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Peter Sˇ AJDA – NAGYPÁL Szabolcs – Rebecca BLOCKSOME

The Art of the Master Carpenter Our book is largely about instruments: invisible tools that we use when dealing with each other. About expectations, fears, hopes, manipulations and acceptance – just to name a few at random. It also presents us with life situations in which we tend to become numb tools of others or treat others with insensitive instrumentality. But above all – we focus on the timeless human quest for instruments that can remedy what has gone wrong. According to Miyamoto MUSASHI, a necessary accomplishment of the master carpenter is to have sharp tools and to know that she or he has to sharpen them in her or his spare moments. The master must be able to sort the lumber and use its different kinds in appropriate places. This person shall know the degrees of ability of the other carpenters and assign them to their tasks accordingly. Such person is bound to make major decisions from small bits of information, which is like constructing a great Buddha from a one-foot model. She or he realizes that to know one is to know ten thousand. Thus the master maintains various tools, and carries them around in a box.

Medi(t)ations, (Re)conciliations Divided Christianity, divided Europe, divided Central Europe and divided societies, are the main concerns that gave rise to our book. Even though at times they might seem to be separate problems, from a closer perspective they appear to be connected by invisible lines drawn in our minds. Divisions cause pain and ask for remedy. The ecumenical movement attempts to reconcile the divided Church, the European Union (EU) tries to unite European countries and nations under a common flag, regional initiatives seek to create a solid basis for co-operation and collectives of mediators do their best in bringing the spirit of reconciliation into interpersonal or communitarian conflicts. Goodwill and the hermeneutics of goodwill are the basis for any kind of progress in situations where division is the norm. On the other hand, goodwill needs expertise in order to know how to time its steps. Similarly, social engineering without goodwill can hardly offer a long-term vision of fruitful dialogue. The contributions in our book are just a few of these numerous meditations on how to move forward. Some of us analyse concrete 7

The Art of the Master Carpenter experiences with reconciliation and mediation processes; some of us offer theoretical methodology; while others highlight the achievements and criticise the shortcomings of our common projects. In many cases we deal with issues that for decades and centuries have been inducements for individual meditations, as well as for large-scale councils and gatherings that sought viable ways of mediation and ultimately also of reconciliation. Hence the title of the book: medi(t)ations, (re)conciliations.

Central European Integration Both of our sub-topics to this book – conflict resolution and European integration – are particularly apropos to the Central European Subregion (CESR) of the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF). European integration is hardly a new concept to the (currently) five countries of the CESR, who integrated of their own accord in 2001, seeking to strengthen Central European identity before and after joining the European Union and to build up paradigms of peace and reconciliation through dialogue. Rejecting the conventional dichotomy of East and West, the subregion brings together a handful of countries in the heart of Europe – Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – in order to explore their pivotal importance in the greater European landscape through an ecumenical and intercultural youth cooperation. Our programme of mutual education, collaboration and cultural exchange is embodied annually in two seminars, a book, and an ecumenical language and leadership training. Our book anthologises ideas and discourse springing forth from the seminars, allowing this dialogue to persist and multiply through the numerous people who contribute to, shape and read it. Our book is the continuation of a series. Our first publication in 2002 was about Central Europe, ecology and ecumenism, entitled A Pentatonic Landscape; and our second anthology in 2003 was on identity, culture and responsibility, under the title The River Book. One can find all the articles of our anthologies on our website: www.wscf-cesr.org. Conflict resolution, the other half of the equation, is also especially fitting for the CESR as it forms the foundation of our work: providing a space for discussion and sharing ideas from different perspectives in an open-minded, non-confrontational way – a forum of Christian witness and ecumenical dialogue for students. 8

Introduction Thus the overall mission of the CESR (as of her mother organisation, the World Student Christian Federation) is in itself a kind of reconciliation: between faith and life, towards unity in diversity across the boundaries of denomination, nation, culture and gender.

Schisms and Society Our first chapter takes its topic from our summer seminar, Conflict Resolution in Our Inner Life and in Community, held in July in Pápa, Hungary. We start with a discussion of the theoretical basis of conflict resolution, describing two different approaches. According to the ideas of a leading Mennonite peace scholar, John Paul LEDERACH, a conceptual framework for peace building and reconciliation has to deal with various time frames (short-, middle- and long-term), with various levels of actors (top, middle and grassroots level) and with the processes of transition, transformation and healing of relations in order to be sustainable. Mediation is a specific process designed to help people work through their conflicts and find solutions that fit for all involved. Sitting in the middle is a picture of what mediation is all about. It works, if mediators do their job as well as possible, and parties indeed want to solve their conflicts – regardless of what experiences they might have had with conflict resolution in the past. We explore reconciliation in three specific geographical locations and historic periods. Starting in North America, efforts by the United Church to introduce conversation about Canada’s ongoing fragmented relationship with indigenous peoples took the form of a book, Justice and Reconciliation. It frames reconciliation as a problem of “broken relationship,” which will involve listening to stories, conversion, and a commitment to work for justice in responsive solidarity. Moving to post-World War II Central Europe, the sweeping political and societal changes of the time manifested themselves on the microcosmic level in the city of Törökbálint, near Budapest. Ethnic clashes ensued there from massive population exchanges, the roots of which can be sought in the depths of social inequalities. Most recently, ethnic tensions in the former Yugoslavia are still simmering after the brutal wars of the early ’90s. Forgiveness, the underlying essence of reconciliation in any sense, is addressed in this context by a unique cross-border initiative in Vojvodina, attempting reconciliation among the domicile and refugee children from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro.

The Art of the Master Carpenter We address specific aspects of conflict and resolution. The conflicts we call “generational conflicts” (originating from the generation gap) deserve attention as a mirror for justice and equality studies. Attempting to de-metaphorise and deconstruct them, we realise the complexity of the concepts of generation and generation gap. The latter is a sincere term for describing uncounted conflicts, but less for measuring those conflicts. Conflict resolution not uncommonly occurs within the context of an institutionalised system of justice as well. One of the most fundamental problems is how to harmonize two senses of justice: one claiming punishment in proportional response to a crime; and the other endorsing individual punishments taking into consideration the special case of each offender. The focus of Central European penal law reforms is to work out a more “funnel-shaped” sanction system – one where a majority of offenders get alternative sanctions, rather than being imprisoned – especially where juveniles are concerned. Thus the dilemma between the two senses of justice must be resolved in order to bring Central Europe’s penal code in line with her Western peers.

United Continent, Divided Opinions Joining the Western peers was of our particular concern this year with the long-awaited enlargement of the European Union. This topic formed the core of our winter seminar in Linz, Austria, Growing EU: Hopes and Fears of Members and Candidates, held in February in the thick of preparations for expansion. The European Union as a political reality is a widely discussed phenomenon. Her past, present and future offer an array of issues that concern the very basic values and priorities of the European continent. The EU has gradually evolved from an economic community composed of six countries into a complex political unit comprising 25 states. On 1 May 2004 the Central European countries of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia became EU member states. Their citizens often ask whether or not EU membership is a mixed blessing. We deal with actual and potential advantages and disadvantages that Central European EU members cope with. The issues of capital flow, national sovereignty, workforce migration, agricultural subsidies and the like are being looked at from the point of view of the new members.

Introduction The political and economic transition in Hungary serves as a case study of the process of integration of one of the new member states. We elaborate the Magyar experience with gradual accommodation to EU legislation and economic policies, together with the specificities of the Magyar political and economic milieu. We analyse the economic reforms and ensuing rapid growth that characterised Hungary in the second half of the ’90s, together with the symptoms of economic fragility that appeared in 2003–2004. We present the struggle against corruption, unemployment and many other negative syndromes of transition, as incentives for further study and comparison with other Central European countries. Another case study of ours is the Slovak perspective on European integration. We briefly review the accession process, its challenges and problems. Special attention is given to Slovak progress in membership criteria fulfilment, as well as in the accession negotiations between Slovakia and the EU. We also evaluate the decisive historical choice the Slovak Republic was faced with, and conclude that European Union membership seems to be the only viable option in the given historical situation. One of the hot issues in the recent history of the European Union is the preamble to the EU Constitution and the question of whether or not it should explicitly refer to God and Christian values as an integral part of the common European heritage. We approach the problem by distinguishing between the descriptive and normative aspects of the given issue, allowing us to examine the potential consequence of the inclusion of the reference to God and Christian values in the European Constitution.

Truth, Compassion and Beauty We also deal with the readiness of the individual and the community for dialogue, in interpersonal, interdenominational and interreligious levels, and the role of arts in this conflict resolution process. Søren KIERKEGAARD analysed negative fixation within the framework of lifestyles of æsthetic, ethical and religious orientation. It is a source of conflicts in personality development and interpersonal relations, as well as in the relationship with the transcendence, with God. When examining the process of how fixation takes root, as well as the arguments with which it is usually advocated, we emphasize the importance of the creative autonomy of each human subject.

Introduction

Methods of conflict resolution in the Bible have profound implications for us when prophesying, building and testifying to the growing unity of God’s people, and anticipating its fulfilment, the day of Jezreel. God cares for all communities of faith, reveals Godself to them, accepts their sacrifices, appoints them to be blessings to the world, and deals with them with profound compassion. Another world is possible, where after centuries of endurance in suffering because of our division, we are ready to confess our sins, to humble ourselves and repent. Our gifts should come before us, as signs of our first love, even until the point of self-emptying (kenosis). Our dialogue is nurtured by prayer, growing in knowledge of the others and approaching them through the hermeneutics of goodwill. We attain a more Catholic vision of our Lord’s high priestly prayer recorded in John 17: the ecumenical goal requires agreement not only in matters of faith, but also of order. In solidarity with our neighbour, we intend to stay together and grow in unity. Is our Father still alive? Christianity has had a tendency towards self-sufficiency in her attitude towards other religions, but now we have taken a more open approach and started to acknowledge truth in other religions: we have to be ready to learn from all presence of truth. 12

The questions of our own beliefs, our stance on others’ beliefs and the place of borders present a challenge to each religious system to look for its own answers. We must address the basic issues in Christianity to find out if we are ready to enter dialogue. We define interreligious relationships as conflicts with challenges and opportunities. If the religious actors do not know their own possibilities and options, they cannot use them creatively to fill in the gaps which separate them from others. There is Christian art, and art does have a role in the Church, because of the common source whence artistic and religious impulses originate. There were times when the Church integrated the best from architecture, sculptures, paintings and poetry to music into Her liturgical life. The Church of our days should also be here for us to give meaning and full support for all genuine efforts to enlarge our knowledge of reality and to deepen our perception of the mystery of life. On the other hand, there is indeed a theological relationship between creation and destruction, where the creative arts function as modes of reconciliation in communities torn apart by violence. In the true nature of reality and the role of the human in defining and adapting to it, the emphasis is on the creation of a positive peace between humans, the natural world and God; rather than on a negative peace, the mere absence of open conflict. The Church has an understanding of reality, which gives meaning to arts and theoretical science, in which truth, compassion and beauty have lasting meaning in the context of the eternal destiny of humankind.

Reconciliation Cycle An ecumenical anthology is a joint project of many individuals and communities. We would like to express our gratitude towards our contributors: first of all to the authors; then to our art editor, and to all our translators. We would also like to thank the main organisers of our three seminars in 2004: most of all, Suzanna VERGOUWE, our coordinator, and Stephan ANZENGRUBER, ASZALÓS Kinga, Doris HOFSTÖTTER, Hella KLOSIUS, LÉVAI Ildikó, Aleksandra /LUKSZA, Elz˙bieta MAZUR, Magdalena MULARCZYK, Eva-Maria REINER and SZASZKÓ Sándor. We remain thankful to the Benedictine Archabbot VÁRSZEGI Asztrik OSB, the director of the Békés Gellért Ecumenical Institute (BGÖI), for his strong support. We also remain grateful for the 13

The Art of the Master Carpenter support of the Dominican province of Slovakia and its provincial, Konsˇtanc Miroslav ADAM. We are especially grateful to our donors: the International Visegrad Fund (IVF), the Youth Program of the European Commission, and the Békés Gellért Ecumenical Institute, Pannonhalma (BGÖI). In particular, we would like to thank our mother organisation, the World Student Christian Federation Europe Region (WSCF-E, www.wscf-europe.org), and her regional secretaries, Daniela RAPISARDA and Hanna TERVANOTKO, for their support and valuable incentives. Finally, we thank the artist, Dusˇan SˇOLTYS (1974), who provided the illustrations for the book. He is a graduate in visual arts in the Academy of Fine Arts in Praha, Czech Republic, and stage design in the Academy of Performing Arts in Praha. Most recently, he teaches art and is involved in alternative theatre as an actor and stage designer. His focus in monumental paintings is on abstract landscape and body. A prominent exhibition he took part in was the Biennale of Young Artists from Central Europe in 2000 in Praha. The Reconciliation Cycle in our book consists of abstract landscape motives inspired by reconciliation on several levels. First, it is about the reconciliation of human beings with the landscape – with characters and elements that shape land, like light, space and grass structure. Furthermore, the cycle unveils principles of nature herself, her rules and cycles, through which we can encounter her transformations. That is why some drawings are inspired by harvest fields, which are places where one season ends to give space for a new life. This Reconciliation Cycle was made in Sudetenland near a settlement of Pochen ˇ, which lies in Silesia near the borders with Poland. Before the expulsion of Germans, it was a purely German and prosperous village, Pochenmühl. The encounter with particular occurrences in nature leads us towards thoughts and reflections about the past and history of this landscape and its meaning for the inhabitants in the present time. The present face of the Silesian landscape seems neglected and wild. But underneath this surface, we can trace marks of our disappeared and vanished fellow human beings and communities, carpenters and pastors alike, one can even now see, touch and feel.

Pete HĂ„MMERLE

Peace Building and Reconciliation in Divided Societies The present article is mainly based on the writings of John Paul LEDERACH, a Mennonite peace researcher and practitioner, about his experiences and studies on peace building and reconciliation, and on a WSCF CESR seminar held in the summer of 2004.

I. Putting Yourself in the Picture As a first step in the process of reconciliation and peace building, the participants should engage in an exercise to make them think about their own identity and their nationality and ethnicity. They are asked to meet in smaller groups in the corners of the room (this part is called corners exercise) and exchange shortly their views and self-images on the following issues and topics: They should tell each other which nationality they are and how important they would rate belonging to this nationality on a scale from ten (it is very important) to one (it is not important at all). They go into groups of their own nationality (Austrian, Czech, Magyar, Polish and Slovak). They have to tell, which past or present conflicts they perceive that their own group has with any other nationality or ethnic group. After these stories, all the participants have to rate these conflicts according to their potential of escalation into violence from five (it is very high) to one (it is very low, or it does not exist at all). Before the next round we read Psalm 85 and the group is asked to split following the key verse of the Psalm which reads: â€œTruth and Mercy have met together, Peace and Justice have kissed.â€? Each group should first brainstorm images and meanings that come to their mind when they think about, respectively, the concepts of truth, mercy, justice and peace. Then they should imagine their concepts as a person and find out what she would have to say about her role in conflict and conflict transformation, what

Conflict Resolution Relationship is the basis of both the conflict and its long-term solution. This means that reconciliation is not pursued by separating different conflicting parties from each other and minimizing their affiliations, but rather by (re-)building relationships as the centrepiece of a system of conflict. Reconciliation represents a place of encounter where concerns about both the past and the future can meet. Therefore reconciliation allows space to express grief and anger about experiences of loss and to acknowledge these feelings on both sides. At the same time reconciliation must envision a shared future for the opponents in conflict, because they will stay dependent on and related to each other; and only by this will they have the chance to change the present situation. Finally, if we want to achieve reconciliation, we need to look for new, innovative ways and methods which are able to embrace paradoxes – seemingly contradictory concepts like truth and mercy, justice and peace – and to bring them into balance, because all the poles are needed to find a comprehensive way of going forward on the path to reconciliation.

III. A Conceptual Framework of Peace Building and Reconciliation her positive and negative aspects would be and what she could or could not contribute or achieve in conflict resolution. In the dialogue that develops, it becomes clear that truth, mercy, justice and peace all have specific roles in the process of transformation of a conflict, and that they are interdependent. LEDERACH insists that all four aspects need to meet and talk to each other, and the “place” they all come together he calls reconciliation.

II. Three Basic Assumptions About Reconciliation In the second part of the process, we try to develop some deeper understanding of what reconciliation really includes and how peace building in deeply divided societies could be described. LEDERACH puts three basic assumptions at the centre of his thoughts, which are driven by a strong emphasis on a holistic and dynamic view of conflict transformation and the human person in it, in opposition to a merely mechanical or static approach of conflict “resolution” or “management.”

John Paul LEDERACH explains his model in the context of a specific form of conflicts which are regarded as the main type prevailing in present days: long lasting (protracted), deeply rooted ethno-political conflicts inside nation states, which are based on issues of identity (tribe, community, religion or nation). This focus is therefore not directly applicable either to situations we would describe as “classic” wars (between nation states or in the form of intervention of armed allied forces in a country, eg. Afghanistan or Iraq), or to situations we might find in our Central and Eastern European contexts, where some potential for conflict may exist (latent conflicts) but has not escalated into open use of violence. Nevertheless the model provides us with different “lenses” for a comprehensive view of conflict transformation which can be explained on three levels.

Pete HÄMMERLE: Peace Building

1. Timeframe As a first step LEDERACH describes the necessity and interconnectedness of different timeframes in the work for peace and reconciliation. Faced with situations of immediate crisis, the outbreak of violence or hostilities, actions must be taken to counter the crisis (e.g. negotiations for a ceasefire or mediation, but also relief work for the affected population) in a very short time range of two to six months. But very often one crisis follows the other when nothing is done to address the situation in a longer-term view. Therefore the next phase (one to two years) has to look beyond the actual crisis and enable people to (re)act differently, eg. by providing training and preparation. The end of the peace building process is marked by the vision of the situation in more than twenty years, which allows people to dream about their future and is necessary for orientation along the way. How should the political, economic and social systems look in an envisioned peaceful future? How are the relations between people imagined? The link or bridge between the short-term measures of action and preparation and the long-term vision can be described as a design or construction plan for building peace. Which steps have to be taken in the next five to ten years to come from the present to the envisioned future situation? This aspect of time shows very clearly that peace building has to be thought of not only in a short-term way, but in generational thinking and cannot be achieved instantly.

2. Types of Actors A second approach to the situation is the method of looking at the levels of actors involved in the conflict transformation process and at their different possibilities and methods applicable in this process. At the top level we have highly visible actors like political or military leaders with decision making power, and so the peace building activities on this level concentrate on negotiations, mediation or other diplomatic efforts. The middle level of actors consists of leaders of different sectors of a society (eg. religious, intellectual or humanitarian leaders) who are respected in society but not in a position to exert direct power. This level can engage in activities like problem-solving workshops, peace commissions and trainings in conflict transformation; and it is in a crucial position because it links the top and the grassroots level of actors.

Conflict Resolution This last one comprises local leaders (eg. of NGOs, refugee camps, social workers) who are influential at the basis of a conflict-affected society, but normally not in larger politics, and who do grassroots trainings, prejudice reduction and psycho-social work in post-war trauma, among other activities. LEDERACH stresses the importance of an organic rather than a hierarchical (top-down) approach to peace building and the formation of “peace constituencies” across the vertical and horizontal lines of conflict in a society.

3. The Web of Reconciliation As a summary of the processes of peace building, LEDERACH turns his attention to the broader processes of transformation rather than focussing on technical tasks of transition. Again he depicts four interwoven circles or levels, which all must be dealt with in an adequate way. On the first level the various tasks, the agenda of peace building, have to be identified and addressed, and then they have to move through a technical and logistical phase of implementation (transition). This is embedded in the transformation processes that reach towards the deeper questions of changing the persons involved and their social networks, and is coupled with the spiritual dimension, a “journey toward an encounter with self and the other” which should result in the healing of relationships or reconciliation. As an example LEDERACH describes the process of demobilisation of combatants in Nicaragua after the peace accords from the socioeconomic (financial aid, vocational training) and socio-political (disarmament, integration of soldiers) to the socio-psychological (dealing with identity, trauma, grief and emotions) and spiritual (healing, acknowledgement and forgiveness) dimension.

IV. Steps to Reconciliation: Examples and Case Studies In the last part of the process the participants split into groups again and work on four texts presenting different models or initiatives for reconciliation: the first is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. The second is a Listening Project in Eastern Slavonia, Croatia, carried out by the Centre for Peace, Non-violence and Human Rights

Pete HÄMMERLE: Peace Building in Osijek. The third one is the “Four Opinions” – podium talks by former soldiers from all sides of the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. And finally, the fourth one is the “Oslo Channel” about the peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians leading to the peace agreement in 1993. In the final presentation of the group work, we consider the question of which models or steps to reconciliation the examples propose for which situations, and whether they could be applied to other conflict transformation processes. The International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) was founded at a time (during and after World War I) when war-torn countries and societies were looking for ways towards reconciliation. The main Christian denominations had supported their respective nations in waging war, but not so much in looking for ways to overcome hostility and violence and work for justice, peace and reconciliation. Throughout its history – from a Christian-ecumenical and Western to an interreligious, worldwide organisation – IFOR has been vigorously promoting active non-violence as a way of life and as a method of personal, social and political change. Hopefully, this article is able to give a small impression of the issues and working methods by which we constantly and unceasingly try to pass on our experiences and ideas of non-violence to the next generations. Suggested Reading LEDERACH John Paul, Building Peace. Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies. Washington, 1997. LEDERACH John Paul, Remember and Change. In HERR Robert – ZIMMERMAN – HERR Judy (eds.), Transforming Violence. Scottdale, 1998. MÜLLER-FAHRENHOLZ Geiko, Versöhnung statt Vergeltung. Wege aus dem Teufelskreis der Gewalt. Neukirchen-Vluyn, 2003. Pete HÄMMERLE studied (Roman Catholic) theology in Wien, and has been working in the Austrian office of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) for more than fifteen years. He has been leading trainings in active non-violence in different parts of Europe. His email address is petehaemmerle@versoehnungsbund.at. For more information on IFOR see the international (www.ifor.org) or the Austrian website (www.versoehnungsbund.at).

Claudia KAPPACHER

The Concept of Mediation Mediation can be characterised as conflict resolution by the involved parties with the help of a neutral agent, who is referred to as the mediator. This is, in short, the essence of mediation. Of course in practice it is more than just this statement, and it often acts upon complex principles, but let us start with introducing the roots of its methodology.

Where Does Mediation Come From? When I co-operate with assessment centres for new mediators who apply to them for training, I am often asked, “Is mediation something new?” And my answer is “no.” Throughout all the different eras, people have communicated with each other; they have argued and quarrelled. And most of the time they have looked for patterns of problem-solving, often with help from outside: a wise woman or man, a medicine-woman or man, or an elder member of the community. The concept of mediation we now teach in Germany and Austria was explored in the 1970s in the United States, where it came with increased Chinese immigration. In China, namely, 90 per cent of conflicts are solved by means of mediation. In the United States, mediation is perceived to be a useful alternative to litigation and is considered to be a model to relieve the workload of the courts. Thus the first mediation settings took place in divorce cases and in labour grievances. Since that time mediation has developed in the United States enormously, primarily with the objective of saving money. Companies like Toyota or Motorola have lowered their court expeditures by 75 per cent in the past years, and mediation is in many companies part of the contract between employer and employee, but also between partners in business. Germany started to apply mediation in divorce cases in the early 1980s; Austria has been developing its mediation scene and culture for about 10 years. This year a mediation law was passed in Austria, which should be regarded as a great achievement, and it

Claudia KAPPACHER: The Concept of Mediation might be claimed that through this, mediation became an integral part of the established legal system of Austria. It should be seen, however, in connection with the lawyersâ€™ interests: the little hopeful â€œflowerâ€? of mediation began to blossom, but it also might represent a danger for the established legal system. The law, on the other hand, might bring more acceptance for mediation as a means of reaching common satisfaction. The future will tell.

Why Mediation and What Assumptions Lie Behind? First of all, social conflicts are increasing in all fields of social connections; the individual process increases while the social process decreases. Therefore, there is a need for professional tools of conflict resolution and alternative dispute resolutions besides legal solutions. It is also an issue of costs. The basic assumption behind the concept of mediation is that dispute is healthy; not solving a dispute is dangerous. The reason for conflicts is very often not that people do not want to solve their conflicts, but rather that they just do not know how. Conflict parties are, so to speak, experts as for their situation and also in the field of potential solutions. Outside judges may not take into consideration all relevant aspects. Solutions for the future are more solid if emotions, accumulated on the basis of the situation, are part of the process. Relating to each other throughout the dispute is helpful for finding solutions. Commitments which the parties themselves take part in forming make them more responsible for the result and have a higher acceptance rate. Mediation is neutral, confidential and non-therapeutic; these facts encourage more people to accept it. Tools of negotiation one learns during the mediation process may help in other situations of life too.

How Does Mediation Work? We speak about a mediation process if two parties in a conflict want to find a solution with the help of a neutral outside person, a mediator. The mediator takes care of the process; the involved parties take care of their topics and contents. All parties must be listened to in a mediation setting; this might mean that perhaps after the first session, more people should be invited to participate if it is discovered that they are also concerned. The setting is neutral and conceived as an alternative to court proceedings; mediation and court proceedings are mutually exclusive. 22

Conflict Resolution Parties are responsible for themselves and join the mediation voluntarily. The aim of mediation is to find a commitment that fits all parties. In practice this should mean that there are two or more winners and no loser. Finding consensus is the solution. The framework for mediation is thus: a neutral person sits in the middle; all parties take part in the mediation; there is no litigation; the participants are self-responsible; they take part voluntarily in the process; and they reach a solution by full consensus.

Stages of Mediation In the stage of pre-mediation, a basic setting is created which enables the parties to mediate. This may turn out to be the hardest part of the job. From personal experience I would claim that once the conflicting parties are willing to sit together around the same table, and the mediator is well trained in her or his job, they normally find a solution. Making the opposing parties mediate is the key for conflict resolution. Maybe this is something that conflicting religious groups should spend more time on, in getting the parties ready for the table, and then let the professionals do their work. Normally, one of the parties contacts the mediator. Personally, however, I prefer if the other party (parties) contact me too. In some cases it was helpful for me as a mediator to contact the other party and invite them for mediation, but these steps largely depend on the situation. As the bottom line, we can say that all the involved parties must be willing to mediate and try to find a solution that fits for all of them.

1. Contracting After the introductory getting-to-know-each-other, the concept, the process and the fundamental rules of mediation have to be explained. In the meantime, the mediator assesses mediatibility. The most important established fundamental rules are the following: One has to listen to the other party and let the conflict partner talk without interruption. No offences are permitted. The parties shall treat each other with respect. The mediator controls and manages the process; she or he might interrupt, if necessary. There is no litigation during the mediation process. Everything is confidential in the process. After a commitment with all parties on how to deal with each other in the upcoming process of mediation, the mediator starts to gather issues and topics of the dispute.

Conflict Resolution each other, whereas previously they always used the mediator as a channel of communication with the other party. The aim of this phase is for each person to understand her- or himself, and later on also to understand her or his conflict partner, and their differing views as well. Together they identify reference points and work on their disagreements.

4. Reaching Agreement Next, it is necessary to find, develop and evaluate options. Most of the time this is accomplished by using the technique of brainstorming, which means gathering all the proposed suggestions for solutions first, without evaluating them. Then, each option is considered and evaluated from all points of view, choosing, testing and revising them.

5. Concluding

2. Developing Issues Each person has the opportunity to describe the issues from her or his point of view. The mediators do not evaluate; they just listen and try to understand, sum up or ask, if something seems unclear to them. This means that the mediator also gathers a lot of information, identifying areas of agreement and disagreement. At this stage the parties sometimes get impatient. But each statement takes time, and all the statements have to be heard. The fundamental rules must be respected during the period of presenting statements as well.

3. Resolving the Conflict What lies behind? is the question for this phase of mediation. Here the mediator helps the parties to find out what needs and interests are the reasons for their positions. Everything that might be important should be discussed. The mediator guides the parties through this phase with the relevant skills and techniques of asking and intervention, which she or he is trained in. The conflict parties come into more contact with each other and they begin to notice that at this stage they also deal directly with

The last stage is the finding of solutions for all parties. Most mediators write down agreements in an advisorâ€™s review, and after reading, clarifying, thinking it over and finalizing, all parties sign it and agree, affirming it. Some commitments need time to find out, if they work; therefore another meeting after a certain time often makes sense.

The Good Mediator The good mediator must be respected and accepted by all the participating parties. The mediator does not have interests in the result of the mediation. She or he is positively neutral, is there for all the parties, not just for one of them. The person can be close to the parties but not too close (like sister, brother, wife, husband, boss or friend). The mediator does not judge or evaluate and takes all interests seriously. She or he is responsible for the process, not for the contents, since the solutions come from the parties, not from the mediator. The person helps the parties to express their feelings, emotions and ideas. She or he takes care of the balance between the parties. She or he also treats the contents of the mediation confidentially: after a failed mediation, she or he cannot be the lawyer of one party in court. A good mediator makes sure that commitments go through a thorough reality check. The person can stop the whole mediation if the process gets out of control.

Claudia KAPPACHER: The Concept of Mediation

In Which Conflicts Can Mediation Prove Helpful? Mediation is helpful in conflicts where direct discussion has been unsuccessful, or where no solution is in sight. It is essential in cases where there the relationship of the conflicting parties is going to continue in the future (like with parents, neighbours, in a workplace or in different communities). It is useful in settings where all parties in the conflict want a solution, and where the most important parties or all the parties actually can take part. The solutions should be more complex than just a simple yes or no. In the case of nuclear energy, for instance, a yes or a no will be really hard to mediate, but a debate on the topic with mediative facilitation might be very helpful. The imbalance of power should not be too heavy. There has to be enough time to negotiate. The parties should be able to speak for themselves and express their views. They should not be ill, abused or mistreated (although there are special mediators for these problems, with special techniques). Claudia KAPPACHER studied communications and political science, worked as a journalist for ten years before she became a mediator. She lives in Wien, Austria, with her husband and three children. She does mediation in the fields of divorce cases, neighbour disputes, in working processes and in schools .She has been a trainer for mediators for six years and wrote several articles about mediation in Austria. Her email address is office@talkwork.at.

Susannah SCHMIDT

Review of

Justice and Reconciliation: The Legacy of Indian Residential Schools and the Journey toward Reconciliation In 2002, when I was working as co-ordinator of the Canadian Student Christian Movement (SCM), I spent two precious days with MarieJeanne Coleman (née de Haller) who as a young woman worked as a travelling secretary in Europe for WSCF following World War II. As we sat at the Colemans’ cottage, looking out to Lake Ontario, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence River, we talked about the visions of young women, which become the visions of old women, and vice versa, for reconciliation and peace. I was struck that for Marie-Jeanne, and for many Christians of her generation identifying with Western Europe, reconciliation was first known in reference to transformation following the chaos and turmoil of World War II and the Holocaust. For myself, while my perceptions have roots in the tragic horrors of World War II, I first encountered reconciliation as a living problem when I began the journey of awakening to the reality of genocide in the Americas. With other SCMers, and with other people in the Canadian ecumenical movement, I have been involved in a journey of facing this reality and coming to understand what it means today and for the future.

Canadian Residential Schools, Colonialism, Reconciliation I first came across the United Church of Canada’s 2001 resource Justice and Reconciliation: The Legacy of Indian Residential Schools and the Journey Toward Reconciliation (JR) when as SCM staff I was considering how ecumenical youth could engage with the legacy of colonisation in Canada. 26

Susannah SCHMIDT

Review of

Susannah SCHMIDT: Justice and Reconciliation

Conflict Resolution

From the mid-nineties forward, multiple events catalysed a change in Canadian mainstream media and church discourse about Canada’s ongoing fragmented relationship with indigenous peoples. There were pan-continental indigenous campaigns around the theme of five hundred years of colonisation; nationally, there were high-profile constitutional and sovereignty debates in the media, as well as government–Aboriginal land struggles. There was a public disclosure about personal experiences of abuse in residential school by the then-Grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations in Canada, Phil FONTAINE. For Christians, the problem of Canadian colonialism has a particularly pernicious face: from the 1880s up to the 1970s, and in some cases as late as the 1980s, the churches ran “Indian residential schools” for Aboriginal children which furthered the national goal of assimilating First Nations as communities into the dominant white Anglophone and Francophone Canadian identity. Currently, the issue of reconciliation is bound up not only with right relations from ethical, legal, theological and treaty perspectives, but also with the issue of litigation, as some former students (inmates and survivors) of the schools have taken legal action against the churches and government for physical and sexual abuse. Enforced cultural assimilation and the unwanted removal of children is not recognised by the courts as a basis for litigation. Given such a contemporary context, when I picked up the resource JR, I knew that the United Church faces a formidable task in creating a denominational educational, pastoral and liturgical resource which can do justice to this problem, and which can speak to varied experiences and knowledge of colonialism and racism in Canada.

trolled by the economic, physical and psychic interests of the dominant colonial state. Yet these women, who were so battered by life, taught me how to laugh in the face of demons. I cannot romanticise this learning, however, as I was also silenced and terrified by the racialized and sexualised violence I saw and experienced that summer, and also by Canadians’ denial of the problem. I felt that our society is poised at the door of a new potential in collective life, but so much obstructs the birth of something new. The narrative of the women at Jesus’ tomb spoke to me: “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid” (Mark 16,8). I began to understand that developing a commitment to anti-racism as a white person, and learning about the land, creatures, and peoples of this continent was a necessary act of Hope in the face of Death.

Aboriginal Solidarity, Anti-Racism and Faith

Justice and Reconciliation frames reconciliation as a problem of “broken relationship,” which will involve listening to stories, conversion, and a commitment to work for justice in responsive solidarity. In the first section, contextual historical information is provided on such legislation and policy as the Indian Act, with its legislative control and suppression of Aboriginal collective and individual identities and rights. A critical history is drawn of the United Church’s participation in residential schools, which neither downplays the impact of the policy of assimilation which the schools promoted, nor makes scapegoats of individuals who worked in the schools. Of the eighty-plus schools run by the Roman Catholic, Anglican,

My own context is this: like others active in the Canadian ecumenical movement, I am struggling to be faithful to the deathdealing problem of Canadian colonisation and racism. This journey began for me in 1998 when I worked as a literacy instructor in a prairie prison in the province of Saskatchewan, where 95 per cent of the inmates were Aboriginal women. While many women lived on reserves or nearby in urban centres, many others, like students of the historic residential schools, had been flown by plane from Northern communities. I saw that Canadian Indian policy creates a world where difference, instead of being mutually defined, respected and learned from, is con28

Resources for Youth? As an ecumenical (Roman Catholic) reader and as a person involved in theological study and the ecumenical movement, my review is in the spirit of what the resource raises in terms of its potential use with ecumenical and secular “Christian-curious” students and youth in need of a pastoral response. I hope that these reflections may also contribute to broader dialogues about education for youth in the area of residential schools and anti-racism, or towards the development of youth education at the congregational or parish level.

Contextual History

Conflict Resolution Of Aboriginal households, 84 per cent live below the poverty line; 23 per cent in reserve houses have neither piped nor running water; 80–90 per cent of peoples on Aboriginal reserves are unemployed; only 33 per cent of lands guaranteed in treaties are controlled by Aboriginal peoples; the rate of suicides in Aboriginal communities is six times higher than elsewhere in Canada, and the youth suicide rate is the highest in the industrialised world. A personalised face of truth-telling in the form of people’s stories does not soften these harsh realities, but it nuances them and gives them a face that readers can reach towards. Aboriginal narrators who are residential school survivors generously share their varied experiences and insights of the meaning of residential schools. Liturgical resources in the forms of Biblical passages and community and individual exercises, rituals and actions are included to assist non-Aboriginal people in moving out of guilt to truth-telling, lamentation and repentance.

Further Resources

Methodist and Presbyterian churches, the United Church, as a church descended from the union of certain Methodist and Presbyterian churches, was historically involved at running a peak of 13 schools, or about 10 per cent. In the schools, while it is known that there were some poorly skilled and disturbed employees who would not have been tolerated in other systems, the majority of school workers were young idealists, often young women, who decided to forego a good salary elsewhere in order to help out with mission work among Aboriginal communities.

Truth-Telling, Lamentation, Repentance A second theological section of JR posits a model of “truthtelling, lamentation and repentance, and seeking the spirit” based on Biblical and Aboriginal wisdom. One dimension of “truthtelling” is a sketch of statistics of certain material realities of Aboriginal life in Canada. 30

The last major section details ecumenical, secular and international approaches to Aboriginal advocacy, solidarity and reconciliation. Readers can find the United Church’s apologies to Aboriginal peoples, information about the Native Conference Circle, the Healing Fund, as well as a glossary of terms, and a FAQ section. Detail is offered about recommendations made by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples’ call for a public inquiry into residential schools, and about the Assembly of First Nations’ demand for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) inspired by South Africa. Information is also included on South African and Australian social processes for dealing with apartheid and colonialism.

Developing Ecumenical Youth Education In terms of its potential use with youth, I would consider two issues: 1. Whether or not young people who are open to ecumenism may have less attachment to denominational identity due both to age and to the cultural experience of growing up in a multicultural and multi-faith Canadian society. 2. Youth of colour and white youth already involved in justice networks, influenced by feminism, anarchism, anti-racism, antiimperialist and anti-globalization movements, may not share an

Susannah SCHMIDT: Justice and Reconciliation

Conflict Resolution

older generational assumption that Canadian society and the Church have always historically defended human rights. In consideration of both of these points, and while acknowledging the serious challenges inherent in this proposal, an ecumenical and secular “coalition” of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth from the outset could be a next step in the process of developing education, since this would not only speak to a range of youth who are in the Church and against the Church, but would also provide the benefit of providing a broader snapshot of the problem. As one first reader of this review noted, any national resource (youth or adult) designed for local empowerment also raises the question of how or if the vision will be appropriated and taken up at the local level: further power issues of rural/urban, central Canada/Western and Eastern Canada, national church/local congregation are raised. These dynamics also contribute to the types of resources or projects often developed by national bodies seeking to reach the broadest audience possible. How can mainstream churches or youth networks such as WSCF make theological and practical sense of this dilemma?

White privilege continues to shield particularly white people from an openness and a practical capacity to encounter the ongoing impact of cultural genocide in Aboriginal communities. Similarly, I reflected that it is difficult to determine to what extent non-Aboriginal voices might have a voice in such a resource. The privileging of Aboriginal stories perhaps reflects a need to put the voices of those who have been oppressed by residential schools at the centre. Yet, there is a way in which the absence of the voices of those who have benefited from social structures of oppression suggests a power dynamic where the privileged maintain the power not to be exposed or vulnerable. Similarly, the absence of voices of multicultural people of colour results in a lack of a nuanced analysis of how the settler system is bound with Canadian racism. What, for example, are the responses of Japanese, Chinese, Korean or Taiwanese congregations in Canada, or of caucuses of people of colour in white-dominant congregations who are taking on these issues?

Addressing Canadian Racism

In some sections of the resource, such as in Those Who Doubted the Policy, responses of white Canadians who tried to publicise the problems they saw are shared. This inclusion contributes to breaking down a concept of whites as a mass without varied interests and responses. I found, however, that in the lament section, there is little acknowledgement of the varying ways that readers may be vulnerable in lamenting systems of white racism, and the multiple ways that conversion is necessary for authentic human dialogue. I find this significant because racism functions by marginalising not only people of colour and Aboriginal peoples, but also by creating a “pecking order” among whites, where shared identity is based on shared privilege.

In the question of addressing racism, one question I had of the resource was in regards to the resource’s tensions in presenting a liberal and inclusive approach versus a liberation theology model of privileging the perspective of victims or the oppressed. I appreciated the authors’ drawing on Aboriginal epistemological models, whereby truth is built through a process of story-telling and consensus-building. On the other hand, I am wary of how this approach may be swallowed by a white liberal approach, which historically builds truth by subsuming “peripheral” perspectives into a centralized core narrative. While the resource acknowledges at length the harm of residential schools, and acknowledges racism, I found that it does not byand-large challenge the system of Christian white privilege and racism, particularly as implemented in the Americas, and as developed by pseudo-science to legitimate the slave trade and capitalist exploitation of the land and resources. Racism and white privilege are not defined in the resource, even in the glossary. The question of cultural genocide is not addressed, and this to me is problematic, since it is an overwhelming one.

Those Who Doubted the Policy

Reconstructing a New Memory This critique is only possible because individuals and communities have made the initiative of responding to a problem and taking risks in doing this work. I am inspired by the resource and by its creators. I am certain that this work is a starting place for further conversation and a catalyst for other denominations to follow suit. Since reading the resource, the image presented in the book of a 33

Susannah SCHMIDT: Justice and Reconciliation “handful of retired archivists” moving into the archives to “dismantle a faulty corporate memory” is a story which has stayed with me. The process of reconstructing a new memory is a daunting one, which will take many generations, and every contribution will be significant. Susannah SCHMIDT is a Roman Catholic from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is learning that she and her Canadian ancestors grew up in the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, the Wendat, and the Anishnaabeg peoples. From 2000 to 2003 she worked as national co-ordinator of the SCM in Canada (www.scmcanada.org).She is an M.A. student at the Toronto School of Theology, and holds an undergraduate degree from McGill University in Montréal, Québec. She is grateful to Professor Michael BOURGEOIS at Emmanuel College, Joëlle MORGAN from SCM/WSCF, and Brian THORPE from the United Church who offered conversation and comments in the development of this review. She welcomes any comments at schmidts@utoronto.ca.

SZÔNYI László Gyula

Resolution of PostWar Social Conflicts: The Case of Törökbálint The passenger who comes to Budapest from the West would not think that this most–developed, “occidental” region of Hungary went through the fires of adversity in the decades following World War II. The population in the Swabian-majority settlements was forcedly relocated and substituted, only a part of them remained, and most of their houses were taken by migrated Magyars – evicted people from Romania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, wartime (or post-wartime) refugees, cottars from Eastern Hungary (due to the “democratic agrarian reform”) and people who had to leave their motherland as a result of the Czechoslovak–Magyar Population Exchange Agreement. Our theme treads on extremely sensitive ground in Central Europe, as well as in Hungary. Across the border it gets under the skin of the Germans, Magyars, Czechs, Slovaks, Romanians and nationals of former Yugoslavia. And on this side of the border we might encounter their descendants’ fear and anger – wounds together with offences by Magyars from Eastern Hungary and from across the border, as well as the Swabians. It is apparent that the conflicts were and are not only between nations and ethnic groups, but also among Magyar circles.

