European Christians Must Offer Alternative to Worship of Money
Two decades after the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, Christians are now challenged to offer new values in a society governed by the worship of money, Rev Marianna Szabo-Matrai told approximately 30 representatives from Lutheran World Federation(LWF) member churches at the consultation "Church and State in Societies in Transformation" in Budapest, Hungary.
Preaching at the opening worship of the 26-29 June LWF gathering at the Evangelical-Lutheran Theological University, she describe dhow young Hungarians today believe they must "reach the top and become rich." They have learned that they need to be first - to see their peers as adversaries and triumph over them, she noted. If necessary, "[this] fight must be hard and harsh," said Szabo-Matrai, deputy bishop of the southern district of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary.
Along with this goes "the idol of the post-socialist times, the honor of money." "This is what we have taught them," she said. "And in the meantime we did not pass on our own values - friendship, the need for fellowship, embracing each other and mercy." Eastern Europeans feel that they need to run faster and worry more than their northern or western counterparts, Szabo-Matraire marked.
They are often tired and depressed. It is hard to accept that "it is crazy to exploit ourselves excessively." In a greeting on behalf of the Hungarian host church, Professor Tibor Fabiny described how the global economic crisis had hit Hungary hard. The downturn had led to the rise of an extremist political party in the recent elections to the European Parliament, he said.
"The experience of crisis, once again in modern history, has resulted in the sudden emergence and strengthening of populist and dangerous tendencies in the political discourse, the intensification of right-wing radicalism," explained Fabiny, a Lutheran and professor of English literature and hermeneutics at Budapest's Karoli Gaspar University of the Hungarian Reformed Church.
"And this is not what we wanted 20 years ago." In 1984, Budapest hosted the Seventh LWF Assembly, the first time an LWF assembly had taken place behind the Iron Curtain, Fabiny noted. "Then no one dared to dream that just in five short years the totalitarian regimes of Eastern Europe would collapse as a pack of cards," he said. "Is this not a clear sign that not human beings, but our creator, the Triune God is in charge of history?"
The Budapest consultation concluded a three-year study process examining the relationships between church and state in the Europe that has emerged since 1989. It followed workshops in Moravske Toplice, Slovenia; Svaty Jr, Slovakia; St. Petersburg, Russia; and Leeds, United Kingdom. The study was organized by the Europe desk of the LWF Department for Mission and Development (DMD).
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Preaching at the opening worship of the 26-29 June LWF gathering at the Evangelical-Lutheran Theological University, she describe dhow young Hungarians today believe they must "reach the top and become rich." They have learned that they need to be first - to see their peers as adversaries and triumph over them, she noted. If necessary, "[this] fight must be hard and harsh," said Szabo-Matrai, deputy bishop of the southern district of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary.
Along with this goes "the idol of the post-socialist times, the honor of money." "This is what we have taught them," she said. "And in the meantime we did not pass on our own values - friendship, the need for fellowship, embracing each other and mercy." Eastern Europeans feel that they need to run faster and worry more than their northern or western counterparts, Szabo-Matraire marked.
They are often tired and depressed. It is hard to accept that "it is crazy to exploit ourselves excessively." In a greeting on behalf of the Hungarian host church, Professor Tibor Fabiny described how the global economic crisis had hit Hungary hard. The downturn had led to the rise of an extremist political party in the recent elections to the European Parliament, he said.
"The experience of crisis, once again in modern history, has resulted in the sudden emergence and strengthening of populist and dangerous tendencies in the political discourse, the intensification of right-wing radicalism," explained Fabiny, a Lutheran and professor of English literature and hermeneutics at Budapest's Karoli Gaspar University of the Hungarian Reformed Church.
"And this is not what we wanted 20 years ago." In 1984, Budapest hosted the Seventh LWF Assembly, the first time an LWF assembly had taken place behind the Iron Curtain, Fabiny noted. "Then no one dared to dream that just in five short years the totalitarian regimes of Eastern Europe would collapse as a pack of cards," he said. "Is this not a clear sign that not human beings, but our creator, the Triune God is in charge of history?"
The Budapest consultation concluded a three-year study process examining the relationships between church and state in the Europe that has emerged since 1989. It followed workshops in Moravske Toplice, Slovenia; Svaty Jr, Slovakia; St. Petersburg, Russia; and Leeds, United Kingdom. The study was organized by the Europe desk of the LWF Department for Mission and Development (DMD).
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Labels: Lutheran Connections
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