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.64 Civilization and Religion Conference Message in FRASCO brochure Things You May Wantto Remember From the Second National Conference on Spiritual Foundations, October 2426, 1955; OF, Box 676, Folder: OF 133; DDE Papers.Note that the Buddhist representative,Ambassador R.S.S.Gunewardene of Ceylon, had to cancel his address to the conferencebecause of the Geneva Foreign Ministers Conference.Had he been present, it is not clearwhether he would have signed the conference message, given the ambivalence of someBuddhists towards Western notions of God. 286 PART TWOfaiths opposing communism.That in itself marks the FRASCO message as nomean achievement.Statements and conferences alone could only accomplish so much, andlest it be accused of doing more talk than the action heralded by itsname, FRASCO entered 1956 mindful of new initiatives.Lowry and JohnL.Sullivan, a FRASCO board member and Secretary of the Navy underTruman, proposed to Secretary of Defense Charles Wilson that FRASCOassist the Pentagon in broadening and deepening.themeaningof ArmedForces Day and of the slogan Power for Peace. Specifically, they sug-gested incorporating more spiritual language in the president s upcomingArmed Forces Day proclamation, encouraging American churches to prayfor and honor members serving in the military, and enhancing the reli-gious dimension in military ceremonies and proclamations.The Pentagonreadily appreciated this proposal, and Eisenhower s proclamation reflectedit, as he called for participation by representatives of all religious faiths in[Armed Forces Day] ceremonies in order that the interdependence of oursecurity and the deep and abiding religious faith of Americans may be recog-nized. 65Though Billy Graham was already a board member, FRASCO sought otherways to strengthen ties with evangelicals.To this end, Elson and Lowry con-tributed feature-length articles for Christianity Today; each in his typicalfashion, Elson wrote on Worship in the Life of the Nation and Lowry on Judgment on the Christian West. 66 Eager to do his part, Graham mailed acopy of Lowry s signature book Communism and Christ to every member ofthe U.S.Congress.Other major FRASCO initiatives of 1956 included organiz-ing a Freedom Rally in Washington on behalf of the Hungarians, Poles,and other Captive Peoples and drafting an Open Letter to Perplexed Com-munists. This letter, signed by more than sixty American leaders includingclergy from the usual faiths, sought to exploit hints of communist misgiv-ings in the wake of Josef Stalin s death in 1953.It urged communists notto evade or silence these doubts and promptings of conscience sparked byrecent acknowledgements of Stalin s depredations, but instead to admit thatthe sacrifices of a lifetime have procured not the heaven on earth you hadexpected from Communism, but a dictatorship of terror and slavery. The65January 3, 1956 letter from Lowry and Sullivan to Charles Wilson; January 23, 1956 letter fromRobert Tripp Ross to Lowry; Excerpts from1956 Armed Forces Day Proclamation ; NCCPapers, Record Group 4, Box 16, Folder 1; Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, PA(hereinafter PHS).66Elson, Worship in the Life of the Nation, Christianity Today, 12 November 1956, 10 11, 19;Lowry, Judgment on the Christian West, Christianity Today, 7 January 1957, 17, 24 25. PROPHET, PRIEST, AND PRESIDENT: THE NEW AMERICAN FAITH 287USIA happily informed Lowry that it gave the letter rather extensive dissem-ination overseas, including broadcasts in numerous languages by the Voiceof America (VOA), Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberation, and publication inmany European press outlets.67 Among all religious organizations, FRASCOprovided the Eisenhower Administration with the most fertile material forpropaganda just as it was intended.Frustrated with lack of support for his Administration s foreign assistanceprograms, the president decided he needed to generate some domestic assis-tance.This was one area where, in Eisenhower s mind, the normally nettle-some NCC could actually be of genuine use.Meeting in 1957 with a delegationof NCC leaders, he asked for their help in raising awareness and enthusi-asm about U.S.foreign aid programs.NCC president Eugene Carson Blakeresponded quite favorably, telling Eisenhower we are mobilizing the concernof our churches for an improved, expanding, long-term program of foreignaid. 68 Later that year, Arthur Flemming, Eisenhower s friend and sometimeAdministration official, wrote on the same topic.Flemming reminded Eisen-hower of remarks the president at one point had made spontaneously duringa meeting with American business executives skeptical of foreign aid.You then made the point that we are not helping other peoples solely for thepurpose of persuading them to join our military or our political alliance.Youstated that we were helping other peoples because we believed in spiritualvalues to such an extent that we were willing to apply them to the practicalsituations of our day.You expressed the conviction that if we continued tofollow such a policy, other peoples might be attracted to our spiritual valuesand might embrace them.Flemming suggested that Eisenhower make such an appeal more broadly. Many church people, for example, have not looked at our programs forassistance in this light.When we are able to bring such people to the placewhere they see the relationship between the application of spiritual valuesand these programs, we are tapping a source of real power. 6967November 25, 1956 letterfromLowrytoEisenhower; OF, Box738, Folder: OF144-G-2; October17, 1956 memo from William Elliott (Office of Defense Mobilization) to R.V.Mrozinski (OCB);WHO, NSC Staff, OCB Central File Series, Box 2, Folder: OCB000.3 File #1(4); 1958 FRASCObrochures; OF, Box 890, Folder: OF 225 1958; DDE Papers.Also Episcopal Leaders JoinOthers in Letter to Perplexed Reds, Episcopal Church News, 2 September 1956, 10
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