Swabians in Hungary The settlements of Budapest’s Western sector were almost completely destroyed during the time of the Turkish Conquest (XVI–XVIIIth centuries), and the great majority of them were resettled by Germans (referred to as Swabians), who inhabited several villages: Budaörs, Budakeszi (where the current German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Joschka FISCHER comes from), Zsámbék, Etyek, Nagykovácsi and Törökbálint. A small proportion was resettled by Slovaks, eg. Sóskút, Tárnok; also Magyars; and Serbs in Érd. While the majority retained their national (primarily German)

SZÔNYI László Gyula

SZÔNYI L.Gyula: Post-War Social Conflicts character, by the turn of the century their “Magyarisation” had accelerated. This process continued in the first part of the XXth century as well. Before a large population began streaming into these villages, there were three groups in the village: “original” German-conscious Swabians; “original” Magyar-conscious Swabians, and relative newcomers who nevertheless had been living there since some decades. In Törökbálint the second and third groups were considerably stronger (than eg. in Budaörs), and this had an effect on the scale and the width of relocations and settlements. In Budaörs almost the complete population was German-conscious, so ninety per cent of them were relocated and their houses stood empty, waiting for new inhabitants; hence there the conflicts were rather amongst the newcomers themselves (and not between Swabians and Magyars).

The Impact of World War II Among the Central European peoples, perhaps it was the German nationals who had the most difficult task of defining and identifying themselves culturally and politically in the years of World War II, answering the questions “Who are we?” and “Where do we trend towards?” Since the significant proportion of the Magyar Swabians had committed themselves to the Nazi-allied “Volksbund” movement, taking a more active part in World War II and declaring the Swabianpopulated area’s secession from Hungary, the majority of Magyar society identified them with the Nazis in regards to patricide. “The Swabians have to share the Germans’ fate just now!” appeared to be the mood and judgment – tantamount to declaring a desire that they quit the country. This demand was formally permitted by decrees of the Allies’ conference in Potsdam (August 1945). Simultaneously in the neighbouring states not only the Germans but also the resident Magyars were held responsible for the injuries and collapse. In the re-united Yugoslavia 30–40 thousand Magyars were put to death; in Czechoslovakia they were deprived of citizenship, together with the Germans (ie. the state dismissed Magyar public servants, cut off pensions, confiscated Magyar landed properties, closed down the Magyar schools, placed Magyar possessions under government control and froze bank deposits) and many thousands of Magyars were deported to North-Western regions. Romania in turn took wind of the anti-Magyar massacres, so that the public administration at first had to submit to the Soviet mili-

Conflict Resolution tary administration provisionally, but afterwards proceeded with internments and fugitive-declarations. On account of revenge campaigns, approximately 60–80 thousand refugees arrived in Hungary.

Democratic Agrarian Reform Already in the last days of the war (March 1945), agrarian reform was announced, and the government parcelled out large estates as well as the lands of war criminals and Volksbund members (thirty-five per cent of Hungary’s area) to the paupers and landless agricultural labourers. In Eastern Hungary (ie. the Great Plain) there was not enough landed property to expropriate; but “war criminals” were readily available in Western Hungary and the Swabian villages (including Törökbálint and its environs), so the masses of people arriving at about this time constituted the first major population shift in Törökbálint. Thus the deluge of people evicted from neighbouring countries and people desiring land from the agrarian reform paradoxically boosted the proposed solution of compensating with Swabian lands and houses. The agrarian reform, however, did not succeed without many problems. The new lands’ average extent was less than seven acres, and the occupants often had no implements for production, nor draught animals, seed grain or credit opportunities. The “price scissors” opened out (the gap between prices of agricultural and industrial products, to the detriment of the former); the state meddled extensively in the areas of production and distribution; a terrible drought prevailed during the first years; and the Magyar people, until August 1946, lived through the steepest inflation in world history. In “Swabian” villages, moreover, these days were gravely aggravated by conflicts between the two unsuccessful strata. As some of them said, “Our work was not effective, because the resident Volksbund members and others tried to inhibit us from carrying out the distribution of land by spiriting off the boundary indexboards.”1 The same memorandum speaks about threats and scuffles. And with the “help” of the press, these local clashes became country-wide. 1 M. SOMLYAI Magda (ed.), Földreform 1945. Tanulmány- és dokumentumgyûjtemény (Agrarian Reform in 1945). Budapest, 1965. 360–361.

Conflict Resolution FERENC Bóza recounted his personal settler-story: “A settler shouted across the fence, ‘Come out! How large is the backyard?’ My father answered quickly, ‘As large as this, you can see, no size at all.’ ‘Then I do not want it!’ and he was off.”3 Ms. KRONAWETTER is aware of gossip some decades later that “in Erdôtelek it was announced they could come. Here are vacant houses, the Swabians are relocated at present.”4

Settler Facts

Relocations and Vagrants Proclaimed in December 1945, relocations began in early 1946. Some 200 thousand to half a million Swabians were displaced – in Törökbálint, more than half of them in two waves. According to reports the process was more successful than in neighbouring Budaörs, where the police force could not deter the pillaging. By this time already three waves of settlers had arrived in Törökbálint: agricultural and day-labourers from the village’s periphery and from surrounding villages, during the distribution of land; as well as from Budapest, who were invited by local leftist leaders in hopes of land grabbing; and the aforementioned transborder people. The settlings after the relocations transpired slowly; mostly individual settlers arrived, as well as some smaller groups from Eastern and North-Eastern Hungary. The arrival of a band from Erdôtelek was quite memorable in Törökbálint: “They were blighters, rather crowded with 8–10 children, a couple of them were wheeled in a wheelbarrow”, the wife of BOLDOG Lajos recalled. “They passed along the streets, then they pointed a finger at a house, ‘I want it.’ When they did not like it after all, when they needed a different one, they got it. A number of persons looted two–three houses, too.”2 2 BOLDOG Lajosné WEIGL Anna, Törökbálint, 1935.

From abject poverty, arriving at a well-off village after relocation and obtaining property and a steady income seemed like an outstanding possibility. Part of the settlers, however, faced up to reality soon. A settler descendant from Budaörs recalled the received house: “From our house were everything taken away. Even the barrels and the shutters. There was nothing any more. A couple of Swabian beds and a cupboard.” Many of the defects were already mentioned under agrarian reform. In addition to all those, settlers were often welcomed by unsettled estate circumstances. “Nobody knows which and how much land has, the Land-claimant Committee is totally incapable,” some of them said. “Under such circumstances all kinds of work have stopped, because nobody wants to do uncertain work. It is feared that in this year the village will not match last year’s crop production.”5 Another announcement complained that settlers in the village were not paying any taxes.

Settler Quarrels Studying administrative documents, one can strike upon quite a few crimes against ownership: unlawful appropriations, thefts, embezzlements, fraud, misappropriations; as well as several varieties of aggression, as if the participants in these disputes permanently suffered from the lack of some mission-critical resource (“nutrition” or “nest”), which they were trying to gain. The types of clashes can be sorted according to “powers” and dif3 BÓZA Ferenc, Törökbálint, 1933. 4 KRONAWETTER Istvánné HAMVAS Ottília, Törökbálint, 1929. 5 Törökbálint: Jelentés Pestvármegye közállapotáról (Documents of Municipality’s Public Administration). In Pest Megyei Levéltár (PML, Pest County Archives). 19 July 1946., 20 August 1946. 1947/803.

SZÔNYI L.Gyula: Post-War Social Conflicts ferentiated into dichotomies between: settler (vagrant) and public (state, community, authority); settler and original inhabitant (Swabian or Magyar); settler and settler (vagrant and vagrant). The most typical case of settler versus public was failure to pay taxes, but in documents there can often be found settlers who were cultivating the fields of the relocated people which still had not been shared out. “The village’s rebuilding is inching along. The new agrarian population, who has taken the place of the relocated Volksbundists and Nazi Swabians, is in the way of every rebuilding project, and these are inhibited by them. They founded cliques, deal severely and violently resist all measures taken by the authorities”, complained the notary. Many more examples can be found of conflicts between settlers and Swabians. WENCZ Erzsébet reminisced about the circumstances at school: “Teaching was very troublesome. The settlers’ children and the kids of this place mocked and fought each other, as well as stabbed too. As the children of settlers left school during the war years, they were taller and stronger than their classmates here. ‘You, stinky Swabian!’ ‘You, dirty Magyar!’ flittered in the school for the hell of it. They beat and kicked each other. I could barely control them. I did not even dare go out to the lavatory. At breaks in the day I had to explore their bags and pockets, and I took away their knives.” At least as much source material can be picked up about quarrels of settlers amongst themselves, especially accusations about calumniating and robbing one another. Another person recalls: “As far as I know, KÓSA Lajos does not live legitimately with his wife; they have a little girl of five, who is illegitimate too, and the illegitimate wife has a boy of twenty, who was chased away from the family.”6

Escape Opportunities What kind of opportunities did settlers have to escape from the (new) pauperization, social humiliation and conflicts? One possibility was to occupy the house and property and try to make a living off the land. Another was to occupy the house but not to work the land, instead seeking work in Budapest. A third one was to make money from one’s assets. These tended to fall into two categories: those who came for this express pur6 Törökbálint: Jelentés Pestvármegye közállapotáról (Documents of Municipality’s Public Administration). In Pest Megyei Levéltár (PML, Pest County Archives). 1947/1110.

Conflict Resolution pose – to attain, to sell and to move off; and those who made an attempt at living “honestly” but failed, thus moving incrementally to seek work in Budapest – beginning to parcel out assets. Finally, another possibility was to sell the assets altogether with the income-producing land and move presumably to Budapest or to some other bigger cities anywhere in the country.

Justification To apprehend what made the settlers embark from Eastern and North-Eastern Hungary to Törökbálint, it is worthy and expedient to contrast the old, abandoned milieu with the newly elected one, using the language of numbers – the census of 1941. Since the most families arrived from Erdôtelek (Heves county), its indices will be reviewed here. In Erdôtelek eight per cent of the houses were provided with electricity; on the other hand, in Törökbálint seventy per cent were. Four per cent of homes had a cellar in Erdôtelek, compared to thirty-eight per cent in Törökbálint. Employment structure of wage-earner population in the year 1941 in Erdôtelek and in Törökbálint:

Erdôtelek number All earners … … … 2175 Agriculture … … … 1911 – of this: manual workers … 1175 –of this: permanent (mop fairs) … 0209 periodic (construction labourers, diggers) 0966 on fields of less than seven acres, 0454 farm holders, hirers, and members of their families on fields of more than seven acres, 0277 farm holders, hirers, and members of their families Mining, industry, building trade … 0074 Transport, trade, service … … 0104 Civil service, other, pensioners … 0086

Törökbálint %

100 088 054 010 044 021

number 2389 0544 0214 0075 0139 0209

100 023 009 003 006 009

013

0119

005

003 005 004

1178 0355 0312

049 015 013

In Törökbálint half of the wage-earners were industry workers; a quarter of them laboured for agriculture (the proportion of very poor people was only eighteen per cent, comprising the first migration at the time of the agrarian reform), but even more people than that worked for the third sector. 41

SZÔNYI L.Gyula: Post-War Social Conflicts In Erdôtelek three quarters of all the earners were agrarian workers either without fields or with such small lands that they could not support the living of their families, so they had to find lease work. While in Törökbálint just one tenth of wage-earners were agrarian workers, in Erdôtelek more than half were. In turn, forty–fifty per cent of this stratum lived at or under the subsistence level in these distressed years. The cultural differences were also fairly suggestive. In the Eastern Magyar settlement, more than sixteen per cent of the population above sixteen years could not write; in Törökbálint it was just one quarter of this figure. In the former village there would have been eighteen university graduates for every 10.000 people, while in Törökbálint there were eighty. Regarding completion of higher elementary school, gymnasium, college and university, in Erdôtelek twenty-five and in Törökbálint 186 in 10.000 should have finished the studies. In these differences of development and civilization level, the sources of the relocation and settlement conflicts can be deduced. Great social metamorphoses command high prices, wrote Emil DURKHEIM. These high prices had to be paid by not only the Swabian people, but most of the settlers as well. After the great war, with the downfall of the semi-feudal Ancient Magyar Regime and the appearance of the New Democratic and then (from 1948) the Stalinist Regime, the wide-ranging crisis of values characterised Magyar society, especially that part of it which decided to abandon the homeland in the hope of more secure subsistence. The direct connection with the ancient milieu (parents, family, friendships, neighbourhood and other social institutions) which had controlled their behaviour discontinued and became obsolete. The great mass of internally displaced settlers arrived from hopeless poverty, and then they stood in front of recovery’s gate. Up until then they could not achieve their socially accepted purposes (eg. wealth) by socially possible instruments (eg. by work). In turn, arriving in the new milieu made these people to clash many times, as far as the norm of settlers and of the original residents is concerned: centre versus periphery (capital versus countryside); wealthy versus poor; artisan versus agrarian; German versus Magyar life strategy7; well educated versus unschooled. 7 GUNST Péter (ed.), A magyar agrártársadalom a jobbágyság fölszabadításától napjainkig (The Magyar Agrarian Society from the Emancipation of Serfs until Today). Budapest, 1998. 92.

Conflict Resolution Only the Roman Catholic denomination could function as a link between the settlers and the original inhabitants; therefore the parish took on an influential role during the days of cohabitation, and might be responsible for the extended toleration of the Church during the communist years.

Curiosities As KOMANOVICS József reported8 from Baranya county, beginning in 1947 in Törökbálint there shaped up another strong opposition between the Eastern Magyar settlers who had arrived one–two years previously and the “up-to-date” newcomers from Czechoslovakia. Among the reasons were not just the fear from “them”, but the transborder people were wealthier, more erudite, and rather well established in the middle class. Accordingly, the conflicts did not principally grow out of national grounds. Another interest of the general population movement was the people coming from Pozsonyligetfalu (now Petrzˇalka) to Törökbálint. The German and Magyar population of Pozsonyligetfalu was relocated that time, but since that time many Germans who became Magyars were relocated to Hungary as well. “By the fountain one of the Swabian women scolded these ‘upstart’ people in the German language,” remembered Mrs. KRONAVETTER, but “several of them broke into a smile. We have already known that they understand what we say.”9 The curiosity of this last story is that these Magyarized GermanSwabian people in Czechoslovakia were stigmatized as Magyars and relocated to Hungary into this ex-German-Swabian village Törökbálint, thus completing the social-ethnic circle.

8 KOMANOVICS József, Szlovákiai magyarok betelepítése Baranyába (kitelepítés, betelepítés és lakosságcsere) 1945–1948 (Relocation of Magyars from Slovakia into Baranya, 1945–1948). Agrártörténeti Szemle 1970./1–2. 9 KRONAWETTER Istvánné HAMVAS Ottília, Törökbálint, 1929.

SZÔNYI L.Gyula: Post-War Social Conflicts Archives Törökbálint: Jelentés Pestvármegye közállapotáról (Documents of Municipal Public Administration). In Pest Megyei Levéltár (PML, Pest County Archives). Belügyminisztérium Népgondozó Hivatal (Ministry of Interior, Office of Population). In Magyar Országos Levéltár (National Archives of Hungary). Törökbálinti Falumúzeum (Village Museum). Census of 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1941 and 1949. Hazánk, Kis Újság, Magyar Nemzet, Népszava, Szabad Nép, Szabad Szó and Pest-PilisSolt-Kiskun Megye. Suggested Reading BÁLINT Márton, Törökbálint 1945–1970. Községem 25 éve (Twenty-five Years of My Village). Manuscript, 1970. BALOGH Sándor – PÖLÖSKEI Ferenc (eds.), Agrárpolitika és agrárátalakulás Magyarországon 1944–1962 (Agrarian Politics and Changes in Hungary). Budapest, 1979. GUNST Péter (ed.), A magyar agrártársadalom a jobbágyság fölszabadításától napjainkig (The Magyar Agrarian Society from the Emancipation of Serfs until Today). Budapest, 1998. KOMANOVICS József, Szlovákiai magyarok betelepítése Baranyába (kitelepítés, betelepítés és lakosságcsere) 1945–1948 (Relocation of Magyars from Slovakia into Baranya, 1945–1948). Agrártörténeti Szemle 1970./1–2. M. SOMLYAI Magda (ed.), Földreform 1945. Tanulmány- és dokumentumgyûjtemény (Agrarian Reform in 1945). Budapest, 1965. ORBÁN Sándor, Két agrárforradalom Magyarországon (Two Agrarian Revolutions in Hungary). Budapest, 1972. PEÉRY Rezsô, Gondolatok a tehervagonban (Thoughts in a Train). Pozsony (Bratislava), 1993. TILKOVSZKY Lóránt, Hét évtized a magyarországi németek történetébôl, 1919–1989 (Seven Decades from the History of Germans in Hungary). Budapest, 1989. TÓTH Ágnes: Telepítések Magyarországon 1945 és 1948 között (Relocations in Hungary between 1945 and 1948). Kecskemét, 1993. VADKERTY Katalin: A deportálások. A szlovákiai magyarok csehországi közmunkája 1945–1948 között (Deportations: Public Labour of Magyars from Slovakia in the Czech Lands). Pozsony (Bratislava), 1996. VADKERTY Katalin., A reszlovakizáció (Reslovakisation). Pozsony (Bratislava), 1993. ZEISS Franz, Törökbálint – Egy nagyközség története (Großturwall – Chronik eiener Grossgemeinde). Törökbálint, 1996. ZIELBAUER György, A legújabbkori népvándorlás Magyarországon (1940–1950) (Migration in Hungary between 1940 and 1950). Szombathely, 1994. SZÔNYI László Gyula (1977) graduated from the Faculty of Humanities in history, Magyar grammar and literature at the Károli Gáspár Reformed University in Budapest. Currently he works as a teacher in a secondary school. He has been a member of the board of the Magyar SCM (KÖD) since 2002. He is interested in ethics, sociology and photography, as well several kinds of music and dances (folk, ska, metal) and hiking. His email address is brigetius@freemail.hu.

Ankica DRAGIN

No-Small-Issues World: EHO YRM–CBC Project, a Reconciliation Experience In 2001, while just a novice in the reconciliation field and preparing for a seminar on church and society in South-East Europe, I received an email asking for photos of reconciliation. More than a little confused and lacking experience, I replied: “I would be glad to provide them, but please tell me first what reconciliation looks like.” After three years of working in the field, it became quite obvious that this exchange concerned one of the crucial, still unanswered – or unanswerable – questions: that of the “form” of reconciliation. There is an impressive amount of literature on reconciliation dealing with its various aspects, approaches and experience of people working on and towards it all over the world. It is a very common topic at university departments dealing with peace building, social, political, historical and theological issues: but what about everyday life? There is one common starting point for reconciliation work in practice: we all have one life – our own. Regardless of all our experiences and the circumstances we live in, one thing must not be forgotten: it is God-given.

Project Background The territory of the ex-Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was no exception to the rule of the post-socialist social, economic and political turmoil that happened all over South-East Europe during the last fifteen years. It was, though, one of the more drastic examples of what social transition processes could turn into in an ethnically and religiously very mixed region: all ex-Yugoslav countries were faced with a terrible civil war and its consequences, directly or indirectly. One of the major consequences was the large number of refugees. Many of them had difficulties coping with the fact that the region they were driven out of and the one they were heading to used to be in the same country as recently as the day before, and today they would have to cross an international border between them.

Ankica DRAGIN: No-Small-Issues World The formal, administrative, or even international border, however, was a smaller problem; the newly-erected mental, cultural, national and religious walls became a trouble indeed once again – just as they were nearly half a century ago during and after World War II. In a region where not a single generation lives a life without a major armed conflict, the issue of the “domicile” and the “newcomers” became a burning one once again, before even the previous generations had time to deal with it on a personal level. After the second and the biggest wave of refugees came to Vojvodina in 1995, the Ecumenical Humanitarian Organisation (EHO) was one of the first NGOs to develop projects towards assisting the newly arrived refugees and their integration into society. This is how the first Youth Reconciliation Meetings (YRM) project was devised in 1996. Its overall aim was to work towards a more successful social integration of refugee and domicile children in the settlements that hosted most refugees. Between 1996 and 1998 meetings were held from time to time, depending on the available funding; whereas between 1998 and 2002 the meetings turned into yearly cycles with funds provided for 10 two-day weekend meetings. The programme of these meetings involved various communication-oriented activities helping children to make friends and learn about each other, simultaneously fighting barriers of prejudice and mistrust that may have arisen from the participants’ different experiences and backgrounds. Forty children, aged 10–14, from two neighbouring settlements came together, accompanied by their teachers, for socializing, creative games, fun, arts and crafts and a party. The activities focused on immediate personal contacts and emphasized the values of mutual help and support, cooperation, tolerance and acceptance. The point was to provide the children with an experience completely different from what they might have been experiencing at home, and a space for activities and feelings unaddressed elsewhere. Though aware of the fact that the children came from different backgrounds, their teachers and parents were already too burdened with their own everyday problems to have time to devote to their children. One of the saddest, but yet most precious, experiences of the project staff was that of a little refugee girl from Krajina in Croatia, for whom a YRM sometime in 1998 was a chance to sleep in clean bed linen for the first time ever since she had become a refugee. For many of the children – domicile as well as refugee – these meet-

Conflict Resolution ings were the first time they had gone on an excursion, slept away from their homes or even had a properly cooked, two-course-anda-dessert meal. Nevertheless, these meetings were a huge success both with the children and with their teachers and parents, most of them ending in tears and with evaluations, of which 90 per cent had the following three sentences: it is a pity that the meetings do not last longer, do not happen more often and do not involve more children. There were 48 meetings between 1996 and 2002, involving more than 2,800 children from 25 settlements all over Vojvodina, 42 primary schools and 12 refugee collective centres.

YRM Cross-border Cycle (CBC) The YRM–CBC project is a sequel to the YRM that started in 2003 as the first initiative of its sort in the region. With the overall atmosphere loosening up a little bit, borders opening on all sides and the first hints of the process of European integration heading South, the project staff decided it was time to try and change something about the project – i.e. to move forward. It was decided that the project would try to bring together children from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro for the first time since the conflicts of the ’90s broke out. Although a pioneering and risky venture, the reasons for such a decision were numerous. The age group of the involved children implied they were all born during or just before the war. There was little chance that they had ever travelled anywhere outside their own countries, or even their own towns. The media in the region were much (ab)used on all sides, and there was a great chance that these children might already have prejudices against the “others.” Most of the children might have been completely oblivious to the fact that these states were once all in one country, remembered by many today as the “good old” one. All regions involved were devastated by the war, and there was little chance the parents could provide for even an excursion abroad. Finally, all of them shared a language that used to be one single language in the ex-Yu country. The name of the project indicates its origins and its overall aim: crossing borders of mistrust, ignorance and prejudice among children in the region. The CBC is actually just an approximate translation of the French “sans frontieres” (without borders), which came from the “Jeux Sans Frontieres” (Games Without Borders), a French TV show from the ’70s, where representatives of about 10 countries from 47

Ankica DRAGIN: No-Small-Issues World Europe would travel all year round to a town in each participating country and compete in rather silly-looking but fun outdoor games with only one topic and aim: to learn more about the culture and tradition of these countries, establish mutual links and advocate for values of friendship and sharing. The aims of this project are advocating for reconciliation work and regional cooperation; and promoting tolerance by establishing mutual cooperation, increasing mutual knowledge and facilitating social integration of children. Bearing in mind the age of the participants, the project is essentially about teaching, learning and practicing forgiveness. The meetings last for three days, from Thursday till Sunday. The structure of each meeting is the same. The children arrive on Thursday at the Leuenberg Home in Feketic´, a facility of the Calvinist-Reformed church used by EHO for activities involving large groups of people, and participate in the introductory part of the programme. In the welcome part the leaders introduce the project, themselves, the facility and the programme, while the participants introduce themselves personally, establish ground rules and list their expectations. For purposes of monitoring the learning process during the meeting, all participants fill in an anonymous multiple choice test of knowledge about each country (with questions from geography, history, sports, music and art). The two groups present their country, region, town and school in a way they find the most appropriate (through formal presentations, drama, dance, poetry reading, music or singing). The correct answers to the test questions are mentioned in the presentations. Friday is dedicated to arts and crafts creative workshops (theatre, carpentry, glass painting and origami/paper crafts). We get the children to communicate more immediately and to create a sense of belonging to a recently formed informal group without feeling threatened and abandoned by their everyday peer group. Each workshop is a process leading the children from “nothing” (raw material) to “something” (their creations) and making them realise that they all have the seed of demiurge within themselves. The joy and enthusiasm of the children, after they have completed their work and while showing their friends what they have done, is a reward in itself. The cherry on top is the play prepared by the theatre workshop participants; it also reflects upon the burning issues of the children, their implications and possible solutions. The evening is reserved for an outdoor teambuilding workshop with the whole group, a beauty contest (for both girls and boys) 48

Conflict Resolution and a party. By this time the group usually becomes so mixed that the adults can tell the origins of the children only by their accents. Saturday morning is reserved for the non-violent communication, conflict resolution and cooperation building workshop. Just like with the teambuilding, the children spend another three hours with the same workshop hosts, experts in these issues themselves with 14 years of work with children and teachers in Bosnia behind them, dealing with the issues of conveying messages, fighting prejudices, establishing communication and cooperation without causing negative feelings within the group or causing conflict. One of the most interesting evaluation facts is that the children refer to these workshops as “games in free time.” They do not even perceive them as an organised activity and they are deeply impressed by them because that may have been the first time ever that someone had asked them about their personal feelings and offered them a chance to talk about them without fear of saying something wrong or hurting anybody. Saturday afternoon starts with preparation for an excursion to Novi Sad, the regional capital. All participants get the same YRM–CBC T-shirts to wear during the excursion, primarily for easier identification in the crowded city streets. From the onlookers’ point of view, it is always interesting to see a bunch of happy children in the street, ask them where they come from and why they are all wearing the same T-shirts. In Novi Sad the children first visit the Petrovaradin fortress, the second-biggest fortress in Europe, where by courtesy of the City Museum they have yet another chance to learn about the history of the whole region: its multiculturality, multiconfessionality, geopolitical and cultural significance, as well as to visit a section of the 16-kilometre underground labyrinth and to hear more about the old ways of fighting a battle. The whole story is once again structured to point out that much more effort is needed to (re)build something than to destroy it. The excursion ends with a stroll down the town centre and some free time in the park. The group is back to Feketic´ for dinner, and the evening is usually reserved for watching a film and informal socialising. Sunday, the last day of the meeting, begins with a grumpy morning greeting. After energisers, it continues with evaluation and choosing the best works from the arts and crafts workshops, followed by a specially designed general knowledge quiz with three mixed groups of participants, the jury, the timekeeper and the cheerful audience.

Conflict Resolution

After the Meeting

The final activity for the morning is the “Your Five Minutes” game. The whole group, adults included, is divided into four smaller groups and all participants are invited to express their feelings about the meeting by singing, acting, poetry reading, music, pantomime and drawing. Each group is to present its work, and it is usually the most dynamic part of the whole programme with a lot of laughter and cheers. Finally, the children fill in the test they got on Thursday once again without prior notice, in order to measure how much they have learnt during the meeting, and a formal final evaluation sheet for the whole meeting. At the very end all participants get a group photo and a list with addresses, phone numbers and emails of all participants as a present. They are once again encouraged to keep in touch with each other and informed about the future prospects of a return visit. The departure home is after lunch and it usually takes about an hour to get all the children on the right bus, since by that time they are all wearing the YRM–CBC T-shirt, most of them are crying and stalling with the departure by purposefully entering the wrong bus to make it obvious that the two groups do not want to part.

The evaluation and comparison of the two knowledge tests indicates that the number of 90–100 per cent correct tests increases on average by 20 per cent, while the 70–80 per cent category increases by up to 10 per cent, with no tests with less than 60 per cent of correct answers. The overall increase in the results is usually about 25 per cent. The participants’ narrative evaluation shows that over 96 per cent of them would like to come again to the meeting, and the comments are exactly the same as with the previous (ie. local, refugee and domicile) cycle. Being informed and instructed about it before they have come to the meeting, the participants and their accompanying adults are bound to do a bit of promotion work in their school and local community. They are supposed to make a billboard with photos and texts about the meeting in their school, or to organise a peer meeting with other children and to share their experience. They are also supposed to have an article about the meeting published in the school or local newspaper, or to arrange to appear on a radio or TV show and share their YRM–CBC experience. Within two months’ time they should have reported back to the project staff about it, and the materials from the meeting, along with the press clippings, letters of support and children’s texts are published in the Bez granica (Without Borders) meeting newsletter. Three hundred copies of the newsletter are published after each meeting. The project has a far-reaching effect in the respective local communities after such an extensive promotional work, thus reaching all target groups of the project: peers in school and the wider community, teachers and children’s families.

Small Issues to Conclude With YRM–CBC has been a one-of-a-kind initiative in the whole Balkans region. Seemingly daring, it proved to be a very much needed and appreciated initiative in the communities its participants came from. From the formal project point of view, it reached the expected results and obtained 50 per cent funding until the end of 2006. Like any other NGO initiatives, it still needs recognition and affirmation on higher levels, regionally and nationally. No matter how much the media are informed about it, not more than three articles about it get published in more prominent regional or national newspapers. Radio stations seem barely interested in it, whereas no TV station has showed any interest whatsoever. Only one 51

Ankica DRAGIN: No-Small-Issues World regional ministry sent its representative to one of the meetings to express its support for the project. From a Christian point of view, the recognition has already arrived: through the meetings and participants themselves. Upon seeing their faces right after the first YRM–CBC meeting, it was obvious that at least forty people – matured before their time – will not wait fifty years to forgive. Talking on the phone about the meeting to a newspaper journalist from Belgrade (an ex-imam from Sarajevo who has been a refugee himself for several years), we ended up discussing the right time to start with reconciliation work, whether it means prevention, intervention or spiritual healing and how effective it is on a larger scale. There is one part of the conversation that may just as well serve as a conclusion: Journalist: I have made the common, stupid journalist’s mistake of considering personal stories irrelevant, unless they were those of some celebrities, for too long. Thank the Lord someone is at least trying to do something in this respect, reconciliation. Of course the story your kids have to tell does matter, and I shall try to persuade my editor that it is relevant. Nothing we, the journalists, usually deal with matters in the greater scheme of things, but that is what sells the papers and TV shows. YRM–CBC: Do not get me wrong, but no matter how small the thing you do may seem, you have to start somewhere, don’t you? Journalist: Exactly. And don’t you people grow too old without realising that “there are no small issues in life.” If for nothing else, then for the fact that God must have had a reason for his first utterance. As for the last, we shall see, eventually. Ankica DRAGIN (1974) is the public relations manager of the Ecumenical Humanitarian Organisation in Novi Sad, the YRM–CBC project associate and newsletter editor, and, together with Robert BU, the co-author of the project. She is an English teacher specialised for pre-school and primary age; her fields of expertise are education and training, reconciliation and church-related PR. She comes from a nationally and confessionally mixed Christian background. She is the author of the Map of Religious Communities in Novi Sad, a first-of-its-kind publication in the SEE region, and several articles and research papers. Her email is drankica@ptt.yu. EHO is a Church-related charitable organisation founded in Novi Sad in 1993 on the initiative of the World Council of Churches (WCC). Its founders are from five local churches: the Evangelical-Lutheran Christian Church, the United Methodist Church, the Greek Catholic Church, the Calvinist-Reformed Church and the Slovak Evangelical-Lutheran Church. It is an NGO operating by Christian principles and values and assisting a vast number of refugees, displaced people, the poor, old, ill, disabled, unemployed, marginalised groups and children in Vojvodina regardless of their religion, ethnicity, gender or race. The new YRM–CBC project started in 2003 with three staff, including Stevan BÁTORI as project assistant in charge of logistics. The email address of EHO is ehs@eunet.yu.

Orinta Zˇ VIKAITE˙-RÖTTING

Generation Gap: Resolving Conflicts Between Generations The main problem of my generation in our 20s or 30s, living in Western, Central or Eastern Europe, is the trouble of the aging population and increasing life expectancy. Society is aging rapidly. At least according to the dailies’ titles, “Europe is getting old – burden on future generations.”

Societal Revolution: Age and Experience Seeing that agents of various health and life insurances knock at our doors, or automatically saved voices speak on our answering machines choosing us for the “special private pension offer,” we hardly disagree – we need to think about our retirement funds. A state-related labour agency thinks along the same lines, sending each young, perhaps first-time, employee a proposal of its pension if she or he keeps on working in the way she or he currently works (at least that happens in “good old Germany”). Longevity is a part of the story which happens to humankind. Francis FUKUYAMA, in addition to the problems of social security, the tripling of the elderly population and the increase of public expenditures, predicts the emergence of two strange power parties in the world of multiple generations. One is the power of old women, and the other is the young “super-angry” men, who are progressively taking over the voters’ community and destabilizing natural political experience–power hierarchies. He writes: “The natural tendency of one generation to get out of the way of the up-and-coming one will be replaced by the simulta-

Conflict Resolution bers of seniors and growing generation of “double income, no kids” the loss of generational friendship? If there is a gap, there is a conflict; and if there is a conflict, it needs resolution. To resolve the conflict is to think about equality between the parties. But, firstly, it is hard to identify those conflicted parties within that twin picture of the old/young world, in the framework of the conceptually unclear generation question, isn’t it? Before we talk about the concept of generation gap and the generation conflict, let us converse about the problem of identity and the complex phenomenon of “generation”.

Four Ways of Talking About Generation

neous existence of three, four, even five generations.”1 The dispute on the aging society goes further into our common-sense lives than the trouble of which generation pays whose rent and how. The communal dissatisfaction of the current young tax-payer generations about the tax-receiver old-economy boom generations adds criticism to the current discussion on the generation contract, the anxiety of losing the welfare state, and the fearlessness between the generations. These three categories are the protected notions of the modern, self confident, peaceful and hard-working Western society. The dilemma is that this right Order, this Welfare-state and this Equality between the generations do not work any longer. One reason for this derives from the global or local market transformation and demographic changes. The global market and longevity are common scapegoats for the grievances of a free global and anxious post-modern world. For the meantime, let us presume in the smaller scale that the greatest social issue of our time is longevity and all its socio-political penalties, such as less security and less solidarity for all, and less chances for responsibility for all because humanity is growing old. An old proverb says that any friendship ends when it comes to money. Is the current generation gap between the growing num1 FUKUYAMA Francis, Our Posthuman Future. London, 2002. 57–71.

The classical description of the generation by Karl MANNHEIM2 mainly constructs two problems, the polarisation between the generations and the problem of the relation of a particular generation to the other ideas appearing in the society as its formational consciousness and collective mobilisation. Historically, the generations defined themselves through the critical avantgarde or in the name of pathfinders – a sort of modernity finders against the conservative competitors. Somehow there is no politically correct generation formation. There is no formation of generation apart from historical turnovers or new cultural appearances. Sociologist Zygmunt BAUMAN would describe those challenging, excessive and even order-violating manifestations as the guidelines to the modernizing mind of any society. Therefore, the debate about the modern order helps to identify the plot of the public conflict in the postmodern unordered order.3 This description of MANNHEIM’s is not the only existing description of generation. There are four ways of talking about the term generation: the generation used in the context of family and genealogy; the generation used by pedagogy; the generation used by historians; and the generation used in the socio-political context. The main themes of family research distinguish the life-span event: the relationship between the generations in regard to child–parent–grandparent relationships, and the principle of dependency between them. 2 MANNHEIM Karl, Das Problem der Generationen. In Kölner Vierjahrshefte für Soziologie. 1928/7. 157–185, 309–330. 3 BEILHARZ Peter (ed.), The Bauman Reader. Oxford, 2001. On Sociology and Postmodernity (173–199) and Ambivalence and Order (281–297).

Orinta Z. RÖTTING: Generation Gap One generation develops from child dependency on the parent through socialization, individualization, contact inside and outside the parent’s house, and leaving of the parent’s house. Then come the family life of her or his own, the decision for or against children, and the contacts with other generations and their problems during the steps of any curriculum vitæ. The new conflict of those relations appears, for example, through bondless and unclear roles of new families: families with no kids, families with no grandparents, bi-national families, and so on. Pedagogy speaks about generation in the context of learning situations: the generation of teachers and the generation of students maintaining and producing further norms, knowledge and cultural, economical and social inheritance. The new conflict appears, for example, in the final understanding that the learning process is a life-long process and not predominantly a matter of age. Historians use generation in the context of groups with specific orientation and action, as social movements and generations of historical events and of historical weight. The new conflict comes within, for example, ungrouped powerless groups with less emphasis on change. Political language talks about the generation schematizing welfare structures and characterizing the main protagonist of the generational relationship, social security of solidarity principles and the conflicts within. Following along those lines, some sociologists like to speak about generational cohorts or the generation unit4, instead of the generation. Unit or cohort comprises a combination of factors and includes the ambivalence of the four different ways of the relationship between generation theory and praxis, taking into account the existence of multigenerational bonds. Those conceptual differences and variety of applications of the word generation appear in the question: what is my generation unit in a special situation and what is it really and essentially5.

4 Some social demographers, scientists who study the effects of population on society, use the term “cohort” to refer to people born in the same general time span who share key life experiences. Members of cohorts who come of age in lean times or war years tend to think and act differently than those born and raised in peace and abundance. 5 From Hans LÖSCH’s discussion with Klaus ROTH and Heiner KEUPP on identity as a matter of negotiation, which says that the process of identification comes from two questions: who are you really and who are you in a particular situation. He emphasises that multiple identities lay not in a person as a multiple personality, but in a person’s ability to sustain different features of identification for her or his use in a certain life and background situation. In Baustelle Identität. Zu Sanierungsarbeiten an einem beschädigten Konstrukt, Dokumentation einer Fachtagung. München, 2001.

Conflict Resolution This process of identification Emanuel LEVINAS calls a “difficult freedom” between who you are already and who you are still.6

Naming of Generations and the Problem of Identity We know how theorists describe their goals in using the term generation. How clearly can we now identify our own generation unit? Identity is the lens through which we view conflict reasoning and conflict resolution. Identity is the open project of choice of each individual related to the sum of collectivity. There are some helpful notions for the formation of our belonging to any of the generations. The first, mentioned before, is our relationship to order; second our relationship to change vs. continuation; third, our relationship to self and other7; fourth, our notification of the question of relationship between generations; and fifth, our understanding of resources for human development and their costs to other generations. All these perceptual conditions help to deconstruct the features of given or subscribed generation naming. Power and interests direct some naming, but some names are earned. The most profound problem of identification is in the answer to the questions: What changed your life? Which event played the most meaningful role and left the clearest mark on our lives? The Germans have been imprinted from the ’90s, then the late ’60s or World War II, and so are grouped into historically clear distinguished three-generation units. But not all German inhabitants of those years had those characteristic experiences in those units, and some even created different relationships towards those moods and events. So, at least according to the five previously mentioned notions, there should already be at least 15 possible identified generation units – double, if taking into account names both from the people themselves and from outside observers. But the complexity of each generation unit speaks about the immense identity fights outside of known dualisms, of old and young (eg. post-World War II and post-Berlin Wall) or conservative and radical (economic miracle and post-Cold War), relating to a two-fold contradiction, like of order and of new order. Generations are likely named using false images and perceptions, involving a certain mobilization of particular interests, with 6 More in HAND Sean (ed.), The Levinas Reader. Oxford, 1989. 263–266. 7 KOHLI Martin, Generationen in der Gesellschaft. Berlin 2003.

Orinta Z. RÖTTING: Generation Gap a grain of prejudice, stereotype and discrimination. But most names of generations are unknown, like Generation Xs or Generation Ys – these are the complexes of our identity which we cannot describe within the relationship of one family, of one certain event or lifespan. If we name a generation, we already create an injustice. More to the point, generation is a social construct, helping to talk about on-going socio-political changes and to resolve the conflict within multiple statements, relevant experiences, social declarations and life prospects, through qualitative empirical data. This knowledge depends on the relationship between the plurality of named generation units and their identifications and anti-identifications in their ambivalent forms.

Metaphor of Generation: Emotion of Ambivalent Meaning Researchers designate the generation metaphor as the emotion of characteristic conflicts between age groups, between historical movements and ideas, and between didactic learning roles within each part of developing society. An example of an emotion between conflicting parties appears in the form of perception difference. The metaphor of generation can be applied to something it does not literally denote. Some usage carries the analogy of ascribed identities and some the analogy of assumed identities. There are negative descriptions of observers, such as, eg., the description of “Generation Homo Sovieticus,” meaning former citizens of the Soviet Union and certain characteristic features, ranging from a serious judgmental tendency to bribery to the funnier habit of buying goods in great quantities, in case a friend might need it. And there are positive descriptions of historical observation, related to action and movement for rights and peace, naming the generation of the Vietnam War. And there is the famous post-war “Lost Generation,” the most literary creative writers’ generation, opposed to the pop-æsthetic consumer culture “Generation Golf”8 (related to the cheap car for all as a statement). As we speak, there are new kinds of generations determining themselves. The Asian computer specialists assume a virtual digital gap 8 According to the book Generation Golf by ILLIES Florian, similar to the Tristesse Royale by KRACHT Christian.

Conflict Resolution between “Generation C” (cyber generation) or “Nexters” (Generation Net) and the “Lost Generation” (pre-internet generation). The access to information and international trends in fashion, lifestyle and ideas increases exponentially and creates a metaphorical gap between businesses. This lost generation is living in a “warfare state,” which means that they are trapped in intra-state and inter-state conflicts. These conflicts are class, ethnic, religious, regional and nationalistic “wars”. This generation runs the risk of being cannon fodder for the military, the militias, authoritarian mass movements, cults and mobs.9 More bona fide is the generation of “Keinen Bock” (meaning “moodless” generation), youngsters lost on the street, industrially developed but living outside any conventional wealth, a generation of bored and ironic individuals of the new Europe. They are the “Generation X” of the educated youth emigrating to Western Europe, leaving Central and Eastern Europe without any particular goals and particular plans, tending towards a negative perception of their own countries and the host community’s life, without developing any bonds. Where do we all belong? Intercultural studies show that the conflict is in the formation of this identity. The question is, who describes that: historical distance, our parents, effects of migration, achievements, and finally us ourselves. If we need pages to describe ourselves, what does “Generation Homo Sovieticus” or “Lost Generation” describe? It shows how easy it is to misuse those terms and names, forgetting the implicit metaphor. We seldom know where we belong, so how can we be defined in opposition to anyone else? Do we really have a generation of order (old) and the metaphoric generation of a new order or disorder (young)? Isn’t that too general and too broad to say? So what are the generation gap and its conflict?

