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Show Christians and Jews Join Hands in Good Fellowship During 'Brotherhood Week' Observances, Feb. 20-26 ' i r- i -cs Inter - Cult Meetings Being Organized in 3,000 Communities. asked all their priests to cooperate with the conference program. Many of the major Protestant denominational denomi-national leaders took a similar position posi-tion with their clergy and educators. educa-tors. Cooperation by Jewish leaders was most generous. The Methodist Conference on a Just and Durable Peace at Delaware, Dela-ware, Ohio, called on all church leaders lead-ers to work with the conference in its program. The major denominational religious reli-gious education authorities are constantly con-stantly using materials furnished by the conference. These materials include in-clude study units for young people and adults covering periods of several sev-eral weeks discussion as well as single articles. The conference has aided and extended the services of the Bureau for Intercultural Education to public " A LL possess alike liberty liber-ty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence indul-gence of one class of people, that another an-other enjoyed the President's Proclamation On 'Brotherhood Week' 'President Roosevelt's White House proclamation setting the week of Washington's birthday as Broth- erhood week, will be beamed by short wave to the four corners of the globe by the office of war information. informa-tion. It reads in part:) "The annual observance of Brotherhood week is a time both of reminder and dedication. It reminds us of the basic religious faith from which democracy has grown that all men are children of one Father and brothers in the human family. It dedicates us to the practice of understanding and justice through which freedom free-dom and equality flourish in human hu-man society. "While we are engaged in a mighty struggle to preserve our free institutions and to extend the boundaries of liberty in the earth, it is good for us to pledge renewed devotion to the fundamentals upon which this nation has been built. Brotherhood must prevail. Our inescapable choice is brotherhood broth-erhood or chaos. "On land and sea and in the air, the sons of the United States fight as one though they come from every racial and cultural strain and though they worship at different altars. They are brothers in arms now; soon, pray God, they shall be brothers in peace. We on the home front must see that history shall not repeat re-peat itself in postwar hatred and intolerance. It is for us to make the homeland more nearly a land of brotherhood, worthy of the victory vic-tory our gallant sons and daughters daugh-ters shall surely win." exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support." So wrote George Washington, as first President of our republic, whose first principle is "that all men are created equal." The letter was addressed ad-dressed to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, R. I. A phrase from this letter, "to bigotry no sanction," has been seized upon as a fitting motto for the National Na-tional Conference of Christians and Jews, an organization dedicated to the destruction of religious intolerance intoler-ance and racial prejudice. The conference con-ference sponsors the annual "Brotherhood "Broth-erhood Week" activities, a program of events designed to promote good fellowship and understanding among people differing in cult or race. The ! ' f 1 rV - 1 1 i A last week of i ebruary, the 20th to the 27th, was chosen for Brotherhood week, because Washington's birthday, birth-day, the 22nd, is included in this period. Pageants and musical programs are being rehearsed and roundtables and forums arranged in some 3,000 American communities this year. Churches, synagogues, army camps, naval stations, schools, fraternal and tride organizations are all planning plan-ning to observe this time of special friendliness. The Round Tables. Headquarters for Brotherhood week is the central office of the conference con-ference in New York city. Dr. Robert Rob-ert Ashworth, director of the "Week," operates through 15 regional' region-al' offices, which are permanently organized units of the conference. Local groups, called Round Tables, work under the direction of the regional re-gional leaders. There are now 249 Round Tables, composed of influential influen-tial citizens of several religions and races. Last year these men who believe that they are their "brother's keepers" keep-ers" were instrumental in having tolerance programs presented in 250 colleges, 2,800 parochial and public schools, 6,968 churches of all denominations, denom-inations, 1,889 women's groups and 1,333 professional and service clubs of one kind or another. The 60 overseas directors of the USO also are now busily engaged planning various events for Brotherhood Brother-hood week for the armed forces abroad. Its chief of operations in the United States, Ray Johns, in his memo to the directors of the 2,300 USO units in this country, accompanying accom-panying his program for Brotherhood Brother-hood week, said: "No subject is closer to the heart of the world-wide crisis which now engulfs our civilization." civili-zation." 'World We Want to Live In. During the last 12 months committees commit-tees of priests, rabbis and ministers have brought their message of brotherhood to some 400 camp centers cen-ters with an estimated attendance of over two million. "The World We Want to Live In," a film made for the conference, has been shown more than 3,000 times. A documentary documen-tary film detailing the various good .vill activities of this organization of Christians and Jews now is being nade by "The March of Time." The Educational plans for observing Brotherhood week in the public and high schools were prepared by the Duluth Intercultural committee of Duluth, Minn. These cover a variety vari-ety of novel events all aiming at cultivating an appreciation of the importance of tolerance and understanding under-standing of the other fellow. Robert Rob-ert Ruhlman, who drew the prize-winning prize-winning poster for Brotherhood week soon to be