Magyar Egyház, 1957 (36. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1957-03-01 / 3. szám
8 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ ENGLISH SECTION WE, THE GOOD SAMARITANS For the time being, as it seems, the arrival of Hungarian refugees to this country has slowed down. Athough there is still a good many of them in Camp Kilmer, the majority of the newcomers have already found their places, and their integration into everyday American life is in full swing. Many of the local committees — churches and civil as well — which had been organized for Hungarian relief are rendering final accounts and are in the stage of dissolution. Thousands of men and women, partly of Hungarian origin, partly not, have done a wonderful job in receiving and resettling these refugees, in collecting funds or distributing relief material, and hundreds of thousands of Americans have contributed to the aid of Hungarian refugees through their churches or through one of the approved relief agencies. Members of our Free Magyar Reformed Churches had a good share in this. A fine church lady who has been tireless in house to house canvassing for refugee aid replied this to the commendation of her committee chairman: “I don’t deserve thanks. I did only what our Lord expressed in the parable of the Good Samaritan. I don’t want to be immodest but aren’t we in this situation, in this work, like the Good Samaritan had been?” In a way, this lady was right. Many Americans — and many other people of the free world — did like the Good Samaritan: in a selfless way they helped with their services as well as with their money people who had been hurt and wounded. Yet, we must not miss the point Jesus intended to make in this parable. Primarily it was not meant as an appeal for help. The core of the parable is an emphatic appeal against discrimination. The point in it is that where help is needed discrimination must not stop it. That the parable cannot primarily be interpreted as the Christian’s duty to help when and where needed is best shown by the fact that the man whom the Good Samaritan helped was wounded, half dead. One would, of course, say: in what other way can you interpret the parable? It is the Christian’s duty, indeed, to help the wounded, the hurt, the afflicted. True. But it would be very poor Christian attitude to help only when great damage has already been done. The Christian must do good, must help always. Not only to help a delinquent youth turn back and live the life of a clean and happy young person but also to do everything to prevent juvenile deliquency. So, in a way, in the present Hungarian situation it was very much like in the Good Samaritan’s case: we had to help because the refugees were wounded, half dead people. However, let us not keep this as a measure of our Christian action. It would be disas-WCC DENIES HUNGARIAN CHARGES A discussion of accusations made against the World Council of Churches by the Hungarian government took place in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Feb. 13. Dr. W. A. Visser’t Hooft, WCC general secretary and Dr. Eugene Carson Blake, president of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, were appointed by the executive Committee to represent the WCC. The churchmen revealed that they had met with Janos Horvath, head of the office of church affairs in Hungary. He had agreed to meet them in Prague to discuss the situation. At the meeting the World Council representatives gave a full account of relations between the Hungarian churches and the WCC at the Council’s Central Committee meeting last August in Galyatető, Hungary, and subsequently. “Through Dr. Carl Lund-Quist, executive secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, the World Council of Churches had word about the difficult situation of the Reformed Church in Hungary and about certain accusations against the World Council which had been made by Hungarian authorities,” Dr. Visser’t Hooft said. In the Prague meeting the WCC representatives refuted accusations such as that published by the Hungarian newspaper, Napaakarat. The paper charged that Dr. Visser’t Hooft had said “At the conference in Galyatető we had already known what was being prepared in Hungary.” The WCC representatives told the Hungarian official that their concern for the position of the church in Hungary had been openly discussed at the Galyatető meeting and brought to the attention of government authorities with regard to the present situation of the Hungarian Reformed church. They emphasized that “their one concern was that this church, as well as other churches, should have leaders which would be fully trusted by their congregations and made it clear that this would only be achieved by the organizing of completely free and independent elections.” trous for the world and for ourselves as well if we would always want to wait for someone get wounded, hurt, half killed, until we would be ready to help. As Christian churches, and as Christian citizens we must do our utmost to prevent suffering, to prevent oppression, to prevent war. This is the firstmost duty of Christian individuals and the countries which are governed by Christian individuals. In this we shall not succeeed to perfection. No matter how hard we shall try (and this will be a question, too) there will be forces in the world who will fiercly work against us and who will hurt and inflict many wounds. Then and there we shall have ample chance to help the wounded, the half dead. Which we must do in the spirit of the Good Samaritan: without discrimination. Dr. Andrew Harsanyi.