Examples of Generation Conflict The word “generation gap” appears in literature as a mystified term. It is mystified in the demonstration of distance and indifference to the unknown. For example, the 1980s book, Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo by Christiane F. (written by Kai HERMANN and 9 According to the Summary of the Conference: Decision Makers 2010.Building Sustainability in a Globalized World in Hong Kong 2000. In http://www.capinfo.de/triangle/events/hongkong/wg3.html

Orinta Z. RÖTTING: Generation Gap Horst RIECK) won cult status for exposing the realities of drug kids and their dreams in the underground “abnormal” reality. The shocking example of the gap between drug kids and their helpless parents is the drastic documentation of this unneeded mystification of unresolved generation conflict. From the cult status of youth cultures to the defective parents’ generation, there is an ongoing balanced conflict of losers and winners depending on each other. According to François HÖPFLINGER, generation conflict can be resolved by unfolding the interdependency model.10 The negative interdependency (conflict) stands against the positive interdependency (solidarity). The most well-known examples of the so-called generational conflict are: the discussion around generational contract; the question of segregation between the generations; and the question of ambivalence in generational relationships. Contract between the generations looks like a legal term at first sight. It is very often used to claim generational equality. Enforcing this contract should fulfil the zero sum method. The problem is that such a contract does not exist in any jurisdiction. There is no identified person, group or generation, which has signed any similar contract.11 The argument for such a financial security (pension) cannot be claimed on legal grounds for additional reasons: there is not a determined year of birth which could be given as a “year of generation,” delineating who is lucky enough to get this promise fulfilled. The other question is: which year of birth should pay for it? Therefore the contract between generations is just a suggestion for volunteer generational solidarity in the growing competition between generational units having different claims to different needs. The solution is that the contract between generations does not exist; therefore we should talk about the solidarity possibilities. Segregation appears for the reason that more and more generation units live independently from each other and therefore become less aware of each other’s needs, despite the fact that they have different needs. 10 HÖPFLINGER Francois, Generationenfrage- Konzepte, theoretische Ansätze und Beobachtungen zu Generationenbeziehung in späteren Lebensphasen. Lausanne, 1999. 20–21. 11 RICHTER Ingo, Ist der sogenannte Generationenvertrag ein Vertrag im Rechtssinne? Pacta sunt servanda, rebus sic stantibus. In LIEBAU Eckert (ed.), Das Generationenverhältnis. Über das Zusammenleben in Familie und Gesellschaft. Weinheim, 1997. 77–87.

Conflict Resolution For example, in the family situation, grandparents beware “intimacy from distance” to their grandchildren, but less concern is given to the problem of “sandwich families,” where the middle generation is socially obliged to take care of the young and the old. In this changing situation, the state plays the role of solidarity bringer, as in the family life the unwritten sharing mood still rules. The difficulty on one side is that on the level of family there is a generational peace, but on a broader level there is injustice. There the state takes over the tensions. It is a problem of equal integration and of different needs. Each group lives in its own world and there is little sharing. The problem is that it goes on in dynamic change. Those who are young are becoming older, those who are students are changing into teachers, and those who made their history in the ’90s are not likely making history in the 2020s. The solution is that segregation is a risk, undertaken in an attempt to fulfil needs. Different norms of life cannot be thrown into one pot, but they can be in dialogue. Segregation is a natural process, but it should not be forgotten that it is dynamic. The ambivalent relations between the generational units are viewed with the understanding that status, roles and norms of any group are relative in time and space. In any decision, society must balance norms which continue and norms which society itself changes. It is hard to believe, but our grandparents never discoursed about individual human rights. They addressed moral taboos and the law of common good. This relationship between generations is naturally in conflict with each other and hardly can reach a zero sum resolution, because it changes in perception and importance. The solution is that relationships between generations are predestined to be incompatible; hence there is a need of guidelines regarding solidarity principles and social exchange in common abilities and goods, and less talk about the unresolved cycle of clashing for resources.

Does the Generation Gap Really Exist? Most conflicts of generational communication come from the tension between needs and rights that are incompatible. Norms and needs are different for each generation and even more so for each person.

Orinta Z. RÖTTING: Generation Gap Our times are the product of individualism. It is natural for a person to take on the personified role of “victim” if she or he has difficulties and a reason to fight for some legitimate goals and a shortened life-span. These differences are the differences in the proposed solution and the reasoning of the problem. The conflict scenarios mentioned before and anxieties related to them show not only the complexity of the generation unit, but also the emotions behind it. The unclear multiple goals of education, planning future politics, controlling demographics and interests of each group are the mirrors of the generational relationship. The connotation of the generation gap points out the conflict. It would be easier to say that generation conflict is everything and nothing. It means that the generation gap does not exist. The myth of the generation gap cannot exist if we take into account that it changes each moment we change parties, interest or age. The fact that we often find ourselves confusing the use of generational relationship in different contexts speaks of the conflict we create. The goal of pedagogy is to speak of the “anti-generation gap” as a metaphor for the learning experience and the principle of exchanging wisdom in importance. But this goal is not easy to transfer into socio-political discussion, when it comes to hierarchical structures and possibilities for young people to take an equal part in the leading roles, irregardless of the learning principle: the elder and more experienced play the boss. The fact that the aging population shall receive a “promised” compensation at the expense of the young working father shows how fast generational solidarity in the family can be transferred to the societal level, giving the problem of inflation and restructuring financial shares an argument of a different weight. For example, it could be an argument to transfer the ecological tax to pension funds instead of using it for the more common good, such as increasing the quality of life by investing it into public transport. The principle of constant shifting of meanings and interests shows that we become too independent in relation to global issues and less capable of solving local problems in solidarity with each other.

Conflict Resolution

Equality as a Guide for the Sake of Future Generations The ideal quality of life for a senior person is that of expecting to live longer and healthier, and expecting to prolong active social or political involvement in the present. The answer of a junior, who desires a similar future, is that there is less working and podium space for all of us now. Through specialisation, each occupation is getting narrower and harder work is required, while at the same time we put our family life careers at risk if working. The junior says that our lives are too organised and our minds strive for changes in the system, which would benefit from adaptation. Our social systems are made from experience of seniors for the seniors, keeping the sense of security on the question of insurance. The questioning of the legitimacy of the welfare state and fear of its disappearance is very often confused with the debate on rights and frightening mathematical calculations of future funds available: a demographic economy. In fact, it has more to do with normative politically formed decisions. Logical possibilities are political choices in: the method of restructuring the population or reduction of the welfare state or birth control or immigration and reform.12 Reform is a gradual process of thought about the “future generations”. “Old Europe” has a utopian and kind of utilitarian code and is unintentionally extending the old generational conflict of “who supports whom”. I would like to call it the conflict of equality and freedom, which must be put to rest through openly discussed solutions. Equality as standard of “moral economy” reduces tensions for resources. We are condemned to Freedom as a standard of being in interdependency, which is dependency for sharing. The generation gap is a complex concept of differences between different units of the society. Its use also shows how various conflicts can be filtered in clarifying application and goals of generational units. It also shows how the generation gap as a mirror of conflict in family day-to-day life may positively and negatively influence a 12 LEISERING Lutz, Alternde Bevölkerung – veraltender Sozialstaat? Demographischer Wandeln als ‘Politik’. Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte, Beilage zur Wochenzeitung “Das Parlament”. 1996/35.

Conflict Resolution fairness, with utility as the greatest good; priority for individuals and groups in greater need, of creating conditions for all to realize their capabilities; for market fairness, efficient allocation of resources, for reducing the principle of inevitable inequality in the nature of competition; and equality for balanced group and individual representation. To explain generation conflicts is the same as to make every effort for equality as an ideal possible. Equality is an ideal as it can be planned for “future generations” for those “distant strangers”. There is probably no way that the conflict can reach an end, but it should be in a process of constant resolution. As Emmanuel LEVINAS said, “Freedom is compromised in this balance of accounts in an order where responsibilities correspond exactly to liberties taken, where they compensate for them, where time relaxes and then is tightened again after having allowed a decision in the interval opened up, it could be responsibility for another.”

socio-political mapping of society. And it also shows how the use of the concept “generation” may be manipulated. Using it as a term to describe relationships in the family (eg. “grandmothers take care of the kids”) and justifying modern behavioural culture (“grandmothers and their income should never be taxed”), using the term in fights for moral resources (“grandmothers deserve respect”) and at the same time in politics itself (“grandmothers should have the right to free general health treatment”), if it goes on re-discussing the plausible possibilities of the social welfare state (for the sake of grandmothers, the welfare state should be supported). Generation gap is a sincere word for describing uncounted conflicts, but less for measuring those conflicts. The principle of equality is the proper direction to modernity and development. The conflicts we call “generational conflicts” (of the generation gap) deserve attention as a mirror for justice and equality studies. Even if this conflict can be demetaphorised, destructured and demoralised, it does exist in all its ungrounded forms. It is a mirror to the striving for equality: equality as the key for

Suggested Reading ATTIAS-DONFUT Claudine and ARBER Sara (eds.) The Myth of Generational Conflict. The Family and State in Ageing Societies. London, 2000. Baustelle Identität. Zu Sanierungsarbeiten an einem beschädigten Konstrukt, Dokumentation einer Fachtagung. Landeshauptstadt München. Stelle für Interkulturelle Zusammenarbeit. München, 2001. BEILHARZ Peter (ed.), The Bauman Reader. Oxford, 2001. HAND Sean (ed.), The Levinas Reader. Oxford, 1989. HÖPFLINGER Francois, Generationenfrage- Konzepte, theoretische Ansätze und Beobachtungen zu Generationenbeziehung in späteren Lebensphasen. Lausanne, 1999. KOHLI Martin, Generationen in der Gesellschaft. Berlin, 2003. LEISERING Lutz, Alternde Bevölkerung – veraltender Sozialstaat? Demographischer Wandeln als ‘Politik’. In Politik und Zeitgeschichte. Beilage zur Wochenzeitung “Das Parlament”, 1996/35. MANNHEIM Karl, Das Problem der Generationen. Kölner Vierjahrshefte für Soziologie, 1928/7. RICHTER Ingo, Ist der sogenannte Generationenvertrag ein Vertrag im Rechtssinne? Pacta sunt servanda - rebus sic stantibus In LIEBAU, Eckart (ed.), Das Generationenverhältnis. Über das Zusammenleben in Familie und Geselschaft. Beiträge zur Pädagogische Grundlagenforschung. Weinheim-München, 1997. Survey on Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe. In http://www.mea.uni-mannheim.de/mea_neu/pages/files/nopage_pubs/k3pzhnwkltlzjymk_dp32.pdf. Orinta ZˇVIKAITE˙-RÖTTING was born in Kaunas, Lithuania. She graduated from Trinity College, Dublin (Irish School of Ecumenics) in the International Peace Studies programme (M. Phil.). Currently she is working for the Society of International Youth Work (Verein für Internationaler Jugendarbeit) in München, Germany and maintains working in the area of peace pedagogy. She is a member of the Lithuanian Roman Catholic Youth Organisation “Ateitis” (Future) and involved in the work of the “Pax Christi” movement. Her email address is roettingmo@gmx.de.

Conflict Resolution

HOCHMAN Ágnes

Scarf and Scales: Variations on Probation Order in the History of Juvenile Penal Law Standing before a statue representing a blindfolded woman holding a set of scales, we would do well to guess that it is the Roman goddess Iustitia, although we could also be on the right track if we think of her Greek colleague, daughter of Zeus and Themis, Dike. Both personify justice, but Iustitia is more celebrated, owing to the legal system of her nation. The head scarf symbolizes impartial sentencing, while the two pans of the scales refer to the guarding of the balance, the completion of inequality.1 But our question is whether it can be also a contemporary statue, or could it do with some updating?

The Pendulum of Criminal Law A metaphor describes the struggle against criminality as a pendulum swinging between the classical and positivist theories.2 The classical one was created by citizens in the second half of the XVIIIth century. The achievements of the great French Revolution influenced the writers of European penal rules, requiring precise and detailed rules which concern every single person. The philosophical background to this is indeterminism: individual responsibility is based on free will. This kind of penal law – just as Iustitia – endeavoured to be objective: do not focus on anything but the crime, and be deliberately insensitive to the personality. Punishment serves to restore the wounded justice and legal system, so it must be proportional to the crime. The positivist theory (situated at the other end of the pendulum)

1 The scarf and the scales recalled to me also the types of justice written about by ARISTOTLE in his Nicomachean Ethics – as if the scarf would refer to “distributive justice” based on equal distribution, while the scales would symbolize “rectificatory justice” correcting the differences. About the idea of equality in the field of penal law, see HELLER Ágnes, Beyond Justice. London, 1987; and HELLER Ágnes, Igazságosságon túl (Beyond Justice). Budapest, 1990. 2 CHRISTIE Nils, A fájdalom korlátai (The Barriers of Pain). Budapest, 1991.

does not focus on the restoration of justice, but rather on the prevention of new crimes. According to this theory, crime is not the result of a free and rational choice, but instead is rooted in biological, psychological or social causes: it is the doctrine of necessity. The main question of positivist criminology is not the responsibility, but the causes of criminality. One of the most famous achievements of positivism is the treatment theory, which began spreading in the 1950s. According to this, crime is only a symptom indicating the social or psychical problems of delinquents. Punishment is to change, to cure those parts of the “patients” which motivated them to commit a crime, and to help them to reintegrate into society. The proportional punishment of Iustitia was not convenient to the treatment programs, since at the beginning of the treatment it could not be known how much time was needed to improve the personality. Therefore they inaugurated punishments that could be delivered for indefinite periods of time. Apart from the numerous practical difficulties of the treatment programs, there are also many important matters of principle. Is it just to punish people differently who committed the same crime? Can we impose such punishment which is not proportional to the crime? Can the duration of the penalty depend on psychologists’ decisions? Aiming at more individual punishment, can we neglect such principles as equality and proportionality?3

So What About the Scarf and Scales? Concerning the scarf, we have to admit that Iustitia often had a bias towards the offenders: even in the time of classical criminology she punished some people differently than others, especially the juveniles. It was the positivist theory which put an end to this bias – pulling down the headscarf and taking down the scales – ordering the judge to pay attention to the offender, as we have seen above. Up until that time youth were not punished so strictly as adults, but generally with the same sanctions. As a consequence of positivist criminology, the sanctioning system of juveniles was enlarged, for example with the probation order, which was enacted at that period of time. 3 About juvenile sanctioning systems in the world, a comparative study can be found in WINTERDYK John A., Juvenile Justice Systems. Toronto, 1997.

Conflict Resolution

Even an executable judgment does not make us exempt from the commandment of love. On the contrary, Jesus often exorcises our vengeful nature by turning to guilty people with caring and tender love. Following the Christian example, a great number of believers, deacons and deaconesses consoled prisoners. In 325 the synod of Nicea instituted an official called the procurator pauperum (attendant of the poor), who is regarded as the prefiguration of the probation officer. Despite that auspicious beginning, it was not until the XVIIIth–XIXth centuries that the probation order was enacted – more than seventeen centuries later. Why the delay? On one hand, patronage was regarded as a social and not a state task. On the other, at this period of time there were no prisons as there are nowadays: penal systems were based on corporal punishment and the death penalty, so the states did not have to organize support for released prisoners. It was the movement for prison reform which brought the cusp: prisons took the place of subterranean holes and dungeons, and corporal punishments were replaced by institutional punishments focusing not on the body, but on the soul of the criminal. During these centuries, the nature of patronage changed: it came

to mean not only the support of prisoners, but also a part of the penal procedure. It stands on the boundary of punitive and social policy, including means of both. It gives a “second chance” to delinquents: the judge – suspending the process – puts the accused person under the supervision of a probation officer, who from then on controls and helps them. If supervised people keep the rules during the probation period, they can be exempted from other sanctions. In this enlarged meaning I will call this process – as in the title – probation order). Depending on the phase when the procedure is suspended, several types of probation have evolved. a) The Anglo-Saxon version: the heart of the probation system existed already in medieval England as the Surety of the Peace. In the case of less serious crimes, judges were entitled to allow convicted criminals to remain free on the condition that they make a promise they will not commit crimes again. This practice indicated that the judge was not, or not only, for making sanctions, but was regarded as the Conservator of the Peace. This practice of the courts came up in XIXth century Birmingham, where youthful offenders were supervised by a reliable family or patron instead of jailing them. It was in Massachusetts, though, where probation – as we know it nowadays – was born. The inhabitants, a flock of Puritan immigrants, preserved the British traditions of common law and unwritten law. In this way, the judge also carried a broader scope of authority for preserving the peace. Although the probation officer might have come into being without the contribution of a certain shoemaker, we will add a stone to his cairn. He was Rufus R. COOK, Uncle Cook, who visited trials with great interest, beginning in the early years of 1870. Especially in the cases of young people he tried to persuade the judge to suspend the procedure and – instead of sentencing them to jail – to give them a second chance. He and his friend Augustus undertook the supervision of the released’s behaviour. Their success was admitted in 1878, when at first Boston, and after that the whole of Massachusetts, institutionalized the deferred sentence and established the status of probation officer. b) In the French–Wallonian model, differing from the AngloSaxon version, the court suspends not the trial, but the enforce-

HOCHMAN Ágnes: Scarf and Scales ment of the punishment – a suspended sentence – and they do not order an overseer for the released. c) The third form of probation is connected to gradual imprisonment, which developed also in Britain in the middle of the XIXth century. The basis of the system is that during detention the rules may become more and more abated, depending upon the the jailed person’s behaviour. In 1857 the imprisonment was divided into three parts: firstly the completely solitary detention; after that, daytime labour with solitary detention at night; and finally the parole of the sentenced person. During parole the released people (the parolees) are supervised by the police. From the birth of probation, legislators have continually improved and changed its rules according to the current criminal policy. If the “criminal pendulum” swings towards positivism, the treatment of the offender’s problem comes to the forefront; when it moves in the opposite direction, the process becomes standardized and contains more punitive measures.

Probation Order of Juvenile Offenders The most important components of moral retention are disapproval and integration. The first one shows the community’s opinion about good and bad; the second one enables the person to be sensitive about her or his expectations. Belonging to a community is positive dependence, where the members feel they are appreciated and recognized. The more they rely on the community, the less they dare to risk their position in it, so they try to meet the requirements. Those who have broken the law are not interested in keeping it, because they have lost the appreciation and positive dependency.4 The advantage of the probation order against the other sanctions is that it can include not just the penalty, but also several methods which strengthen the juvenile’s connection with the community. In this way probation is not just a possibility to avoid the imprisonment, but – with many programs, trainings and personal aid – it can enable the offenders to remain or become a member of a community. In addition, the probation officer is not the only one who supports the juvenile, because other sectors are involved in the pro4 SZABÓ András, Igazságosan vagy okosan? (Justly or Wisely?). Budapest, 1993.

Conflict Resolution cess, such as child protection, communalism, labour policy and voluntary organisations. Probation officers can apply so-called “restorative” processes, which try to make amends for the crime. Their goal is not the equality of pain (the victim’s and the offender’s) as in the retributive model, but the balance between damage and recompense.5 Now let us see the main differences between the two disciplines. In the retributive model, the focus is on blame; regret and forgiveness do not substantially affect the procedure; the state and the offender are the focus; the offender is accused; there are winner–loser positions; and the connection between the offender and the community weakens. In the restorative model, the focus is on the search for a solution; regret and forgiveness play an important role during the process; the victim, offender and community are the focus; the harmful act is the topic; there are winner–winner positions; and the offender’s integration into the community strengthens. As a consequence of the restorative theory, several new sanctions have been coded in Western countries, like restitution and mediation (reconciliation between the offended and the offender).6 In these countries the work penalty is one of the most frequently delivered punishments in juvenile cases. They prefer social work – such as caring for old or disabled people, painting their flats, maintaining playgrounds and parks, repairing toys – so as to strengthen the offenders’ self-respect and connection with the local community. Apart from the work penalty, the courts often sentence juveniles to probation on the condition that they try to compensate for the damage they have caused. Western countries involve probation services in the whole procedure. Here are the typical charges of probation services grouped by phases of the process: a) Diversion from the criminal procedure: In many countries different experts are gathered to work in teams figuring out ways to avoid legal procedures.7 b) Before the sentencing: Probation officers are charged to make a study for the court giving information about the juvenile offender and the crime, and suggesting a penalty. 5 GYÔRFI Éva, Konfliktuskezelés szemtôl szembe (Conflict Resolution Face to Face). Család, Gyermek, Ifjúság 4. Budapest, 2002. 6 Austria is famous for her diversion process: about two-thirds of juvenile offenders’ cases are finished like this, successfully applying reconciliation out of court. See SCHROLL Hans Valentin, A bíróságon kívüli kiegyezés Ausztriában (The Reconciliation outside the Court in Austria). Büntetôjogi Kodifikáció 2. Budapest, 2002.

HOCHMAN Ágnes: Scarf and Scales

Conflict Resolution

c) Enforcement of sanctions: As we have seen, probation can belong to several kind of sanctions, such as parole, deferred sentence, suspended sentence, community service, restitution, mediation, training courses and complex punishments (eg. deferred sentence with community service). During probation, juveniles have to keep rules ordered by the law and the judge. These rules concern work, study, relations with officers, spare time, participating in programmes and trainings, attending probation centres, and staying in probation hostels. d) Aftercare: It begins even in the prison and reformatory. Probation officers try to protect the prisoners’ interests as much as possible and to help them remain in contact with their relatives. They speak about the crime, organize therapies and cooperate with the officers-to-be. After the release they try to help the juveniles to find jobs and accommodation. In Western countries – especially in Britain and the Netherlands – a large number of voluntary organisations support these aftercare groups. In line with the coding of new punishments, legislators – focusing on juveniles and other less serious criminals – endeavour to frame a gradual system of sanctions so as to avoid the deprivation of freedom: Informal settlement out of court (eg. reparations); finishing the procedure by admonition of police or state attorney (with or without preconditions); probation order, social training with requirements and injunctions (eg. fining, community service, injunction from driving vehicles); probation order; intensive probation order (with a requirement to stay in a probation hostel or attend a probation centre); and as a last resort, imprisonment for as short a time as possible. This way the modern Western penalty systems look like a “funnel”, which grows narrower and narrower as the procedure moves from the action of police towards the enforcement of punishments, so the majority of offenders can avoid imprisonment.

Meanwhile the Eastern system looks like a “pipe”: those who get in cannot be punished otherwise than by imprisonment.8 The Magyar penal system resembles more a funnel than a pipe, as probation is provided to a large number of juvenile offenders, but it does not contain many of its essential parts.9 The penal law do not involve the probation officers into the preparation of the sentence. In this way, the courts do not have enough information about the offender, so they do not order special requirements. Regarding the other part, the probation officers do not organize therapies or trainings for the offender. The intensive form of probation (staying in a probation hostel or attending a probation centre) cannot be enforced, as there is no place for it. The supporting and penal side of the probation is not balanced because of financial difficulties. The community service order does not contain the idea of reparation or compensation. It could be quite a long list. Fortunately, the system is under reform.

7 For example, the “gatekeeping” method and “case referral penals” in Britain; the “family conference” in Ireland. See DÉR Mária, West Yorkshire Probation Service. Kriminológiai Közlemények 47. Budapest, 1993. KRÁLNÉ SZABÓ Piroska, A pártfogó felügyelet helyzete és funkciója Magyarországon és Angliában (The Situation and Function of .Patronage in Hungary and in Britain) Család, Gyermek, Ifjúság 1–2. Budapest, 1992. 8 IRK Ferenc (ed.), Társadalmi átalakulás és bûnözés (Social Transformation and Delinquency). In Magyar-német kriminológiai szimpózium. Budapest, 1995. 9 KEREZSI Klára, Koncepció a Büntetô Törvénykönyv szankciórendszerének átalakításához, különös tekintettel a hazai pártfogó szolgálat mûködésére (Concept on the Transformation of the Sanctions in the Penal Code). Kriminológiai és Kriminalisztikai Tanulmányok 33. Budapest, 1996.

Suggested Reading CHRISTIE Nils, A fájdalom korlátai (The Barriers of Pain). Budapest, 1991. DÉR Mária, West Yorkshire Probation Service. Kriminológiai Közlemények 47. Budapest, 1993. GYÔRFI Éva, Konfliktuskezelés szemtôl szembe (Conflict Resolution Face to Face). Család, Gyermek, Ifjúság 4. Budapest, 2002. HELLER Ágnes, Beyond Justice. London, 1987. IRK Ferenc (ed.), Társadalmi átalakulás és bûnözés (Social Transformation and Delinquency). In Magyar-német kriminológiai szimpózium. Budapest, 1995.

The Contemporary Iustitia It is a mercy that statues are not updated, so the battles of words about criminology do not concern Iustitia. I – however – try to imagine how she would look like nowadays, if she symbolized the judge of juvenile offenders. The society aims to return the offender – both adult and juvenile– from the guilty way and to deter others from committing crimes. Just as in juvenile cases the first aim is regarded as much more important than the second, so is individual prevention as compared to general. Owing to the many new punishments and processes, a wide range of sanctions is at Iustitia’s disposal. Therefore she must pay attention to juveniles so as to get enough information to choose the most adequate punishment. This task would require rather glasses than scarf.

KEREZSI Klára, Koncepció a Büntetô Törvénykönyv szankciórendszerének átalakításához, különös tekintettel a hazai pártfogó szolgálat mûködésére (Concept on the Transformation of the Sanctions in the Penal Code). Kriminológiai és Kriminalisztikai Tanulmányok 33. Budapest, 1996. KRÁLNÉ SZABÓ Piroska, A pártfogó felügyelet helyzete és funkciója Magyarországon és Angliában (The Situation and Function of .Patronage in Hungary and in Britain) Család, Gyermek, Ifjúság 1–2. Budapest, 1992. SCHROLL Hans Valentin, A bíróságon kívüli kiegyezés Ausztriában (The Reconciliation outside the Court in Austria). Büntetôjogi Kodifikáció 2. Budapest, 2002. SZABÓ András, Igazságosan vagy okosan? (Justly or Wisely?) Budapest, 1993. WINTERDYK John A., Juvenile Justice Systems. Toronto, 1997. HOCHMAN Ágnes graduated from the Faculty of Law at the Pázmány Péter Roman Catholic University in Budapest in 2003. Currently she works as a coordinator between school-book publishers and the central office of the Magyar libraries. Her interests are history, painting, travelling, literature, Magyar folk music Argentinean tango. Her email address is anges@freemail.hu.

KÖRMÖCZI-KOVÁCS Péter

EU Membership: A Mixed Blessing? Nowadays there are many discussions and voices about the European Union (EU). The theme is very current because of the ten new countries which joined the EU on 1 May 2004. But this will not be the last step in the life of our continuously growing organisation: according to forecasts, Romania and Bulgaria will join in 2007, and Turkey and other countries from South East Europe are also awaiting the much-desired membership.

Two Sides to Every Coin The small economic organisation – established in 1957 and comprising only six states – has become four times bigger and must face new challenges and questions. While the potential new countries are celebrating their possibilities and politicians declare this moment as an extraordinary success for their citizens, we can not be sure that a majority of inhabitants knows exactly what they undertake. The ideal picture has already been depicted many times: the EU is strong economic entity, which has the capacity to redistribute goods and support the developing part of the world. It is able to enhance the standard of living, push down the unemployment rate and provide a safety net for the members. But, the coin always has two sides. To form an accurate opinion, we should break through the surface and “dig down” to the roots. We must investigate the whole organisation; get to know her aims, operations and history. We also should take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of membership and ask a magical question: qui prodest? It means, who is it useful for? The purpose of this article is to shed light on the other side of the story; to build critical and discerning thinking and to stir up the readers: the glorified and blessed membership contains hidden and unmentioned disadvantages, or worded in a different way – the process has also a shadowy part. This essay will assist in forming an educated opinion about the EU question.

KÖRMÖCZI Kovács Péter : EU Membership

Preamble in the Distant Past The thought of a unified Europe is rooted far in the past1. The name can be traced to one of the famous persons in Greek mythology: Europa was the name of the queen in Phœnicia who was kidnapped by Zeus and taken to the island of Crete. After the Persian wars, the Greek peninsula and later the whole continent began to be known as “Europe”. In the Middle Ages Pierre DUBOIS created a conception about a “peace system”, which was further developed by George PODEˇBRAD, a Czech king in the XVth century, outlining the rules of peace maintenance. In the Modern Age, we should mention Abbé DE SAINT-PIERRE for his image of “eternal peace”, which was criticized by Jean Jacques ROUSSEAU. Jeremy BERTHAM raised the thought of “European fraternity”; Immanuel KANT imagined a Europe consisting of “federal states”. SAINT-SIMONE’s writing started a debate about the social and economic integration of the European states. In the 1930s – before the World War I – countries focused on internal problems because of the overproduction crisis. High customs and taxes were raised and the free trade of goods was prohibited. States tried to benefit from their colonies and form a closed trade system; the countries without colonies required the redistribution of the African territories. The most famous and best-known work of this time is Paneuropa, written in 1923 by Richard COUDENHOVE-KALERGI, who argued for the “Federation of European States”. According to KALERGI, the Soviet Union (USSR) wanted to annex Europe and the United States (US) intended to buy it. The federation was the only chance for the continent to maintain its independence.2

Development of the EU After World War II the demand increased for a stronger connection amongst the countries, which could help to keep a distance from the US and to create a balance against the USSR. Meanwhile, it became clear that Europe could not be restored after the war without any help from the US. The Marshall Plan proposed $28 billion in aid, and the US eventually approved $17 billion for this aim. 1 See SZALAYNÉ SÁNDOR Erzsébet, The Public Legal Foundations of the European Union. 2003. 2 See KECSKÉS László, European Community Law and Law Harmonisation. Budapest, 2002.

Growing EU The European Community was established in 1957 with the approval of six countries: the Benelux states (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg), France, Germany and Italy. “European Union” as the official name has been in use since 1993, when the contract in Maastricht renamed the organisation. The founding document proclaimed the aim of the union: to reach the “common market” conception. The states undertook to address economic policy and hoped to be able to increase the standard of living and decrease unemployment. EU trade is based on liberty and the free market, which contains four basic laws: the free movement of goods, service, capital and workforce. To enhance the effectiveness of its realisation, the customs union and the law harmonisation were also appropriated. The organisation of the European Union started to grow; in 1973 three countries joined: the United Kingdom (UK), Ireland and Denmark. In Norway, on the other hand, people refused the affiliation by referendum. Then Greece in 1979 and Spain and Portugal in 1986 became members. The ex-GATT (General Agreement of Trade Tariff) states – Austria, Finland and Sweden – won the right to full membership in 1995. And last year, after a long and thorough selection process, the EU decided to affiliate ten new countries: the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Economic, Political and Philosophical Background Competing interests played an important role in EU integration. Marshall Aid was necessary for Europe because of the vast devastation during the world war. On the other side, also an important circumstance is the fact that only Europe had the potential to be an economic balance and commercial partner for the “New World”. Without this financial injection the economy of the world could not have prospered. Considering this conception, the United States estimated the alternatives and decided to make this investment. This potent supporter inspired economic collaboration amongst the European states. The financed countries had to make concrete steps for the promotion of capital, service, goods and commerce. The EU is primarily an economic organisation – the first aim was to help each other by the integration.

Growing EU became the potential balance to nearby Germany, so POMPIDOU – the French prime minister – approved the EU extension, and the UK became a member in 1973. The nine-country alliance started to reduce customs, tackle the economy and support trading. Except for Italy, the states were approximately on the same level. In the ’80s Greece, Spain and Portugal were added; these countries’ economies were much less developed than the former members’. The explanation for this expansion was the new markets: the Iberian Peninsula contains more than fifty million inhabitants, and Greek membership opened up new prospects on the Balkan Peninsula.

Heritage and New Environment

Political interests are also present in EU history. The EU was the solution for the German–French contradiction; it was the prerequisite to the higher contribution. Since Cardinal RICHELIEU a thesis had been followed, according to which only a weak Germany could warrant the safety of France. SCHUMANN abandoned this principle, with the idea that collaboration between the French coal and German steel industries provides a guarantee for the military industry. (Without these two components, navy products could not be manufactured.) This French–German alliance was the ancestor of the EU organisation. In the beginning, the United Kingdom shied away from membership. The island country wanted to accept only such a trade market that would not cramp its contribution to the Commonwealth and preferred commerce with these members. Later the UK changed her policy and petitioned for membership. DE GAULLE twice refused its application (1963, 1968); he was afraid of increasing US pressure due to UK adherence. After some years the economic background changed: the UK

The austere economy forced privation on people, and the scarcity of goods opened never-before-seen markets for multinational firms. The negotiated equality at the borders did not mean fair competition. On the European Union side there were profitable, experienced business corporations with vast equity; and on the other side there were domestic companies suffering from the lack of experience. The inhabitants of the formerly communist countries longed for the standard of living in developed countries, and this wish led to rash decisions serving the short term and personal interests instead of the long term and public prosperity. After the collapse of the communist system, political positions changed. The USSR had to give up the formerly occupied territories and the system finally crashed down. From the political unrest, new states quickly (re-)emerged in the Central and Eastern region of Europe. These countries re-won their political and economic independence, but their first steps were very limited: living standards were low, they did not have strong operating connections to the Western states, the exploited economy was weak and the public sector had a monopoly position everywhere. The know-how and the practice were missing; the refused Marshall Aid and the faulty economic policy for forty years created a critical situation. The vast debt basically determined their future. These countries desired financial support similar to the Marshall Aid, since they had not had any support after the world war, because the Soviet Union had prohibited them from accepting subsidies. But in the meantime interests had significantly altered, and nei-

KÖRMÖCZI Kovács Péter : EU Membership ther the United States nor the EU members wanted to provide significant help or to forgive the loans. The EU continuously approached ex-communist countries and gave them allowances in the trading, but the actual solution was delayed.

Lack of Real Alternatives For the Central and Eastern European countries there was not a real alternative choice for the future. Membership became the ideal and desired state because of the strong, developed economy and high standard of living. On the theoretical level three potential alternatives came up: a) The Central and Eastern European countries should strengthen their connections and collaborate amongst themselves. This thought was the redefined option of the unsuccessful past, which was refused by every country. This model could, however, have been realized amongst some of the countries which had stronger historical connections: eg. Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and later Slovakia could have formed a league. This concept could not have outweighed, however, the actual power of the EU, but an important aspect was that the effectiveness of a small alliance is always more than that of individual countries. Other options were: b) to make a strong connection with the United States and to develop Hungary as representative of American commerce; or c) to find an ally in the Far East, eg. Japan. The problem in the cases of b) and c) is that the Magyar culture and lifestyle is European, and it would be almost impossible to disregard the reactions of the neighbouring countries. These states had to face the fact that EU affiliation contains some surprises, and the economic level of the new members will be largely disregarded. A new principle started to be framed: that the country which is not a member of the EU will pass up streamlined development.3 The EU is not good, but there is not a better choice. That is why every country started to knock on the door to be admitted into the EU.

Growing EU

The Ten New Hires The EU started long discussions with each of the candidates. Several options were outlined regarding the date of admission and the number of new members. (While Helmut KOHL declared in 1990 that Hungary could be a member in five years, the date was postponed continually.) At first the EU planned to pick up three or five new countries into the organisation. But the vast increase in members would necessitate a new leadership system in the EU with regard to elections and functions. Ultimately the EU decided to enlarge the number of candidates in the first round and face up to the fact that the increase required the reform of the election system. The main points for admittance to candidacy were economic criteria (the candidate must be able to keep up with development in the EU); stable democracy (human rights, protection of minorities, safety of political environment); and ability for compliance with the “acquis communautaire” (to perform the obligations of members and to adapt the legal political and monetary system to the EU prescription). Romania and Bulgaria were originally in the second extension round. These countries, however, are more underdeveloped than their rivals and according to the EU report, their membership could hamper the development of the members. The recognition of Turkey is similarly being held up by human and minority rights problems. Excepting Turkey, the population grows by twenty-nine per cent, the arable land area by fifty per cent, the employees in the agricultural sector by hundred per cent–but the GDP rises by only nine per cent.

Evaluation of Membership The decision of the EU to affiliate ten candidates is not astonishing. The extension is a strategic step and the political background is not predictable. The extension is a good warranty against the Soviet Union by controlling this intermediate terrain, and the EU borders will move Eastward for safety’s sake. The economic recession is extending and the unemployment rate is not decreasing significantly. EU economic politics is based on liberal market policies. The new markets of the ten new members forecast hopeful scenarios.

3 See HORVÁTH Zoltán, Handbook of the European Union. Budapest, 2001.

KÖRMÖCZI Kovács Péter : EU Membership EU membership provides a higher guarantee for capital investments; customs and borders disappear, decreasing costs of products. As minimum wages are fixed by legislation, branches and subsidiaries can be moved further East. Arable land is also cheap, and the new members cannot prolong indefinitely restrictions on land purchases by foreigners. The new members theoretically gained full rights in the EU, but they were forced to submit to many compromises, among them the following: In the agricultural sector, many subsidies cannot be sustained for the new members, or the appropriated amount is smaller than for the original members. The work force cannot take jobs in many countries for three–seven years because of limitations placed on employment to prevent massive immigration. The streamlining of investments is also a one-way process because the new countries have only a few strong firms, and the poor agricultural worker cannot buy acres either in Western or in Eastern Europe. Because of agricultural reform and restitution, many new owners sold land very cheap, which also became an engine of speculation. In Hungary much of the Western precinct of the country is owned by Austrian and German proprietors who employ the exowners of the fields. The prospect is no better in the banking or financial sector. In the early ’90s foreign experts accelerated the privatisation of the public sector, pronouncing that it is necessary to launch the economy. Allowing Western European investors was also highly advised, and they were the only potential buyers for the unusable firms and properties. The businesses were guaranteed success: after the austere economy, the poor people desired high-volume production and logos from the West. According to many economists, privatisation was naturally connected to corruption and bribery. Multinational firms exploit their employees and the environment. They produce and sell goods which are not competitive at home or are damaging to the health. The process is irreversible: the rate of foreign investment rises and the control of the government decreases. The strong business interests and the vast amount of loans just consolidate the influence of lobbies at the governmental level. The environmental issue is very similar to the South American condition, where countries have to approve lot of decisions which are not appropriate for them, but loans restrict and narrow their possibilities.

Growing EU This is the price of membership. The IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank assist with this process, and the slogan of “sustainable and continuous development” helps to maintain an ever-renewable demand for goods. Finally, standardisation and formalisation do not necessarily support the traditions which belong to the nation. In the unified EU, “the geographical borders will be changed by the national borders.”4

Standardisation EU members undertake to transfer their sovereignty to the EU, and the governments of the members undertake to follow the directions established by the EU. This standardisation comprises the unification of the law, economy, customs and commerce. The aim of this standardisation is to decrease differences amongst the states and to cut the extra costs of diversity. The central control hides the danger that if the lobby interests are able to affect the leadership, the whole of Europe must comply with faulty decisions favouring the leading power. The sharing of power, the administrative system and the delegation of authority in the EU is different from the classical principle worked out by MONTESQUIEU: the legislative, executive and judicial powers are not separated, which could provide a guarantee against misuse. In the EU, these branches are mixed among the Committee, Council and the Parliament; only the judicial (Court of Justice) is quite separated. The democratic system is represented by the Parliament, which takes precedence in decision-making. But the make-up of the Parliament does not faithfully represent the population of constituent countries; the system is advantageous for the smaller states, which could lend it an air of illegitimacy. The exact tasks of the various institutions are being developed, but it is very strange that a prominent organisation like the EU does not divide the branches of governance.

Final Remarks, Uncommented Without investors and capital, the possibility of development is nearly excluded; with the influx of foreigners, we will be servants in our country. What can we do to step out of this pre-determined process? 4 ORBÁN Viktor, Speech in the Parliament of the European Union. 25th September, 2004.

KÖRMÖCZI Kovács Péter : EU Membership The answer is not easy. First we should integrate society and strengthen commitment to each other and to the country. Then we should build a society based on science: to prefer useful and usable knowledge, to raise the level of study and focus on flexibility. We must manage the sources very well and not squander them. Strategic decisions must always overrule individual interests and short-term projects. The way is very long; we can only hope we will manage. The Constitution of the EU has been now accepted, but an explicit reference to Christianity was left out. Agriculture is a very critical point for the EU; and its budget has been continually increased. The main supporters of this system gave up in order to resolve the souring deficit. This branch is absolutely not competitive, and the new members have mainly strong agricultural products. They cannot count on equal support compared to their Western colleagues. It has been rumoured and confirmed that Hungary was not assertive enough in the preparation process. The country did not apply for abolishment of the vast sum of loans, just to mention one example. The Spanish declared that they would not necessarily support the extension of the EU because they will not be able to apply for as much funding from the EU budget in the twenty-five-member EU. The new members can be net payers in the EU budget (meaning they will pay more money into the joint budget and get less support) because they do not have experience in applying for the money. On the flip side, EU grants need their own sources from investments, and the new members lack equity in this area. Suggested Reading CORTEN David, When the Companies Rule the World. Washington, 1996. DIAMOND Walther, Tax Havens of the World. London, 1995. FÖLDES – ÔRI – WÉKAI, The Tax Law of the European Community. Budapest, 2001. HERICH György, Taxation. Budapest, 2001 HORVÁTH Zoltán, Handbook of the European Union. Budapest, 2001. KECSKÉS László, European Community Law and Law Harmonisation. Budapest, 2002. KÖRMÖCZI-KOVÁCS Péter, Magyar Taxation and the European Union. Thesis on the ELTE, Faculty of Law. Budapest, 2003. ÖRSI Gyula, Civil Law. Budapest, 1968. VARGA Sándor, Enterprise Management. Budapest, 1995. VOSZKA Éva, The Year of the Change of Property with Half Success. Budapest, 1995. KÖRMÖCZI-KOVÁCS Péter is Roman Catholic, an economist and lawyer. He studied in Denmark for a year, worked in Belgium and in Ghana. His main interests are globalisation, the EU and third-world problems. Opinions and questions connected to the article are appreciated, and you can send them to the following email address: kormoczi-k.peter@freemail.hu.

SPALLER Endre

The Political and Economic Transition in Hungary The Magyar post-communist transition went ahead without blood and revolution, but this does not mean that it was painless. The economic transition was especially hard for Hungary, although it is considered to be one of the most successful transitions of all the post-communist states. In this paper, I would like to explain why the Magyar transition is considered to be successful, what the achievements were, and how high the costs were.

I. Political Transition At the end of the eighties, the leaders of the communist regime chose a path of liberalisation instead of totalitarian dictatorship. They allowed everyone to live who was not strictly against them. The opposition became more and more active, organised and influential. The communist leaders in Hungary saw that the power of the Soviet Union (USSR) was decreasing in the same way as their own domestic power was. So they came to the conclusion that the only way to survive would be to share power. This process of liberalisation began in 1985, and after 1987 the opposition even began to work openly. They held meetings and produced publications, and many people joined them. Thus, they became more and more powerful and in 1988 were able to force an agreement with the ruling party. The agreement stipulated that no one would be punished because of her or his communist past. Equally, no one would lose her or his money and no one would be excluded from the political life of the country. In the second part of the agreement, it was decided that parties could be founded without any restrictions and free elections would be held. Consequently, in 1988â€“1989 many parties were founded, and in 1990 free elections finally took place in Hungary. This, in short, is the history of the political transition. 85

Growing EU Others worked with significantly reduced incomes. The previously existing social net fell apart, and many people remained without any social benefits. The first freely elected government realised that there was no significant international aid for financing the recovery of the Magyar economy. Foreign banks and governments would help with their advice or would partially finance some programmes, but there would be no aid or external financing to reduce the difference between Magyar and Western European living standards. All these could only be financed from internal sources. As a consequence, economic success would not come for free. Some groups of society must pay for it, or otherwise there would not be any chance for success. The Magyar governments recognised these facts, and applied corresponding economic policies which imposed hardship on many people, but finally seemed to get the Magyar economy out of deadlock. This process has had three phases. The years are approximate, but the intervals more or less cover the right period. Since that time, there has been a high degree of political stability in the country. Elections take place every four years â€“ not sooner, not later. There is always a strong opposition and a strong ruling party at the same time. To date, all governments have been voted out of power after four years, and the new governments have taken power without any disruption â€“ a feature common to consolidated democracies. The political transition, however, was only one side of the transformation process. It is the economy that gives stability to any democracy. Thus, in the long run a successful economic transition is even more important than the political one.