displayed in schools, settlement set-tlement houses, USO centers and community groups is a high school student in Cleveland, Ohio. Education in Tolerance. Of course, getting along amicably with people who are slightly different differ-ent cannot be taught in a single week of the year. The conference realizes real-izes that their job must go on every week, every day. A spirit of toleration tolera-tion toward religious and cultural differences should be developed in childhood, the conference realizes. One of the most important .committees .commit-tees of the conference is the Commission Com-mission on Educational Organizations, Organiza-tions, which is composed of 28 prominent prom-inent religious and public educators. The commission is concerned with (1) the elimination of biased materials mate-rials from public and religious education edu-cation materials, (2) the production of positive materials to promote understanding un-derstanding and good will and (3) the training of writers, clergymen, educators and administrators to make effective the materials and programs completed. Much has been accomplished in a concrete way. For instance, 40 major ma-jor Protestant educational and missionary mis-sionary boards have adopted for use at all age levels during the coming year a series of books and study manuals entitled, "The Church and America's Peoples." They treat realistically the problems of group relations in the nation and the world. Three thousand five hundred Catholic Cath-olic parochial schools are using the new "Faith and Freedom" Readers of the Commission on American Citizenship established by the Catholic Cath-olic hierarchy. The commission includes in-cludes Protestants and Jews as well as Catholics on its boards. The Readers include many sections devoted de-voted to understanding and respect among religious and racial groups. During Brotherhood week last year, a number of Catholic bishops Back home in Brooklyn, N. Y., on furlough, Sergt. Howard Cantor relaxes re-laxes with a big cigar. A Flying Fortress gunner, he is credited with shooting down nine Zeros in the South Pacific area. The medals he wears are the Distinguished Flying Cross, Silver Star, Air Medal, and the Oak Leaf Cluster. Hundreds of thousands of Jewish young men are serving in the armed forces. school systems. This bureau develops devel-ops and distributes educational materials ma-terials on intergroup relations and works with educational bodies and regional and local school administrators adminis-trators in teaching human relations as an integral part of the curricula in American education. After noting that the National Conference Con-ference of Christians and Jews held its first meeting at Columbia university uni-versity in 1928, President Clinchy said: "The National conference was established in accord with a cardinal principle in American history: respect re-spect for the dignities and rights of groups. The people of the conference confer-ence believed that this country could not surfer hate breeders any more than they could afford to tolerate the carriers of contagious diseases. "Our organization was established on the conviction that irrational antagonisms an-tagonisms and hatreds are part of a vicious chain of which one link is tied to another. This nation, composed com-posed of a plural number of religious, reli-gious, racial and nationality groups, must, for the security and well being of each group, learn to face differences differ-ences realistically. The members of each group must so act tha the members of every other group have parity or opportunity to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." happi-ness." 'Brotherhood or Chaos.' Dr. Ashworth said emphasis now is being placed on the community cooperation of common citizens of our one land, the important thing to remember being the intrinsic worth of the individual, and, in President Roosevelt's words, after the peace it will be either "Brotherhood or Chaos." According to Dr. Ashworth, it was a Catholic priest who originally suggested sug-gested the organization of Brotherhood Brother-hood week, back in 1932. He wrote to the National Conference of Christians Chris-tians and Jews that brotherhood was something all faiths wanted, something some-thing of which there was too little in the world, something of which there could never be too much. He suggested that a special period be designated each year by the National Nation-al conference, that Catholics, Protestants Prot-estants and Jews be invited to consider con-sider together practical ways toward attaining it. This idea took fire. The first national na-tional observance of Brotherhood week took place in April, 1934. President Presi-dent Roosevelt proclaimed the event publicly as he has done every year for the last 11 years. From the first the conference sought out the cooperation co-operation of civic bodies, Parent Teachers' associations, schools, colleges, col-leges, churches and synagogues. Dr. Ashworth said: "This year, like preceding pre-ceding ones, a number of governors gover-nors and mayors have issued formal proclamations endorsing its aims and purposes." IV. ; . - ' t ' 1 7 v :amp program is growing all the .ime; in the words of the president )f the conference, Rev. Everett R. Clinchy, it is "the most important new contribution of the National Conference." Con-ference." Urging service men and women, and all others, to attend their churches or synagogues, the National Nation-al Conference believes that "while we fight for religious liberty, it is our duty to help our churches and synagogues by our attendance and support. We must make religion increasingly in-creasingly vital in our lives and in the nation." Many of the major denomination de-nomination religious authorities, and Protestant, Catholic and Jewish community leaders, use the material prepared by the Conference on Brotherhood week. Some 2,500,000 pieces of its literature have been given giv-en to chaplains for use and distribution. Clergymen of three faiths, Rev. William Ryan, Rabbi Samuel Thur-man, Thur-man, and Rev. Sidney Sweet, (front to rear) get acquainted with soldiers at Jefferson Barracks, Mo. |
