Hungarian Church Press, 1968 (20. évfolyam, 2. szám)

1968-06-01 / 2. szám

HOP Yol XX Special Number

1968 No 2

124 -(07905)

based not only upon fear or resentmoit of people of another colour or tradition, but also upon economic self-interest* The group practising discrimination typically acts to protect its privileged position and its jobs"* "The international dimensions cf these problems are great. Often foreign investment in countries officially sanctioning discrimination helps those groups which advocate such policies to entrench themselves and th^.g^gcreases tensions and hostility between nations and peoples, rioh and poog/and nonwhite", 100) "The failure of some major pavers to agree to the use of full

economic sanctions against South Africa ard Rhodesia appears to many as an expression of racial solidarity among whites and of the pursuit of profit in reckless disregard of the suffering of the non-white major it ie s. Clear Hy any short-term economic advantage would be outweighed by the economic, political and social consequences of an ultimate upheaval in Southern Africa which could involve the whole world in a racial war". -^1) - So this is a matter cf catastrophic potentialities, and hence Christians - even at the cost of sacrifices and of denying their own interests - must do everything within their means to avert; the tragedy before it is too late! - "Reconciliation in this context; cannot be mere sentimental harmonizing of conflicting groups. It demands sacrifice. It demands identification with the oppressed* It deamnds determination to break down the unjust pattern",102) "It is not enough that Churche3 and groups condemn the sin of ra.cial arrogance and oppression. The struggle for radical change in structures will inevitably bring suffering and will demand costly and bitter engagement. Par Christians to stand aloof from this positive struggle is to be disobedient to the call cf God in history. Nothing less can be the meaning of the Cross far our time,"-^)

3) Peaceful Coexistence and Cooperation

a) The Conception of Coexistence and its Christian Interpretation

Peaceful coexistence is a political concept which is used in the areas of political life. It denotes the possibility of the dwelling of peoples having different social and economic systems and cultural traditions side by side in peace and of their constructive cooperation in matters of common concern.

In defining the concept, politicians and responsible international bodies start out from the conviction that a third world war which, in this Atomic Age, would mean the suicide of the human race, can be averted if the states with differing social systems, instead cf persisting in the armament race, enter into a competition with one another to make human life richer and happier, without denying their ideological convictions wh-ich permeate and direct their good-willed endeavours, Hence the aim is to eliminate war as a means of settling international disputes. Let the various ideas and ideologies prove their vitality in the field of actions which serve the in-