II. Economic Transition The economic crisis of the mid-eighties was a strong contributing factor to the demise of communism. At that time, the economy was getting closer and closer to collapse; productions were expensive and inefficient. After the political transition, the economic collapse was even more complete than in the closing years of communism. In 1993 there were 800.000 unemployed people because all the unprofitable and unsalvageable factories had been closed.

1. The Way Out (1989â€“1996) The first priority of the economic policies implemented was the creation of workplaces. Only multinational companies had enough capital to create stable workplaces, so in order to solicit them to Hungary, the governments needed to create legal and political stability. Accordingly, they made remarkable steps towards macroeconomic stabilisation. They also reduced the level of corruption significantly. This was an important achievement, not only because corruption costs dearly or is immoral, but also because it created a much more transparent and calculable business environment conducive to attracting foreign investment by multinational companies. The state companies that were privatised in Hungary were sold at rather low prices; however, they went with the obligation of modernisation and additional investments. The state gave tax reductions for investors who made green field investments. The state also gave tax reductions for all those who reinvested their domestic profit in the country. Similarly, infrastructural investments by the state were all kept at a relatively high level. It was important to keep the cost of the labour force low, remembering that while factories in Hungary are doing low-level work, Magyars are competing with the labour force in China, Poland, Mexico, and the like.

SPALLER Endre: Transition in Hunary Transition also meant the creation of a smaller state. This was mostly realised by privatisation, but it also meant the reduction of social expenditures and pensions. Consequently, poverty increased enormously throughout the whole period. Social differences increased significantly, and the social net almost completely fell apart. But, while people lived at a lower level than during communism, the external investments were the highest in the region. At first they brought to Hungary only the simplest work, but the number of unemployed slowly began to decrease. There was still negative economic growth, but the structural change of the economy took a big step.

2. Development (1996â€“2002) During the second half of the nineties, the priorities of the Magyar economic policies increasingly changed. This change has been a continuous process, and there is not one single remarkable date which could be named. The new priorities had been considered a goal even from the beginning, as a second step after the revitalisation of the economy. At this stage the decision was made to abolish the automatic tax reduction. Instead it was given to those who brought advanced workplaces and research institutes to the country; it was a step towards hightech industry. It was also time to think about domestic companies in Hungary. Most of these were of small or medium size and were founded during the transition period. It was quite important to make them accumulate capital, because it was cheaper to create a workplace in a small firm than in a multinational company. Furthermore, these small firms would not move from Hungary in an economically hard period. The accumulation of capital was successful in many firms, so in 2001â€“2002 Magyars recognised that they exported some of their capital. This was the way to involve more and more capital, to be able to develop competitiveness and to become a regional multinational company. The conclusion of the period is very similar to the results of the previous period. The social net was still rather patchy, the average wages were much lower than inside the European Union (EU), and the pensions did not increase as much as did the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, the economic growth was twice as high as the European Union average, and the construction of houses began on

Growing EU a large scale, which meant the beginning of rebuilding the country. Small Magyar factories were founded, which meant the accumulation of national capital. The infrastructure, including highways and railroads, developed.

3. Stagnation (2003â€“2004) After the period of economic growth seemed to be continuing for several years, the government decided to compensate workers and pensioners who financed the economic recovery. They increased the wages in the public workplaces by 50 per cent. As a consequence, thousands of workplaces were closed in only half a year. Hungary faced problems with inflation and foreign investment started to decline. The conclusion is evident: although the economy might appear to have recovered, it is still fragile. The Magyar experience seems to demonstrate that it is not possible to increase wages and to create a better social net at the same time, because it comes at the expense of competitiveness and effectiveness, and companies will soon choose a cheaper region to move to.

No Excuse No Magyar government could have survived without having a strong and convincing plan for transition in the country. Hungary had no possible excuse for not following through with the transition. The previous leaders of the communist regime became democrats fully accepting democratic rules, and even entrepreneurs; so they had no interest in changing the system back. Thus no part of the political elite had an interest in reintroducing communism to the country. Hungary has a lot of competitors. The neighbouring Central European countries were in a similar position to Hungary. So, for example, if Poland could succeed in economic terms, there was little reason why a Magyar government could not. Nationalism could not mobilise the whole nation, nor even a major part of it. Most of the people prefer money to nationalism, so political leaders could not say that Magyars should lock up their country, isolate themselves from globalisation, and exclude foreign capital from the country. They could not delude ordinary people into thinking they will be better Magyars if they are poorer but not the slaves of foreigners. So, Magyars did not have considerable nationalist movements in the nineties. 89

SPALLER Endre: Transition in Hunary Nor could religion function to create excuses. Magyars have many denominations. Most of them are Roman Catholic, but they also have large Calvinist-Reformed and Evangelical-Lutheran communities. Yet most Magyars in their everyday life have no connections with any churches. So, religion was also unable to hold the people together and make them oppose globalisation. The Magyar nation has many historical traumas, but different segments of the population experienced these traumas in different ways and deduced different conclusions from them.

Calculating the Final Balances The Magyar economic transition produced many achievements, but it is also worth noting what the price of it has been – nothing was for free. There were millions who gave decades of their lives working for low wages, and who now suffer all the problems of an economy in transition, and there is no straightforward way to make their lives easier. The transition can be financed only from internal resources, and it has not ended yet. The economy is still fragile. Fifteen years were not enough to build an economy which could not potentially collapse at the first stronger blow of the international markets. It is indeed possible to build a successful and blossoming economy, but it takes much time and involves many hardships for the people. Suggested Reading BOD Péter Ákos, Transition to a Market Economy in Hungary: the Role of the Financial Institutions. Budapest, 1992. CSABA László, After the Shock: Some Lessons from Transition Policies in Eastern Europe. Budapest; 1993. CSIKÓS-NAGY Béla, Debate on the Transition of Post-communist Economies to a Market Economy. Budapest, 1992. HOÓS János, Social Welfare Policy in Hungary during the Transition in Political and Economic Structures. Budapest, 1996. ILONSZKI Gabriella, An Introduction to the New Hungarian Parliament. Budapest, 1991. LÁSZLÓ Andor, Socio-economic Alternatives at the Re-foundation of Hungarian Democracy. Budapest, 1991. MIHÁLYI Péter, Common Patterns and Particularities of Privatisation in the Transition Economies. Budapest, 1993. OFFE Claus, Designing Institutions for East European Transitions. Budapest, 1996. ZSOLNAI László, Ecological and Social Impacts of the Economic Transition in Hungary. Budapest, 1994. SPALLER Endre is a sociologist and political scientist, and he is studying for a Ph.D. in this field. Previously he worked for the Magyar Police Academy as a researcher, where his subject was crime prevention. Now he is working for various non-profit organisations, and he has become involved in local politics. He is Reformed, 27 years old. His email address is spaller_endre@hotmail.com.

Zuzana MOGYOROSIOVÁ

A Slovak Perspective on European Integration Vital, no longer politically restricted, relations between Slovakia and the European Union (EU) were established at the time when Slovakia was a part of the former Czechoslovakia and the Western European integration bloc held the name “European Community.” The first agreement in the new post-socialist era was signed in 1990.

Development of Relations with the EU The aim of this Trade and Cooperation Agreement was to promote mutual trade relations and overall economic cooperation. In 1991 the Europe Agreement that established a new nature of relations was signed. This agreement did not come into force, as the Czechoslovak Republic split. It was replaced by separate agreements, one for each: the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic. The Slovak agreement came into effect on 1 February 1995. We talk about the new quality of relations as political, cultural and financial cooperation were incorporated into the agreement, as well as the formulation of the overall aim of full Slovak membership in the EU. A free trade area for industrial goods needed to be created during the transitional period of 10 years. As the Interim Agreement (which only involved articles on trade aspects of co-operation) came into force by 1 March 1992, the free trade area was successfully accomplished by 2002. The Europe Agreement became an essential part of the PreAccession Strategy adopted by the European Council in Essen in December 1994. A Structured Dialogue and the PHARE Programme presented two additional pillars of this strategy.

Zuzana MOGYOROSIOVÁ: A Slovak Perspective Slovakia submitted her official application for EU membership at the Cannes Summit in June 1995. Subsequently, the European Commission published Opinions on Application for Accession for all 10 candidate countries that became a part of Agenda 2000 – the programme of the EU for the XXIst century. Accordingly, they became crucial for the Luxembourg Summit decision in December 1997 on initiating the accession process with all candidates. However, candidate countries were streamlined into two groups. With the first group, including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Estonia and Cyprus, accession negotiations were initiated in March 1998. Slovakia, together with Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Bulgaria, created the second group where negotiations were conducted only at the ministerial level and were aimed at the approximation of legislation. Initially, it was even intended to exclude Slovakia from the accession process due to a presumed lack of democracy. A Strengthened Pre-Accession Strategy for the second group of candidates was adopted that consisted of the Accession Partnership and strengthened financial assistance. The Accession Partnership, the document dedicated individually to each country, defined short-term and mid-term priorities: areas of preparation for EU membership where strengthened efforts and attention should be concentrated. These priorities corresponded with the membership criteria, the so-called Copenhagen Criteria, adopted by the European Council in 1993. The European Commission evaluated the progress made by each candidate in its regular reports published once a year. Short-term priorities formulated for Slovakia in March 1998 covered political topics such as improvement of opposition participation in the controlling parliamentary committees; solving pending constitutional crises regarding the presidential election; ensuring democratic parliamentary and municipal elections in 1998; and adoption of legislation granting rights to minorities. Economic priorities included reduction of internal and external economic imbalances; budget deficit reduction; restructuring of the financial and banking sectors; as well as adoption of an amendment to the Act on Bankruptcies. Finally, harmonisation of the internal market legislation needed to be promoted. These priorities were upgraded in response to the Commission’s evaluation. Institutions and capacity building, civil society functioning, regional development and sustainable development presented mid-term priorities for Slovakia. 92

Growing EU Strengthened financial assistance directed to the priorities and defined by the Accession Partnership was provided through three instruments: PHARE (programme aimed at administrative capacity building and investments to areas not covered by other instruments), ISPA (funding of projects oriented towards transport infrastructure development and improvement of the environment), and SAPARD (funding of agriculture and regional development). An overview of the total amount of assistance directed to Slovakia is provided in Table 1. Table 1. Assistance for Slovakia between 1993–2002 (mil. EUR)1 1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2001

2002

Total

39,5

40,5

47,5

2,2

39,0

73,4

97,63 78,82 80,5

79,8

568,9

ISPA

45,0

50,0

145,0

SAPARD

18,0

19,0

56,0

PHARE

2000

From the PHARE Programme a variety of projects were financed to support minorities, functioning of courts, migration control, small- and medium-sized enterprises, NGOs, bank privatisation and cross-border cooperation. Thanks to the ISPA assistance, the motorway section D61 in Bratislava was constructed, three railway sections were modernised and more sewage tanks were constructed or reconstructed. Implementation of SAPARD in Slovakia was launched in 2002. In that year 13 per cent of disposable public expenditures of the years 2000 and 2001 were approved as assistance.

Moves to Fulfil Membership Criteria The Copenhagen Criteria specify conditions under which a country can become an EU member. They concern three sets of criteria: political, economic and legislative. The political criteria stipulate that accession countries must have achieved stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities. Economic criteria involve the existence of a functioning market economy and the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union. 1 Delegation of the European Commission in the Slovak Republic, PHARE, ISPA, SAPARD – From the Pre-accession Financial Aid towards Structural Funds in Slovakia. 2003.

Zuzana MOGYOROSIOVÁ: A Slovak Perspective Finally, the ability to assume the obligations of membership – that is, the legal and institutional framework (acquis) is considered. In its 1997 Opinion on Slovakia’s Application for EU Membership, the Commission concluded that Slovakia had to face a number of problems regarding the fulfilment of political criteria. “The government pays insufficient respect to the powers devolved by the Constitution to other bodies and too frequently disregards the rights of the opposition. A constant tension between the government and the president of the Republic is one example of this situation. The frequent refusal to involve the opposition in the operation of the institutions, particularly where a parliamentary scrutiny is concerned, underlines this trend.”2 Better guarantees of independence for the judicial system and satisfactory conditions for its operation, a more effective fight against corruption, and improvement in the treatment of minorities were also required. As far as economic criteria were concerned, according to the Commission, Slovakia “should be able to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union in the medium term, but this would require more transparent and market-based policies.”3 Finally, Slovakia was firmly committed to take on the acquis even if further progress was still required to ensure the effective application of the acquis. In 1999, the Commission’s Regular Report concluded that thanks to the changes introduced since September 1998, Slovakia fulfilled the Copenhagen political criteria. The independence of the judiciary had improved de facto but needed to be consolidated de jure. Continued efforts were still needed to sustain the stable functioning of democratic institutions, to step up the fight against crime and corruption and to protect minority rights. This report facilitated the way into the EU for Slovakia. The invitation for Slovakia to accession negotiations was the result of the Helsinki European Council decision adopted in December 1999. According to the same decision, the differentiation between the first and the second group of candidates was eliminated. Progress in the accession process started to be dependent solely on the readiness of each candidate. In its 2001 Regular Report, the Commission found that Slovakia had made considerable progress in deepening the stability of her institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human 2 Commission of the European Communities, Agenda 2000 – Commission Opinion on Slovakia’s Application for Membership of the European Union. Brussels, 1997. 3 Ibid.

Growing EU rights and respect for and protection of minorities. Significant progress was achieved with regard to the structure and functioning of the administration. The legal framework for decentralisation of public administration and the civil service act was adopted. Important steps were pursued to strengthen independence of the judiciary. Corruption, however, remained a serious cause for concern. Moreover, it was important to improve efforts to fight against discrimination. Slovakia as a functioning market economy “should be able to cope with the competitive pressure and market forces within the Union in the near term”4 provided that it makes further efforts in fiscal consolidation and implementing a structural reform programme. The Commission found a good progress in the area of legislation harmonisation. However, some problems persisted, e.g. the enforcement record in the field of state aid remained non-transparent. The 2002 Regular Report states that progress was achieved with regard to the structure and functioning of the administration, notably by setting up a Civil Service Office and building up decentralised, regional administrations. The Commission, however, expressed concern regarding the proper functioning of self-administration. Some progress was noticed in the fight against corruption, which remained a cause for serious concern. Compliance with the economic criteria was formulated as follows: “The continuation of its current reform path should enable the Slovak Republic to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union.”5 Improvements might be made with regard to both the current account and fiscal deficits (in particular in the health and pension area). The unemployment problem remained an important one to solve. The Commission considered that Slovakia would be able to assume the obligations of membership in accordance with the envisaged timeframe. “In the period leading up to accession, Slovakia needs to continue its preparations, in line with the commitments it has made in the accession negotiations.”6 The comprehensive Monitoring

4 Commission of the European Communities, 2001 Regular Report on Slovakia’s Progress Towards Accession. Brussels, 2001. 5 Commission of the European Communities, 2002 Regular Report on Slovakia’s Progress Towards Accession. Brussels, 2002. 6 Ibid.

Negotiations for Accession The EU started accession negotiations with Slovakia in February 2000 after the European Council in Helsinki decided so in December 1999. In comparison to the first group, Slovakia had a two-year delay. However, it declared its target to conclude negotiations by the end of 2002, so that it would be able to participate in the first wave of enlargement. The negotiations were run by chapters in the framework of the Accession Conference. There were 31 chapters altogether, 29 of which were “real” (real negotiations took place), while Chapter 30 involved institutional questions and Chapter 31 summarised all remaining issues that occurred during negotiations. 7 Commission of the European Communities, Comprehensive Monitoring Report on Slovakia’s Preparations for Membership. Brussels, 2003. 8 Ibid.

Course of the Accession Negotiations between Slovakia and the EU

Report on Slovakia’s preparations for membership reflects the situation at the end of September 2003. Slovakia’s macroeconomic performance was found as considerably improving, although some imbalances remained significant. The preparation of additional public expenditure reforms has gained a very strong momentum. The restrictive fiscal policy stance supports the narrowing of Slovakia’s high current account deficit. However, most of the necessary measures still need to be further specified. Additional vigorous efforts in improving the legal framework for a market economy area need to be pursued, too. As regards the overall administrative and judicial capacity, there is room for further improvements. Further efforts are a necessity to reduce the duration of court proceedings in civil and commercial cases. As regards the implementation of the acquis, Slovakia “has reached a high level of alignment with the acquis in most policy areas.”7 However, Slovakia must “take immediate action to address four issues of serious concern in two chapters of the acquis.”8 This includes the fulfilment of the conditions specified in the Accession Treaty for the transitional arrangement granted in the steel industry. It also concerns the field of agriculture, as regards Slovakia’s preparations for setting up the Payment Agency, for implementing the Integrated Administration and Control System and for upgrading the agro-alimentary establishments in the area of public health protection.

Chapter

Opened Closed

6 Competition Policy

25.5.2000

24.10.2002

12 Statistics

25.5.2000

16 Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

25.5.2000

17 Science and Research

25.5.2000

18 Education and Training

25.5.2000

20 Culture and Audio Visual Policy

25.5.2000

24.11.2000

26 External Relations

25.5.2000

27 Common Foreign and Security Policy

25.5.2000

8 Fisheries

24.10.2000

15 Industrial Policy

24.10.2000

23 Consumers and Health Protection

24.10.2000

25 Customs Union

24.10.2000

12.6.2001

4 Free Movement of Capital

24.11.2000

27.6.2001

3 Free Movement of Services

21.11.2000

17.5.2000

9 Transport Policy 19 Telecommunication and Information Technologies

21.11.2000

22.4.2002

21.11.2000

17.5.2001

1 Free Movement of Goods

30.3.2001

5 Company Law

30.3.2001

17.5.2001

11 Economic and Monetary Union

30.3.2001

Social Policy and Employment

30.3.2001

17.5.2001

21 Regional Policy

30.3.2001

29.7.2001

22 Environment

30.3.2001

11.12.2001

29 Financial and Budgetary Provisions

30.3.2001

13.12.2002

14 Energy

17.5.2001

26.10.2001

2 Free Movement of Persons

12.6.2001

27.6.2001

7 Agriculture

30.3.2001

21.3.2002

10 Taxation

30.3.2001

13.12.2002

Table 2.

Zuzana MOGYOROSIOVÁ: A Slovak Perspective

28 Financial Control

30.3.2001

13.12.2002

24 Cooperation in the Fields of Justice and Home Affairs

27.6.2001

11.6.2002

9 Intergovenmental Conference on the Slovak Accession in the EU. www.foreign.gov.sk.

Zuzana MOGYOROSIOVĂ : A Slovak Perspective The decision on the number of chapters to be opened first was taken in March 2000. Subsequently, the chief negotiator for Slovakia submitted the Slovak positions on eight chapters. Negotiations in six of them were provisionally closed by July 2000. A year later, negotiations were already opened in all chapters and provisionally closed in nineteen of them. The goal to catch up with the first group of candidates was met as a result of a strong effort on both sides and the readiness to make compromises. The European Council in Copenhagen concluded accession negotiations with ten candidate countries in December 2002. The ratification process was launched. The European Parliament approved the EU enlargement on 9 April 2003. The Accession Treaty was signed in Athens on 16 April 2003. Important for the treaty ratification in Slovakia was the positive outcome of the referendum that took place in May 2003. In this referendum, Slovak citizens supported the EU accession by 92 percent of votes. However, it is crucial to mention that only 52 percent of citizens participated in the rather complicated referendum. The Slovak parliament approved the treaty on 1 July 2003. Subsequently, ratification followed in all current EU members in the second half of 2003. The successful ratification was followed by full Slovak membership in the European Union as of 1 May 2004.

Post-accession Freedoms In the Accession Treaty all the conditions of EU membership are set forth. They are formulated in accordance with the outcome of the accession negotiations. In the following part we concentrate only on one particular topic: the effects of joining the EU internal market in terms of introducing four freedoms: free movement of goods, services, capital and persons.

A. Better Access to the European Market: Free Movement of Goods In 1992 the European Single Market has been officially completed. Free movement of goods belongs to one of the four main freedoms. It includes abolishment of physical, technical and fiscal trade barriers. Physical barriers represent customs controls at the borders. Eliminating these controls is connected with significant savings on transport and administrative costs. As far as technical barriers are concerned these are eliminated by harmonising national standards or setting minimum standards 98

Growing EU and by adoption of the mutual recognition principle. Fiscal barriers are the result of different indirect taxes (value added tax, tax on alcohol, cigarettes and tobacco). Minimum tax rates have been agreed for the EU member states. Abolishment of trade barriers is crucial for Slovakâ€“EU trade. Signing of the Europe Agreement (the so-called Association Agreement) was the first step done at the beginning of the â€™90s. Articles on trade included creation of a free trade area for industrial goods during a transitional period of ten years. During this period, the EU has become the most important trading partner for Slovakia. Whereas at the beginning of transition it accounted only for about 30 per cent of Slovak foreign trade, its share increased to almost 60 per cent in 2001. Together with other Central and Eastern European countries (who are also candidates to join the EU in the first round of enlargement), the EU market absorbs almost 90 per cent of Slovak export. Ongoing trade liberalisation would decrease the costs for Slovak producers (administrative and transport costs, certification costs and unit costs of production) and improve access to the European market. This is true mainly in the case of agricultural products, food, beverages and steel, because trade barriers for these products remain relatively high on the side of the EU. Another advantage of joining the European Single Market would be the larger assortment of goods available to consumers at better prices. EU membership brings the adoption of the Common Commercial Policy (CCP) by the Slovak Republic. As a result, Slovakia introduces common tariffs on imports from third countries as well as non-tariff measures on, e.g., imports of agricultural products or textiles; and it delegates its competencies regarding anti-dumping or safeguard measures. With respect to the current trade relations of Slovakia, we do not expect the CCP to create serious difficulties for the country.

B. Free Movement of Services The free movement of services as one of the four basic internal market freedoms involves the right to start and conduct business in all EU member states as well as the right to provide services from the country of origin. Austria and Germany, fearing undue competition of cheaper service providers from Slovakia, tried to negotiate a transitional period for the free movement of services. As a result, both parties will

Growing EU decided to give up the first request mentioned above and to modify the second request to seven years with a possibility to prolong it by another three years if necessary. This will not apply to selfemployed farmers. They will be allowed to buy land three years after they settle in Slovakia and actively start to do business in agriculture. The agreement on the part of the EU on this issue is negotiable during the transitional period in the area of free movement of goods.

D. Free Movement of Persons

be able to put into effect national measures during the transitional period for the free movement of people. These measures will be aimed mainly at construction, cleaning and security services. Moreover, Slovakia will not be applying compensation schemes for investors for a period of three years after EU accession. Currently, the protection of investorsâ€™ property (up to 20.000 EUR) with regard to the amount of trade in stocks stipulated by law is too high for Slovakia.

C. Free Movement of Capital Slovakia had to accept more compromises when conducting negotiations concerning the free movement of capital. Besides an unlimited flow of finances, this freedom involves also the freedom to invest that means, among other things, to acquire movable and immovable property abroad. Slovakia feared considerable price increase of real estate and subsequently a serious social impingement when adopting this part of the EU legislation immediately upon EU accession. Initially it requested a five-year transitional period for acquiring land and buildings as a secondary residence and ten years for agricultural land and forestland in Slovakia. In order to set the negotiations ahead, the Slovak government

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The free movement of persons is the last freedom within the Single Market. In 1992 the free movement of persons in the EU was extended also to students and pensioners so that everybody can live and work in each EU member state. The border controls have been dismantled; there are no limits as far as purchases for personal use are concerned (except for some special goods). The right of equal treatment and mutual recognition of qualification are ensured. For Slovak citizens, the opening up of the EU labour market would make possible finding a better-paid job or gaining new skills and experiences. After the accession, however, this freedom will be restricted for several years: the transition period is maximum seven years, and the present EU member states can decide on it individually. The free movement of labour does not only have advantages. In the case of Slovakia, it is likely that qualified people will leave the country, as they can speak foreign languages and in the EU there is a high demand for them. We will lose the money invested in their education, as well as their skills and potential. On the other hand, it will not solve the problem of unemployment in Slovakia, because most unemployed people are not willing or able to take over jobs offered in the EU. Slovak membership in the EU brings positive economic effects; some negative effects and disadvantages, however, appear as well. Slovakia as a small nation is not able to stay outside the EU integration process as it depends heavily on the EU market. The integration into the EU brings many advantages and challenges. It is necessary, however, to give up some present advantages so that it might receive more important and bigger ones in the future.

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Zuzana MOGYOROSIOVÁ: A Slovak Perspective Suggested Reading HANSENOVÁ H., Konkurencieschopnost’ slovenskej nákladnej dopravy v kontexte cˇlenstva SR v EÚ. Slovensko v medzinárodnom obchode a podnikaní. Bratislava, 2002. S ˇÍBL D. – CˇIDEROVÁ D., Slovenská republika a Európska únia: Potrebujú sa navzájom? Ocˇakávania – vy ´hody – nevy ´hody. Bratislava, 2002. ˇÍBL D., Európska únia – encyklopédia. Bratislava, 1998. S ˇAKOVÁ B., Slovensko a Európska únia – od susedstva k cˇlenstvu. Bratislava, 2000. S PHARE, ISPA, SAPARD – od predvstupovej pomoci po ˇs trukturálne fondy Európskej únie v Slovenskej republike. Delegácia Európskej komisie v Slovenskej republike. Bratislava, 2003. Annual Report of SAPARD Agency 2002. Bratislava, 2003. Commission of the European Communities, Agenda 2000 – Commission Opinion on Slovakia’s Application for Membership of the European Union. Brussels, 1997. Commission of the European Communities, 1999 Regular Report from Commission on Slovakia’s Progress Towards Accession. Brussels, 1999. Commission of the European Communities, 2000 Regular Report on Slovakia’s Progress Towards Accession. Brussels, 2000. Commission of the European Communities, 2001 Regular Report on Slovakia’s Progress Towards Accession. Brussels, 2001. Commission of the European Communities, 2002 Regular Report on Slovakia’s Progress Towards Accession. Brussels, 2002. Commission of the European Communities, Comprehensive Monitoring Report on Slovakia’s Preparations for Membership. Brussels, 2003. Zuzana MOGYOROSIOVÁ graduated from the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia, where she later defended her doctoral thesis. She works as an assistant professor at the Department of International Business in the University of Economics in Bratislava. She deals mainly with European integration and she is a member of Team Europe Slovakia established by the European Commission. Her email address is mogyorosiova@pobox.sk.

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Marián KUNA

God, Christian Values and the European Constitution: Should the Latter Refer to the Former and Why? The European Union has been drafting and redrafting her first constitution. Alongside several sensitive discussions concerning various institutional issues, that the constitution is to provide guidance on (some of them still far from being settled), it is almost impossible not to notice a very peculiar anxiety surrounding the debate of the preamble. It is precisely the preamble that is supposed to proclaim the roots and basic values of the politically united European community. This anxiety concerns the question of whether the preamble should refer also to God and Christian values, taking them to be one of the sources of the European cultural and political identity. The last attempt to reach a compromise on this issue ended up with an ambiguous reference to the European religious heritage1. What then is the true nature of this anxiety? The final constitution draft considers respect towards reason to be one of the values of European humanism.2 Serious polemics and resistance, however, can be observed when the suggestion is made to include into the preamble the reference to God and Christian values.3 All this gives rise to the question: why is this the case? 1 See Návrh zmluvy zakladajúcej ústavu pre Európu (Proposal for the Agreement Founding the Constitution for Europe). Európsky konvent, Bratislava, 2004. 5. I hold that this is a too-cheap compromise that does not work anyway, for it cannot satisfy those who have argued for including the reference to God and Christian values into the constitution. There is a possibility that it can make them even less satisfied, for it logically includes all sorts of religious streams and traditions that Europe has ever historically experienced. 2 Ibid. 5. 3 Though it is possible to distinguish between the reference to God and that to Christian values, for the sake of simplicity I will speak here as if they were mutually interchangeable. Moreover, some may argue, and have in fact argued, that Christian values are implicitly present (represented) in the constitution draft in the values of equality of all humans and freedom, or when the central role of the human being and her or his inalien

103

Marián KUNA: God, European Constitution The problem can be framed in terms of the descriptive and normative functions of a constitution preamble reference.4 By the descriptive function, I mean a simple proclamation about the state of affairs which is so generally accepted that it is almost nonsensical or foolish to question it.5 The normative function, on the other hand, does not slavishly observe status quo, but rather proclaims a certain position about how things should be – so even though in many cases it does not reflect the current situation, it indicates what should be altered to achieve the desired goal.6

Are European Values of ‘Self-Sustaining’ Nature? The descriptive aspect of the main issue of this paper means the description of the reality that faith in God and Christian values have significantly shaped European culture, and in historical terms were the unifying elements of European cultural diversity.7 They permeated the European culture so profoundly that they are not only fundamental to our moral and political convictions, but they are also at least implicitly present in many of our cultural principles, habits, and institutions. As Pope John Paul II recently put it in his postsynodal exhortation Ecclesia in Europa: “Europe has been widely and profoundly permeated by Christianity. There can be no doubt that, in Europe’s complex history, Christianity has been a central and defining eleable rights is mentioned. I do not consider this satisfactory as, for example, the “central role of the human being” can be easily interpreted in a selfish and extremely individualist manner that is hardly reconcilable with a distinctively Christian humanism. However, even if accepted that in this way the distinctively Christian values have entered into the constitution proposal, it would still be substantially insufficient as these values cannot represent a substitute for the reference to God that would still be absent in the constitution. 4 Talking about the preamble functions, I assume that the role of the preamble is more extensive than to add to the document some stylistic and aesthetic flavour, though this is logically possible as well. 5 It is very similar to a simple statement that (historically) there was such an event as the French Revolution in 1789 which overturned the French monarchy. So it functions neither to claim that it was a good thing, nor to defend the opposite. 6 This is similar to saying that in the times of World War II Adolf HITLER ruled Germany, as well as other countries, which was an unfortunate fact and it was good he was deprived of his power. 7 One may question my use of the label of Christian values as too simplistic. Such a challenge points to the fact that the issue of what the substantially Christian values are can be a subject of a serious controversy not exclusively within the various Christian communities and traditions. Unfortunately, I cannot pursue this question further here, but I believe that the most basic Christian values can be agreed upon, and their list would include values of love towards neighbours, compassion, equal dignity and worth of all human beings. This is to say that even though different Christian traditions may construct various lists of particular Christian values, having different priority orders, all of them would necessarily include these basic values in one way or the other.

104

Growing EU ment, established on the firm foundation of the classical heritage and the multiple contributions of the various ethnic and cultural streams which have succeeded one another down the centuries. The Christian faith has shaped the culture of the Continent and is inextricably bound up with her history, to the extent that Europe’s history would be incomprehensible without reference to the events which marked first the great period of evangelization and the long centuries when Christianity, despite the painful division between East and West, came to be the religion of the European peoples. Even in modern and contemporary times, when religious unity progressively disintegrated as a result both of further divisions between Christians and the gradual detachment of cultures from the horizon of faith, the role played by faith has continued to be significant.”8 What is the normative aspect of the reference to God and Christian values in the preamble? It is not limited to a mere proclamation that these realities are a matter of agreement amongst historians conducting research within the field of European history, resulting in the fact that it makes absolutely no sense to question them; but it further emphasizes the fact that for Europe her Christian theist heritage should be crucial with regard to her future. It can include the claim that the EU is not to become solely a socio-economic entity and/or at best a community of whatever values.9 One of the elements that contributed to the formation of the Europe of values as we know them was Christianity. Therefore, if we are not to cut the tie between the European tradition and Christian values, the latter must occupy a significant position in our community.10 The claim that the European values originating to a large extent from Christianity have by now reached a state in which they are of “self-sustaining nature” so that they do not need anymore the support of the living Christian ethos and its public, nor constitutional 8 John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Europa. Vatican City, 2003. Section 24. 9 Let me emphasize that this position is fundamentally anti-sceptical and anti-relativistic with respect to both our ability and moral need to distinguish between positive and negative values or, to put it in more traditional terms, between good and evil. Another integral moment of this position is my strongly held conviction of the truth of Christianity and its respective account of morality. 10 This claim, however, allows for several interpretations, as people may agree with respect to its truth, but still vary in what it as a claim amounts to. There may be its more public (institutional) and more private (inner life) manifestations. My own position lies somewhere in the middle between the extreme forms of these two interpretations.

105

Growing EU

recognition, should be, I believe, “safely stored at the department of dangerous illusions.”11 Let us quote the Pope once more: “The Church of today, with a renewed sense of responsibility, is conscious of the urgency of not squandering this precious patrimony and of helping Europe to build in revitalizing her original Christian roots.”12

Dogma of Value Neutrality Those who object to the inclusion of the reference to God in the European Constitution seem to be consciously blind to its descriptive aspect, solely because of their worries concerning its normative force that would enter into the constitution via this reference.

11 I believe that this claim is false, and if taken seriously, represents a threat to the very survival or at least to the vitality of those European values that originated from within the Christian tradition. In my statement above, however, one must distinguish between the necessity of a living Christian ethos and the necessity of public and/or constitutional recognition of Christian values. One may agree with the former, but reject the latter. I do not deny that there is something very true in a position claiming that it is primarily Christian practice which is at stake if Christianity is to have credibility. I do not think, however, that there is something wrong in political and also constitutional manifestation and support of Christian values in public in general, and in politics in particular. The Christian must be, however, very careful not to abuse Christianity and its values for some narrow ideological and/or biased purposes. 12 John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Europa. Section. 25.

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Why then is the normative moment of this reference such a serious problem for the aforementioned people so that they are (in my view) willing to put themselves in the position of “cultural barbarians” ignoring the historical contribution of Christianity to the culture of Europe? One of the reasons may be their stubborn loyalty to a liberal and secular dogma of value neutrality of modern political arrangements.13 Another possibility, related to the previous one, is their effort to express their tolerance towards those Europeans to whom Christian values and/or faith in (Christian or some other) God is foreign.14 This combination of reasons seems to produce a barricade of fear against any strengthening of the position of Christianity in the European Union. Is this fear well-based? And is it legitimate? I reckon that this fear is well-based from the strategic point of view of the rival, but it is morally illegitimate. It is well-based in the sense that the constitutional recognition of the importance of God and/or Christian values for Europe will put some other values, here those of secular humanism, into a comparative disadvantage. The fear, however, is illegitimate, because it is hardly anything more than a fear of a rival in the arena of values struggle of the modern world.15 What is more, it represents a serious problem for the very liberal and secularist who by definition proclaim the necessity of remaining neutral amongst different conceptions of the good life. The problem subsists in their biased rejection of the reference to 13 This is not to deny that a moderate secularism may have some positive impact on the religious life, particularly in multi-religious societies, and especially those divided by sectarian hatred. My doubts concern only an extreme form of secularism that pretends to do justice to the citizens’ different values on the one hand, and represents the view that “private” values should be kept out of the public sphere considering religious values as a pre-eminent example of private values on the other. 14 This is also a quite controversial approach of how to arrive at tolerance. For it is important to bear in mind that there is a substantial potential in the Christian tradition for toleration on the one hand, and secularism may not necessarily lead to the most tolerant social and political arrangements available on the other. Here I mean the fact that for many Christians it is precisely their Christian faith (following the example of Jesus Christ) that makes them not only very tolerant to non-Christians, but enables them to transcend mere toleration and its requirements, and arrive at the loving attitude towards them. The fact that Christians repeatedly have not been able to live up to the standards of this ideal does not make my claim fundamentally implausible. 15 The assumption is made here that a mere fear of the possibility of becoming worse off via the inclusion of a serious rival in the value struggle does not make the exclusion of that legitimate rival fair. This is not to say that no rival can be excluded, for there are some limits to what is to be considered legitimate competition, and any form of fundamentalism is a very good candidate for such exclusion.

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MariĂĄn KUNA: God, European Constitution God, which means that these thinkers cease to be impartial and fair to Christians and smuggle all too much scepticism (doubts concerning the existence of truth) into the constitutional foundations of the (re)uniting Europe. So in order to be consistent liberals of neutrality, they must subscribe to scepticism in the question of truth. However, they are unable fully to defend their position as true.16 Now, if it cannot be proven as true, why should we follow it in debating such an important issue as the European Constitution?

Christianity and Rationalist Humanism The illegitimacy of the position sketched above, then, rests on an unfair constitutional exclusion of one of the serious contenders from the value arena where the battle over the intellectual and moral allegiance of European citizens takes place.17 It is unfair, for if we are not to mention God and Christian values in the constitution, why has the reference to the Enlightenment been implicitly included in the preamble? I assume that only a very intellectually and morally controversial personality could think that Enlightenment rationalist humanism is more entitled to be mentioned in the preamble than Christianity.18 If my argument is correct, then we face the following dilemma: either to include them or leave them both out from this document. However, if they are both left out of the preamble, the constitution as a whole will have become at best only a caricature of what its authors meant it to be.19 Here I am assuming that they have 16 Brian BARRY, a liberal of neutrality, concedes that it is not possible to arrive at liberal neutrality except by the use of the premise of at least moderate scepticism. My evaluation of the significance of this finding, however, conflicts with that of BARRY. Whereas he thinks that the necessity of scepticism for liberal neutrality does not destroy this type of neutrality, I hold that as moral scepticism is all too controversial (and for Christians, at least as I understand the Christian doctrine, unacceptable) then liberal neutrality is implausible. 17 One may object to this claim that Christianity as such is not excluded from public and political life, and the degree of this constitutional exclusion is legitimate for the reasons I touched upon in the previous section. The answer to this question must to some degree depend upon the importance of the constitution and of course on the form the European constitutional theory, practice, and adjudication will take in coming years. 18 I already suggested that the Enlightenment is present and represented in the preamble draft only implicitly. Now, one may wonder what form I propose the reference to God and Christian values should take. I must confess I have got at the moment no definite answer to this question. I believe, however, that there should be a good will to discuss this issue seriously, and various options could be developed, and the best one agreed upon.

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Growing EU tried to put forward a respectable document which will help the European community in its self-direction in the years to come. I admit that my distinction between the two aspects, namely descriptive and normative, was made at a relatively high degree of abstraction that does not take into account a large portion of cultural and political reality and so it cannot escape some ambiguity. Though it was helpful to use this distinction, I have to admit that the descriptive evidence of Christianity in European history does not logically entail its normativity for the Europe of today. If it is to be defended successfully today as normatively justifiable, a different strategy must be adopted; namely, the true nature of human beings that puts limits on what is politically desirable and legitimate must seriously be taken into account.20 In other words, the truth of being human must be uncovered, and the fact that such a conception is formulated out of the Christian tradition should not be seen as putting limits on the scope of its applicability. This is a point of controversy, however, and it seems to suggest that the tense atmosphere surrounding the preamble discussion originates, at least in part, from conflicting views concerning normative questions regarding the identity of the human being â€“ all this within the context of the European Union and her future. Let me conclude by suggesting the answer to the main question of this article. I maintain that the reference to God and Christian values in the preamble of the European Constitution should be considered legitimate. It is such because, from the descriptive point of view, it is unquestionable and from the normative perspective it is defensible. It is descriptively unquestionable due to the fact that the influence of Christianity on European culture may be denied only by the insufficiently informed persons. It appears normatively defensible due to the persistent viability of the Christian vision of a person. Moreover, if it is acceptable to refer in the preamble to rationalist

19 It is worth bearing in mind the fact that both Christianity and the Enlightenment with its rationalist humanism have formed our most basic cultural patterns, because they are both immersed in our culture and have important institutional embodiments. 20 Christian philosophy and theology may be extremely helpful in doing so. From within the Roman Catholic intellectual tradition, for example, there is Thomas AQUINAS who achieved a significant progress in this direction in his time. Nowadays, there are very instructive works by philosophers and theologians building on his work in terms of the Thomist understanding of person, morality and law as well as upon the question of how the analyses in these fields relate to metaphysical analysis.

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Marián KUNA: God, European Constitution humanism, there can hardly be any good reasons for preventing its value rival from being mentioned as a mere value option. This reference, however, is also very much needed. For there is still a significant number of people in Europe for whom Christianity and God do not represent merely some value items from the hypermarket of the modern world, but indeed provide them with guidance in the labyrinth of the contemporary world. I believe that it is a sign of good manners to provide these European citizens with an appropriate, i.e. also constitutional, recognition that regards their way of life with genuine respect. Suggested Reading BARRY Brian, Justice as Impartiality. Oxford, 1995. JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Europa. Vatican City, 2003. KUNA Marian, Potrebuje Európa Boha? Zmienka o Bohu v preambule európskej ústavy (Does Europe Need God? Reference to God in the Preamble of the European Constitution). Domino fórum 2003/40. 19. LISSKA A., Aquinas’s Theory of Natural Law. An Analytic Reconstruction. Oxford, 1996. MCINERNY R., Ethica Thomistica. The Moral Philosophy of Thomas Aquinas. Washington, 1997. Návrh zmluvy zakladajúcej ústavu pre Európu (Proposal for the Agreement Founding the Constitution for Europe). Európsky konvent, Bratislava, 2004. PORTER J., The Recovery of Virtue. The Relevance of Thomas Aquinas for Christian Ethics. Louisville, 1990. ´ch komentárov VOLEK P., Filozofia cˇloveka podl’a sv. Tomásˇa Akvinského, vo svetle súcˇasny (Philosophy of the Person According to St. Thomas Aquinas in the Light of Contemporary Commentaries). Ruz ˇomberok, 2003. Marián KUNA is a Roman Catholic from Slovakia. He is an assistant professor at the Roman Catholic University in Ruz ˇomberok, in the Faculty of Philosophy. This is a revised version of his article published in the Slovak periodical Domino fórum. He also presented previous drafts of this paper at the symposium The Christian Idea of Europe held at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Catholic University in Ruz ˇomberok in association with the Ladislav Hanus Research Institute of the Faculty in March 2004. His email address is kuna@fphil.ku.sk.

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An Ongoing Faith

and Order Initiative in Defining the Ecumenical Goal In this paper, the work of Faith and Order in pursuing the oneness of the Church and full visible unity will be explored as a process of defining the ecumenical goal from New Delhi 1961 to Santiago de Compostela 1993. In this first part, definitions of unity which Faith and Order contributed to three assemblies and one conference of the World Council of Churches (WCC) will be presented in an effort to track the possibility of an emerging interconfessional convergence on this central concept. The three WCC assemblies are the ones that met at New Delhi in 1961, Nairobi in 1975, and Canberra in 1991. The Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order at Santiago de Compostela in 1993 is the most recent meeting. Then, in the second part, some remaining challenges will be examined as follows: Incompleteness of the Reception Process; Eucharistic Separation Contradicting Koinonia; and Ecclesiological Issues Still Being Addressed.

