greatest strength of this organization lies in its fundamental principles. The National Conference of Christians and Jews has rightly recognized that the true foundation of the brotherhood of man is belief in God. The only sure bedrock of human brotherhood is the knowledge that God is the Father of mankind.

In the history of the world, there have been some movements inspired by a desire for brotherhood and greater justice among men which have denied or forgotten the religious foundation of those ideals. Sooner or later these movements have wavered and lost their way. They have become self-centered; they have set up their own interests as the only standard of right and wrong, and they have degenerated from movements of liberation into movements of tyranny and oppression. We can succeed in achieving brotherhood only if we acknowledge that the ideal of brotherhood is something outside or above us, something by which we in our turn will also be judged.

All the great religions represented in this organization, whatever their differences, acknowledge this belief in God as the Father and Creator of mankind. For us, therefore, brotherhood is not only a generous impulse, but also a divine command. Others may be moved into brotherhood only by sentiment. We acknowledge brotherhood as a religious duty.

All the faiths represented here claim as a common heritage the great thoughts of the Hebrew prophets. The prophets were among the first of men who saw that the concept of the Fatherhood of God required men to do justice to one another. They called on the people of their day, just as they call on us today, not only to recognize the humanity of others, but also to work unceasingly for the achievement of a greater justice in human relations.

Those of us who believe in God, therefore, can never be content to live for ourselves alone. We must always be working to eliminate injustice, and to create a society which carries out our ideals.

If we look at ourselves in the true spirit of brotherhood, we must acknowledge that in the United States there are instances of discrimination and injustice because of difference in color, religion, or national origin. But we are working diligently to overcome these violations of the fundamental faith which holds us together. It is encouraging to see that Americans all over the country are growing more and more aware of the importance of this problem.

I have asked that our Federal Government take an active part in this effort to achieve greater justice. I have called for legislation to protect the rights of all its citizens, to assure their equal participation in national life, and to reduce discrimination based upon prejudice. In view of the fundamental faith of this country and the clear language of our Constitution, I do not see how we can do otherwise than adopt such legislation.

We must strive abroad, as well as at home, to defend human rights and to expand the enjoyment of freedom. We have taken a firm stand in the councils of the United Nations against the violation of human rights. With the help of your organization and others like it, we have been able to play an important part in the United Nations in developing such historic international documents as the Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on Genocide.

Furthermore, we realize that economic progress is essential to the peace and brotherhood that we desire for all mankind. That is why we are striving with other nations to create world economic conditions in which people may achieve freedom and dignity. That is why we are undertaking our programs of economic assistance and putting forward our proposals for helping underdeveloped regions of the world to achieve a better standard of living through their own efforts.

The task of achieving greater justice and freedom will be long and it will be difficult. The beliefs on which we have rounded our form of government, and our hope of a better world, are under attack. In various parts of the world today, human rights and freedom are being deliberately violated and suppressed. Men and women are being systematically persecuted for their religious beliefs. Campaigns are being waged to turn religion into a tool of the state.

These things are not only morally wrong-they threaten to undo the slow and hard-won achievements of civilization. They represent a new barbarism, more terrible than that of ancient times. These are the acts of men who conceive of other men as slaves, and not as brethren.

My friends, I am doing everything of which I am capable to organize the moral forces of the world to meet this situation. I am trying to get all those people who look up and who know that there is a greater power than man in the universe to organize themselves to meet those who look down and who are strictly materialistic. That is what we are up against.

The defense of mankind against these attacks lies in the faith we profess--the brotherhood of man and the Fatherhood of God. Men and women who have this faith will refuse to bow to force. They will refuse to worship the power of the state. They will refuse to set their own nation or their own group above criticism. For they understand that above all these works of men there is the eternal standard of God by which we shall all be judged.

It is only the people of religious faith throughout the world who have the power to overcome the force of tyranny. It is in their beliefs that the path can be found to justice and freedom. Their religious concepts are the only sure foundation of the democratic ideal.

To them, therefore, we must extend the hand of brotherhood. This is a task for all men of good will, working together everywhere. There can be no higher challenge than to build a world of freedom and justice, a world in which all men are brothers. That is the goal toward which we must strive with all our strength.

Sustained and strengthened by one another, we can go forward, under God, to meet and overcome the difficulties which confront us. With His help, mankind will come at last to a world where peace, freedom and justice will be enjoyed by all people everywhere.