FDR's Warning About Threats to Religion from Abroad in His 1939 State of the Union Address

On this episode of Our American Stories, it may be one of the most eloquent defenses of religion in American life—and of free nations—in U.S. history. “Where freedom of religion has been attacked, the attack has come from sources opposed to democracy,” FDR explained. “Where democracy has been overthrown, the spirit of free worship has disappeared.” Our host, Lee Habeeb, shares the story.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib, and this is our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
Coming to you from the city where the West begins,
Fort Worth, Texas. And we love whenever we can to
take you back in time to important moments in American life,
from more to peace, from our great triumphs to our

(00:31):
great tragedies too. Today we take you back to January
of nineteen thirty nine and to President Franklin Delana Roosevelt's
sixth State of the Union address. He gave ten altogether
more than any American president. Roosevelt had a lot on
his mind that evening, as he spoke not just to
Congress but the nation through the radio. It was only

(00:53):
months since Germany had a next Austria, and storm clouds
loomed over Europe. Adolf Hitler's ambitions were not unambiguous for
anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear. It
was into this background and with a serious purpose, that
FDR began his speech.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
Mister Vice President, mister Speaker, Members of the seventy six Congress,
in reporting on the state of the Nation, I have
felt it necessary on previous occasions to advise the Congress,

(01:33):
of disturbance abroad, and of the need of putting our
own house in order in the face of storm signals
from across the seas. As this seventy sixth Congress opens,
there is need for further warning.

Speaker 3 (01:54):
A war which threatened to envelop.

Speaker 4 (01:56):
The world in flames has been averted, but it has
become increasingly clear that world peace is not assured.

Speaker 3 (02:09):
All about us rage undeclared wars, military and economic. All
about us grow more deadly. Armaments, military and economic. All
about us are threats of new aggressions, military and economic.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
Roosevelt knew that Hitler had been gearing up Germany's war
machine for years, including the world's first operational air force.
By contrast, America had the eighteenth largest army in the world,
just ahead of Holland. Argentina and Hungary had bigger armies,
and there was a reason why in less than six

(02:53):
months of fighting during World War One, fifty three thousand
Americans were killed in battle and another sixty three thousand
from accidents and disease. Americans wanted nothing to do with
another war in Europe, and what better way to do
that than to dismantle our defense industry with companies like
DuPont and Remington pulling out of the military contracting business

(03:16):
all together. No one understood this backdrop better than FDR.
He also understood that much was its state. With the
rise of German civilization itself and its foundations religious liberty,
and religion itself.

Speaker 5 (03:33):
Storms were all broad directly challenged.

Speaker 3 (03:37):
Three institutions indispensable to Americans now as always.

Speaker 5 (03:44):
The first is religion. Religion is the source of the
other two.

Speaker 3 (03:52):
Democracy and international good faith. Religion, by teaching man his
relationship to God, gives the individual a sense of his
own dignity and teaches him to respect himself by respecting
his neighbors. Democracy, the practice of self government, is a

(04:16):
covenant among free men to respect the rights.

Speaker 5 (04:20):
And liberties of their fellows.

Speaker 3 (04:24):
International good faith, a sister of democracy, springs from the
will of civilized nations of men to respect the rights
and the liberties of other nations of men in a
modern civilization. All three, religion, democracy, and international good faith,

(04:50):
complement and support each other.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
What a beautiful recognition by FDR about religion and its
vital role in any day democracy. But he wasn't finished
talking about religion. Indeed, he was getting to the most
important and most urgent point.

Speaker 3 (05:09):
Where freedom of religion has been attacked, the attackers come
from sources opposed to democracy. Where democracy has been overthrown,
the spirit of free worship has disappeared, and where religion
and democracy have vanished, good faith and reason in international

(05:31):
affairs have given way to strident.

Speaker 5 (05:34):
Ambition and brute force.

Speaker 3 (05:39):
An ordering of society which relegates religion, democracy, and good
faith among nations to the background can find no place
within it for the ideals of the Prince of Peace.
The United States rejects such an ordering and retains its

(06:02):
ancient faith.

Speaker 1 (06:06):
FDR made a clear statement here about the role of
religion in America, citing the ideals of the Prince of Peace.
He then closes out the most important part of one
of his most important speeches with these.

Speaker 3 (06:20):
Words, that comes a time in the affairs of men
when they must prepare to defend not their homes alone.

Speaker 5 (06:30):
But the tenets are faith and humanity on.

Speaker 3 (06:34):
Which their churches, their governments, and their very foundations are set.
The defense of religion, our democracy, and of good faith
among nations is all the same fight, to say one.

Speaker 5 (06:51):
We must now make up our minds to save all.

Speaker 1 (07:00):
What a clear statement about America's first freedom, religious freedom,
which appears even before the freedom of speech in the
First Amendment. The story of President Franklin Delana Roosevelt's State
of the Union speech is sixth in nineteen thirty nine.
Here on Our American Stories, this is Lee Habib, host

(07:31):
of our American Stories. Every day we set out to
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(07:53):
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