I. Defining the Ecumenical Goal The Faith and Order (F&O) quest for convergence on the Eucharist, together with baptism and ministry, is part of a larger ongoing effort to define the ecumenical goal. The goal already finds some definition in the bylaws of the Faith and Order Commission which point to “the oneness of the Church of Jesus Christ” and the “goal of visible unity in one faith and one eucharistic fellowship.” This search for a clarification of the ecumenical goal is summarized by Günther GASSMANN, who cites and quotes numerous Faith and Order statements on the theme of “unity” in his Documentary History of Faith and Order 1963–1993.

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One Fully Committed Fellowship

At its Bangalore meeting in 1978, the Faith and Order Commission agreed that in order to reach visible unity, three requirements must be met. The churches must reach: common understanding of the apostolic faith; full mutual recognition of baptism, the Eucharist and the ministry; and agreement on common ways of teaching and decision-making. Out of all the numerous theological reflections on unity printed in GASSMANN’s Documentary History, three statements of World Council of Churches (WCC) assemblies are given special attention through his placement of them at the beginning of the book. They are the following: New Delhi 1961: Section III on Unity; Nairobi 1975: Section II on What Unity Requires; and Canberra 1991: The Unity of the Church as Koinonia: Gift and Calling. In addition to these, the research that follows will also investigate the ecumenical goal as it is defined at the Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order at Santiago de Compostela, in 1993, under the theme Koinonia in Faith, Life and Witness. One of the tasks in reviewing these ecumenical definitions is to identify any overarching trends of thought that might suggest an emerging commonality of expression in the quest for visible unity.

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The New Delhi Section Report on Unity was the result of a previous report prepared by the Commission on Faith and Order during its meeting at St. Andrews, Scotland, in 1960. One fact that makes the New Delhi report unique is that, within its 19 pages, it contains a succinct one-paragraph definition of unity that has been compared in its complexity to a Pauline sentence. Because of its importance and brevity, this New Delhi statement is printed here in full: “We believe that the unity which is both God’s will and God’s gift to God’s Church is being made visible as all in each place who are baptized into Jesus Christ and confess him as Lord and Saviour are brought by the Holy Spirit into one fully committed fellowship, holding the one apostolic faith, preaching the one Gospel, breaking the one bread, joining in common prayer, and having a corporate life reaching out in witness and service to all who at the same time are united with the whole Christian fellowship in all places and all ages in such wise that ministry and members are accepted by all, and that all can act and speak together as occasion requires for the tasks to which God calls God’s people.”1 One reason that the New Delhi Statement is significant is that its use of the term “one fully committed fellowship,” introduces a concept that is echoed at Nairobi, Canberra, and Santiago de Compostela, and down to the present time. The New Delhi commentary uses the Greek word koinonia to help define “fellowship,” stating that this word has been chosen because “it describes what the Church truly is. Fellowship clearly implies that the Church is not merely an institution or organization. It is a fellowship of those who are called together by the Holy Spirit and in baptism confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.” This section concludes with the assurance that “fellowship” does not “imply a rigid uniformity of structure, organization or government,” and adds: “A lively variety marks corporate life in the one Body of one Spirit.” Thus, there is a strong recommendation of “unity in diversity.” It was 14 years later, during the Nairobi Assembly in 1975, that an explanation of the Nairobi vision of unity as conciliar fellowship interpreted both the New Delhi and the Nairobi definitions as advocating full organic unity.2 The New Delhi definition is affirming the model of organic unity. The implication of a structural merger is in contrast with the model of “full communion.” 1 VISSER T’HOOFT Willem A. (ed.), The New Delhi Report: The Third Assembly of the World Council of Churches 1961. London, 1962. 116.

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A Conciliar Fellowship of Local Churches In continuity with the New Delhi statement’s accent on “one fully committed fellowship,” the Section II Report, What Unity Requires, at the Nairobi Assembly in 1975 also lifts up the term “fellowship,” that is, “a conciliar fellowship of local churches which are themselves united”. Continuity with New Delhi is further maintained by identifying similar essentials for unity, e.g., “same baptism,” “same Eucharist,” recognition of “each other’s members and ministries,” a “common commitment to confess the gospel of Christ,” and “the fulfillment of their common calling.” But it is also highly significant that the Nairobi definition of our common ecumenical goal affirms the Trinitarian basis for unity (Section 7) that is also a part of the full New Delhi statement (Section 1). Thus, the Triune God becomes a theological emphasis for realizing the unity of the Church, a development that becomes more specific at Santiago de Compostela, as demonstrated below in the summary on that conference.

Koinonia: Gift and Calling While the Vancouver 1983 Assembly of the World Council of Churches that followed Nairobi 1975 did not formulate a statement on church unity, it is the Canberra Assembly in 1991 that adopted The Unity of the Church as Koinonia: Gift and Calling. This pivotal ecumenical document is the result of a request by the WCC Central Committee in 1987 that Faith and Order undertake a fresh consideration of the concepts and forms of the unity we seek. Prior to the Canberra meeting, Faith and Order prepared draft statements in July and August of 1990 for submission, revision and adoption at the 1991 assembly. What becomes immediately apparent is that the key word “fellowship” in the New Delhi and Nairobi statements now gives way to the English synonym communion and the Greek koinonia as the primary motif for defining the ecumenical goal. The word “communion” appears 15 times in the two-page statement, and a new term, “full communion,” is defined by this prerequisite: “when all the churches are able to recognize in one 2 PATON David M. (ed.), Breaking Barriers, Nairobi 1975: The Official Report of the Fifth Assembly of the World Council of Churches, Nairobi 23 November–10 December, 1975. London, 1976. 60.

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Theology and Art another the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church in her fullness.” The expression “full communion” seems to replace the “full conciliar fellowship” that was contained in the Nairobi statement. As at New Delhi and Nairobi, Canberra affirms a Trinitarian basis for unity that includes diversity, and also identifies similar essentials for unity that were mentioned at the previous assemblies.

Koinonia in Faith, Life and Witness One of the most significant facts about the Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order at Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 3–14 August 1993, is that the meeting took place 30 years after the previous World Conference at Montreal in 1963. This long time span indicates that the Commission on Faith and Order now and in recent years has relied on smaller study groups, consultations and forums to accomplish its ongoing crucial task. The other important feature of the Santiago Conference is that the ecumenical goal is defined primarily as koinonia and communion, in keeping with the categories that were shown to be emerging from the WCC assemblies at New Delhi, Nairobi, and especially Canberra, as indicated above. This trend is shown in the theme of the conference, Towards Koinonia in Faith, Life and Witness, and also in the title of the Message at the end of the official report, On the Way to Fuller Koinonia. An example of the seriousness with which the conference addressed the theme is the exhaustive thirty-page presentation on Koinonia in Scripture: Survey of Biblical Texts, delivered by John REUMANN of the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Many other papers with an accent on koinonia developed this Biblically-based ecumenical model further. Noteworthy among these is the keynote address, The Church as Communion: A Presentation on the World Conference Theme, by Metropolitan John ZIZIOULAS of Pergamon, a prelate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and professor of King’s College, London, and the University of Thessaloniki, Greece. One of his insights centered on “God who is in God’s very being koinonia,” and because “God is Trinitarian,” God is “a relational Being by definition,” which suggests that “ecclesiology must be based on Trinitarian theology if it is to be an ecclesiology of communion.”3 This focus on the Triune God in connection with the ecumenical goal – also evident to some extent at New Delhi, Nairobi and Canberra – is more deliberately affirmed in the Report of Section II 115

John George HUBER: Ecumenical Goal at Santiago, Confessing the One Faith to God’s Glory.” It says: “The Holy Trinity is the most sublime instance of unity in diversity, where there is diversity of the persons, but complete unity of essence.” It is suggested that the criterion for determining “legitimate” and “illegitimate” diversities is the “truth of the Gospel (Galatians 2,5–14)” that enables “the complex process of discernment by which legitimate diversities are reconciled and illegitimate expressions rejected.” Trinitarian language and repeated references to koinonia, visible unity, fuller koinonia, deeper koinonia and communion appear in the conference Message that concludes with a prayer addressed to the “Holy and Loving Trinity.” Surprisingly the term full communion, cited in the Canberra Statement, does not appear in the Santiago Message. Visible unity in diversity, with a Trinitarian basis, are both implied and embraced in a relationship of koinonia, or communion, among the churches. At the center of this relationship is God, Who is a koinonia of love, revealing the unity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

II. Three Remaining Challenges The emphasis now is to underline and highlight significant agreements and convergences that have been reached interconfessionally. But some remaining challenges will also be identified in connection with what Faith and Order has accomplished in achieving Eucharistic convergence and in defining the ecumenical goal. The “real communion” disclosed will now be balanced by a brief presentation of what continues to make this communion “imperfect.” The three factors selected are: incompleteness of the reception process; Eucharistic separation that contradicts koinonia; and ecclesiological issues that are still being addressed.

Incompleteness of the Reception Process The fact that 186 official responses to the Baptist, Eucharist and Ministry (BEM, 1982) have been carefully gathered by the Faith and Order Commission and published in six volumes indicates the dedication of the World Council of Churches to the process of reception, as described above. Max THURIAN, the editor of the six-volume compilation, reported 3 BEST Thomas F. – GASSMANN Günther (eds.), On the Way to Fuller Koinonia: Official Report of the Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order, Santiago de Compostela 1993. Faith and Order Paper 166. Genève, 1994. 104.

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Theology and Art in Volume I that “on the whole the Lima document is positively welcomed, even if clarifications are called for on specific points.”4 But some remaining challenges due to the incompleteness of the reception process are indicated in the following sample of reports and comments. Paragraph 1.3 of the Canberra Statement on “Koinonia” acknowledges the “theological convergence” that has allowed the churches “to recognize a certain degree of communion already existing between them,” but then points to this challenge: “Nevertheless churches have failed to draw the consequences for their life from the degree of communion they have already experienced and the agreements already achieved. They have remained satisfied to co-exist in division.” Mary TANNER, former Moderator of the Faith and Order Plenary Commission, asked this challenging question at the Santiago Conference: “Unless all our churches find ways of turning the ever-growing pile of ecumenical texts into shared life, will not new divisions appear between those who do find ways to progress and those who do not?” She also urges the churches to seek “only that agreement which is sufficient and required.”5 Two years after Santiago 1993, John Paul II seems to echo Mary TANNER’s concerns in Ut Unum Sint, stating that “a new task lies before us: that of receiving the results already achieved. These cannot remain the statements of bilateral commissions, but must become a common heritage.” He also speaks of a journey toward a visible unity that is necessary and sufficient. Reflecting on the significance of BEM’s reception by the churches fourteen years after the document was published, André BIRMELÉ – a Lutheran member of the Faith and Order Commission – says “The text set in motion perhaps the most important reception process in the modern ecumenical movement.” But then he adds this critique as an indication of some of the remaining challenges: “One sees again and again that the churches have often misunderstood the document and have simply compared it with their own confessions. One has confused a dialogue result with a confession of faith.” He concludes: “So it is not surprising that one must then speak of a non-reception of the Lima document.”6 4 THURIAN Max (ed.), Churches Respond to BEM: Official Responses to the “Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry” Text. Faith and Order Paper 129. Genève, 1986. Vol. I. 9. 5 TANNER Mary, The Tasks of the World Conference in the Perspective of the Future. In BEST Thomas F. – GASSMANN Günther (eds.), On the Way to Fuller Koinonia: Official Report of the Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order, Santiago de Compostela 1993. Faith and Order Paper 166. Genève, 1994. 22–23.

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John George HUBER: Ecumenical Goal In its Report on the Process and Responses, the Faith and Order Standing Commission indicates an awareness of the incompleteness of the reception process. Following a series of consultations on the responses to BEM, the Commission gives testimony not only to remarkable achievements, but to some remaining challenges: “There are those churches and Christians who have not participated in the BEM process or who have been fundamentally critical of it.” The Report then mentions “areas of difficulty which remain in need of further clarification and reflection. There are areas of disagreement in understanding and practice which persist despite discussion, study and prayer.” Specific examples of unresolved issues are cited, such as “the relation of word and sacrament, the understanding of sacrament and sacramentality, the threefold ministry, succession in ministry, ministry of women and men, the relation of Scripture and Tradition, and ecclesiology.” Thus, the unfinished work of Faith and Order continues so that the “imperfect communion” will become more perfect.

Eucharistic Separation Contradicting Koinonia Despite the significant interconfessional agreement that has been reached on the meaning of the Eucharist and also in defining the ecumenical goal as koinonia, this koinonia is in fact contradicted by the separation of so many churches at the Table of the Lord. A very concrete illustration of this is the painfully contrasting experiences of various Christian delegates and visitors attending the three most recent assemblies of the World Council of Churches. During the Vancouver Assembly of 1983 and the Canberra Assembly of 1991, there was a common celebration of the Eucharist, using the “Lima Liturgy,” based on the Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry convergence statement. But the Harare Assembly of 1998 scheduled separate Sunday celebrations in local churches that included the Anglican, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Greek Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox traditions. An overview can acknowledge Eucharistic hospitality in the Church of England, Lutheran–Episcopal interim Eucharistic sharing in the USA, and similar agreements among the Anglican churches of Britain and Ireland, together with Lutheran churches in the Nordic and Baltic countries, as well as full pulpit and altar 6 BIRMELÉ André, Reception as an Ecumenical Requirement: The Example of the Theological Dialogues between Christian Churches. In FALCONER Alan (ed.), Faith and Order in Moshi: The 1996 Commission Meeting. Faith and Order Paper 177. Genève, 1998. 64–65.

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Theology and Art fellowship between Lutheran and Reformed churches in Europe as a result of the Leuenberg Agreement of 1973. But a Faith and Order report, which had been requested by WCC General Secretary Konrad RAISER, also documents the restrictions in Eucharistic sharing that are part of the disciplines, especially of the Roman Catholic and Oriental and Eastern Orthodox churches. Thus, the report lifts up this general observation: “In respect of communion at ecumenical gatherings, celebration in common involving members of the Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox traditions has not been approved officially by all the respective church authorities.” Then it adds this ecclesiological reflection, that for some churches “it is not only agreement on Eucharistic doctrine that is necessary, but also agreement on other aspects of the faith, such as ministry and the nature of the Church that must be achieved before the full communion, of which partaking in the Eucharist is a sign, can come about.”7 A concluding remark in the Bangkok report supports the writer’s contention that this Eucharistic separation is a contradiction of the koinonia that has been discovered and affirmed interconfessionally: “Unless these issues are resolved, or until there is satisfactory consensus, all churches will not be in communion with each other.”

Ecclesiological Issues Still Being Addressed Certain ecclesiological issues continue to come to the surface that pose a challenge for reaching the ecumenical goal shared by the Faith and Order Commission and the World Council of Churches as a whole: visible unity in one faith and one eucharistic fellowship, expressed in worship and in common life in Christ. Already in the multilateral Lima text, Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (1982), a major section of this document is devoted to ecclesiological topics such as: the church and the ordained ministry; the ministry of women and men in the church; functions of bishops, presbyters and deacons; succession of the apostolic ministry; and towards the mutual recognition of the ordained ministries. In the first of the six volumes (1986) that contain responses to the Lima text, commonly referred to as BEM, Max THURIAN, the editor, included a summary of “The Ecclesiology of the Lima Document.” Something similar was done in the Report on the Process and Responses, published in 1990, which includes “Perspectives on 7 Minutes of the Meeting of the Faith and Order Board, 7–14 January 1996, Bangkok, Thailand. Faith and Order Paper 172. Genève, 1996. 135–136.

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John George HUBER: Ecumenical Goal Ecclesiology in the Churches’ Responses,” under the heading “Major Issues Demanding Further Study.” All this indicates a consciousness by the Faith and Order Commission that its unfinished task must now involve an agenda that addresses specific issues, such as “a Christocentric and Trinitarian perspective for the understanding of the Church.” Another such issue could be “possibilities for a common vision of the Church on the basis of an already existing, albeit imperfect, unity,” relating “ecclesiology to the challenge and promise of God’s Reign for the sake of the world.” The list can further include “the relationship of the ordained ministry to the priesthood of the whole people of God,” “the ministries of women,” and “apostolic Tradition and Episcopal succession.” Finally, other topics might be “the service of unity among the churches at a universal level with its implication for teaching and decision-making,” and “an ecumenically oriented ecclesiology of koinonia.” It was issues like these, which were raised by churches in their responses to BEM, that stimulated Faith and Order to initiate a study of ecclesiology. In keeping with what could be called an emerging Faith and Order ecclesiological “trajectory,” it is useful to note the following developments from 1990 through 1998: The Canberra Statement (1991) recognizes that “the challenge of this moment in the ecumenical movement as a reconciling and renewing movement towards full visible unity is for the Seventh Assembly of the WCC to call the churches to move towards a mutual recognition of ministries.”8 The Santiago de Compostela World Conference on Faith and Order (1993) recommended that the commission “take up again the study How does the Church Teach Authoritatively Today?, and also “the question of a universal ministry of Christian unity,” as well as “further work on the ecclesiology underlying BEM.”9 During the Moshi meeting (1996) of the Faith and Order Commission, various topics centering on ecclesiology and the Church appear on the program, including the one on “Ecclesiology and Ethics.” The Faith and Order Director, Alan FALCONER, has continually proposed that some remaining challenges, which he calls an “ecumenical crisis,” require “a new methodology” and “a new ecclesiology.” The new methodology would go beyond “comparison and consensus” and would involve also “conversion.” The new ecclesiolo8 KINNAMON Michael (ed.), World Council of Churches, Signs of the Spirit: Official Report, Seventh Assembly, Canberra, Australia, 7–20 February 1991. Genève, 1991. 174.

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Theology and Art gy is and should be a self-emptying, that is, “kenotic ecclesiology.” FALCONER calls this a “transformation” to enable “accepting each other” and “re-ordering our lives and institutions” to “give a sign to the wider humanity of community through the embrace of a life-style of kenosis.”10 Three years after the publication of the Ut Unum Sint encyclical, the Faith and Order Commission issued its response (1998). Of special interest for tracking the commission’s ecclesiological trajectory are these quotations: “As the Faith and Order commission pursues its work on ecclesiology, we are happy to discover that the issues we are grappling with are also raised in Ut Unum Sint. In particular, as was requested at the fifth world conference on Faith and Order in Santiago de Compostela (1993), we intend to study the question of primacy. We are glad to receive (paragraph 79) a clear indication that the question of primacy is one of a series of important issues for fuller study.” But the Faith and Order response to Ut Unum Sint also surprisingly announces that “we must continue to investigate, in terms of the position of some member churches, the prior question whether there is need, or is not, for a universal primacy in the organizational dimension of the life of the Church of God on Earth.”11 It was also in the year 1998 that Faith and Order’s ecclesiological trajectory culminated in the publication of The Nature and Purpose of the Church: A Stage on the Way to a Common Statement. Its importance as a resource for the continuation of the study process is realized when reviewing its ambitious table of contents: (I) The Church of the Triune God, (II) The Church in History, (III) The Church as Koinonia (Communion), (IV) Life in Communion (including Oversight” and “Primacy), (V) Service in and for the World, and (VI) Following Our Calling: From Converging Understandings to Mutual Recognition. In 2000, the new Standing Commission on Faith and Order was expected to work toward the “production of a consensus statement on the nature and purpose of the Church,” after reviewing the responses to the 1998 document made by “churches, theological institutes and persons who are working specifically in the areas of ecclesiology, and regional ecumenical councils and national councils of churches.”12 9 BEST Thomas F. – GASSMANN Günther (eds.), On the Way to Fuller Koinonia: Official Report of the Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order, Santiago de Compostela 1993. Faith and Order Paper 166. Genève, 1994. 243–245. 10 FALCONER Alan (ed.), Faith and Order in Moshi: The 1996 Commission Meeting. Faith and Order Paper 177. Genève, 1998. 51. 11 Ut Unum Sint: A Response from Faith and Order. The Ecumenical Review 1998/50. 251.

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John George HUBER: Ecumenical Goal Walter KASPER, recently appointed as cardinal and president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity (PCPCU), commends this new consultative process, and expresses the hope that it will find positive reception similar to that of Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry. He suggests there that “real progress will only be possible if we have the courage to tackle the root problems, and if (in the original sense of the word) we have the strength to think ‘radically’.”13

Conclusion An emerging definition of visible unity as “fellowship,” “koinonia,” “communion” and “full communion” are demonstrated in the statements of three assemblies of the World Council of Churches and a major Faith and Order Conference. But the incompleteness of the reception process, the koinoniacontradicting separation at the Lord’s Table, and unresolved ecclesiological issues point to some remaining challenges. Again, it is a “real but imperfect communion.” Yet, an ongoing reception process, plus a more focused ecclesiological study, indicate some new ecumenical possibilities. There is an optimistic, hopeful attitude that is expressed in the Budapest Statement by the Faith and Order Commission that suggests a spiritual venture for seeking greater agreement on the issues that divide the churches: “It is done slowly, with the pain and patience which such labour demands. It urges us to listen to the other’s story with compassion, to share the other’s experience with empathy, and to bear the other’s burdens with mercy. In a renewed and sober hope that does not grow weary we look forward to the way ahead, asking that on that way Christ may be glorified by the Church’s service of God in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.”14 Rev. John George HUBER, D.Min., is Evangelical–Lutheran, a retired pastor of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, currently the Chair of the Faith, Order and Witness Committee of the Ecumenical Council of San Diego County, California, USA. His email address is john.huber@ecunet.org. 12 World Council of Churches, Faith and Order Goals and Activities. In http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/goal-e.html. 13 Ecclesiological and Ecumenical Implications of Baptism. The Ecumenical Review 2000/52. 538. 14 Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry: the Continuing Call to Unity. A Statement by the Faith and Order Commission Addressed to the Churches, Budapest, August 1989. In DESCHNER John – GASSMANN Günter (eds.), Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry 1982–1990. Report on the Process and Responses. Faith and Order Paper 149. Genève, 1990. 155–158.

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ROZS-NAGY Szilvia – NAGYPÁL Szabolcs

The Day of Jezreel: Ecumenical Implications of Old Testament Conflict Resolution There are numerous examples of conflict resolution in the Old Testament, and their interpretation and application should play an important role when we pray and work for the unity of the Church, while at the same time accepting this unity as a gift from God. God constantly wants to challenge us and change our attitude towards other people and other faith communities. A peculiarity of the prophet Jonah, for example, is that throughout the whole book of his story, God deals with the people of the city of Nineveh with a profound compassion and empathy, since they are also considered people of God. If it is true, as many texts of the Old Testament suggest, that God cares for all communities of faith, reveals Godself to them, accepts their offerings and sacrifices, appoints them to be blessings to all the world, and deals with them with profound compassion, we are called to change our attitudes towards our sisters and brothers, most of all within the Christian Church. We chose seven important texts from the Hebrew Bible, where conflicts are resolved and people are reconciled with each other and with God. We firmly believe that these texts have profound implications for us when prophesying, building and testifying to the growing unity of God’s people, and expecting its fulfilment – the day of Jezreel.

Making a Fair Deal: Noah’s Sacrifice When there is a conflict to be solved, the simplest solution (which is at the same time a highly effective one) is to act responsibly, clearly, visibly and progressively: to conduct fair play. It is to face the problem and its consequences and to create an adequate principle in order to prevent similar events in the future. What can we learn from the sacrifice of Noah (Genesis 8,20–9,17) after the great flood, which came because peoples’ thoughts were evil, and God’s covenant response to it? The first step is to bear suffering as Noah did, to endure the punishment and not to evade the challenges. 123

ROZS-NAGY - NAGYPÁL: The Day of Jezreel Then we can move on and see the results and outcomes of our sinful or conflictive deeds. We have to face up to our brokenness, to our sins, without placing blame solely on others. Thus we confront and bear the consequences of history in our lives. We have to analyse our motivations, our weak points, our temptations, our dark sides; and we should also be aware of how much we depend on other people’s opinions and on the common sense of our given society, denomination and culture, and how far we are ready to go to follow the will of God. We have to see reality and the positive and negative potentials of our human nature. This enables us to repent, to be ready for penitence in our own name and in the name of others who cannot be present anymore. Here it is important that we are even ready to confess the sins that were committed against others and against God. And we are also ready to offer sacrifices and to offer our own goods – the little that we have after the great flood. For even after the biggest catastrophes in our lives, we still have something left. We still have a little, a gift, a treasure that we can make a sacrifice from, and from which we can start our new and common life as well. It is definitely not just the leftovers, but something that is genuinely ours, something that is dear to our heart. When we are offering a sacrifice, it is not the fault or sin of the others that we focus on. We do not blame them anymore. We do not hide or falsify the past and the results it produced, but we live in the present and we look forward to the future. We start a new relationship with God; because it is possible in each minute of our lives. The scent of our sacrifice will certainly please God. God will never again put the Earth under a curse because of what people have done, the actions often called in ecumenical circles the “nontheological factors” of our divisions. Our human attempts are certainly not left without an answer. It seems good to God to make a covenant with us. Another world, another future is possible; with new rules, new roles, new promises and new responsibilities. The Universal Covenant with Noah is a basic narrative of God caring for all humanity. As long as the world exists, there will be a time for planting and a time for harvest; there will always be cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night: we are indeed able to live proactively in reconciled diversity, in unity in diversity.

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Theology and Art God blesses us and our children to have many descendants, who will live in a different world. Another world is possible, one where we do not have to inherit our old divisions and pass them on endlessly to the next generations.

Making a Fair Deal: Covenant with Moses Whenever God covers the sky with clouds and the rainbow appears, God will remember God’s promise and God’s everlasting covenant between God and all living beings on Earth. This is a covenant relationship with the whole inhabited Earth (the oikumene), which is an eschatological sign for the whole of humanity and the whole of creation. The offering a new covenant, the last step in this problem resolution, comes from God. It carries a special message for the whole of humankind. It conveys God’s special love and care and provides us with a unique responsibility for each other. We have to clarify our situation with God in the first instance; we have to be clear in what way we belong to God, but also how others belong to God, and to let God act according to God’s unfathomable love for each human being. Let us observe closely another special story (Exodus 24,1–18), the one on the sealing of the covenant with Moses and his pilgrimage to Mount Sinai. There the spiritual leaders go up to the mountain of God and bow down in worship. And what follows is that all the people answer together that they will do everything God has said. The leaders write down all God’s commandments and promises. They build an altar at the foot of the mountain, and set up stones, one for each branch of God’s people. They burn sacrifices to God as fellowship offerings. Then the leaders read aloud the book of the covenant to the people, which should be sealed in blood. The leaders see God, and they eat and drink together in God’s presence. The book contains all that God wrote for the instruction of the people. A cloud covers the mountain, and the dazzling light of God’s presence comes down on the mountain. A covenant or a contract is used to clarify situations, roles, tasks, rights and responsibilities. Contemporary examples of this might be dogmatic formulations and theological agreements, common (ecumenical) translations of the Bible, or a joint return to our common roots, to all that God has really commanded with authority.

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The divisions created by the leaders shall be healed. A covenant can work without knowing the other; this might, however, lead to additional bureaucracy. But if it is to be kept mutually, love and knowledge of the other are necessary and essential conditions. To achieve these aims we need the consensus of the faithful (consensus fidelium), the full agreement of all believers. So while the spiritual leaders meet God, the people down below are offering worship services. They have to commit themselves as well; the leaders alone cannot make commitments on behalf of the whole nation, the whole people of God. God looks for a wider acceptance; otherwise the covenant would fail and be forgotten, as history shows.

Offering a Gift: Jacob meets Esau It is important to meet and to encounter each other, even if there is a controversial past that keeps us apart. From our first story with Noah we have learnt that the most important thing is to reestablish our relationship with God. And now we are ready to move on to our next story (Genesis 33,1â€“11), to the next level of reconciliation, and to re-establish our broken relationship with our neighbour. Our neighbours are our sisters and brothers in the fullest sense of the words, for we have the same Father, the Creator of all.

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The more blessings we inherited, the bigger responsibility we have and the stronger we are. Then we are in the position to make the first step. It should always be the strongest who initiates the reconciliation â€“ a rule rarely followed in our culture. You cannot expect the weaker to initiate confrontation without creating an atmosphere of humiliation, pride, inequality and subjugation. And the strongest should not go with empty hands, but take gifts from what she or he has earned in the meantime, showing respect and appreciation to the weaker through these. We are inherently endowed with gifts, but we are further endowed through our conflicts. We were formed and led and developed by and through them. God was kind to us even during the times when we were separated and lived without each other. God has given us everything we needed and even more. God has given us humility; God has kept us and others as the precious image and icon of God; God has been caring for all our communities; God has blessed us with family and riches and the well-being of all. A gift is not a gift until it is shared. We are to contribute with them, and not to keep them only for ourselves. Everyone has collected different treasures and we should learn how to offer our own gifts and how to accept the gifts of others. And in the case that the other runs to meet and to embrace us, we should be fully prepared to offer our arms to the other, in order to find them and to reconstruct the intimate relationship we once had. Offering various gifts to each other, for example building churches for the other, before we actually discuss our difficulties, helps to prevent the anger or hurt of the other being poured upon us when we finally face each other. We can use bravely the positive and creative surprises of the Holy Spirit. When we want to reconcile, one of the basic elements is to show goodwill and respect already from the very beginning, offering the first love. Unless we are able to feel and show happiness when we meet, we cannot make an honest reconciliation. We can let our gifts talk first. In the beginning, when the air is still full of pain and suspicion, we can let our deeds and our attitude define the honesty and the strength of our reconciling concerns. First comes the experience that we do something, and we do it together and for each other. Then we can go home, sit down and discuss them thoroughly in that atmosphere, which already radiates that we are dear to each other, we care for each other and we are each otherâ€™s sisters and brothers.

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Praying for the Other: Abraham Pleads for Sodom Once Abraham received the divine promise that his descendants would become a great and mighty nation, and through them God would bless all the nations. God chose us, the descendants of Abraham, in order that we may lead our descendants to love God and to become light and salt for the world. If we do so, God will do everything for us that God has promised. Our next story (Genesis 18,20–33), however, tells of terrible accusations against each other and a heavy burden of sin. Even God had to come down to find out whether or not the accusations, which could be heard in the heavens, were true. Did Christians really forget to love and really create hatred against one another; can they really not welcome and handle the newcomers, the strangers, the others? Are we really going to destroy ourselves and the others, the innocent with the guilty? Along with the city where we live together? Did we really forget to pray? Did we forget to pray for one another? Let us remember that God is ready to spare the others, in order to save the fifty … forty-five … forty … thirty … twenty … ten innocents even in Sodom. The Judge of all the Earth acts justly. If there are ten innocent people in our midst, God spares the whole community for their sake. We shall be bold in continuing to petition God for the sake of the others and not to watch their well-deserved fall with pious contentment and silent delight. We shall be bold to pray and offer intercessions for the others. We shall be bold to humble ourselves for the sake of the others before God. We shall be bold to live a life for others, to use the hermeneutics of goodwill in our daily communication, to rejoice in the existence of others. It is an opportunity from God that we can intercede. God is ready for a change, to change God’s mind. God is ready to reconsider God’s opinion, and to choose the more loving and more pro-life options. Many times God just challenges and provokes us and waits for our intercession, thus to make a better world. That is why God calls for repentance continuously. We shall be a bold community, staying in front of God, crying and asking and praising. The narrative of Abraham and Sodom has an open end in this story. In the same way, we do not know anything about the result

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Theology and Art while we are pleading for others, but we intend to do it and continue it unceasingly. We have to realize that the other is important: the other is important for God, and also for us. The other is important to have around, to help, to be supported by every means. The others carry the image of God; that is why they are worthy of the most intimate and powerful means of our help as well – for our prayers for them. We shall pray for each other, in order that God would spare the others and cultivate their cities, their culture and their communities. We cannot be happy and blessed without them. Even if we do not live there, even if we are not part of their culture. Only on the basis of the one God, Who is our Father, we have to continue to pray for each other. We have to find even the least good in the others. Even if there are only ten innocent and holy persons in a denomination. We could only stop our intercession if God proclaimed God’s final words. Of course, in many ways we already practice it: we constantly pray for the unity of the Church. But we have to pray for others, too, realizing all their riches, not only for our longawaited union.

Not Without My Neighbour: Solidarity with the Punished Miriam It is always difficult to say who makes the bigger mistake. In our next story (Numbers 12,1–16) we have a very humble leader. And there are his sister and brother and the other prophets, and God reveals Godself to them in visions and speaks to them in dreams. Being a leader means being responsible and being accountable to God and to the people. As history shows, however, there are questions that query something in the one who posed it, rather than in the one to whom it was posed. The wife of Moses can be questioned, but not his power that was given to him by God. In this story there is not a single person who is spotless. Even the leader of the community has a foreign spouse. So, his relatives question his legitimacy. And most probably they are asking him in the name of the whole community, who also witnessed this unique right of the leader. Those who received punishment forgot only one thing, namely to humble themselves in front of God.

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ROZS-NAGY - NAGYPÁL: The Day of Jezreel Because God accepts Moses as he is, and he is always humble before God; God speaks in a special and unique way with this Servant of God. The Servant, Moses, is put in charge of all God’s people. God speaks to the Servant face to face, clearly, and not in riddles: the Servant has even seen God’s face. One who speaks against the Servant is shut out of the camp for a while, but after that can be brought back in. And as it usually happens, it is one of the other leaders who speaks against Moses, and she is punished for it, even though she advocates and represents the grave concerns of several people in the community. What is important in this story? That all the people would realise they are no better than their leaders, that they are no better than each other. All of them could have been punished for one thing or another. So they do not look at the punishment of one of them with relief, but they share her suffering. Moses is praying for his sister and all the people are waiting for her until she is healed again, and is able to return to the group. The koinonia of the Church is not the sole race of the lonely runner. We do want and need each other; we intend to stay together, even if the other is punished or suffering. We offer our solidarity. We offer to share the suffering of the others. We offer our daily lives, not only our prayers. We intend to help and wait and not to move in our pilgrimage to God until the others are brought back in. In Christianity we cannot feel that we won the competition if we left many others behind, but only if we all managed to get there with the mutual help of each other. We shall not want to rejoice in the Reign of God without our neighbours.

Generous Hospitality: Joseph and his Brothers Around the Table There is nothing special in it when you welcome your own sisters and brothers. You are one family and it is natural that you welcome each other with the greatest generosity and support each other in everything you do. It is preferable, though, to welcome strangers or poor and needy people, because they are the ones who really need our generosity and hospitality. Sharing our table is also a sign of God’s solidarity with us, and a means of our solidarity with each other.

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Theology and Art There are cases, however, and basically the whole ecumenical movement testifies this, when the most difficult thing in life is to face our own sisters and brothers, and to meet them, and to invite them to our table, and to be generous with them. It is difficult exactly because we know them so well. Because we have a common history with them, marked with tensions and conflicts. And when we look at them, all our dreams will come back and all the sufferings we have experienced with them. We cannot forget, either, how we left each other and chose a life without the other, because we felt as if she or he was killing us. Both of us wanted nothing else but to get rid of each other as soon as possible and at whatever price. In our next story (Genesis 45,1–28) there is a great outer necessity, the famine that brought back together the brothers. Happy are those who do not have to wait that long, but are able to make the first steps towards each other at a much earlier stage! The most important thing is to make this first step. The most important thing is not to be content with a fair, polite, politically correct relationship, only with praying for each other (sometimes thereby preventing a closer encounter), or having solidarity with each other in the midst of suffering. But rather, offering active help and a living and close relationship, and behaving with others as with our own sisters and brothers in our own house. Then we will see that it will result in no longer being able to control our feelings in front of each other. Then we will talk about the most important things: “Please, come closer. Now do not be upset or blame yourselves. Is our Father still alive?” Because the most important question is not whether you or I think that we are closer to our Father or are loved more by our Father, but to live together with the Father. Above all, we should seek to re-establish the one global household and the one family. Then we can realise that it was really God Who sent us ahead of the others to save people’s lives, and to rescue the others in this amazing way, and to make sure that the others and their descendants survive. And then we shall embrace each other, we shall give the best land of ours, and the others will have more than enough to live on, as well. Then we can also realise that we do not have to worry about emptying ourselves (in kenosis), leaving our possessions, our traditional family lands behind, since the best in the whole land will be ours.

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Theology and Art

Kenosis of Hosea: Unconditional Love

Is Our Father Still Alive?

One of the most beautiful stories of the Old Testament is the story of the marriage of the prophet Hosea (Hosea 1–3). It explains the love of God and at the same time it stands as an outstanding example of it. Hosea the prophet is asked by God to take a prostitute to be his wife. He is also asked to have children with her. When she leaves him, the prophet is asked by God to take her back again and love her, even though she will not change her ways and continues her prostitution. So the prophet pays for her and stays with her, and loves her. He loves someone who is not his blood-relative. He loves someone who constantly brings shame onto his head and their children’s heads. He loves someone who constantly questions whether a man with this lifestyle and with this kind of wife could really be a prophet, the man of God. If Hosea had any pride, any condition or any fear in himself, he must have lost them at a very early stage of his married life. But he lives from faith alone, from the grace of God alone, from the love of God alone. He is empty like a clay-pot; he is a humble and obedient servant of God alone. Listening to no one else, taking into consideration no one else’s comments or commands but God’s, in order to fulfil his vocation, in order to live his life. That is why it is the most important question in the story of Joseph whether our Father is still alive. We should live with the Father alone. We should follow the will of God alone. Not the will of our history, culture and customs; nor the will of the scared others; because then we might end up experiencing our lives as great scandals. In love there is absolutely no fear, and perfect love annihilates fear totally. We should firmly base our life on the will of God; onto the Father, Who would like to live together with God’s children in eternity. And who also would like to see that Roman Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants can love each other as wife and husband, and can live together as in a marriage that represents the love of God to all the people.

We must love others just as God still loves God’s people. These seven examples from the Old Testament show that another world is possible, where after centuries of endurance in suffering because of our division, we are ready to confess our sins, to humble ourselves, repent and bring sacrifices. This will facilitate our encounter with others, coming from a parallel history and culture. The other, as an icon of God, is always important. Our gifts and contributions should come before us, as signs of our first love, even unto the point of self-emptying. Prayer and intercession should be our constant co-pilgrims towards healing, reconciliation, happiness and conflict resolution. The purification of language is a prerequisite for dialogue; the bondages of identity are obstacles and unity in mutual understanding is the main goal. Our dialogue is nurtured by growing knowledge of and the hermeneutics of goodwill towards the other. Through God’s grace, God will save every community where there are ten innocent people of faith. We have to make sure that there are at least ten innocent and saint persons in our community. Our spiritual leaders as servants of God, in accordance with the community, will guide us under the rainbow of promise and covenant. In solidarity with our neighbour, we intend to stay together. Is our Father still alive? Let us conclude with the prophetic vision of Hosea (1,10–2,1) on our visible unity: “The day is coming when God will say to them: “You are the children of the living God!” The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited. They will choose for themselves a single leader, and once again they will grow and prosper in their land. Yes, the day of Jezreel (God sows) will be a great day! So call your fellow Israelites “God’s people” and “Loved-bythe-Lord”.”

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Suggested Reading ARIARAJAH S. Wesley, The Bible and People of Other Faiths. Genève, 1985. ARIARAJAH S. Wesley, Not Without My Neighbour. Issues in Interfaith Relations. Genève, 1999. ARINZE Francis, Spirituality in Dialogue. Pro Dialogo 1977/3. 371-376. BRIDSTON Keith R., The Ministry of Reconciliation. The Student World 1950/3. 202-213. FUETER Paul D., The Therapeutic Language of the Bible. International Review of Mission 1986/3. 211-221. MURPHY Roland E., Old Testament and Christian Unity. In LOSSKY Nicholas - BONINO José Míguez - POBEE John - STRANSKY Tom F. - WAINWRIGHT Geoffrey - WEBB Pauline (eds.), Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement. Genève, 2002. 844-845.

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ROZS-NAGY - NAGYPÁL: The Day of Jezreel ROEST CROLLIUS Ary A. SI, Harmony and Conflict. Bulletin (Pro Dialogo) 1992/3. 360377. BEUKEN Wim - FREYNE Sean - WEILER Anton (eds.), The Bible and its Readers. Concilivm 1991/1. WEBER Hans-Ruedi, Interpreting Biblical Images. The Ecumenical Review, 1982/3. 210220. SAMARTHA Stanley J. (ed.), Faith in the Midst of Faiths. Reflections on Dialogue in Community. Genève, 1977. ROZS-NAGY Szilvia (1976) is Evangelical-Lutheran, an ecumenical theologian from Hungary and a member of KÖD (Magyar SCM). She works as a university chaplain in Budapest. Currently she is writing her PhD on ecumenical and interreligious liturgies. She was a member of the Executive Committee (ExCo) of the Ecumenical Youth Council in Europe (EYCE) from 2001 till 2003. Her email address is szilvia_n@yahoo.co.uk. NAGYPÁL Szabolcs (1974) is a graduate in ecumenical theology, law and literature. He is Roman Catholic, a theologian in the Békés Gellért Ecumenical Institute (BGÖI) in Pannonhalma, Hungary. He is a former chairperson of KÖD, a former chairperson of the WSCF Central European Subregion (CESR) and a former member of the WSCF European Regional Committee (ERC) and global Executive Committee (ExCo). He co-edited the books: A Pentatonic Landscape: Central Europe, Ecology, Ecumenism (Budapest, 2002) and The River Book: Identity, Culture, Responsibility (Bial⁄ystok, 2003). He is the editor-in-chief of Mozaik and Student World.

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Ján MIHÁLIK

Three Intrareligious Challenges to Interreligious Dialogue In spite of many problems and difficulties, people have already got used to terms such as ecumenism and interreligious dialogue. There are individuals, groups and even whole organisations which address these issues. The prominent representatives of particular religions are involved and they belong often among the most dedicated supporters of dialogue. However, there are inevitable conditions for dialogue to happen. If the conditions are not present, genuine dialogue is emptying and fading. Let us think for a while about one of the conditions for good interreligious relationships, the readiness of an actor for dialogue.

Starting Points The situation of relationships of religions is a conflict situation. There are certain parties which are arguing about beliefs, values, history or followers. I will try to explain this situation as a conflict better, define it and think about it. The starting points of my considerations are four values and theses that I consider to be axiomatically given. I am not questioning them in this paper. Religion as spiritual, psychological, social and cultural phenomenon is neutral as such. It is neither the “opium of humankind,” nor “the salvation of the nation,” but it could be both under some conditions. Religion, because of some more or less mysterious reasons, is for humankind a natural and to some extent inevitable phenomenon. It does not disappear into history. It just transforms itself. I am confident that non-violent conflict resolution is more meaningful and better for concerned parties in the long term than violent resolutions. Collision and confrontation of various religious streams and beliefs is inevitable. It is impossible to exist in total isolation in the present day, to have one’s own territory without intervention from “outside”. 135

Ján MIHÁLIK: Intrareligious Challenges

Why a Conflict? The word conflict is a “violated” word. Our culture conditions us to have mainly negative associations about it, and we connect it with our worst life experiences. I follow a group of scholars who try to reverse this “violation of word”. I understand conflict as a natural part of social life. Conflict is not negative or positive as such, although it is accompanied by negative feelings from possible danger and risk that individual parties of the conflict are undergoing. The positive or negative thing in relation to conflict is the means by which we approach it and try to solve it. The question is whether this approach leads to destruction, to the end of a good relationship or violence; or whether it leads to a constructive solution, to a mutually beneficial agreement, a new quality of relationship and a new knowledge. Conflict is a complex phenomenon. Its formation is influenced by many factors: the number of parties, the content of argument, the history of the relationship, the emotions in the situation, and the personalities concerned. Certain factors are more significant and determining in some conflicts than in others. Religion is one of these factors, and it influences the formation of the majority of conflicts to some extent. This happens through various dimensions of the phenomenon of religion. Conflict is influenced through the lifestyle and attitudes of the parties, and lifestyle and attitudes are certainly formed also by religion. The conflict can be influenced by preference for a particular solution, which is determined by religious belief. Or the position and role of religion and religious organisations in society influence the way a conflict is perceived and approached. We often use the term “religious conflict” without any exact definition nowadays. The term with its unclear meaning rules more in the world of journalism than in science. Anyway, it might help us to target better the area of our interest. Under the words “religious conflict,” I understand such kinds of conflict in which religion constitutes one of the most determining factors through some of its dimensions. It either creates the core content of conflict (religious conflict in the narrow sense of the word); and/or religious belief and religious identity of one of the parties is one of the main reasons for the appearance or escalation of conflict (religious conflict in the broader sense of the word).

