Lehman Appeals for “increased Good Will and Understanding” to Destroy Bigotry

Declaring that “intolerance is the foe not only of liberty but also of religion,” Herbert H. Lehman today told a meeting of the National Conference of Christians and Jews at the Hotel Pennsylvania that fanaticism and intolerance in the United States “can be destroyed only by increased good will and understanding.” The purpose of government is, and always must be, to safeguard the equal rights guaranteed to all by constitution and statute, he added.

“It is always possible for the powerful to oppress and persecute minorities or groups; but let every lover of democracy remember that when we deal unjustly with or persecute our fellow man we weaken the structure of democracy itself,” the former governor said. “Where democracy has been weakened, persecution, religious intolerance and civil oppression have invariably raised their ugly heads. Those who are indifferent to the blessings of their liberties may lose them.”