The activities of Charles E. Coughlin, the Christian Front and other anti-Semitic groups represent the modern phase of the efforts to destroy the Union which have been going on since the founding of the United States, the Rev. William C. Kernan of the Newark Episcopal Diocese declared tonight at a meeting of the Free Speech Forum in the Hotel Edison attended by about 1,000 persons.
Reviewing the history of attempts to split the Union, Father Kernan said that present-day anti-Semitism was a smoke screen for an attack on American democracy. He said events in Germany and Russia had shown that it was impossible to withdraw the rights of any one group without threatening the rights of all. He urged a tolerance based not on toleration of other groups but respect for their equal rights.
The meeting was called to protest against the activities of Coughlin and the Christian Front. Others on the speakers list were Dr. Henry Smith Leiper, secretary of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ; Prof. Horace M. Kallen and Elizabeth M. Riley, secretary of the Free Speech Forum. The meeting also marked publication by the forum of Father Kernan’s book, “The Ghost of Royal Oak–a Christian Answer to Coughlinism.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