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Theology and Art Thus we can consider the situation of the split of Christianity and the formation of Protestantism as a branch of Christianity to be religious conflict where partially teaching (theological questions) formed the core of the conflict. Similarly, we can consider as religious conflict also the relationship between Irish separatists and unionists, which does not have any religious content (they are not arguing directly about Mary’s virginity or the pope’s leading position) but has a strong religious context. Religious identities of groups in conflict are involved and they grow up from specific religious beliefs and history. Contrary to a religious conflict, where the formation of conflict is coupled with religion, there is one more option, which I call “religion in conflict”. Religion is not the major determining factor in conflict formation in this case. Based on the mission of religion, its followers step into a conflict as an independent party (sometimes also called a third party). In the broader sense, the place of religion in conflicts rests also in prevention of conflicts and their escalation through education and formative influence.

Religious Peace There are various groups and organizations nowadays that are striving for peace and non-violence. Some of them do it explicitly and consciously, many of them through their professional efforts; while others work indirectly through different services, personal relationships, and participation in the life of the community. The goal of peaceful cohabitation in the world is impossible to achieve without taking into account religion as an important element that forms the thinking and behaviour of people. The history of religions has often been very violent and xenophobic. That is why I consider the process of liberation from these violent and hateful tendencies to be very important. This process cannot be imposed from outside. It is something that each religious system has to deal with on its own. It is important to clarify my way of using the term “peace” in this context. We usually define peace as the opposite of war. It is the time when there is no war. In a broader sense, we understand it as state where violence is not present. This is a negative understanding of peace. I try to find a positive definition of peace, following the endeavour of other scholars. For the purpose of this paper I am working with definitions and thoughts by Johan GALTUNG, Kai F. BRAND-JACOBSEN and Jorgen JOHANSEN. 137

Ján MIHÁLIK: Intrareligious Challenges These authors talk about peace as a means of approaching conflicts. Peace is not the final state; peace is a capacity. It is the readiness in society to solve conflicts with empathy, non-violence and creativity. I tend to speak about “religious peace” in connection with religion. I do not understand by this term a static coexistence of various religious systems and groups which are passively tolerating one another in the frame of some secular liberal state system. Rather, I imagine it as interplay of dynamic relationships of groups and individuals claiming to follow various religions, who are solving naturally existing conflicts between them in a non-violent way. They do not build boundaries to their personal seeking of transcendent truth because of their own religious system with absolute elimination of any influences from “outside.” They are joining a prudent dialogue with surrounding systems. These participants are able to look for truth more easily in this dialogue without losing their own identities or without the necessity to make compromises in the key points of their religious beliefs. Dialogue (paradoxically) leads them to a deepened knowledge of their own beliefs and at the same time it brings a new configuration of relationships and knowledge. This new configuration makes it possible to transform old conflicts.

Intrareligious Dialogue We have shown that interreligious relationships are a kind of conflict. Representatives of religions (not only official representatives but also individual believers, or whole structures and organisations) take various roles and positions in this conflict. Their behaviour is not dependent only on the overall situation or external influences. The inner order and positions of religions determine their external relations as well. If we want to predict the way of handling a conflict with another system by a denomination or by a certain religious group, we should have a look at some things in its inner structure. I concentrate on three areas in this short paper: What do they believe in? What do they think of others? Where do they “place the borders”? The configuration and extent of inner unity in these three dimensions extensively determines the ability to enter into true dialogue with the external world. The state in each of the dimensions is not constant. It undergoes development, changes of opinion and reinterpretation of tradi-

Theology and Art tion. We can find many examples of changes in “attitude constellations” of a religious organisation towards the external environment in history. This fact gives us hope that impassable ways in present days can bring unexpected possibilities in the future.

What Do They Believe In? One of the most common reservations is that religions have violence “built into” in them. Religions based on sacred scriptures have a lot of bloody stories and narrations about hatred and fights. According to these, each believer who really holds onto the basis of her or his belief has to be more closed and resistant to the world and the environment. She or he lives in the world of her or his belief with the tendency to enforce it even at the price of violence. This makes her or him unable to conduct a true dialogue, in which the opposite side is considered as a partner and not as “uninformed and impoverished”. In reality the situation is different. We can hear about many believers whose attitudes do not match up with the previous speculation. It is difficult to find somebody who would question the sincerity and deepness of religious belief of Mohandas K. GHANDI, Mother Theresa or the present Dalai Lama. In spite of that, they do not belong among exemplary xenophobes, malicious people or those who do not understand the world around them. And surely they do not belong to objectors of interreligious dialogue. On the contrary, they were many times propagators of this dialogue. How is it possible that the strengthening of religious belief and spiritual life leads many of their mates in belief to fundamentalism? Why have not they fallen into a similar trap? This paradox of strengthening religious belief still has not been analysed, investigated and explained enough. But one thing is sure: strengthening belief does not automatically mean withdrawing from the environment and stepping out of serious dialogue. Johan GALTUNG has indirectly offered one possible partial explanation of this phenomenon. In his essay1, presented at an UNESCO conference in 1994 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, he offered a hypothesis. According to him, each religion has its own hard and soft elements. Enforcement and fixation of hard elements leads believers to the perception of their faith as exclusive truth and themselves as an elite of chosen people. 1 GALTUNG Johan, Religion, Hard and Soft. www.aril.org/galtung.htm.

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Ján MIHÁLIK: Intrareligious Challenges Hard elements feed many times bureaucracy and lifeless strictness of religious organisations, or on the other hand fanaticism and exclusiveness of groups and individuals. Contrariwise, soft elements place “love over law”. GALTUNG also offered a few examples of hard and soft elements: It can easily happen that Hard Soft a believer or a theologian God is transcendent and above God is immanent and inside would have a strange feeling while having a look at God has Chosen People People have Chosen God(s) the table. We do not ask in the table what is true. There is a Satan below There is no Satan We are just trying to track the “measure of social Satan has Chosen People People have Chosen Satan(s) hardness” which individuMonotheism – Polytheism – al religions contain. Unitarian Trinitarian, Quaternarian etc. For example, belief that Monism Dualism God is only one and Universalism somewhere “above” us, Particularism and Pluralism and Singularism can lead to an image of a State has Chosen Religion Religion has no Chosen State Monarch whom we have to serve. At the same time, strictly holding onto this idea leads to condemnation of gods of different religions as long as God is only One and then our One is the True One. On contrary, belief that God is in each person can lead to “social softness”: an openness to people without elitism and superiority. Similarly, teachings claiming universal validity lead people more easily to violent presentations of their teachings than ones claiming only local validity. In this way we can easily (and partly mistakenly) come to the conclusion that pantheistic, polytheistic or non-theistic, pluralistic and particularistic religions (as in some aspects Buddhism or Shinto) have more predispositions towards peaceful life than monotheist, singularist and universalist religions (as Christianity or Islam). In reality each religion has both types of elements. Each religion creates certain boundaries and barriers in the effort to give evidence to the Truth. Hard elements make the space for mutual respect and dialogue narrower, so long as they are not balanced by soft elements. From this point of view, the phenomenon called religious fundamentalism (in the negative sense of word) means inflexible adhesion to the hard elements at the (sometimes tragic) expense of the soft ones. 140

Theology and Art It would be good to have a better look at the maturing processes of these elements in some research. At this point I can offer only my assumption that each religion at its “birth” already included both kinds of elements. The general tendency of “institutionalised religion” is to come out with hard elements at first, which in a long and slow confrontation with surrounding world make the religious system to look for its soft elements, or at least softer interpretations of hard elements. Coexistence with other systems is enabled by that and thus also the survival of the religious system itself. Certainly it is utmostly necessary to explore this hypothesis more carefully and to verify it.2 Religions indeed need to mature to be able to enter dialogue.

What Do They Think of Others? The second dimension which fundamentally influences readiness for dialogue is the opinion about other religions – and thus about one’s own religion – in relation to its truthfulness and salvific efficacy. Douglas PRATT3 distinguishes three basic paradigms through which religions look on each other: exclusivism (my religion as the only one true); inclusivism (my religion as the only one fully true); and pluralism (my religion as equally true). Exclusivism identifies one’s own religion (or a specific form of religion) with the essence of universal religion. Thus it refuses the claim of another religion on truth. In spite of that it happens that exclusivists enter into dialogue, but their contribution often undermines the overall efforts. Exclusivism appears in two forms: closed and open. Closed exclusivism refuses a priori existence of a different true religion. Open exclusivism joins dialogue, but the basic idea is more to make capitulation possible for the others (metanoia, conversion or “coming home”) than to really hold a dialogue. Inclusivism, similarly to exclusivism, claims the whole truth-value of its own religion, but it leaves some space to other religions, which in various forms (unconsciously or implicitly) take part in full truth. 2 I consider mainly an image of a relatively stable religion in this part. The aforementioned thesis obviously comes to problems with unstable religious systems, as for example New Age and similar ones. Some of them have very unclear and changeable teachings. It seems that a certain experience is more important for them than the definition of concrete truth, as it was often in cases of older religions. Thus it is very difficult to talk about hard and soft elements of “unstable religions”, because these features are connected mainly to teachings. 3 PRATT Douglas, Contextual Paradigms for Interfaith Dialogue. Current Dialogue, 2003/42. http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/interreligious/cd42-02.html. The whole part What Do They Think of Others? derives from this paper.

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Ján MIHÁLIK: Intrareligious Challenges We can explore more forms of inclusivism. PRATT introduces three examples: gatekeeper, incognito ubiquity and imperialist. Gatekeeper states that others have their part of truth, but the whole has truthful sense only when seen from her or his point of view. If other religions want to have real “salvific validity,” they have to enter the “gate” of inclusive religion. Incognito ubiquity inclusivists think that other religions have partial validity as well as partial efficacy. But they are viewed just as variant and limited expressions of the universal religious Truth that is yet best expressed by their only fully true religion. Imperialist inclusivists allow for partial truth validity and salvific efficacy in respect to other religions, but only those deemed authentic. Those are the ones which are viewed as legitimate variant realizations of the only comprehensive Right One. In general this is the view of Islam towards “religions of the Book,” ie. Judaism and Christianity. Pluralism asserts that various religions are equal expressions of a universal “religious reality”. This equality, however, could be understood in various contexts. Common ground pluralism views religious differences, or the variety of religions, as contextualised variable expressions of/from a Universal Source. John HICK, the leading representative of this stream of thinking, talks about a “Copernican Revolution”, for it “involves a shift from the dogma that Christianity is at the centre to the realisation that it is God Who is at the centre.” A similar version is common goal pluralism. It offers the thesis that religious differences reflect the variety of salvific paths leading, or drawn to, the Universal Goal. Complementary holistic pluralism assumes that religious differences may be discerned as complementary particular expressions, which together comprise the Universal Whole. Dynamic parallel pluralism comes out of the observation that even in very different religions one can see dynamic parallel processes, rather than the same content. “Religions are not variants of the same thing, but they are variable expressions of parallel processes.”4 Finally, PRATT identifies radically differentiated pluralism. It is based on the assumption that religions are so differentiated that it is not possible to state responsibly that something is common for them. They are simply different. No one of them can be interpreted and understood correctly in terms of another religion. I think it is not necessary to clarify more the extent of the influ-

Theology and Art ence of individual approaches on dialogue. All of them are pointing out the basic question we face: what is the goal of interreligious dialogue? Each paradigm has its own version of the goal. Is it then that everyone should choose finally the only true religion? Do we want only to inform each other? Are we seeking who has the nicest labels and explanations? Or are all religions to be transformed into the mess of New Age? It is important to say that the aforementioned paradigms undergo development. We can see it also today, when in the new context and knowledge, historically strong exclusivists become modest inclusivists. It is sometimes enough to change the terminology; in other cases it is necessary to think and research for few decades. The substantial issue is that shifts are possible in principle.

Where Do They Place the Borders? Every relationship brings its own problems. After some time we always encounter some contradiction, difference or discordance. The third challenge for interreligious dialogue rests in the question: where do we place the borderline in the case of confrontation? We have three basic options: we can be disregarding and we simply refuse to be concerned with the discordance; we can place the borderline – and thus the place of confrontation – outside of us; or we can run the borderline directly “through us”. If, in our common world, I meet someone who has an absolutely different point of view on issues of crucial importance than I have, it is a great challenge. I can pretend that I do not see it and underestimate its importance. This is the strategy of those who nourish “passive tolerance”: “if they do not kill me, it does not matter.” Or I can pretend that it is not my problem. It has to be solved elsewhere, the other must solve it: she or he has to change. It is the case of running the line of demarcation outside of me: somewhere between her or him and me. There is one more option: to run the borderline directly through me. I can say: It is my problem, too. He has a totally different opinion, different faith, or style of living. What shall we do with that? How do I overcome the fact of being two such different people side by side? Where is the Truth that I thought was on my side? Similarly, a religious organisation can adopt one of these attitudes. Often it is the second option. In such cases the borderline becomes the line of fighting. If not physical violence, then at least the fight of words is present. The parties are arguing, defending and contradicting; but genuine dialogue does not look like that.

4 Ibid. 142

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Ján MIHÁLIK: Intrareligious Challenges Genuine dialogue is possible only if the parties are able to admit that the problem is their common issue. It means to admit that they both have some uncertainties that both of them are changing and they need to clarify some things before they are able to answer the questions without hesitation. The Czech sociologist and theologian Tomas HALIK speaks about boundaries between faithful and unfaithful in a similar way: “The dividing line between those who believe and those who do not passes through the heart of everyone. Faith and doubt, nay faithlessness, live in the minds of all of us. Fundamentalists are those who have not succeeded to struggle with their questions in their own mind and thus they project them onto the others: they are able to fight them there.”5 We have shown three dimensions and challenges to interreligious dialogue. Without self-reflection and inner maturing of every religion, it will not be possible to enter into genuine dialogue. Dialogue needs certain conditions, and the specific maturity of involved parties is one of them. If we have inner disturbances and discordance in some questions, we will not be able to speak about them calmly and openly with the others. If we do not know our own possibilities and options, we cannot use them creatively to fill the gaps which separate us from the others. One of the key starting points for anybody who is involved in resolution of religious conflicts is the stimulation of healthy intrareligious dialogue. Suggested Reading APPLEBY R. Scott, The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence and Reconciliation. 2000. GALTUNG Johan, Religion, Hard and Soft. www.aril.org/galtung.htm. GALTUNG Johan, Peace by Peaceful Means: Peace and Conflict, Development and Civilization. 1998. GALTUNG Johan – JACOBSEN Carl Gustav – BRAND-JACOBSEN Kai Frithjof, Searching for Peace: The Road to Transcende. London 2002. KOLKOVÁ Terezia, Boh miluje zápasníkov (God loves the fighters). Zrno, 2004/25. PRATT Douglas, Contextual Paradigms for Interfaith Dialogue. Current Dialogue, 2003/42. http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/interreligious/cd42-02.html. TSCHUY Théo, Ethnic Conflict and Religion: Challenge to the Churches. Geneva, 1997. Ján MIHÁLIK works for Partners for Democratic Change Slovakia as consultant and trainer in the fields of NGO management, youth work and youth policy, and religion and peacemaking. He has an academic background in social work and social development practice. Prior to joining Partners for Democratic Change Slovakia, he was executive director and later president of DOMKA – Association of Salesian Youth, which is one of the biggest Slovak youth organisations. He is Roman Catholic. His email address is mihalik@pdcs.sk. 5 KOLKOVÁ Terezia, Boh miluje zápasníkov (God loves the fighters). Zrno, 2004/25.

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Henrik Lindberg HANSEN

The Meaningful Truth of God The dialogue between religions is a relatively new phenomenon in the way we are trying to approach it now. Christianity has had a tendency towards self-sufficiency in her attitude towards other religions, but within the past few decades we have had a more open approach and acknowledged truth in other religions. Before entering dialogue we have to examine ourselves critically to develop this open attitude. We must address some of the basic issues in Christianity to find out if we are ready and willing to enter dialogue. One of these issues is the concept of truth. If Christianity does not represent the truth, which fills us completely, then we are not in the presence of God. But at the same time we have to accept and be ready to learn from the truth represented by other religions. This can be seen as a paradox.

Engaging in the Dialogue of the Ages On an international level there has always been interaction between the different faiths of the world. People of different faiths have been living side by side for centuries; they have laughed, starved, eaten, had hope and been in despair together. Sometimes the interaction has been of a more brutal kind: wars, killing or the seizure or burning of each other’s property. In the Arab world dialogue flourished earlier, as philosophical and theological debates were vivid with intertextuality and shared philosophical interests, which formed its basis. Muslims taught Christians and vice versa. This was primarily in the Humanist Renaissance of Islam (945–1055), where e.g. the Christian Yahya IBN ADI, who had been a disciple of the Muslim AL-FARABI, became the mentor of a new generation of philosophers, amongst whom we find the prominent Muslim theologian and philosopher MISKAWAYH1. The picture now is quite different and to a much larger degree defined by distrust and fear, which really distorts the picture of the other religion and makes common research very difficult and dialogue necessary to rebuild relations. 1 LEIRVIK Oddbjørn, Knowing by Oneself, Knowing with the Other. In AL-DAMIR, Human Conscience and Christian-Muslim Relations. Oslo, 2002.

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Theology and Art Being Evangelical-Lutheran and thus of another denomination, I take the liberty of underlining official papers of a specific denomination in this ecumenical setting. Especially the documents Lumen Gentium, Ad Gentes and Nostra Ætate give a basic understanding on how we can approach interfaith dialogue and other religions. These documents state that we do have access to the fullness and abundance of God’s truth. But they also state that we are not the only ones holding the truth; that others may also have had a revelation from God.

Obstacles to Dialogue

In the Western world the picture is quite different, as they in their history did not have the same openness towards other ways of thinking and religions – at least not during the periods where the Arab world was open for this dialogue and cooperation, nor to the same degree as we have seen it in the Arab world. Where the Arab world from the beginning of Islam has been more multicultural, the Western world has historically had a tendency towards monoculture. Relations have not been completely closed, though, as commercial relations have been pulsating throughout the ages and Europe has gained vast amounts of knowledge and philosophy from the Arab countries in the Middle Ages, which gave Europe a boost for her development into what she is now. Dialogue as we now see it seems to differ from earlier interaction between the Western world and the Arab world because it is done with a difference in attitude towards the other religion, at least in Europe. Both worlds seem to be opening up towards each other on a fundamental level in religious dialogue, while we paradoxically seem to distance from each other politically. It is officially accepted by most churches that other religions do have access to the truth of God. Some of the most beautiful statements of this insight are found in the Roman Catholic documents of the Second Vatican Council.

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In dialogue with another religion, we have to differentiate between what religion is and what it is not. There is a whole array of obstacles for dialogue to overcome. I will list some of these2: Insufficient grounding in one’s own faith; lack of understanding of the other belief; historic and contemporary socio-political factors; culture, economics and ethnicity; wrong or insufficient understanding of such terms as conversion, baptism and dialogue; self-sufficiency; lack of trust: suspicion towards the motives of the other in dialogue; polemic intentions in expressing religious convictions. At the top of the list (which is not prioritised in any other way) is the understanding of one’s own faith. It is crucial and fundamental to know who and what we are, if we are to share our faith with others. We have a lot to give, but we need to know it well enough in order to express it. Before entering dialogue we also need to discuss what dialogue means for us as Christians. Therefore we need to address the question of truth,3 since an exclusive concept of truth could make the dialogue fruitless.4

2 In accordance with an unpublished paper of VERDOSCIA Luciano. 3 It should be noted that this article is written in a Western liberal tradition and directed to the Western world. It is meant as self-critique and examination, and is only appropriate as such. Dialogue must begin with admitting and omitting one’s own flaws and thus being worthy of entering into relationship with the other. Of course the procedure of self-examination is an ongoing process, but it must not be allowed to constitute a self-image, as we indeed have a lot to give. 4 In my work as a liaison officer I am employed to enter dialogue at al-Azhar University. The Grand Imam at al-Azhar is the head of the Sunni Muslims, which make up 90 per cent of Muslims worldwide, or 900.000.000.000 people. He said at a meeting with the archbishop of the Anglican Church that “we believe in the same [Creator] God, but we come from different countries.” The Anglican Church and al-Azhar have signed a paper stating exactly this. This article is an attempt to take this seriously in European theological tradition.

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Henrik Lindberg HANSEN: Truth of God...

Truth in History As a discussion within Christianity, we all agree that God is the infinite One; so great that we cannot possibly comprehend the vastness of God’s being, as we cannot understand the wondrous actions of God. For instance, the very attempt to explain that Jesus Christ was both God and human is in itself condemned as blasphemy by the Church fathers. We bow our heads in humbleness when confronted with the mysteries of God. But this seems only to be in living out and discussing faith within the Christian churches. At the moment we turn towards other religions, we have felt the need for clearly defined borders of Christianity to separate ourselves from the other. We have had an apologetic tendency, as we felt the need to protect ourselves and our faith from other religions. We of course need some definition of the divine in order to adhere to it. But these definitions do not have to be done in opposition to other religions; they can be done positively within our faith. At approximately the same time as Immanuel KANT formulated his philosophy and forged his bronze heaven of reason in accordance with an Aristotelian tradition of logic, industrialization conquered the thought and life of the Western world. The limits of human accomplishment were seen as endless, slowed only by time, as reason needed time to realize itself in humanity. This reason was thought to be incarnated in Western civilization, and thus it was the God-given mission of the Western world to bring light – in the forms of efficiency and productivity – to the rest of the world. In exchange, the rest of the world had to deliver the raw material that the Western world needed for further development. This industrialization went hand in hand with the spreading of the gospel. But this mission did not only spread the gospel; it spread the gospel of the Western Industrialized World. Everything that was not born from the light of incarnated reason was darkness – including Islam and all other living faiths. In this approach to the world dialogue is not possible, but only the spreading of this one truth. If we want interfaith dialogue as a true option, we will have to move beyond the modern way of thinking with a God-given reason, and the consequent arrogant self-understanding.

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Theology and Art We need to approach the world in a much humbler way, which could mean that we are not the only ones holding the truth. As Christians we need to have an understanding of the concept of truth which exposes the vastness of God beyond our own borders.

The Truth of Reason We cannot use the approach of reason and logic started by ARISTOTLE and coined for religion in the modern world by Immanuel KANT to define the concept of truth in religion. Even though KANT does speak of religion as that which is beyond reason, the concept of truth nevertheless has been defined to a large extent by the logical approach of KANT in Modernity. This might have some relevance, but not in the Christian religious definition of truth in the approach to other religions. A core truth of Aristotelian logic is that A cannot be both A and B. An apple cannot both be an apple and a banana. As logic, it is obvious. But is it obvious when it comes to defining our conception of God? The Church fathers stated long ago that Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully human, without any mixture. They stated that God is one and yet three. These are basic Christian articles of faith and thus true for Christians. But they do defy the classical and modern concept of logical formal truth, and as such they set us free when it comes to our perception of God. An apple might not be a banana, but God was for us most certainly God and yet also human. We have already in Christianity defined God as defying logic, since logic is merely the structure God has chosen for God’s creation; and reason is the way God’s creation can develop knowledge in order to live in God’s creation. Reason is a mere tool which will never be able to define God or the true meaning of life, but it can sustain the meaning given by faith in the world. This clarification of logic connected to religion is not new. Most would agree with it. The point is that we must underline this clarification in connection with divine revelation in dialogue, and not as the earlier apologetic approach to other religions uses the formal truth of reason. Religious truth is not something contemplated by humans, but something given by God, and He gives it wherever and whenever he finds it fitting God’s creation.

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Theology and Art

God in Culture

Truth in Religion

God has revealed Godself to the world, in the world. God is part of our history, where God throughout history has approached humans in their specific times and cultures. Here God has made Godself understandable to people. Culture is a term used to define the cognitive horizon5 of a specific area, as different areas develop different understandings of life and how to live it. If you lived in the desert 1400 years ago, far from the rich soil of the Western shores, the moon would be the symbol of joy as the sun would be scorching you and your surroundings all day. You would be dependent on your tribe, and you would live in constant fear of other tribes wanting your food, as it would be very scarce. As there would be no gathering structures of a nation, you would be dependent on your tribe to avenge you if you were attacked. It would be your only security if some kind of unity was not created. If you lived by the Western shores on the rich soils of Israel two thousand years ago, you would face a society which had lost its sense of unity. People would be becoming more and more individualistic, striving for their own prosperity; and because of this, religion for many was becoming something you do, not something you live. What then is your meaning, your purpose and aim in life? How would God communicate with you? How would you understand, for example, the concept of love, which is so central to Christianity? The sagas of Greenland preceding the Danish colonization are almost entirely stripped of the notion of personal love; they are directed against nature, which defined their life completely in the icy wastelands. In the European romantic period, personal love between two people was elevated to the peak of meaning in life in a setting where nobility had way too much time on their hands. In all these different cultural settings, we of course do understand love differently. But this must also have an impact on divine revelation. How can we talk about the love of God, if the word means something different in each situation? Would God not also reveal Godself to this culture â€“ in accordance with the cognitive horizon of the culture? Could we understand God if God did not?

Can there be only one truth from the One God? If there is only one truth, what then is this truth? Is it a truth written down once and for all, or is it the fullness and abundance of life; the meaning of life? And will this not develop during time and have different expressions in different cultures? The truth of religion is not a truth taken by reason; it is a truth revealed to us if we are open to the meaning which is given to us by our Creator. We cannot grasp it with reason, and we definitely cannot call ourselves the owners of this truth. But this does not mean that we do not hold the truth of God, and that our connection to God does not lead to God. In a more humble approach, inspired by the post-modern way of thinking, we can realize that our understanding of the world is limited by our own cognitive horizon. We are born into a specific context which limits the borders of our understanding. In meeting with something that is not accounted for in our worldview, we will have to broaden our culturallygiven horizon in order to get a fuller understanding. This means that the culturally, religiously and geographically different have to be taken seriously in their own truth to the highest possible degree. After Christianity became the religion of state, some 1,700 years ago in many countries, this has not been our dominant way of thinking. In the Western Christian world religious truth was confined in a very brutal way within geographical borders, which defined the borders of true civilization. Thus truth was being limited to the culture in which we were born. In our more multicultural setting, this is no longer the case. We start to see beyond the identity-creating borders of our own culture, into the truth of other cultures. This does not mean that our culture loses sense. It rather means that other people might lead a life just as meaningful as ours without necessarily having the same cognitive horizons as we do. This is culture, and we must find out if it is also religion. We have realized that we cannot encompass the vastness of life and love of God, but also that we very well can live by exploring life and love in curiosity and humbleness.

5 The term â€œcognitiveâ€? is used here to signify not just a rational approach to the world, but rather our full understanding of our place in the world as rational and spiritual beings.

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My Truth or God in Me? This concept of truth in religion when meeting with other living faiths does of course raise a string of questions, of which the most pressing might be: Where does it end? How far can we go in the acceptance of other religions? Where are the limits? The answer given so far in this article is: You did not start it, and you cannot end it. God knows. But it might be enlightening to develop a bit further the personal issue of the question. You know God. God has spoken to you. You have set the limits of God – in your life. These limits you have set to be able to relate to God. You have to. But you have only done this within your own cognitive horizon and tradition – from which you are not able to transcend by yourself. The moment you put yourself in a genuine meeting with a person from another religion, or a person from within your own religion but with religious concepts different from your own, as we have done before and are doing now, you have the possibility to go beyond your own cognitive horizon and tradition through this other person. This does not mean that you have to adopt the other cognitive horizon as your own, but it does mean that you have to take it seriously. The moment you take it seriously, you have a chance to grow and develop from the experience of entering another cognitive horizon. Basically we are not able to set limits for God. The relationship to God is a trusting relationship with the unknown. The moment we conceive definitions of God is the moment religion turns into ideology and we start killing in God’s name; and it is the moment we have moved as far from God as we possibly can. It really makes us usurpers to God’s power. Each of us lays claim to the truth of God. And we hold the truth of God. Dialogue is not an instrument to gather different pieces of the truth of God. Dialogue is not a jigsaw puzzle with a lot of pieces which have to be put together. God is The Unknown. God is Love; Life; Joy – and God is with us in death and sorrow. God is the power of Life itself; we deny God by denying the person in front of us, as we by this defy Life Itself. This is the judgement which Matthew 25 speaks about. God is the Unknown, but we know God in the most intimate way possible, as God is the One Who provides us with meaning. What we know about God is not something understandable; it is the basis of faith. 152

Theology and Art It might seem a paradox that we hold the truth and that others, who believe in another way, also hold the truth. But this is only when we perceive truth as something we have taken or explored with rationality. If truth is the faith given by God, which we basically do not understand but accept in faith, we cannot lay claim to it but only praise God that God has given God’s creation God’s meaningful truth.

Concentric Cognitive Circles of Faith Friedrich SCHLEIERMACHER6 speaks of a hierarchy of truth in religion. In his opinion every religion holds some truth, but this truth is refined from animism to Buddhism to monotheism and ends in its most refined form in Christianity. It is not hard to find some inspiration from Georg W. F. HEGEL, who also ends, not in Christianity, but in the rationality of Christian society as the ultimate expression of the Imago Dei in humanity. The Roman Catholic church partially follows the same trail of thought in her explanation of the concept of Church or the “people of God” in Lumen Gentium as the mystical body of Christ, but it does differ in the fact that the Roman Catholic church does not have her starting and ending point in rationality, but in faith. The Church finds her supreme expression in the Roman Catholic church. The Roman Catholic church is the centre. From here truth can be found in concentric circles in other Christian denominations; and at the farthest reaches of the concentric circles, even atheists have access to the truth of God, as they can live the life of a devoted, God-fearing person, as morality, mentality or spirituality. I think these thoughts hold the truth that we can never completely separate ourselves from our own cognitive horizon. And that we never should do it, either. The goal of dialogue is not that we all think or believe in the same way, but that we are walking the road together in peace; entering and celebrating Life together. SCHLEIERMACHER’s basis of thinking is Western rationality, and it is not surprising that he ends up with a rational model of Christianity as the supreme expression of divinity. The Roman Catholic church does not try to rationalize her way to why she holds the truth. She just points at Christ, and thus at the basis of her faith. Nor does she talk about Christianity as the only one holding the truth, but rather as the “crown” of belief. While SCHLEIERMACHER rationally deduces from animism to Christianity, the Catholic Church 6 SCHLEIERMACHER Friedrich, Der christliche Glaube. Berlin, 1984.

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Henrik Lindberg HANSEN: Truth of God... begins with her own faith and relates from this to other religions and cognitive horizons. Cognitively this is how we believe; and how we can believe. Each of us is the centre of our cognitive horizon. And to this centre God speaks God’s truth. We can try to broaden our horizon, but we will always be in the centre of it, and some ways of thinking will always be on the periphery of it. Some will be outside of our cognitive horizon. This does not mean that we should give up on the centre to embrace another centre; it just means that the person in front of us will be in an equal centre and that this person can be a catalyst to broaden the horizon. But this also implies that we cannot see the religion of the other, without seeing it from the centre of our own cognitive horizon. Christians will look for Christ in Islam, and Muslims will look for the truth of the Qur’an in Christianity. If this was not so, Christians would not be Christians and Muslims would not be Muslims. We are, what we are, and as such we must take the other seriously. When the Egyptian Muslim writer AL-AQQAD7 wrote a biography of Christ, he did it as a Muslim, who took the Bible seriously as Holy Scripture, and enriched his own understanding of himself as a Muslim. He did not see Christ as the son of God, but he deepened his own perception on Christ in Islam, as he emphasized the rule of love given by Christ as an integral part of Islam; as something, which he as a Muslim had to take seriously in order to be a Muslim. God is Love, and in this setting it would be appropriate to bring forth the element of communication that is in love: God is the Communication of Life in Life that enables us to see the person in front of us as just as genuine as ourselves. In Georg W. LEIBNIZ’ words, God is harmony, and this is what enables us to stand in front of this other centre and to take it seriously as a centre.8

The Aim of Dialogue It is important to make one last point, and that is how we approach other living religions. What is the point of the meeting between religions? First, the encounter does carry its own meaning. God has given God’s meaning to God’s creation, and in the dialogue we have the opportunity to give our thanks and praise together with the rest of creation. Secondly, we also have an obligation to safeguard peace, and to create it wherever we do not find it. In the same way, we have an 154

Theology and Art obligation together to ensure the basic needs of creation as a whole. This is our duty as caretakers of the creation of God – both for Christians and Muslims. Thirdly, in dialogue we also have the chance and possibility to root out our misconceptions of both Christianity and other religions, thus purifying our relations. Finally, we have the chance to develop knowledge of our own belief. So far we have apologetically argued and defended the Holy Trinity when meeting with Islam, but in a positive dialogue with Islam, we might be able to develop a more profound concept of the unity of God, which would deepen our concept of the trinity of God. In religions which are close to Christianity, we have the common use of some texts in faith and philosophy, and we can develop our readings by taking into account the exegesis of the others in a more serious way. Conversion of the other in dialogue cannot be an aim, but we must respect the work of God if someone is called to be converted, as it is the will of God with this person, regardless if it is a Christian, a Muslim, or any other who is converting. Suggested Reading Decree Ad Gentes on the Mission Activity of the Church. http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vatii_decree_19651207_ad-gentes_en.html. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium. http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vatii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html. Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions Nostra Ætate. http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vatii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_en.html. CHAPMAN Colin, Cross and Crescent: Responding to the Challenge of Islam. Leicester, 1996. LEIRVIK Oddbjørn, Knowing by Oneself, Knowing with the Other. In AL-DAMIR, Human Conscience and Christian-Muslim Relations. Oslo, 2002. MOLTMANN Jürgen, God in Creation: An Ecological Doctrine of Creation: The Gifford Lectures 1984–1985. London, 1985. VATTIMO Gianni, Credere di credere. Milano, 1996. Henrik Lindberg HANSEN was born in Denmark in 1974, and ordained a pastor in the Danish Evangelical-Lutheran Church to function as a liaison officer in Cairo from 2004–2010. Here he develops knowledge on Islam and will enter in dialogue at the Muslim al-Azhar University. The dialogue carries its own meaning, but is also directing him to be able to function as a resource in this field in Denmark. See more details at www.faithtofaith.dk. His email address is henrik@faithtofaith.dk. 7 LEIRVIK Oddbjørn, Knowing by Oneself, Knowing with the Other. In AL-DAMIR, Human Conscience and Christian-Muslim Relations. Oslo, 2002. 8 This way of thinking is developed from Georg W. LEIBNIZ’ teachings in his Monadology, inspired by the interpretation by Jürgen MOLTMANN in God in Creation: An Ecological Doctrine of Creation: The Gifford Lectures 1984–1985 (London, 1985).

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Theology and Art

Peter Sˇ AJDA

Excessive Fixation as a Source of Unbalance in Relationships (Illustrated with Søren KIERKEGAARD’S Theory of Personality Development Stages) One of the fundamental premises in KIERKEGAARD’S theory of personality is the conviction that a person by entering a relationship does not lose any of her or his identity as an eternal individual. Kierkegaard believes that each human has a unique project with God and his or her primary goal remains eternal salvation, no matter what circumstances she or he encounters along the way. This premise can seem obvious when talking about a Christian thinker, but its implications in Kierkegaard’s works have often been regarded with reservations and suspicion even by a number of Judeo-Christian thinkers (e.g. Martin BUBER).1

Human Relationships as 1 + 1 + 1 + 1… Søren KIERKEGAARD’s consequent defence of the autonomy and primacy of the individual (the subject) frequently provoked criticism on the part of authors who were intensely concerned with communitarian perspectives of the human existence (e.g. Theodor W. ADORNO or Knud E. LØGSTRUP).2 On the other hand, KIERKEGAARD repeatedly criticised excessive emphasis on institutions of the community (e.g. family, church or state), as suggested by thinkers dealing with social paradigms. Undoubtedly the most influential counterpart to KIERKEGAARD’s project of religious subjectivism, and a reference figure throughout his life, was Georg W. F. HEGEL. 1 BUBER Martin, Die Frage an den Einzelnen (Das dialogische Prinzip). Heidelberg, 1984. 2 ADORNO Theodor W., Kierkegaard Lehre von der Liebe. In: Konstruktion des Ästhetischen. Frankfurt am Main, 1966.

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KIERKEGAARD’s concept of personality development is based on the idea of the increasing maturity of the individual. The individual follows a certain path in life and her or his ultimate goal should be her or his meaningful presence in the world, rooted in the mystery of transcendence. The transcendence is, however, ubiquitous and therefore a relation with it can be traced in all the relative relationships of the given individual. The way one approaches food or nature; how one treats one’s dog, one’s property, one’s family or the way one smokes a cigar – all these seemingly non-absolute relationships point to the configuration of one’s rudimentary relational patterns, which are invisibly present in one’s own inside. It is no surprise that KIERKEGAARD was deeply inspired by the narratives about SOCRATES. Although he was far from a mere follower of the ancient sage, in many instances he drew inspiration from SOCRATES’ methods of personality formation. Like SOCRATES, KIERKEGAARD was an avid fan of the consequent deconstruction of illusions connected with interpersonal unions of whatever nature or goal (to household, school, monastery, etc.). He perceived the Greek master of irony as someone who called to people’s minds not so much their responsibilities to their parents, spouses or superiors, but primarily to themselves. The impact of a person’s internal world on her or his outer relations was obvious to SOCRATES and KIERKEGAARD alike; they united in the belief that the level of an individual’s inner maturity determines the level of maturity of the relationships she or he creates. Although the individual is born into an arbitrary social setting, in her or his later life it is largely up to her- or himself to decide in what measure her or his inside will conform to the expectations of the surrounding social structures. Although it would be misleading to see the road to maturity in the direction of increasing isolation, it is equally illusory to seek deep happiness through excessive fixation on a chosen reality (person, community, setting, etc.). KIERKEGAARD’s radical emphasis on the value of each human individual brings him to sharp criticism of cases where the subject gets trapped in a certain “love”-based setting that successfully prevents her or him from further inner growth. In this respect he is equally strict with selfish hedonism (aesthetic paradigm), marital ghettoism (ethical paradigm) or ecclesial formalism (religious paradigm). Below we will try to present these cases within the framework of KIERKEGAARD’s theory of the stages of personality development, attempting to illustrate how they can lead the individual towards stagnation and conflicts.

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Peter S ˇAJDA: Excessive Fixation...

KIERKEGAARD’S Theory of Life Stages The traditional understanding of Søren KIERKEGAARD’s theory of stages speaks about three fundamental paradigms of human lifestyle (i.e. stages): the aesthetic, the ethical and the religious. It must be pointed out, however, that the religious stage is to be understood as two separate stages: religious stage A and religious stage B. The theory of stages does not describe a strictly chronological division of periods in an individual’s life, although the stages are, in fact, to be viewed as consecutive. They are, however, not of an exclusive nature. In adult life, striving for maturity means encompassing all the four stages into one’s inner life and discovering their respective roles. They should coordinate with one another, each having different charismas. Nonetheless, there arise situations in life when one of the stages seeks hegemony and begins aggressively to attack and eliminate the elements of other stages from the life of the individual. It becomes a cancerous cell that ruins the equilibrium of the person from the inside. KIERKEGAARD’s works in many instances analyse cases where the stages succumbed to the temptation of self-absolutisation and the myth of self-sufficiency (i.e. fixation). In such instances, the stage aspiring to domination makes an attempt to devalue the relevance of the other stages. In KIERKEGAARD’s writings the conflicts between lifestyle paradigms are illustrated mainly in stories, where individual stages are represented by imaginary characters. Then it can happen that a poet (aesthetic figure) ridicules marital life, a husband (ethical figure) ignores his religious vocation and a monk (religious figure) looks down on all the “lower” stages. In a balanced human individual, who is not fixated on the seeming safety of one stage, stages coexist and live side by side. They represent specific vocations in life and virtually they concern different areas of life, where they can have a formative impact on how the capacities of the individual unfold. Since the subject is in a constant evolution, at earlier stages of her or his life she or he is more familiar with the more immediate stages (mainly aesthetic), and as she or he grows older, she or he may increasingly realise the fundamental distinction between relative bonds in her or his life and the one absolute bond (with transcendence), which brings her or him closer to the less immediate stages. In an ideal case the individual proceeds from one stage to another without getting stuck in the aesthetic, ethical or religious paradigm A. 158

Theology and Art Religious paradigm B is the only paradigm that by its nature does not hamper the flourishing of other stages. Therefore the danger of unhealthy fixation concerns only the first three stages. In life, however, a more common situation is that of an individual becoming too attached to one or more of the stages that precede religious stage B. These then dominate the individual’s life in their own way, causing more or less damage to her or his inner growth, depending on the intensity of their aggressivity. We will not characterize the aforementioned stages in more detail, in hopes that from the exposition below it will become obvious approximately where the confines of the stages lie and roughly which areas of life they cover.

