This paper examines the United States Government's efforts to promote interreligious dialogue
during the 1950s. As the decade progressed, the Eisenhower Administration began to recognize
that the traditional language of America's "Judeo-Christian" heritage—formerly viewed as
progressive and inclusive—was overly restrictive. This was, in part, a response to global Cold
War tensions and, in part, a result of increased domestic religious pluralism. Consequently, the
government supported efforts to emphasize a common spiritual denominator to which adherents
of all religious faiths could subscribe. I examine two interreligious conferences from the
period—a 1955 meeting of the Foundation for Religious Action in the Social and Civil Order in
Washington, D.C. and a 1958 meeting on world religions in Dallas, TX. Both emphasized that
the transcendent dignity of the human being was the foundation of freedom and democracy, both
gave voice to international religious figures from Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, and
Jewish faiths, and both received support and promotion from the U.S. Government. This
movement shared many of its core features with contemporary European religious humanism.
Yet I demonstrate that this was a uniquely American contribution to the rise of interreligious
dialogue in the middle of the twentieth century, which has been largely overlooked by historians.
An examination of these two conferences, I contend, sheds light on the historical context for
understanding the Eisenhower Administration's assertion that Americans had "deep respect" for
all who walked "parallel paths to God"—no matter their religious affiliation.