Survivors of massacres at a synagogue, a mosque and churches, speaking at a State Department conference on religious freedom Tuesday, urged the rejection of bigotry, racism and hatred and spoke of need to overcome the divisions they create.
The opening remarks at the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom at times sounded like a call to Americans to end the polarizing demonization that can lead to violence.
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, where a gunman killed 11 Jewish congregants Oct. 27, drew applause when he lauded immigration as an American strength and founding virtue.