Excessive Fixation on the Interesting in the Aesthetic Paradigm Fixation causing increasing unbalance in an interpersonal relationship can have many forms. In our analysis we will focus on negative aesthetic fixation, examining a case where it seeks ultimate dominance and tries to prevent the individual from entering the spheres of the ethical and the religious. For this purpose we will avail ourselves of the fabulous figure of John the Seducer, which KIERKEGAARD employs as the embodiment of aesthetic hegemony. John the Seducer is a living example of a self-absolutised and highly refined aesthetic anti-hero. Contrary to Don Juan, he does not represent naïve carnality. His catalogue does not include 1,003 seduced women like the one of Don Juan. He focuses on one woman, but in a most concentrated and penetrative manner. His chief driving force is the quest for the interesting (Det Interessante) in life, and he treats other people as media for this quest. John makes his lover Cordelia discover her own desires and cravings. He helps her uncover the exciting realm of passion that she was taught to ignore in the boring petit-bourgeois setting of her Copenhagen-based family. She discovers in their relationship the secret corners of the labyrinth of her own inside, all within the seemingly secure atmosphere of John’s sham devotion. It is a matter of course that the Seducer plays with his lover in order to satisfy his thirst for the interesting. He “strains the bow of love in order to hurt even more deeply.”3 He strategises, calculates and plans in order to maximise the effect of his investment. Like Don Juan, John the Seducer is a hunter of pleasure (Nydelse), but a structurally very different pleasure. 159

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Don Juan collects erotic trophies, i.e. immediate pleasure, whereas John waits patiently in order to be able to turn his lover Cordelia into an instrument that would help to enhance the most interesting inner process of his – that of self-reflection, a process that ultimately leads to a high-level self-love.4 It is in this process that it becomes manifest that Cordelia in his reflections never transcends the boundaries of an object. She is a muse, a responsive tool that provides for such exciting aesthetic sets of impulses as melodicity, eroticity or mysteriousness. She brings in beauty and poetry and even the thrilling anguish of love. From the instrumental point of view, the tool perfectly follows the aim of the designer. John, who has made Cordelia discover her deeper self and has awakened in her a taste for the finer things in life, has simultaneously designed her to be an obedient stimulator of his self-scrutiny and self-admiration. Cordelia follows the path 3 KIERKEGAARD Søren, Forførerens Dagbog. In: Samlede Værker. Bind 2. 323. 4 Ibid. 370.

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paved by John, partly because she loves and trusts him, but also because she expects to be able to profit anew from discoveries of the interesting facilitated by the Seducer. In situations where she starts to lose her capacity of being interesting for him, he invents new ways to keep the element of the interesting in their relationship. On one occasion he even confesses coolly that “to poeticise oneself into a girl is a piece of art, but to poeticise oneself out of her is a masterpiece,”5 which indicates how self-centred his interests are. The aggressivity of the aesthetic fixation on the interesting is expressed in the aforementioned “love-story” most pregnantly in the final phase of the relationship, where John and Cordelia become engaged, even though this ethical institution never attracted John as a vital option for his aesthetic project. The engagement is entered into only to be broken and hence to enliven the fading colours of the interesting in their lives. Both engagement and marriage (institutions of the ethical paradigm) are referred to by John as boring and dry. Since John is designed by KIERKEGAARD to represent solely the aesthetic stage, it is his aim to make Cordelia stay within the framework of this stage and to prevent her from moving on to the spheres of the ethical and the religious. To ensure this a game is introduced, in which the toy is an ethical commitment – the engagement. This ethical commitment should normally ripen into an ethical commitment of an even higher degree, that of marriage. What happens, however, is that after some time Cordelia, infected by John’s obsession with the interesting, begins to admit to herself that the engagement is an obstacle. It makes their love too public, too straightforward and devoid of mystery and passion. With John’s help she starts to believe that the lost potencies can be regained if the bond is broken. Once again she feels on her shoulders the burden of the petit-bourgeois worship of duty and commitment. Thus she decides to sever the bonds with the ethical sphere in order to protect the realm of the interesting she discovered through John. Obviously Cordelia does not know the real intentions of the Seducer. She does not realise that he is having fun while she is tormenting herself with her heavy decision. And what she cannot know either is the fact that the end of their relationship is near. In order to infuse the interesting anew into their relationship, she cancels the engagement. John is satisfied: “If I had cancelled the 5 Ibid. 341.

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Peter S ˇAJDA: Excessive Fixation engagement, I would have missed out on this erotic salto mortale that is so seducing and such a clear sign of the courage of her soul.”6 Soon after their romance is over. John, who cannot bear crying girls, leaves the relationship behind. This game is over for him and in his mind he sees himself as a winner. Namely, he has accomplished his obsession with æsthetics – and more concretely, kept the pact with the interesting: “Have I really always been faithful to the interesting? Yes, I can admit it freely and openly in this secret talk. Engagement was interesting for the reason that it did not bring what is generally considered interesting. It preserved the interesting by means of the discrepancy between outer appearance and inner life.”7

Excessive Fixation on the Marital Ghetto in the Ethical Paradigm The ethical for KIERKEGAARD is the general. Ethical realities go beyond individuality, transcend the needs of concrete individuals and take into account human society in its broadest sense. They are the basis for social structures. For human relationships the ethical paradigm offers institutions that ensure stability and safety. This study will restrict itself to a reflection on marriage, as an exemplary representative of ethical institutions. Marriage is in a way the focal point of KIERKEGAARD’s considerations on the ethical stage, and several treatises of his present marriage as the most basic ethical way of life. Marriage is always taken very seriously and defended against ideologies that pretend to offer a better substitute. Contrary to the aesthetic stage, where the lovers escape from the world to their hiding place and share their mysteries in secret, the ethical commitment of marriage goes public. In its mature form marriage realises the aesthetic nature of its roots and makes an effort to preserve and cultivate them. This is elaborated by KIERKEGAARD’s fictitious hero of the ethical paradigm, Judge William, in the tractate The Aesthetic Relevance of Marriage. Judge William is a happy husband who urges young aesthetes to secure an equilibrium of æsthetics and ethics in the personality’s development. Compared to John the Seducer, William lacks the refined onesidedness, but presents the reader with a much deeper and broader insight into life. He sees the potentiality of religious growth in marriage, as well as realises the geniality of immediate aesthetic 6 Ibid. 393. / 7 Ibid. 403.

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Theology and Art love.8 In his letter to an aesthete, he suggests that the magic of first love be combined with a commitment that turns this potentially transitory and ephemeral phenomenon into a permanent and life-long source of happiness. Alongside Judge William there appear in KIERKEGAARD’s works other characters which even more pregnantly illustrate the stance of a married person who has found a way of incorporating into her or his marriage the mystery of transcendence and opening the gate that leads from ethics further into the realm of the religious. The characters that KIERKEGAARD avails himself of are married representatives of religious stage B: the Biblical figures of Abraham, Job, and briefly Mary and the literary figure of the Knight of Faith. Although marriage can function perfectly as a home-base for an individual who remains open to both æsthetics and the religious, it can also become a harbour that keeps its ships home until they get too rusty to sail anywhere else. KIERKEGAARD’s criticism of excessive fixation on interpersonal unions is scattered all over his œuvre, but in Works of Love he mentions two categories that signal whether the religious is present in marriage. These two categories are that of conscience and of neighbour. If the former is ruled out, transcendence (God) is locked out from the marital ghetto; if the latter is ignored, the marital ghetto raises a fence between its clan and the rest of the world. Conscience is according to KIERKEGAARD a distinctly Christian element in marriage and was unknown, or at least unarticulated, in non-Christian Antiquity. Conscience brings into marriage the corrective categories of sin and guilt.9 Neighbour is a Biblical category and it serves to prevent marriage from basing itself on worship of the clan and from potentially uniting two selfish individuals in a selfish tandem. Neighbour is in KIERKEGAARD a more basic category than wife and husband, and therefore spouses should not forget to regard each other primarily as neighbours in order not to get too fixated on the roles of husband and wife. Another danger inherent in marriage is that it becomes a setting that disfavours the development of individuality. If the ties are excessively tight, the members of the family begin to act like one person and their individual voices and opinions drown in their common project of marriage and family. Already in his disserta8 KIERKEGAARD Søren, Ægteskabet æsthetiske Gyldighed (Enten-Eller). In: Samlede Værker. Bind 3. 25. 9 KIERKEGAARD Søren, Kjerlighedens Gjerninger. Samlede Værker. Bind 12. 135ff. 10 KIERKEGAARD Søren, Om Begrebet Ironi. Samlede Værker. Bind 1. 215.

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Peter S ˇAJDA: Excessive Fixation tion on the Concept of Irony, KIERKEGAARD points out in connection with SOCRATES that for the ancient sage “state and family were just a sum of individuals and therefore he always treated members of state and families as individuals.”10 This critique of his was not forgotten by the state, and during his trial he had to face the accusation of neutralising family life in Athens.11 The development of personality entails not only the basic autonomy that has just been mentioned. It concerns also the fundamental vocation of a person to rise to a fuller existence by means of her or his journey through life stages. Therefore one of the most complex tasks of the ethical commitment of marriage is to teach its two protagonists that they cannot find the Absolute only within the ethical paradigm. If marriage fails to teach this, it becomes a temptation (Anfaegtelse). Excessive fixation on the ethical stage, or on a combination of ethics and æsthetics, leads to a dead end similar to the radical fixation on æsthetics. Namely, both æsthetics and ethics should teach the individual not only to find a stronghold in them, but also – and this is even more important – to go beyond them. With a little drama, KIERKEGAARD sums up this vocation in the case of marriage in the following way: “After all, marriage is a joke. A joke that should be treated with all seriousness (Alvor), but without supposing that the seriousness lies in marriage itself, since it is a reflection of the relationship with God, the reflection of the husband’s absolute relation to his absolute and of the wife’s absolute relation to her absolute .”12

Excessive Fixation on Externality in Religious Paradigm A The religious necessarily starts to degenerate when it begins to behave like æsthetics or ethics. Although the religious stage must not cut itself off from the previous stages, it also needs to realise differences between the respective vocations. Similarly, æsthetics and ethics should not aspire to features that are characteristic of the religious paradigm. We will not belabour here the differences between religious stages A and B, mentioning only that religious stage B is a specifically Christian Gospel-based paradigm, whereas religious stage A 11 Ibid. 216. 12 KIERKEGAARD Søren, Afsluttende uvidenskabelig Efterskrift. Andet Halvbind. Samlede Værker. Bind 10. 140–141.

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Theology and Art exists outside Christianity, too, and has its own ways of approaching transcendence. It will, however, be obvious from the statements below that by far not everything that is commonly referred to as Christianity falls automatically into religious stage B. For KIERKEGAARD the religious is the stage where the independence of the subject in decision-making reaches its peak. The subject deals with her or his religious vocation in a direct relationship with the transcendence (God) and often finds her- or himself incapable of explaining her or his inner processes to the neighbours. In Abraham’s, Job’s or Mary’s case even the closest people have to respect the silence of the one who believes and suffers for her or his individual vocation. The religious vocation is between God and the subject. Although it concerns other people and necessarily has a social dimension, it might at times require a teleological suspension of ethics, as it happened in the case of Abraham. In his complex act of sacrificing Isaac, Abraham was bound to transcend generally valid ethical norms. Since KIERKEGAARD was not familiar with other religions or spiritualities, his considerations concerned mainly Christianity and secondarily Greek Antiquity, with its spiritualities and religious sentiment. In KIERKEGAARD’s eyes mass Christianity (Kristenhed) is the death of Christendom (Kristendom). For him the bearer of the Christian faith is the individual (den Enkelte). The individual can create or join a religious community (church, order or family), but she or he never ceases to be responsible for her or his own inner growth and formation. The main criticism of fixation on externality is directed against Danish popular Christendom. KIERKEGAARD refers to it in some places as Sunday-Christianity, since the Sunday worship service represented the only religious element in the lives of many Danish believers. The greatest “credit,” however, for producing masses of Christians rests with the Danish clergy. The Danish state employs one thousand officials who cannot afford to preach Christ’s words about the incompatibility (Uensartethed) of the world and the Reign of God, because they are in the first place paid to be obedient employees of the King of Denmark.13 To the contrary, the Danish priests had to preach lukewarm petit-

13 KIERKEGAARD Søren, Bladartikler 1854–1855. Øieblikket 1–10. In: Samlede Værker. Bind 19. 55. 14 KIERKEGAARD Søren, Afsluttende uvidenskabelig Efterskrift. 199.

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Peter S ˇAJDA: Excessive Fixation bourgeois Christianity that respects the interests of the state, since they were all husbands and fathers and had to provide for their families from their salaries. Therefore, what they often sold was not the radical challenge of Jesus Christ, but rationalised and Hegelised toothless Christianity that would not harm anyone. In this setting Christendom loses its inner passion and what remains is general reflection and religious rituals that become the signs of “faith.” The fixation and reliance on the external acts and symbols of religion are in strict opposition to the religious based on an individual inner passion, which claims that the religious paradigm necessarily involves self-denial (i.e. religious negativity). And as KIERKEGAARD remarks, “the religious stripped of negativity is mere æsthetics,”14 or at best – ethics. Religious formalism and fixation on externality can exist also in religious institutions that in fact do cultivate inner passion. KIERKEGAARD sees such an example in medieval monasticism. This lifestyle was according to him not devoid of passion for transcendence, but it tried to tie it too much to outward expression, such as different clothes, spatial seclusion and societal status. This again was a step back and the notion of sanctity became too closely linked with clericalism. From this perspective, fixation on outward manifestations of sanctity is a paved road towards just another form of mass Christianity that KIERKEGAARD was so much afraid of.

Why All This Talk About Fixation? Fixation is a mode of relating that the involved parties often consider favourable or even necessary for the relationship they cultivate. Fixation is in fact an excessive attachment to a person or another reality that causes inner unbalance and leads to an excessive emphasis on one reality to the neglect of other vital realities. This mechanism needs at times very careful attunement, since the overemphasized reality can be in itself important and beautiful, and vulgar solutions would cause unnecessary damage. KIERKEGAARD’s examples of fixation at different levels have been used here as illustrations of how fixation can work in a variety of lifestyles. Sometimes it can seem naïve and childish, at other times refined and sophisticated or even altruist and loving. No matter whether fixation takes on the veneer of duty, love or worship, it needs to be uncovered and redirected at its deeper levels. Frequently the motives of a person who becomes fixated on a cho-

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Theology and Art sen reality are very pure and it is only the extent that makes the relationship unhealthy. But there are cases, like the one of John the Seducer, where the motives for fixation stem from excessive pampering, strong egocentrism or even from the perverted pleasure of schadenfreude. In marriage, submissiveness, lack of self-confidence, a tendency towards domination or illusory opinions on social roles can be parts of the game. In the case of religious clinging to externality, the motives can range from lack of security, weakness of character or fear of failure, to such phenomena as laziness or exhibitionism. It has been claimed at times that KIERKEGAARD’s insistence on the preservation of the autonomy of the individual and the radical focus on inner growth and development lead the subject towards egoism and isolation. Although KIERKEGAARD would disagree, it is certainly a legitimate concern and should be taken seriously. KIERKEGAARD’s methodology, similarly to the maieutika of SOCRATES, tries to uncover the deeper strata of human personality in order to teach the individual more about her or his strengths and weaknesses. This should prevent weakness appearing in the attire of strength and vice versa. If the individual is confused about her or his own inside, in interpersonal conflicts she or he will not be able to mobilise aptly the deeper parts of her or his personality, which are discovered and grasped through thorough study of the complex inner world. Therefore the journey through KIERKEGAARD’s stages of life equips the individual with much sharper tools for the scrutiny of where she or he stands and what she or he wants, which can be of great assistance in any kind of conflict. Suggested Reading ADORNO Theodor W., Kierkegaard Lehre von der Liebe. In Konstruktion des Ästhetischen. Frankfurt am Main, 1966. BUBER Martin, Die Frage an den Einzelnen (Das dialogische Prinzip). Heidelberg, 1984. KIERKEGAARD Søren, Om Begrebet Ironi (Bind 1); Enten-Eller (Bind 2/3); Afsluttende uvidenskabelig Efterskrift (Bind 9/10); Kjerlighedens Gjerninger (Bind 12); Bladartikler 1854–1855, Øieblikket 1–10. (Bind 19). In Samlede Værker. København, 1995. KOCH Carl H., Kierkegaard og ”Det Interessante”. En studie i en æsthetisk kategori. København, 1992. Peter SˇAJDA was born in 1977 in Bratislava. He completed his studies in modern philology in 2001 at the Philosophical Faculty of the Comenius University in Bratislava. He is Roman Catholic and a member of the Order of Preachers. He has been involved in a comparative study of medieval philosophy and the thinking of the Danish philosopher Søren KIERKEGAARD for a number of years. He has participated in research programmes in Denmark and Slovakia and has published studies in various philosophical and literary journals in Slovakia and abroad. His email address is sajdus@yahoo.com.

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Rebecca BLOCKSOME

The Art of War and Peace: Theories of Creativity and Conflict Resolution Although not technically within the borders of Central Europe, Bosnia and Herzegovina shares many characteristics with its neighbours to the north and west – not least of which, unfortunately, is a history of tension among several nationalities trying to share the same space. This tension most recently erupted into full-fledged conflict during the Bosnian war for independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1992–1995. A country which prided herself on her multinational character was torn apart in the most vicious fighting seen in Europe since World War II.

Destruction and Dissolution So how does one go about putting back together the pieces of a broken country? It is not an easy question to answer, but a great many efforts have been and are still being made. I moved to Mostar, the main city of Herzegovina, in the fall of 2002 for the purpose of working with one such effort: a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) known as “Mladi Most” (Young Bridge). Mladi Most bills itself as an “open youth space for culture and reconciliation.” It aims to bring together young people of all nationalities into a neutral space where they participate together in creative activities – theatre, cinema, photography, writing, music and assorted others. While this is a somewhat non-traditional methodology for peace building, it was enthusiastically embraced by the youth population of Mostar and enjoyed modest success from the outset. I also enthusiastically embraced the artistic–cultural approach without ever really stopping to think about why or how it worked.

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It was not until it became painfully evident that its success was waning rapidly, that it occurred to me to contemplate the precise nature of the relationship between art and reconciliation – or even if such a relationship does in fact exist. The connection is not immediately obvious; in fact, upon initial examination artistic creation even appears counter-productive in the post-war setting. Is it not an act of monstrous frivolity to expend such time and energy on the arts in the face of so many other real and urgent needs – fiddling while Rome burns? How, concretely, does making art contribute towards the healing of a fractured community? For me, a defining moment in answering these questions came during a creative workshop I was teaching for the young women’s group. Formerly these workshops had been one of the most popular activities in MM, drawing women from throughout Herzegovina. There they found a forum to express their anger and fear and helplessness in the post-war environment – a way to turn those emotions into something constructive, rather than letting them escalate into violence. But the particular workshop I was leading that evening had exactly one participant, a young woman named Almira. And even she came more out of habit than out of interest, so after a while we abandoned the creative project and began talking about the situation of youth in Mostar. I asked her what had changed, why people were no longer interested in such activities. Her answer was devastatingly simple: “Young people here just are not creative anymore.” I was honestly dumbfounded. Creativity is something I had always considered innate to human beings, a fundamental part of being alive. Although I recognise that not everyone creates in the artistic sense, I was convinced that at all times someone somewhere feels the need to create something. So it was unfathomable to me: how does an entire generation lose the will to create? Could that too be a casualty of war?

Creativity in Conflict Johan GALTUNG, the noted Norwegian peace studies professor, comments on this same phenomenon in his studies of post-violent conflict situations. He writes: “A major casualty of violence in general and war in particular, is conflict transformation capacity. More particularly, the three basic capacities, for non-violence, creativity and empathy, are eroded.”1 169

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It is important to note that we are speaking here specifically about instances of violent conflict, or conflict which has escalated to the point where it is harmful or destructive to the parties involved. Thus the key distinction between conflict and violent conflict is the element of destruction present in the latter. Not only is it present, though, but destruction actually defines violent conflict; it is the necessary and sufficient condition. War is the most evident, though certainly not the only, mode of such conflict, and therefore it is primarily with destruction and all its attendant consequences that efforts to heal post-war communities must concern themselves. Set in these terms, it becomes clearer that creation, as the antithesis of destruction, has a special role to play in the peace building process. As described earlier, GALTUNG counts creativity, along with non-violence and empathy, as the three crucial constituents of a “peace culture” – a culture which fundamentally promotes harmony rather than conflict. Cultures which have these qualities in abundance are able to cope with conflict before it escalates into violence; and even more 1 GALTUNG Johan, After Violence: 3R, Reconstruction, Reconciliation, Resolution – Coping with Visible and Invisible Effects of War and Violence (1998). www.transcend.org. 103.

significantly, following violent conflict they are better able to achieve resolution and reconciliation. Unfortunately, however, the detrimental effect of violence upon these capacities means that the post-conflict societies which need these capacities the most are frequently left without them. “Wars and violence are travesties on these virtues”, GALTUNG writes. “The point about non-violence is to respond to violence and destruction with something constructive. Wars rule out that response as treason. The bottom line remains destruction, of life and property.”2 In this context, Almira’s simple statement is no longer so difficult to comprehend; in fact, the difficulty comes in comprehending the colossal challenge of building – or rebuilding – the capacity for creation in a world where destruction pervades every aspect of life: not merely physical, but also psychological and social. “The best way of building creativity is by practicing it,” says GALTUNG, “which is only possible if as many as possible are encouraged to take on the challenge of finding ways out of deeply entrenched conflict, and of doing reconstruction and reconciliation.”3 Clearly the making of art is one activity which can promote creativity, and thus it is easier to conceive a role for it in communities recovering from violent conflict. This connection, however, is tenuous at best; creativity comes in many forms, of which art is only one. There are really two issues at stake here: not just, Why create? but also, Why create art? As the two often overlap in actual practice, sorting them out can be a difficult process; therefore we will first address the nature of art with asides on creation, before turning to the nature of creation with asides on art.

Art as Innovation The question “Why create art?” is not an idle one in this context: as traditional peace building methodologies prove themselves inadequate to effectively resolve complex conflicts, peace workers are increasingly turning towards more novel approaches, including arts-based work. This is especially true in areas where the conflict is ostensibly rooted in culture, for example in the ex-Yugoslav countries and Northern Ireland. Generally, however, these approaches treat art at a superficial level, focusing on it as the product of creation, rather than the process. Art is simply a tool for the production of new cultural artefacts intended to replace the old cultural artefacts, which have become ideologically loaded through the course of the conflict. 2 Ibid., 25. / 3 Ibid., 104. / 4 Ibid., 94.

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Rebecca BLOCKSOME: War and Peace Thus art is valued solely for its quality of innovation: creation becomes synonymous with newness, freshness, originality. The only attribute that matters is a focus forwards rather than back, to the future instead of the past. If history is contaminated, only by wiping it out and starting again might resolution be possible. The value of this approach should not be underestimated. Indeed, in situations of cultural conflict where the conflict has been building up over generations, release from the captivity of the past is a necessary prerequisite to any kind of progress towards reconciliation. But it seems to limit art to a very narrowly defined role, corresponding to a very narrow definition of creation. If creation is conceived as a process as well as a product, it opens the door for art to play a much more significant role in conflict resolution. But to go beyond the simplistic answer of making new things to replace old and destroyed things, creation as process (ie. creativity) must be specifically located within the larger scheme of peace building. In Johan GALTUNG’s model, the aforementioned triad of peace building capacities correspond to and counteract a triad of violence types: direct (physical), structural and cultural violence. Non-violent actions by definition contradict violent ones. Empathy, the ability to identify with all conflict parties, in the same way counters the self-centered monomania of cultural violence. It is the middle pair, however, which concerns us most. Creativity is paired with structural violence: that is, the ability to conceive things creatively is necessary to transcend structures which promote or even embody conflict.4 Abstractly speaking, the most striking example of such a structure is dualism or polarisation. If conflict is defined as a set of incompatible goals, polarity is the structure by which incompatibility is established. It is the paradigm which mandates that east is east, and west is west, and never the twain shall meet. Because art operates outside the dictates of logic, it can reject this fundamental premise of opposition and creatively conceive paradoxical solutions to apparent antitheses. As sculptor Celia GERARD remarks: “There are interesting similarities between the processes of both making art and conflict resolution. It is often concerned with bridging disparate concepts, both abstract and literal. Resolving tensions to form an integrated whole is central to both art making and conflict resolution.”5 The interest here is in developing new ways of thinking, of see-

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Theology and Art ing the world, in hopes that conceiving alternatives to inherently conflict-spawning dichotomous worldviews will allow for the development of new and peaceful mentalities. In other words, renovating the process will renovate the product; altering the means will necessarily alter the ends. Changing the emphasis from product to process might camouflage the fact that even in this new context, creativity’s function runs parallel to that described above – except that what is being created are new ideas, rather than new things. The shift, however, from the realm of the tangible to the realm of the intangible illumines an aspect of art that carries great import: its multiplicity of essence.

Art as Renovation Finally, we have arrived at what might be considered a unique aspect of artistic creativity, as compared to creativity in general. That is, art making occurs simultaneously on both the physical and mental planes; artistic creations are born into existence through a mystical harmony of form and idea – kalokagathia, the unity of body and mind. The significance of this point, though, cannot be fully appreciated in the strictly secular perspective of GERARD and other artist–peace scholars in the same vein.6 British author, literary critic and Christian apologist Dorothy SAYERS, tackling the topic from a spiritual perspective, first glimpsed its importance in a series of essays exploring the theology of art and creation. SAYERS notes that there are two distinct types of creation operating at the two levels. Creation at the physical level requires coincident destruction – it is necessary to destroy a tree to create a table – while creation at the level of ideas is agglutinative – it is not necessary to destroy a Hamlet to create a Falstaff.7 “The components of the material world are fixed; those of the world of imagination increase by a continuous and irreversible process, without any destruction or rearrangement of what went before. This represents the nearest approach we experience to 5 GERARD Celia, Addressing Otherness: The Role of the Arts in Peace Education (2003). http://gseweb.harvard.edu/~t656_web/peace/Articles_Spring_2003/Gerard_Celia_ ArtsInPeaceEd.htm. 6 Cf. PRIETO Lyndee, Time to Do Our Peace Homework: a Paper on How Culture and the Arts Are Indispensable in Peacebuilding (2004). www.mindanews.com/culture/views/homework.shtml. Or NEWTH Mette, Art as an Arena for Investigating Conflicts (2002). www.humiliationstudies.org/news/archives/000015.html. 7 SAYERS Dorothy L., Christian Letters to a Post-Christian World. Grand Rapids, 1969. 105.

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Rebecca BLOCKSOME: War and Peace ‘creation out of nothing’, and we conceive of the act of absolute creation as being an act analogous to that of the creative artist.”8 Unfortunately, SAYERS’ writings do not fully explore the consequence of her insight into the dual mental–physical nature of art. Her emphasis remains on art as the mental act of creation which most closely approaches the Divine Creation. The physical act of creation, tainted by the destruction implicit within it, is acknowledged as a necessary evil in a fallen world but certainly not something to be extolled. Happily, this idea was extended by another British author (and SAYERS devotee), Michael EDWARDS, who realised that the apparent flaw in this aspect of artistic creation – its “present-worldliness” rather than Other-worldliness – is in fact its strength. His theology of art is grounded on rejection of the dichotomy of the two worlds, instead simultaneously taking full account of both of them: uniting the creation–destruction of this world and the Creation of the next. “To phrase it in dialectical terms, literature begins in the perception of a conflict between grandeur and misère, and of a disparity between things as they are in a fallen world and things as they might be. It is the patterning of past, present and future, the attempt to deliver a new world out of the loss of an old.” This treble dialectic, which melds past–present–future and Eden–exile–Paradise, centres around the idea of art as a redemptive work, one which construes creation as re-Creation: not naïve and escapist, nor world-weary and cynical, but rather rooted in reality while transcending it. It prefigures the ultimate act of reconciliation: that of a fallen humanity with an unfailing God.

Creation–Destruction–Redemption Weaving together these two Christian theories with that of GALTUNG, we can arrive at a plausible hypothesis regarding the role and importance of art in conflict resolution. To do this, we must return to the origins both of Creation and of Conflict, which, significantly, appear in close proximity in the Christian narratives. Genesis 1 begins with the story of God Creating: the heavens, the Earth, all living creatures, humankind. Regarding this last one, God explicitly notes that humankind was designed in God’s image and likeness: “So God created humans in God’s own image; in the 8 Ibid. 105. 9 EDWARDS Michael, Towards a Christian Poetics. London, 1984. 147. Although EDWARDS writes primarily about the literary arts, it is clear he intends this vision to embrace all the artistic disciplines.

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Theology and Art image of God, God created them; male and female God created them” (1,27). Using this passage, SAYERS contends that creation is the fundamental characteristic of humankind, as God’s Creative nature is the only aspect of God asserted in the lines expositing the establishment of humanity in the likeness of God.10 Thus, humans’ ability to create constitutes the primary analogue between them and the Creator. This perspective gives creation not only a divine sanction, but also a divine mandate. To be human is to create, as God Creates. Taken further, this idea hints at a metaphysical explanation for GALTUNG’s observations regarding violent conflict and its heavy toll on the human psyche. If creation is not merely an external act of humankind, but rather something intrinsic to being human, then the loss of creativity which accompanies violence – the internalisation of destruction – signifies an integral conflict: a fundamental loss of self. In fact, taking up EDWARDS’ thread, this testifies to the truth of the Christian myth, which proffers just such an internal conflict in the story, barely two chapters later, of humanity’s fall from the divinely Created state in an act of open rebellion against God. The result is a creature haunted by a memory of what he once was, “at every moment both himself and the opposite of himself.”11 All conflict throughout the long history of humankind has sprung forth from this primordial Conflict – both the conflicted dual nature of humanity and the external conflicts which tear apart nations and communities today. Outbreaks of violence and strife, in the Balkans and elsewhere, are exaggerated manifestations of the Fall, the first rift in an integrated Creation. Consequently, any attempts at practical conflict resolution must synchronously address this integral conflict; to do otherwise is to treat the symptoms rather than the disease. Thus we can infer that the act of creation, insofar as it functions to resolve the pervading Conflict of a universe at war with its origins, also functions towards the resolution of conflict in the here and now. The empirical correlation between conflict and (lack of) creativity, as well as the many parallels between art making and peace building, provide corroborating evidence. Peace building, according to GALTUNG, requires a tripartite approach: reconstruction of physical damage; reconciliation of the parties in conflict; and resolution of the underlying conflict. 10 SAYERS. 101. 11 EDWARDS. 2–3. My apologies for the gender-insensitive language.

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Rebecca BLOCKSOME: War and Peace He explicitly draws attention to the “re-” with which each term commences: it obviates the inference that these processes have happened before and must happen again. 12 Strikingly, the particle “re-” in and of itself embodies EDWARDS’ model of art rooted in three temporal states. By definition, its subject reflects what was once the status quo, and, although suffering inversion in the present, yet seeks a future reversal of that reversal. It echoes resoundingly in EDWARDS’ depiction of art: “[Art’s] function here, in a Christian perspective, is to explore not a lost Eden or a past Golden Age, nor a realm elsewhere of Ideas, but a re-creation for the future of the here and now.” 13 A fourth term is implied here by the Christian dialectic, a term which corresponds with and subsumes GALTUNG’S triad: redemption, the underlying theme to all of Christianity. Redemption here is renewal (not quite an oxymoron) – the power by which things past are re-made, not as they were (which would slander contemporaneous reality in denying it), but as they could be in a perfected evolution. It is a supernatural capacity, not attainable in human terms; but by the power of God it refutes our natural inclination – or rather, condemnation – towards entropy. As redemption in the Christian sense suscites the unfolding history of humankind, redemption in its earthly sense gives hope to a despairing world. It effects the transmutation of destruction into creativity; ugliness into beauty; and brokenness into wholeness. Art itself stands as a tangible sign of this transfiguration, a curious amalgamation of this world and the one yet to come. Suggested Reading EDWARDS Michael, Towards a Christian Poetics. London, 1984. GALTUNG Johan, After Violence: 3R, Reconstruction, Reconciliation, Resolution – Coping with Visible and Invisible Effects of War and Violence (1998). www.transcend.org. GERARD Celia, Addressing Otherness: The Role of the Arts in Peace Education (2003). http://gseweb.harvard.edu/~t656_web/peace/Articles_Spring_2003/Gerard_Celia _ArtsInPeaceEd.htm. SAYERS Dorothy L., Christian Letters to a Post-Christian World. Grand Rapids, 1969. Rebecca BLOCKSOME currently lives and works in Budapest as the coordinator of the WSCF Central European Subregion (CESR) and the publications intern for the Europe Region. Prior to that, she served for two years in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a volunteer for the Church of the Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS). She studied art and journalism in her native Kansas, USA; she is American Baptist but acknowledges that her Mennonite upbringing has greatly influenced her thinking on the topics of peace and reconciliation. Her e-mail address is rblocksome@yahoo.com. 12 GALTUNG. 7. / 13 EDWARDS. 148.

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Daniel PASTIRCˇ ÁK

Artistic Creativity and Christian Spirituality When we examine the relationship between spirituality and artistic creativity, we can recognize the common source whence artistic and religious impulses seem to originate. There are two basic questions in this respect: Why art? And, is there a Christian art?

I. Why Art? Those who create art, who receive it and criticise it, are all partaking in a mysterious process which even now no one has been able to describe fully and satisfactorily. There are no practical reasons which might motivate artistic creativity. Christians often try to justify art in an erroneous way. They talk about postmodernism – the end of logo-centric culture and the beginning of visual-pictorial culture. We need, it is said, art to communicate the Gospel to a postmodern mind. Art is understood as a means for missionary purposes. This is dangerous for both art and mission. Art is then understood only as a beautiful cover for our ideology, the best way to sell our faith. But this kind of craft is not art at all. What comes necessarily from it is the ideological misuse of art. There was a stream called Socialist realism, an art serving the Communist ideology. If you compare the art produced in Nazi Germany and the art produced in the communist regimes, you will find them very similar in many ways. They are uncreative and untrue. Art as a means for mission (of any ideology) will be uncreative and untrue as well. Artistic creativity by definition is “unuseful,” impractical. We do not need art for our survival. Its purpose is in itself. As a pure act of creativity without secondary purpose, it is the clearest reflection of mystery in human nature.

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In creating something for no secondary reason, we exercise the Imago Dei in us. So when we are asking “Why art?” we are in fact asking also, “Why humanity?” Art is not a means, art is the end. We do not have Christian, Buddhist or Islamic science. We only have good and bad science. Similarly, we have only good and bad art.

1. Beauty in Creation and Eternity in Heart Let me use the words of Ecclesiastes 3,11 to shed light on our question: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of people, yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Have a look at the three basic words in the text: beauty, desire for eternity and a human striving to fathom the mystery revealed to us in the place where beauty and the desire for eternity meet.

A. Beauty There is a deep mystery in our aesthetic apprehension of existence. In the shapes of things, in colours, sounds, in the quality and rhythm of sounds, in the proportions of things and different spaces, even in different combinations of words in our languages, there is something with a potential to alter our consciousness to an exalted state of fascination. We find ourselves moved by wonder. 178

I would like to point out the connection between beauty and eternity in the heart of a human. There lies the spiritual explanation of our aesthetic experiences. With the word “beauty,” we mean a special quality in the created world that points out from the mortal world in space and time to eternity. For us as aesthetic beings, all objects in the created universe have the quality of symbols – they stand here for something else which is hidden behind matter, behind atoms and quarks; something revealed in the mysterious quality of beauty. When a painter is painting a landscape, she or he is transferring the three-dimensional reality of the countryside into a two-dimensional reflection of that reality on her or his canvas. Then someone sees the painted landscape. It awakens in her or his heart the desire to enter it, to walk in the shade of the woods there. But the person cannot enter. It is just a sign of reality, not the reality itself. Similarly God, by creating the universe, transferred the content of God’s eternal existence to the relative, mortal and limited canvas of the time-and-space world. By seeing this universe, our desire for eternity is awakened in us. But there is no way to enter it through nature. It is just a sign of Reality, not the Reality itself. But there is a danger too: for many, beauty means only an apprehension of nice and harmonious parts in the universe. There is a deep wisdom in the way beauty is depicted in our modern art: there is a place for ugliness in it. To be precise, it is not ugliness as such, but discovering beauty in what seems at the first glance to be just mere ugliness. But this wisdom is much older than modern times; it has come to art mainly from Christianity. If we compare artefacts from Western Christian civilisation with artefacts of any other great civilisation, we find that in the Western Christian tradition there is much more room for ugliness and pain in aesthetic apprehension of the world than in other cultures. From the beginning, besides harmonies of colours, proportions and shapes, there has been a place for the expression of ugliness and pain; however, not just as an expression of bad things – a demon or evil, hell or the killing of martyrs. We will find pain and ugliness there as an expression of beauty, an expression of a good thing, even as a part of God in the image of Christ. Think, for example, about the Crucifixion of GRÜNEWALD. It has come to Western culture from the paradox of the cross: God becomes a human, Who – without sin – becomes sin instead of us. God – the source of existence – dies for humanity, on behalf of humanity. Truth and Beauty are always bound in paradox here.

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Daniel PASTIRCˇAK: Artistic Creativity... This is the main ethos of the Gospel, the paradox of the Cross, the paradox of sin and grace. The paradox of humanity created in God’s image on one side, and humanity’s fall on the other side. The idea of beauty in ugliness in modern art has come there as a fruit of the Western understanding of the world within the Paradox of the cross. Real beauty is bound in a paradox. Real joy can exist only in deep coexistence with real sorrow and pain. If I read a book in which everything is painted in pink, harmony and optimism, I can not read it through. I cannot believe it. If I read a book where everything is painted in black, destruction, hopelessness, disharmony, I cannot trust it either. I can trust only artefacts having the quality of the paradox: ugly and beautiful, joy and sorrow, dark and light.

B. Desire as Eternity in Heart Is there eternity in our hearts? All cultures and civilisations are expressions of a mysterious desire implanted deeply inside us – a desire to overcome our limited existence, a desire to move from the relativity of our human condition to perfection. Paul KLEE, the great modern painter, was also a great thinker and poet. In a short poem, he describes humanity as a valley between two mountains: There are two mountains, where clarity and light dwell. Mountain of animals and mountain of gods. But between them, twilight valley of humans is situated. One who will rise his sight up, will have presentiment of something, one will feel unquenchable desire for them, those, who do not know, that they know and those who know, that they know.

One mountain in the poem is a mountain of animals; the other is a mountain of gods. Human beings in the valley are looking to both of these mountains with desire. To the mountain of animals, where those live who do not know that they do not know; and to the mountain of gods, who know that they know. So, to be human means to be in an unfinished condition: the persons who know that they do not know. To be human means to be an arrow in the middle of the flight from nature to Spirit. Some of us call it emptiness, some boredom, some meaninglessness, some loneliness. So, there is a deep wound in our soul. We are separated from our unity with the spiritual source of our consciousness. There is a desire for eternity in our hearts. We can describe the phenomenon of art as the meeting of beauty in creation – the symbol of eternity – with the desire for eternity in 180

Theology and Art the human heart. When this meeting takes place in our consciousness, we are moved to fathom it. It is impossible for us to really fathom it completely. There are different skills, different gifts, different languages in which we are fathoming it. Art is one of them.

C. To Fathom: Art as Language Some scientists are talking today of the Antropic Principle. Deriving from the way the universe is made, it seems (as Dyson FREEDMAN puts it) that the universe must have somehow known that we would arrive. It seems that evolution prepared everything for humans to come as observers of beauty and the mysteries of the cosmos. A human is here to contemplate the cosmos. The cosmos is the language that, out of all created beings, only humans are competent to read. This vision of human as a contemplator of the universe can be found in the writings of different cultures and different ages, e.g. in THALES of Miletus, EPICTETUS, CICERO and AUGUSTINE. We can find it even in the New Testament. Paul puts it in this way: “What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – God’s eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made” (Romans 1,19–20). To fathom the mystery revealed to us in contemplation of the created universe, we use different languages. Our languages are complex semiotic systems – systems of symbols and signs. Their function is to read reality, to translate and communicate it to others. They are the decoding and coding systems. First one decodes reality to grasp it, to experience it, to understand it; then one codes it for the others. At the end of the process of receiving the message, there is a recipient, decoding it for her- or himself. Through our languages we are reading the Logos of God written inside all reality and trying to communicate to others what we have discovered. Where is the place of art in this process? To fathom reality, humanity uses a whole scale of different complementary languages. There is a language of natural science; a language of philosophy, theology, humanities; a language of engineering; and of economy; a language of psychology, sociology; a language of religion, mysticism and adoration; and a language of art. Art is one of the systems through which we read and communicate with the world. Art, on a scale, is opposite to science. The language of science is the language of mathematics; the language of art, however, is the 181

Daniel PASTIRCˇAK: Artistic Creativity... language of music. If a scientist is talking about light, she or he will try to define it as precisely as possible. She or he will separate its meaning from all secondary associations. In an ideal situation she or he will not even use words, but numbers. If a poet is talking about light, she or he will try to connect its meaning with all possible associations. Scientific language separates the specific, precise meaning from all secondary associations – it is analytic. Art as a language, on the contrary, is connecting everything with everything in the holistic perception of reality – it is synthetic. Art is the most basic, most fundamental of all human languages – it is the language of children, the language of the first, deep wonder, and the language of adoration.

2. Art and Adoration It is clear now that there is a great overlapping between the inner state of adoration and the inner state of creative inspiration. This common ground is the state of a moving wonder. Human creativity and human spirituality spring from the same source.

A. Glory in Creation and Resistance of the Human Egocentric Will Let us come back to Paul’s claim in his letter to the Romans. A person can learn everything important about God from reading the mysteries of creation outside and inside. Where, then, lies the problem which is separating us from God? The problem lies in our will. Our will rejects accepting existentially what our mind is telling us rationally. We see unbounded glory, unbounded greatness revealed to us in the universe, but we do not want to surrender to it. The problem is in our egocentric self. We resist everything which is higher than our ego. Our sinful self desires to be above all; so God, Who is above all, is the greatest rival for our ego. The greatest hindrance lies in the centre of our perception of reality. Friedrich NIETZSCHE put it thus: “If God existed, how would I be able to bear the fact that I am not God?”

B. Two States of the Creative Will: Pride and Humility The main temptation coming with art lies in the very nature of the motivation causing the creative process. There are two opposite possibilities: pride or humility. Art made out of pride, made for pride and received in pride would be idolatry. Art made out of

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Theology and Art overwhelming wonder and humility, made to express humility and received with humility will be an act of adoration.

C. Adoration or Idolatry Art can be an Idol or an Icon. An Icon is a window to heaven. It is not heaven itself, it is created to be emptied from itself, to be transparent. An Icon is pointing beyond itself. An Idol is pointing to itself, saying “I am God, bow to me.” The Old Testament example of the tabernacle and the golden cow can be remembered here. The tabernacle was an Icon, a place where everything (the shapes, colours, fragrances and sounds) were pointing out the invisible presence of God. The golden cow was made to be “these gods which brought us here from Egypt.” There are different types of idolatry in art. The Idol in the classical sense is an artefact exalted to the status of God by the theological construction which lies behind it. The Idol in modern times becomes something very different. Western people in last century put their trust in science. Scientists became priests of the new positivistic religion. Only what could be analysed and measured by scientific method was regarded as reality. Reality was reduced to its laboratorially attested parts. In effect, Western people started to view themselves as biological machines, as processes of biochemical reactions. Led by their positivistic reasoning, they found themselves divided between reason on one hand, and intuition and emotion on the other. During all of known history, people have been building mythological, cosmological and theological constructions, in which reason was united with sensitivity and intuition. And so desire for eternity in human hearts always found a rational reason for hope. The mind of an ordinary Western person is today pressed to give up any hope for absolute and eternal reality. But desire for eternity in the heart of a modern person is not less intense than it was in the heart of the primitive human. The contemporary Western human still desires something higher and bigger than the ordinary experience of life, but her or his reason mocks this desire. Artefacts of modernism in visual arts, in literature or in music, bear witness to that division between heart and mind. We can see it in the story of one of the grandfathers of modern art: Paul GAUGUIN, who was enthralled by Polynesian religion; we can hear it in the music of Igor STRAVINSKY; we can trace it in PICASSO’s fascination with African masks. None of them really

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Daniel PASTIRCˇAK: Artistic Creativity... believed in religion, and artefacts were a source of fascination for their thirsty hearts. Art itself becomes a religion of nothingness. But the most common feature of our times is an author being exalted to the status of God. In medieval times, authors were anonymous; the authors were unimportant, the important thing was their work. From the Renaissance on (when the first biographies of artists were written), authors grew more and more important. Today authors are more important than their work. Work is only a gesture through which authors are pointing to their mysterious exalted status of demigods. In the first part of my essay, we explored the mystery of the most unexplainable human activity: Art. We saw that there is a common source whence springs both spirituality and creativity. We paid a bit of consideration to spiritual temptations which are involved in the processing of artefacts. Let us turn our attention now to questions which people in this context often ask.

