Evening star., 1936-02-24
BY the Associated Press.

HYDE PARK, N. Y, February a.
The text of the address delivered last
night by President Roosevelt on the
occasion of the brotherhood day OBJ
servance under the auspices of the
National Conference of Jews and
Christians follows:
II am happy to speak to you from
my own home on the evening of a
Sabbath day which has been observed
in so many of your home communities
as brotherhood day. The National
Conference of Jews and Christians has
set aside day on which we can meet,
not primarily as Protestants or Cath
olics or Jews, but as believing Amer
leans; day on which we can dedicate
ourselves not to the things which
divide but to the things which unite
us. I hope that we have begun to
see how many and how important
are the things on which we are united.
Now. of all times, we require that kind
of thinking.
Honest Differences.
There are honest differences or
religious belief among the citizens OF
your town as there are among the
citizens of mine. 1t is part of the
spirit of brotherhood day, as it is a
part of our American heritage to
respect those differences. And it is
we'll for us to remember that this
America of ours is the product of no
single race or creed or class. Men
and Women-your fathers and mine
came here from the far corners of
the earth with beliefs that widely
varied. And yet, each in his own way,
laid his own special gift upon our ma
tional altar to enrich our national
life. From the gift that each has
given all have gained.
This is no time to make capital out
OF religious disagreement, however
honest. It is time. rather, to make
capital out of religious understanding
We who Lave faith cannot afford to
fall out among ourselves. The very
state OF the world is a summons to us
to stand together. For as see it, the
chief religious issue is not between our
various beliefs. 1t is between belief
and unbelief. It is not your specific
faith or mine that is being called into
question-but all faith.
Religion in wide areas of the earth
Is being confronted with irreligion:
our faiths are being challenged. 1t
is because of that threat that you and
I must reach across the lines between
our creeds, clasp hands and make
common cause.
ITO do that will do credit to the best
of our religious tradition. It will do
credit, ..lso, to the best in our Amer
lean tradition. The spiritual resources
of our forbears have brought us a
long way toward the goal which was
set before the Nation at its founding
as nation.
"Yet I do not look upon these United
States as finished product. We are
still in the making. The vision of
the early days still requires the same
qualities of faith in God and man
for its fulfllment.
mo greater thing could come to our
land today than revival of the spirit
OF religion-a revival that would
sweep through the homes of the Ma
ton and stir the hearts of men and
women of all faiths to reassertion of
their belief in God and their dedica.
ton to his will for themselves and for
their world. I doubt If there is any
problem-social, political or eco
nomic-that would not melt away
before the fire of such a spiritual
awakening.
Venture in Neighborliness.
II know of no better way to kindle
such a fire than through the fellow
ship that an occasion like this makes
possible. For brotherhood day, after
all. is an experiment in understand
ing; a venture in neighborliness.
Il like to think of our country as one
home in which the interests of each
member are bound up with the happi-
ness Of all. We ought to know. bv
now, that the welfare of your family
or mine cannot be bought at the sac
rif1ce Of our neighbor's family: that
our well being depends, in the long
run. upon the well being of our
neighbors: The good neighbor idea
as we are trying t. practice 1t in in
ternational relationshps-needs to be
put into practice In our community
relationship. When it is we may dis
cover that the road to understanding
and fellowship is also the road to
spiritual awakening. At our neigh
bor's f1reside we may find new fuel
for the fires Of faith at our own
hearthside.
1T would be fitting thing for an
organization Sl,ch as the Notioy,o,