Hungarian Church Press, 1968 (20. évfolyam, 2. szám)
1968-06-01 / 2. szám
"HCP Tol XX.. Special Number 1968 No 2 131 (07912) the exception of hot war,, to force his ideology and social structure on the other partnero The churches are to support in our days the effort to make clear to all concerned» the peaceful ooexiktence of nations is not a "battleground of the Cold War, neither the operational terrain for psychological warfareQ We belxevc that it is absolutely necessary to give further elaboration^ in the direction of such concreteness,, to the material published in the relevant studies of the World Conference on Church and Society0 Unless the churches give unmistakable evidences of their refusal to be tools of the attempts to hinder and disturb the peaceful coexistence of nations they will have no reason for surprise if their work for coexistence will be viewed with suspicion by those on the secular side who sincerely work for accomplishing this objectiveo f) The Content of Coexistence: Peaceful Competition "True coexistence is utterly incompatible with the application cf force by thd use of means which ought to be used for the conmor good of mankind (economic, cultural values,, etc)« The political content of the conoeption plainly expresses that the struggle between the two great world systems will go on but it will be transferred to the field of constructive competition aimed at the growing welfare and happiness of mankind« 'In this sense, ooexistence is the integration of the different .social and economic systems and cultural communities for the accomplishment of one common end and their peaceful competition in their effort to reach this common goal« Not individual peoplesj races, groups, social systems or ideologies are to "win" in the course of this coexistence but the whole human race© The encyclical of Pope John XXIII, Pacem in terras, has deserved special attention in the socialist countries for emphasizing the common good of mankind and separating the striving of social systems towards this objective from the relation of'their governing ideologies to Christianity«, g) Cooperation with the Ideologies Of Our Time The realization of coexistence is a matter of collective responsibility and the cause of tho whole human race« Hence the churches must inevitably face the question of their cooperation with "others’’© The reply to this quest!or only be obtained if they take seriously tho Biblical, commandment to love our neighbours© This reply, however, is to a certain extent facilitated by the aforementioned fact that 'there is no special coexistence concept peculiar to theology© Hence the churches and Christians working for peaceful coexistence should cooperate with men- institutions and organizations dedicated to other ideologies, political convictions also with atheists0 We
