Fraternity-Testvériség, 1963 (40. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1963-06-01 / 6. szám

FRATERNITY

A AC 7

OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE HUNGARIAN REFORMED FEDERATION OF AMERICA Edited by the Officers of the Federation

Published monthly. — Subscription for non-members in the U. S. A. and Canada $2.00, elsewhere $3.00 a year.

Office of Publication: Expert Printing Co., 4627 Irvine St., Pittsburgh 7, Pa.

Editorial Office:

Suite 1201, Dupont Circle Bldg., 1346 Connecticut Ave., Washington 6, D. C. Volume XLI JUNE 1963 Number 6

LÁSZLÓ HUNY ADY:

REBATE TO A CHALLENGE

Recently, one of our eminent columnists, Paul Harvey, gave us a

series of statistics, culled probably at random, showing that on the home front the number of church-goers increased 30% in the last ten years, whereas illegitimacy showed a gain of 300%; pornography became a million dollar business; venereal disease increased 72%; crime cost us 20 billion dollars a year; juvenile crime multiplied five times; divorce

rate now is nearing 33%; we have 5 million alcoholics and 3.5 million problem drinkers; our churches, synagogues and temples are outnumbered by our taverns by 175,000; we give more money to gamblers than we spend on religion, education, medicine and automobiles; finally, in our most civilized and Christianized nation on earth, 37 million of our children receive absolutely no religious instruction, which means, I assume, no

ethical or moral teaching.

Then Mr. Harvey quotes some clergymen, who acknowledge that with our theology and fine educational facilities, we are doing less to win

people to Christ than our unschooled forefathers did; we spend most of our time swiping fish from each other’s bowl; topping these by a quote from a hip-shooting’s pronouncement: “We’ll either behave or be damned!” — Then Mr. Harvey states: “Mr. Clergyman, the responsibility is yours. Whether you like it or not, you are a command officer in the cold war. And we are losing.”

Reading this daring challenge caused some sleepless nights, although I had many even before I read it, and for the same reason. In fact, I’ve been contemplating these crucial points since 1946, and last year I had my findings published in a historical novel, “There Are Secrets” (Vantage Press, 120 W. 31st Street, New York 1, N. Y.). In this novel the readers will find that there is a strong desire and urgency in everyone toward Beauty, Goodness and Truth. This inveterate propensity with these fundamental concepts enable us to classify, evaluate and judge everything that is or happens around us, as well as to discover commissions and omissions. In this novel the readers find some beauty, goodness and truth that were interwoven in the history of our country, the