Truman Condemns House Committee Slur on Wise and Magnes

Former President Harry S. Truman, speaking last night at a dinner tendered in his honor by the City College of New York, condemned the attacks on the reputations of the late Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, Dr. J.L. Magnes and Protestant clergymen in a report recently issued by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. He did not, however, mention the names of the attacked religious leaders.

“I notice,” Mr. Truman said, “that these attacks have been leveled at some of the leaders of our great Protestant denominations and some of the leaders of our great Jewish congregations-even against those who are dead and unable to defend or explain their actions.

“Now, we surely all know that our Protestant churches and our Jewish synagogues are among the strongest supporters of American principles and ideals. I do not believe there is any distinction between any of our great religious groups in this country with respect to their adherence to the principles of our form of government. I think it will be a sad day for religious tolerance in this country when anyone starts to draw lines between our great churches in this matter.

“We have a very great principle in this country, and it is written into the Constitution that the Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. If Congress can make no laws prohibiting freedom of worship, it is certainly not entitled to investigate the beliefs of church groups or their leaders.

“Of course, if a clergyman is engaged in espionage or has violated the law in any way, he is subject to the law like any other citizen. But matters of belief and opinion present a very different question. Communism is the deadly foe of belief in God and of all organized religion. It is carefully written in the basic documents of communism that to be a Communist a man must be an atheist. Communism is just militant atheism,” Mr. Truman pointed out.