Teaching Religious Tolerance

The Brian Lehrer Show | Jan 28, 2011

In 1790, George Washington wrote a letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island in which he described an American government "which to bigotry gives no sanction, to persecution no assistance." Adam Strom, director of content, research, and development for Facing History and Ourselves, and Farah Anwar Pandith, first ever Special Representative to Muslim Communities at the Department of State, talk about the link between religious freedom and democracy, how teaching religious tolerance in schools is an essential part of maintaining a free society, and their classroom project that gets schoolchildren to write similar letters in the voice of George Washington.

→ Adam Strom and Farah Anwar Pandith will be taking part in a free symposium, "Give Bigotry No Sanction: The George Washington Letter," on Monday, January 31st at 7:00 PM at NYU’s Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South.

More information available at FacingHistory.org

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