Calvin Synod Herald, 1986 (86. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)
1986 / 5-6. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD — 6 — REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA are paid by the Central Office of the Reformed Church. Contacts: We are in contact with churches at home and abroad, with church and secular organizations: the Hungarian State Commission on Alcoholism, with clubs for recovered alcoholics, medical institutes, foreign organizations: Blue Cross, AA in the USA, AGAS in East Germany. They make cooperation and learning from the experiences of others possible. Material and medical support: Alcoholics may be short of material resources. So as mentioned above RARM helps them and their families, buys them food, pays travelling expenses. RARM cares for medical treatment, gives printed material without charge when needed. We plan to collect used clothes for them. Plans: There is a great need in RARM work for a home, where recovering alcoholics could stay for a care and post-care work-therapy. Finally, a dream of RARM staff might be shared: a house where RARM could work continuously on its own and in its special way, where medical treatment and conferences could take place side-by-side. After four years of growing pains, major difficulties are behind us. The task, the way, the means are clear. Our work is not faith-healing; it takes the medical, social, psychic and the spiritual aspects of alcoholism into account; that is, the healing of the whole person. We are prepared to help alcoholics for the good of our people, society and church. (Reformed Press Service) Balogh Margit, co-worker of RARM and Training Institute of Deacons t Cardinal László Lékai Dr, archbishop of Esztergom, president of the Hungarian Roman Catholic Bishops’ Bench, has died at the age of 77. His funeral took place on the 8th of July in Esztergom. Dr. Zoltán Gárdonyi, retired professor of the Ferenc Liszt Conservatory of Budapest, composer, outstanding expert of musical history, died on the 30th of June at the age of 81. His passing means the loss of one of the most sympathetic and original personality of thepost-Bartók and post-Kodály generation of Hungarian musicians who had worked most creatively and fruitfully in the field of Hungarian church music. (HCP) Study of Religion in Eastern Europe at Yale Before one attempts to justify the study of religion in contemporary Soviet and East European societies a few fundamental assumptions should be introduced, including references to Marxist-Leninist philosophy and to historical-cultural impacts of religion in that part of the world. It is true that since the conclusion of World War II the greatest peril in international affairs has been the perpetuation of inimical Soviet- American relations. On both sider enormous military expenditures have been justified in reference to this adversity, for which dilemma there appears to be no predictable solution. Consequently for the Soviet Union the maintenance of Eastern European nations, including Hungary, within a defense perimeter is a question of vital importance. This area, where in this century both World Wars originated, has continously contributed to the“Balkanization” of world conditions. The area’s unpredictable political behavior profoundly disturbs the Soviet Union and is responsible for the lessening or elevating of international tension. Today in the USSR and Eastern Europe a minority political party, by means of the tenets of Marxism-Leninism, tries to provide a centripetal leitmotiv for these societies. This essentially exclusive philosophy claims to be the most advanced scientific social theory; consequently it cannot accept the presence of alternative world views. In building the best society, only its own principles can be used along with selected “progressive” elements from earlier systems. Within such a framework, religion in any form is considered a non-progressive remnant of a previous, now outdated, superstructure. This is why religion and religious institutions have been officially discouraged since the introduction of Marxism-Leninism in Russiaand Eastern Europe. Under such a condition the position of organized religion in these societies can be described as controlled, tolerated and periodically exposed to outright persecution. In spite of such a treatment religious belief and religious organizations have retained a wide appeal among the populations. In comparative terms the religiosity of these people equals or supersedes their counterparts in the western half of Europe. In the Soviet Union alone over 50 million Orthodox Christians are still considered church involved and in Eastern Europe this number could be much higher. (Poland’s Roman Catholic Church has 31 million practicing members out of some 35 million total population.) Unquestionably, organized religion represents a substantial social institution overwhelmingly surpassing in numerical strength (with the possible exeption of Albania) the size of each country’s ruling party. The presence of such a huge societal unit in any political system warrants careful consideration. The importance of religion in this world region however is not gained by size but by content. Religious belief represents a challenge 1 to the militant atheism of Soviet Marxism. It demonstrates a viable alternative to the official world view. Religious organizations are the only social entities that have a constitutionally assured legal right to function from an openly non-Marxist foundation. In the centralized oneparty system, organized religion provides an element of pluralism without which the internal evolution of such society would take a different direction. A study of the impact of religion in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe today therefore is avitally relevant undertaking. By influencing a peaceful pluralistic evolution religion has acquired a strategic dimension which cannot be overstated. Ultimately the security of the Western World is affected by whether such a development takes place or not. Historically the role of religion in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union represents a complex and fascinating picture. Until the end of the Second World War Judaism’s center was Eastern Europe. The area has been a place of continuous confrontation between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Christianity. It was the most eastern outpost of the Reformation. Also this was the place where Islam reached its limits of expansion. Religion has been deeply interwoven with the culture, folklore, literature and customs of these people; it is still an indispensable key in the understanding of national characteristics. Today under Marxism-Leninism organized religion represents an unbroken continuation between a particular nation’s past and present. It serves as a transmitter of national consciousness and collective pride, a depository of historical accomplishments. Contemporary Marxist governments, though officially disliking traditional nationalism, often permit organized religion to foster a sense of national identity. Hence the historic linkage between religion and nationality in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe has survived. Religion, like Marxism-Leninism, is a supranational, international phenomena; it has therefore delicate connection with co-religionists beyond a nation’s borders. As a result, East European and Soviet societies are exposed to religious world public opinion. Exchanges between Western and East European religious bodies are likely to enhance the peaceful outcome of present world dilemmas. Although religion remains a unique factor, the study of Religion in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe has received little attention in major study centers of the West. In the United States today only Yale U niversity offers courses in this field. During the past seven years this area study has grown into respectability and has been fully accepted by the academic community. In order to ensure that Yale will permanently retain this field the Hungarian Foundation (P.O. Box 1984, 177 Somerset St., New Brunswick, N.J. 08903) has initiated a fund raising “Yale Project" asking Hungarian churches, organizations and individuals to donate to this unique opportunity. Dr. Laslo M. Medyesy