II. Is there a Christian Art? I must admit that I personally dislike this question. Sometimes in passionate discussions I used to answer it very simply: “No, we only have good and bad art.” So why do we ask this? We are living in a culture which divorced itself from Christian heritage. This is the result of a mutual hostility between Christendom and popular society. Let us first observe the Church. Most churches see it nearly impossible to use contemporary art in their liturgies. Most church authorities view modern art as something elite, bizarre or at least not understandable for common church-goers. You will find a similar attitude on the other side of the church wall as well. From the Enlightenment onward, the Church has been viewed by a large portion of the society as a hindrance to scientific, technical, social and cultural development. To some extent this is the price we have to pay for the time when the Church held the authoritative position of cultural leader by political power. But the Church as cultural authority was dethroned and She is now learning to accept Her modest position in modern society. Sadly enough, She has adopted a largely defensive position. This is true even about traditional big churches, such as the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran or Reformed churches. Churches of free evangelical traditions adopted an even more

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Theology and Art hostile position toward culture. This stems mostly from a legalistic understanding of sanctification and holiness. We have to be aware of our present position in culture in order to move toward something more appropriate.

1. Different Meanings of the Word Christian in Connection with Art A. Christian as Subculture This understanding I regard as dangerous both for Christianity and for art – for Christianity, because it is viewed as one of many subculture clans. I see it as a kind of escapism: it escapes from the difficult task of communicating Christianity in the open critical cultural space. It is dangerous for art because it creates a narrow situation where real art cannot be developed. Christian subculture forms a safe, favourable, uncritical space where every work with an explicitly Christian content is praised. But real art can be developed only in competition with the best works of contemporary culture. So Christian subculture is only a shadow of the general culture; it imitates in Christian dressing what is happening in the general culture. So we have Christian rock festivals, Christian exhibitions, Christian theatre festivals and so on. I see some value in these activities. They somehow bring the issue of art into church thinking, but for their shortcomings I personally do not support them.

B. Christian as Sacral Art If we take the historical point of view, we have another meaning for the term. Here Christian art means sacral art in the context of Christian religion. This is an appropriate and necessary distinction. There is some use of it even in contemporary context. We have to ask how deeply the sensitivity of contemporary art is integrated to our religious life, how far symbols in our liturgy and sacramental life reflect discoveries of contemporary arts. I believe there are some critical points which we have to improve.

C. Christian as an Artefact Produced by a Christian Person By Christian art we can also mean simply the art of an artist who happens to be a Christian. But here more precise wording has to be adopted: art produced by a Christian. There would not be necessarily any distinction between art produced by a Christian or art 185

Daniel PASTIRCˇÁK: Artistic Creativity produced by anybody else with a different world view or confession. It is quite possible that Christians who are professional artists separate their creativity from their spiritual life.

D. Christian Artist Integrating Spirituality and Creativity We can talk about a special quality in the works of an artist who concisely integrates spirituality with art. It is with this connection between Christianity and art that we should be most concerned.

2. Art as Mediator of an Emotional Atmosphere If art is not to be a means of ideological propaganda, if art is not the tool of evangelism, what is its social function then? I am aware that some purists will be unhappy with the expression: social function of art. But whether we like it or not, art has had and will have a powerful impact on the social life of any culture. Most people are led to their opinions by the prevailing spirit of the culture. There is emotion in the air of every land. We breathe that emotion from our birth to our death. In most cases we believe everything that is regarded as being “inside” our culture. There exists something (a life-feeling) that emotionally indoctrinates us from our childhood on. That life-feeling is irrational; it cannot be explained, but for most of us its authority decides what we believe to be true and what we believe to be false. Art is the most powerful medium in the formation process of the life-feeling. If the prevailing feeling that was spread by different art forms is cynicism or hopelessness, we will be inoculated against trust in love, sincerity or truth by means of our basic life-feeling. The message of the Gospel will then appear as less believable. Art therefore creates an atmosphere in which some things are believable and others not. When the Church adopted Her defensive position towards culture, evangelicals put all their energy into evangelism. But people of their lands were intoxicated by the powerful emotions created by the arts, and so the popular culture was inoculated against their message. Paradoxically, the more the evangelicals withdrew themselves from culture and the arts in order to do their mission, the more resistant became the atmosphere of the culture to which they were communicating the message.

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III. The Disintegration of Western Culture If we talk about art in the context of our contemporary European or Western culture, we have to think about its profound disintegration. This complex phenomenon is well-described in the book Notes Towards the Definition of Culture in 1948 by a leading poet of the modern age, T. S. ELIOT. The process of disintegration since then has gone much further.

1. Description of Disintegration of Culture by T. S. ELIOT As for the disintegration of culture, let me quote ELIOT: “Cultural disintegration is present when two or more strata so separate that these become in effect distinct cultures; and also when culture at the upper group level breaks into fragments, each of which represents one cultural activity alone.” If we think of the present state of our culture, we will find that the separation is growing not only between the different segments of society, such as science, art, religion, but more and more inside of them as well. In art there is a growing fragmentation between groups of different styles and philosophies of art. In most cases they do not even communicate with each other and they look down on each other. I believe that in science disintegration grows through higher and higher specialization. Today it is impossible to connect exact discoveries in different areas of science into one comprehensible, exact and detailed picture. I agree with ELIOT that it is dramatically crucial for the future well-being of art and religion to integrate the new relations. Let me quote here ELIOT again: “Religious thought and practice, philosophy and art, all tend to become isolated areas cultivated by groups in no communication with each other. The artistic sensibility is impoverished by its divorce from religious sensibility, the religious by its separation from the artistic.”

2. Disintegration of Culture and Disintegration of Church ELIOT noticed that the disintegration of Western culture has much to do with the disintegration of Christianity: “The schisms of the XVIth century can be studied either as the history of the division of religious thought, or as the disintegration of European culture. Yet, while these wide divergences of belief on the same level are lamentable, the Faith can, and must, find room 187

Daniel PASTIRCˇÁK: Artistic Creativity for many degrees of intellectual, imaginative and emotional receptivity to the same doctrines. One of the features of development is the appearance of scepticism. Scepticism is a highly civilised trait; though, when it declines into pyrrhonism, it is one of which civilisation can die.” On one hand ELIOT sees the damage which was done to European culture by Christian schisms and divisions; on the other hand he also sees the necessity and benefit of the differentiation between theological interpretations and various forms of worship. Scepticism is a necessary element in the higher strata of developed culture and it helps to evaluate deceptions, but he also sees the destructiveness of scepticism degenerated to pyrrhonism, a situation when there is nothing else than doubts about everything. First, we have to be aware of the negative role which our theological wars brought to culture. We have to understand that there is a profound source of contemporary secularism which was caused by the Church. In order to build a peaceful society, secular thinkers decided to dethrone the Church from Her leading position. Christian religion in that time proved to be a highly divisive power bringing undesirable conflicts and even wars to society. We have to repent and change in our thinking the elements which caused painful divisions and hatred among Christians. The main element is a certain intellectual absolutism, the strong presupposition that we can have truth in its definite sense. Wars were led between absolute and absolute. There cannot be coexistence and dialogue when we own the Truth in a definite sense. Some Christian thinkers today are talking about the need for a new reformation. I could agree, but this new reformation has to point to the opposite direction than the old one. We need a reformation which will bring spiritual unity into Christendom. Otherwise, how can Christianity be the mediator of healing for a disintegrated culture? We need to develop a new ecumenical theology. I am not proposing a situation in which Christianity comes back to one head and one structure, one train of thought. I believe we have to gain a new unity of spirit and life in the context of the vast diversity of opinions and practices. Secondly, we have to welcome the healthy scepticism which questions everything superficial in our faith and opinions and in final analysis even our faults. True faith comes from true doubts. But true doubts can come only on our way to real conviction.

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3. Blessings and Curses of an Integrated Past If we compare the past with the present stage of the Church, we will see that there were times when the best art of the period formed the main elements of worship. The Church integrated everything from architecture, sculptures, paintings and poetry to music into Her liturgical life. But today our devotional life is painfully separated from aesthetic apprehensions. Our religious sensitivity becomes more and more shallow. It was true also with theology. The greatest theologians of the past were as well the greatest philosophers. You will find the name of AUGUSTINE or AQUINAS or ORIGENES not only in encyclopædias of theology; you will find them in encyclopædias of philosophy as well. Of course, there were also many shortcomings in that period, and we are paying back dearly for that time in our days. The Church in the past was able to integrate Christianity with art, theology and philosophy with the whole culture, because She held positions of power. This power brought the Church into many tragic failures. It is one of the main strengths of the Western civilization that it finally separated political power from the spiritual power of the Church. In this respect we do not want to go back. So we have to move forward and work for a new integration of art and religion on a spiritual basis.

IV. The Cultural Mission of the Church in a Secular Society As for my personal utopia, when I am contemplating the present stage of our culture, it seems to me that we are on our way to mediocrity. The main power which is forming our present culture is the free market; it is becoming the god of a new religion: consumerism. Everything is becoming business – science and art as well. Art is more and more regarded as a type of enterprise. The aim of science is not anymore regarded as a free and passionate search for truth; it is in our days becoming more and more a servant of technical development which can be sold well on the free market. Art is not anymore regarded as a search for deeper sensitivity and perception of the mysteries of existence; it is more and more about entertainment, which can be sold well on the free market. We should resist the idea that the free market is the key to everything. On the other hand, in our days there is a growing hunger and search for spirituality among artists themselves. 189

Daniel PASTIRCˇÁK: Artistic Creativity It is quite obvious that if the fine arts have to survive in future society, they need to find groups in society which will support the noncommercial development of art. In my opinion, the Christian Church is best suited for this. She has an understanding of reality which gives meaning to non-commercial arts and theoretical science. Truth and beauty have lasting meaning in the context of the eternal destiny of humankind. The Church is not only an institution, but a community of converted persons acting in different areas of society. We have to develop our theology of art and science in order to inspire converted businesspersons to support not only missions and social care projects, but the free development of non-commercial fine arts as well. Here lies the main hindrance. The Church of our days in general does not recognize Her cultural mission. She should be here to give meaning and support for all genuine efforts to enlarge our knowledge of reality and deepen our perception of the mystery of life. There is a great example of that kind of development in our past. In the VIth century there were great movements of Irish monks. Their ideal was to cultivate science, art and faith, united in one living culture. The process of integration shall start from within. We have to cultivate our personal life, to integrate our faith with contemporary thinking, to integrate our devotion and adoration with a certain sensitivity towards contemporary arts. We shall work out deep connections with great values of the past in our art and in our thinking. Christianity is in that regard overwhelmingly rich. There is an amazing richness of music, art and wisdom gathered throughout two millennia of Christianity. Only a movement of such integrated persons can change the present state of our religious life, our forms of worship and liturgy and the quality of contemporary religious sensitivity. Only such a transformed community can work together to bring about the new integration of our disintegrated culture. Even if we do not succeed to full extent, there is no other way to live out meaningfully our vision of reality. Daniel PASTIRCˇÁK (1959) is a poet, prose-writer and essayist. He graduated in Protestant theology in Bratislava, Slovakia. He works as a preacher of the Free Evangelical church (Bratská cirkev). His book Damian’s River (1993) was listed on the List of Honour of the International Board of Books for Youth. His other books are Tehilim and Cintet; the latter was honoured as the best Slovak book of the year for youth. He is also engaged in art and has exhibited in galleries in Slovakia and abroad. His email address is pastirco@isternet.sk.

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medi(t)ácie, zmier(n)enia: Riešenie konﬂiktov a európska integrácia

medi(t)ace, (u)smí ení: ešení konﬂiktů a evrospká integrace Pete

HÄMMERLE

Vytvá ení míru a usmí ení v rozdělené spole nosti Tento lánek popisuje komplexní mírový koncept proměny konﬂiktu a usmí ení od John Paul LEDERACHa v etně možnosti praktického užití v půldenním workshopu. Pro Jean Paul LEDERACHa znamená usmí ení na jedné straně obnovení vztahů mezi znep átelenými stranami; na druhé straně je to místo st etu minulosti a budoucnosti, jakožto i zdánlivě vzájemně si odporujících konceptů jako pravda a milost, nebo spravedlnost a mír. Aby se koncep ní model pro vytvá ení míru a usmí ení stal udržitelným, musí pracovat s rozli nými asovými rámci (krátko-, st edně- a dlouhodobými), s různou úrovní ú astníků (vysoká, st ední a nízká) a s procesy p echodu, proměny a uzdravení vztahů. Claudia

KAPPACHER

Koncept zprost edkování Obrazem toho, co znamená zprost edkovat je „sedět uprost ed . Jde o pomoc lidem propracovat se p es jejich konflikty a najít ešení vhodná pro všechny zú astněné. Zprost edkování funguje, pokud zprost edkovatelé vykonávají svou práci nejlépe, jak jen dovedou a všechny strany chtějí opravdu vy ešit své konflikty, aniž by brali v potaz věk i zkušenosti, které by s ešením konfliktů mohli mít z minulosti. Nezáleží na tom, eho se konflikty týkají, nebo v nás všech je silná touha po shodě a usmí ení.

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SCHMIDT

Ankica DRAGIN

Recenze na práci „Spravedlnost a smí ení: Odkaz místních

Svět ne-malých otázek:

indiánských internátních škol a cesta k usmí ení

Projekt EHO YRM-CBC, zkušenost s usmí ením

Od poloviny 90. let mnoho událostí vyvolalo změnu v diskusi v hlavním proudu kanadských médií a církvi o p etrvávajícím rozt íštěném vztahu Kanady s původním obyvatelstvem. Spravedlnost a usmí ení: Odkaz místních indiánských internátních škol a cesta k usmí ení, vydáno Spojenou církví Kanady v roce 2001, koncipuje usmí ení jako problém „rozvráceného vztahu . Tento koncept pak zahrnuje poslouchání p íběhů, změnu a závazek napomáhat spravedlnosti ve vst ícné solidaritě. V první ásti je vylí ena kritický pohled na historie ú asti Spojené církve v místních školách, která ani nezleh ovala vliv asimila ní politiky podporovanou školami a která ani nedělala obětní beránky z lidí, kte í v těchto školách pracovali. Druhá, teologická ást postuluje model „mluvení pravdy, lamentace a lítosti, hledání ducha založený na biblické a domorodé moudrosti. Poslední, největší ást detailně popisuje ekumenické, sekulární a mezinárodní p ístupy v obhajobě domorodců, solidaritě a usmí ení. Inspirována tímto zdrojem a jeho autory je tato práce východiskem pro další diskusi a podnětem pro jiné denominace k následování tohoto p íkladu.

lánek je o praktickém p ístupu k usmí ení. Prezentuje projekt Setkání mládeže k usmí ení p eshrani ní cyklus), organizovaný Ekumenickou humanitární organizací (EHO) z města Novi Sad, region Vojvodina, Srbsko a erná hora. Tento projekt, zamě ený na děti ve věku 10 až 14 let, byl unikátní iniciativou od roku 1996. Zabýval se usmí ením dětí domácího obyvatelstva a dětí ute enců p edevším ve Vojvodině, ale později doslova p ekro il ex-jugoslávské hranice a zapojil děti z Chorvatska, Bosny a Hercegoviny a z p evážně muslimského regionu Sandžak v jihozápadním Srbsku. Detailní popis projektu se opět zamě uje na základní esenci usmí ení v každém smyslu: odpuštění.

SZ NYI László Gyula Riešenie povojnových sociálnych konfliktov: Prípad dediny Törökbálint Druhá svetová vojna vyústila do významných zmien v Strednej Európe nielen z politického h adiska, ale aj z h adiska spolo enského. V tomto duchu sa radikálne zmenila aj situácia obyvate stva v nemeckých dedinách nachádzajúcich sa v Ma arsku: takmer polovica Nemcov (asi 500.000) bola deportovaná; ich domy boli pridelené ro níkom z menej rozvinutej východnej asti krajiny, ako aj nieko ko stotisíc ute encom, vypovedaným z oblastí, ktoré Ma arsko po vojne stratilo. Toto presídlenie je popísané v ma arskej i nemeckej odbornej literatúre, avšak konkrétna migrácia (kto; odkia ; ako a pre o prišiel), jej ažkosti, konflikty a príležitosti asto ostávajú na okraji záujmu. Predkladaná štúdia analyzuje dané postupy v obci Törökbálint blízko Budapešti na základe archívnych výskumov, spomienok, periodickej tla e, štatistických údajov a s asti aj na základe odbornej literatúry zameranej na teórie etnických konfliktov, ktorých korene siahajú do h bky sociálnych nerovností (majetkových, príjmových, kultúrnych).

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Orinta

ŽVIKAITE-RÖTTING

Mezigenera ní propast:

ešení mezigenera ních konﬂiktů

Generace je sociální konstrukce, která prost ednictvím kvalitativních empirických údajů napomáhá popsat probíhající socio-politické změny a p i ešení konfliktů s různými stanoviskami, odpovídajícími zkušenostmi, spole enskými deklaracemi a různými životními perspektivami. Tato znalost závisí na vztahu mezi pluralitou popsaných genera ních jednotek a jejich identifikací a neidentifikací v jejich ambivaletních formách. Mezigenera ní propast je souhrnné pojetí rozdílů mezi různými jednotkami spole nosti. Použití tohoto pojetí také ukazuje, jak různé konflikty mohou pronikat do vysvětlujících uplatnění a cílů genera ních jednotek, nejen do pojmu generace ur eného věkem. „Genera ní propast je vhodný pojem pro popisování nes etných konfliktů, ale již méně pro jejich změ ení. Konflikty, které nazýváme „genera ními konflikty (vztahují se ke genera ní propasti) si zasluhují pozornost jako zrcadlo studia spravedlnosti a rovnosti. I když můžeme tento konflikt demetaforizovat, dekonstruovat a demoralizovat, stále existuje ve všech svých neuzemněných formách.

HOCHMAN Ágnes Páska na o iach a váhy: Rôzne riešenia podmiene ného prepustenia v histórii trestného práva mladistvých Metafora opisuje systém trestného práva krajín Strednej Európy ako potrubie systém, cez ktorý delikventi padajú a nemôžu sa vyhnú uväzneniu. Naopak, systém trestného práva v západnej Európe sa podobá skôr lieviku, cez ktorý sa iba malé percento delikventov dopracuje k uväzneniu; vä šina z nich je trestaná alternatívne. Reforma trestného práva v Strednej Európe sa zameriava na vypracovanie takéhoto „lievikovitého trestného

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systému, sústre ujúc sa najmä na mladistvých. Najzákladnejším problémom je zosúladenie dvoch poh adov na spravodlivos : jeden vyžaduje trest zodpovedajúci zlo inu; a druhý zastáva individuálne tresty, berúc do úvahy jedine nos prípadu každého konkrétneho delikventa. Tak i onak, je zrejmé, že zákonodarcovia musia nájs riešenie dilemy reformy trestného systému.

KÖRMÖCZI-KOVÁCS Péter

lenství v EU: Nejisté požehnání? Od svého založení se Evropská Unie (EU) vyvinula z ekonomického spole enství tvo eného šesti státy do svého sou asného stavu ekonomickopolitické unie, která integruje většinu evropských zemí, 25 států. Vstup států St ední Evropy v květnu 2004 je dosud největším krokem v životě unie, s ohledem nejen na po et vstupujících zemí, ale i celkového nárůstu po tu obyvatel. Kdo vyhrává a co díky rozší ení a p ijetí standardních pravidel? Tento lánek nasti uje kritické otázky a problémy (privatizace, migrace pracovní síly, zemědělské subvence, míra státní zadluženosti, da ové úlevy, suverenita a delegace p edstavitelů), které jsou zmi ované jen z ídka, protože slouží zájmům investorů; ale jejich posouzení je zásadní pro hodnocení výhod a nevýhod p ipojení. Autor usuzuje, že vzhledem k p ístupovým jednáním nejsou sou asná kritéria pro ex-komunistické krajiny p íznivá, ale neexistuje lepší alternativa.

SPALLER Endre

Politicko-ekonomická zmena v Ma arsku Politicko-ekonomická zmena v Ma arsku sa považuje za jednu z najúspešnejších zmien vo všetkých postkomunistických krajinách, avšak pre Ma arsko predstavuje neoby ajne ažký prechod. Ekonomická kríza z polovice osemdesiatych rokov prispela vo ve kej miere k ústupu komunizmu a v období po politickej zmene sa ešte viac zhoršila. Naš astie nová demokratická vláda odhadla situáciu a nespoliehala sa na pomoc zo zahrani ia. Z m tveho bodu sa ma arská ekonomika mohla dosta len v aka domácim zdrojom, a tak uplatnila zodpovedajúcu ekonomickú politiku. V prvom období zmien (19891996) bolo uprednostnené vytváranie pracovných príležitostí, redukovanie korupcie a privatizovanie. V druhom období (19962002) sa vláda sústredila na reformné da ové zákony, aby podporila nahromadenie kapitálu v krajine. Reformy boli celkom úspešné. Vzh adom na priemer krajín EÚ reformy spôsobili dvojnásobný ekonomický nárast; naneš astie nasledovalo obdobie stagnácie (20032004), o demonštrovalo ekonomickú nestabilitu a potrebu prekona viac ažkostí na upevnenie zriadenia.

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Zuzana

MOGYOROSIOVÁ

Slovenský poh ad na európsku integráciu lánok pojednáva o rozširovaní Európskej únie na príklade Slovenska. Stru ne zachytáva priebeh prístupového procesu, poukazuje na výzvy a problémy s ním spojené. Osobitne sa zameriava na napredovanie Slovenska pri plnení požiadaviek na lenstvo v EÚ ako aj pri samotných prístupových rokovaniach. Následne sa autor snaží zhodnoti najdôležitejšie zmeny vyplývajúce zo vstupu SR do EÚ, a to hlavne na zmeny vyplývajúce zo zavedenia štyroch základných slobôd vnútorného trhu. V závere konštatuje, že aj napriek mnohým ažkostiam sa lenstvo v EÚ javí by pre Slovensko jedinou cestou do budúcnosti. Marián

KUNA

Kres anstvo a Európska ústava: Mala by sa ústava zmie ova o Bohu a kres anských hodnotách? lánok sa zaoberá otázkou, i by Európska ústava mala vo svojej preambule odkazova na Boha a kres anské hodnoty. Autor pristupuje k problému prostredníctvom rozlíšenia deskriptívneho a normatívneho aspektu skúmanej problematiky. Takto sa usiluje vysvetli , pre o sa môže tento odkaz zda niektorým Európanom príliš sporný, ako aj to, i sú ich obavy a pochybnosti opodstatnené. lánok obhajuje myšlienku, že odkaz na Boha a kres anské hodnoty v ústave je legitímny. Je tomu tak preto, lebo dôvody pre túto zmienku sa javia ako opisne nespochybnite né a normatívne obhájite né. Navyše sa zdá, že takáto zmienka napomôže tomu, aby sa kres anom, ktorí sú ob anmi Európskej únie, dostalo náležité (t.j. ústavné) uznanie. John George

HUBER

Trvající víra a pravidlo iniciativy v deﬁnici ekumenického cíle lánek vychází z druhé kapitoly většího výzkumu magisterské práce v programu Ekumenická studia na Ekumenickém Institutu v Bossey p i Světové Radě Církví z roku 2001. Práce se jmenuje „Skute né, ale nedokonalé p ijímání: Významné dohody a zbylé výzvy ve ty ech nedávných mezikonfesijních iniciativách zahrnujících lutherány . T i zbylé kapitoly prozkoumaly devět dialogů lutheránů s ímskými katolíky ve Spojených státech amerických; historickou dohodu mezi Vatikánem a Lutherskou světovou federací o doktríně oprávněnosti z roku 1999; a úplné p ijímání dosažené Evangelickou-lutherskou církví v Americe spole ně s dalšími pěti církvemi. Hlavním objevem tohoto výzkumu je, že dosažení ekumenického cíle vyžaduje dohodu nejen v otázkách víry, ale také pravidel. A tak autor, lutherán ekumenického ražení, dosáhl katoli tějšího pojetí Ježíšovi velekněžské modlitby zaznamenané v Janovi 17.

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ROZS-NAGY Szilvia ‒ NAGYPÁL Szabolcs

Henrik Lindberg

De Jezreela: Ekumenické po atie riešenia konﬂiktov

Smysluplná Boží pravda

v Starej zmluve

Dialog mezi náboženstvími je poměrně novým fenoménem ve smyslu, v jakém se k němu snažíme p istoupit dnes. K es anství mělo tendenci k soběsta nosti v postoji k jiným náboženstvím, ale v posledních pár desetiletích jsme zaujali otev enější p ístup a uznali pravdu v jiných náboženstvích. P ed vstupem do dialogu musíme kriticky p ezkoumat sebe sama pro rozvíjení tohoto otev eného postoje. Musíme se vypo ádat s některými základními otázkami v k es anství, abychom zjistili, zda jsme p ipraveni a chceme vstoupit do dialogu. Jednou z těchto otázek je pojetí pravdy. Když k es anství nep edstavuje pravdu, která nás naprosto vypl uje, pak nejsme v p ítomnosti Boha. Ale zárove musíme akceptovat jiná náboženství a být p ipraveni u it se z jejich pravdy.

Tento lánok sa zaoberá siedmimi dôležitými textami o riešení konﬂiktov. Texty pochádzajú zo Starého zákona, ktorý pre nás obsahuje hlboké implikácie, ke prorokuje, stavia a overuje rastúcu jednotu Božieho udu a predchádza svojmu naplneniu ‒ de Jezreela. Boh sa stará o všetky spolo enstvá viery, odha uje sa im sám, akceptuje ich ponuky a obety, ustanovuje ich za požehnaných pred celým svetom a jedná s nimi s hlbokým súcitom. Tak sme teda povolaní zmeni svoje postoje vo i svojím sestrám a bratom, a to predovšetkým v kres anskej viere. Ponúka sa nám alší svet, v ktorom po storo iach zotrvaných v utrpení kvôli nášmu rozdeleniu, sme pripravení vyzna sa zo svojich hriechov, pokori sa, utova a prinies obety. Naše dary a prispenie by nás mali predís ako znamenia našej prvotnej lásky až do úplného seba-darovania sa. Modlitba by mala by našim stálym spolupútnikom na ceste k uzdraveniu, znovu uzmiereniu, š astiu a vyriešeniu konﬂiktov. Náš dialóg sa živí šírením poznania pre ostatných a zbližovaním sa v úplnosti dobrej vôle. V solidarite s našim blížnym sa máme v úmysle zosta spolu a rás v jednote. Je náš Otec stále živý? Ján

MIHÁLIK

Tri vnútronáboženské výzvy k dialógu rôznych náboženstiev Autor h adá inšpiráciu v štúdiách zaoberajúcich sa tematikou mieru a na ich základe definuje medzináboženské vz ahy ako konflikt so všetkými možnos ami a príležitos ami, ktoré takáto perspektíva poskytuje. V lánku objas uje pojmy náboženský konflikt, náboženstvo v konflikte a náboženský mier, aby poskytol presnejší rámec na uvažovanie o medzináboženských vz ahoch. alej ponúka tri poh ady, ktoré môžu pomôc pri analýze postupu konkrétneho náboženstva v náboženskom dialógu. Tieto tri poh ady sú opísané cez tri otázky: V o veria? o si myslia o druhých? Kde kladú hranice? Otázky vyzývajú každý náboženský systém h ada svoju vlastnú odpove vo „vnútronáboženskom dialógu . Ak náboženskí aktéri nepoznajú vlastné možnosti, nie sú schopní ich tvorivo používa na prekonanie priepastí, ktoré ich delia od ostatných. Preto jednou z k ú ových snáh kohoko vek, kto sa angažuje v riešení náboženských konfliktov, je stimulovanie zdravého vnútronáboženského dialógu.

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ŠAJDA

Prílišná fixácia ako zdroj nerovnováhy vo vz ahoch (Ilustrovaná na teórii štádií rozvoja osobnosti v diele Sørena KIERKEGAARDa) Predkladaná štúdia sa venuje konceptu fixácie ako zdroju konfliktov a stagnácie v rozvoji osobnosti, medzi udských vz ahoch, ako aj vo vz ahu k transcendencii (Bohu). Prílišná fixácia je v štúdii ilustrovaná na príkladoch vzatých z diela dánskeho filozofa S. KIERKEGAARDa. Na komplexnejšie zachytenie rôznych aspektov fixácie je použitá KIERKEGAARDova teória štádií. Takýmto spôsobom je negatívna fixácia analyzovaná v rámci životných štýlov estetickej, etickej a religióznej orientácie. Štúdia sa usiluje na rtnú proces, ako fixácia vzniká a predstavi argumenty, ktorými sa zvä ša ospravedl uje. Na druhej strane štúdia zdôraz uje dôležitos kreatívnej autonómie každého udského subjektu. Rebecca

BLOCKSOME

Umění války a míru: Teorie tvorby a ešení konﬂiktů Vycházejíc ze zkušeností autorky pracující v neziskovém sektoru v Bosně a Hercegovině v oblasti kreativní umělecko-kulturní práce pro usmí ení, tento lánek zkoumá vztah mezi stvo ením a destrukcí a jak mohou kreativní umění působit jako programy smí ení a záchrany v spole enstvích rozpolcených násilím. Nastíněním analogií mezi sférami p irozeného a nadp irozeného se autorka pokouší dát solidní teologický výklad vztahu mezi kreativitou a usmí ením, významný a využívaný fenomén v sou asných sekulárních mírových studiích. Teorie se soust edí na diskusi o pravdivém původu reality a úloha lověka v jejím popisu a/nebo p izpůsobení se jí, s důrazem na vytvo ení pozitivního míru mezi lidmi navzájem, světem p írody a Bohem; spíše než negativního míru, tj. pouhé absence otev eného konﬂiktu.

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PASTIR ÁK

Umelecká tvorivos a kres anská spiritualita Ke skúmame vz ah medzi spiritualitou a umeleckou tvorivos ou, môžeme spozna všeobecný zdroj, v ktorom majú svoj pôvod umelecké aj náboženské podnety. V tomto oh ade existujú dve základné otázky: Pre o umenie?, Existuje kres anské umenie? Tieto otázky vedú k novým: Aká je úloha umenia v cirkvi? Aký je pravý vz ah medzi cirkvou a umením? Ak porovnáme minulé a dnešné postavenie cirkvi, spozorujeme, že bola etapa, ke najlepšie umenie obdobia vytváralo hlavné prvky uctievania. Cirkev integrovala všetko od architektúry, sochárstva, maliarstva, poézie až po hudbu do svojho liturgického života. Avšak Cirkev dnešných dní má vo všeobecnosti problém rozozna svoje kultúrne posolstvo. Mala by tu by , aby dala zmysel a podporila všetky úprimné snahy o rozšírenie nášho poznania skuto nosti a preh bila naše chápanie tajomstva života. Cirkev v sebe obsahuje chápanie reality, tá dáva zmysel nekomer nému umeniu a teoretickej vede; ona je najvhodnejšie vybavená pre zápas o rozvoj nekomer ného umenia, v ktorom pravda a krása má svoje trvanie v kontexte ve ného osudu udstva.

medi(t)ationen, (wieder)versöhnungen: Konﬂiktlösungen und europäische Integration

Pete

HÄMMERLE

Friedensaufbau und Versöhnung in geteilten Gesellschaften Der Artikel beschreibt ein umfassendes Friedenskonzept zur Konﬂikttransformation und Versöhnung von John Paul LEDERACH und Möglichkeiten seiner praktischen Umsetzung im Rahmen eines halbtägigen Se-minars. Versöhnung bedeutet für LEDERACH einerseits die (Wieder-) Herstellung von Beziehungen zwischen Konﬂiktparteien, andererseits einen Ort der Begegnung von Vergangenheit und Zukunft sowie von scheinbar widersprüchlichen Konzepten wie Wahrheit und Barmherzigkeit, Gerechtigkeit und Frieden. Ein umfassendes Rahmenkonzept für Friedensförderung und Versöhnung muss die unterschiedlichen Zeithorizonte (kurz-, mittel- und langfristig), die verschiedenen Ebenen von Akteuren (höchste, mittlere und Basisebene) sowie die Prozesse der Transition, der Transformation und der Heilung von Beziehungen in Betracht ziehen, um nachhaltig wirksam sein zu können. Claudia

KAPPACHER

Das Konzept der Vermittlung Das Bild in der Mitte sitzen gibt einen ersten Eindruck über das Phänomen der Vermittlung. Im Wesentlichen geht es darum, die Konfliktpartner/ parteien beratend und helfend zu begleiten, um Lösungen, mit denen die Konfliktpartner und alle weiteren Betroffenen einverstanden sind, zu finden. Vermittlung funktioniert wirklich, wenn die Vermittler mit vollem Einsatz und so neutral wie möglich vermitteln und die Konfliktpartner aus tiefstem Herzen die Konflikte lösen wollen, dabei spielen das Alter der Partner und mögliche Erfahrungen mit Konfliktlösung in der Vergangenheit keine Rolle. Ganz egal, um welchen Konflikt es sich handelt, besteht in uns allen ein starkes Verlangen, in Frieden und Versöhnung miteinander zu leben.

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SCHMIDT

Ankica

DRAGIN

Gerechtigkeit im Nachhinein und Versöhnung: Das Erbe der

Eine Welt ohne Kleinigkeiten: EHO YRM-CBC Projekt,

indianischen Internate und die Reise hin zu Versöhnung

Erfahrungen mit Versöhnung

Ab Mitte der Neunziger haben mehrere Ereignisse dazu beigetragen, dass sich die Art, in der die kanadischen Medien und die Kirche über Kanadas nach wie vor gebrochene Beziehungen mit indigenen Volksgruppen sprechen, geändert hat. Gerechtigkeit im Nachhinein und Versöhnung: Das Erbe der indianischen Internate und die Reise hin zu Versöhnung, veröffentlicht von der United Church Kanadas im Jahr 2001, sieht Versöhnung als ein Problem „gebrochener Beziehung . Dabei ist das Zuhören, Ändern von Meinungen und die Verpflichtung, sich in verantwortungsvoller Solidarität für mehr Gerechtigkeit einzusetzen von großer Wichtigkeit. Im ersten Teil wird ein kritischer historischer Überblick über das Wirken der United Church (an Residential Schools) in Internaten gegeben. Dabei wird weder der Einfluss der Angleichungspolitik der Schulen beschönigt, noch werden die Personen, die in den Schulen gearbeitet haben, als Sündenböcke hingestellt. Ein zweiter, theologischer Teil stellt folgendes Modell vor: Wahrheiten aussprechen, Klage und Reue, Suche nach dem Wesentlichen basierend auf biblischen Weisheiten und Weisheiten der Ureinwohner. Der letzte Teil zeigt im Detail ökumenische, weltliche und internationale Wege zu mehr Fürsprache, Solidarität und Versöhnung mit den Ureinwohnern. Diese einfühlsame Arbeit ist ein Ausgangspunkt für weitere Gespräche und ein Beispiel für andere Konfessionen.

Der Artikel beschreibt einen praktischen Weg zu Versöhnung am Beispiel des Projektes Youth Reconciliation Meetings ‒ Cross Border Cycle (YRMCBC) der Ecumenical Humanitarian Organisation (EHO) aus Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Serbien und Montenegro. Das Projekt, ausgerichtet auf Kinder zwischen zehn und vierzehn Jahren, ist eine einzigartige Initiative seit 1996 und behandelt das Thema der Versöhnung zwischen ortsansässigen Kindern und Kindern aus Flüchtlingsfamilien in Vojvodina. Im weiteren Projektverlauf wurden auch Kinder aus Kroatien, Bosnien, Herzegovina und der muslimischen Region Sandžak in Süd-West-Serbien miteingebunden. Die Gründe für das Projekt lassen sich auf einen Leitsatz zusammenfassen, nämlich auf die Essenz der Versöhnung: Vergebung.

SZ NYI László Gyula Konfliktlösung der nachkriegszeitlichen sozialen Konflikte: Der Fall von Törökbálint Der Zweite Weltkrieg war ausschlaggebend für drastische Veränderungen auf politischer und sozialer Ebene in Zentraleuropa. In diesem Sinne wurde ein großer Teil der deutschsprachigen Minderheit in Ungarn (Schwaben) ausgesiedelt: etwa eine halbe Million wurde gezwungen zu gehen; ihre Häuser wurden von landwirtschaftlichen Hilfsarbeitern aus dem unterentwickelten östlichen Teil des Landes und von einigen hunderttausenden Flüchtlingen, die von aufgegebenen ungarischen Gebieten vertrieben wurden, besetzt. Die Wiederansiedelung der Schwaben wurde von ungarischen und deutschen Literaten gut dokumentiert, die Migration selber (wer, von wo, wie und warum angekommen ist) und die damit verbundenen Schwierigkeiten, Konflikte und Möglichkeiten wurden jedoch nicht ausführlich beschrieben. Diese Fallstudie sucht neue Blickwinkel der Entwicklungen in dem Dorf Törökbálint neben Budapest, basierend auf Untersuchungen in Archiven, Reminiszenzen, Periodika, Statistiken und teilweise auf spezieller Literatur, die die Schlussfolgerungen von ethnischen Konflikt-Theorien berührt, in denen die Wurzeln der ethnischen Zusammenstöße in den Tiefen sozialer Ungleichheit (Besitz, Einkommen, Kultur) gesucht werden.

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Generation Gap: Lösen von Generationenkonflikten Generation ist ein soziales Konstrukt, das dabei hilft über einen fortlaufenden Prozess zu sprechen. Dabei geht es um ein Wissen, das von der Beziehung der vielfältigen benannten Generationen-Units und ihrer Identifikationen und Antiidentifikationen in allen ambivalenten Formen abhängt. Ein Generationsunterschied oder Generationenkonflikt ist somit ein vielschichtiges Konzept, dass die Unterschiede der Units zu erklären sucht. Dabei wird auch versucht, die verschiedenen Ziele der GenerationenUnits zu klären, und nicht nur ihre Unterschiede im Bezug auf das Alter. Generationsbruch ist ein Ausdruck, der die Vielzahl der Konflikte zwischen den Units beschreiben will, aber nicht messen kann. Wenn dieser Ausdruck auch demetapherisiert, zerlegt und demoralisiert werden kann, so sind diese Konflikte dennoch ein Spiegel für Gerechtigkeits- und Gleichheits-Studien, und verdient von daher Beachtung.

HOCHMAN Ágnes Augenbinde und Waage: Veränderungen der Bewährungsstrafe in der Geschichte des Jugendstrafrechts Das Strafrechtssystem der zentraleuropäischen Länder wird in einer Metapher als ein Rohr beschrieben, durch das die Straftäter durchfallen und somit einer Inhaftierung nicht entgehen können. Das Strafrechtssystem der westeuropäischen Länder ähnelt im Gegensatz dazu eher einem Trichter: nur ein kleiner Teil der Straﬀälligen wird zu Gefängnisstrafen verurteilt; der Großteil erhält andere Strafen. Die zentraleuropäischen Strafrechtsreformen fokusieren darauf diesen trichter-förmige Strafsystem auszuarbeiten,

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besonders im Hinblick auf Jugendliche. Eines der grundlegendsten Probleme ist die beiden Bedeutungen des Rechts in Einklang zubringen: zum einen die Anforderung, dass die Bestrafung verhältnismäßig dem Verbrechen entspricht, zum anderen die Unterstützung von individuellen Strafen unter Berücksichtigung des besonderen Falls jedes einzelnen Täters. Wie auch immer, die Gesetzgeber müssen eine Lösung dieses Dilemmas bei der Strafrechtsreform ﬁnden.

der Regierung auf der Steuerrechtsreform um die Ansammlung von Kapital im Land zu fördern. Diese Reformen waren ziemlich erfolgreich, so dass die wirtschaftliche Wachstumsrate Ungarn doppelt so hoch war wie der EU-Durchschnitt. Auf sie folgte aber unglücklicherweise in den Jahren 2003 und 2004 eine Zeit der Stagnation, die zeigt, dass die Wirtschaft immer noch schwach ist und noch mehr harte Zeiten ausgestanden werden müssen bevor sie sicher etabliert ist.

KÖRMÖCZI-KOVÁCS Péter

Zuzana

Die EU-Mitgliedschaft: Ein gemischter Segen?

Die slowakische Perspektive

Seit ihrer Gründung hat sich die Europäische Union (EU) von einer wirtschaftlichen Gemeinschaft aus sechs Ländern zu ihrer jetzigen Form, einer wirtschaftlich-politischen Union, die die Mehrheit der europäischen Länder, nämlich fünfundzwanzig Staaten, umfasst, entwickelt. Der Beitritt der zentraleuropäischen Länder im Mai 2004 war der bis dato größte Schritt im Bestehen der EU, nicht nur im Hinblick auf die Zahl der beitretenden Länder sondern auch auf den gesamten Bevölkerungsanstieg. Wer gewinnt und was aufgrund der zunehmenden Größe und dem Annehmen von standardisierten Regeln? Dieser Artikel behandelt kritische Fragen und Probleme, wie z.B. Privatisierung, Arbeitskraftmigration, Agrarsubventionen, Schuldenanhäufung, Lastenbefreiung, Souveränität und Autoritätsübertragung. Diese werden selten genannt, da sie für Investoren vorteilhaft sind, aber ihre Berücksichtigung ist von grundlegender Wichtigkeit bei der Abwägung der Vor- und Nachteile der Mitgliedschaft. Abschließend ist zu bemerken, dass in Übereinstimmung mit den Beitrittsverhandlungen die aktuellen Kriterien für die ehemaligen kommunistischen Staaten ungünstig sind, es aber keine bessere Alternative gibt.

SPALLER Endre Die politische und ökonomische Transformation in Ungarn Obwohl die Transformation als eine der erfolgreichsten aller postkommunistischen Länder erachtet wird, war die wirtschaftliche Transformation für Ungarn besonders schwierig. Die Wirtschaftskrise Mitte der Achtziger Jahre trug viel zum Niedergang des Kommunismus bei. Sie verschlimmerte sich in den Folgejahren des politischen Wechsels. Glücklicherweise erkannte die neue demokratische Regierung, dass der wirtschaftliche Stillstand nur durch eigene Quellen und nicht auf ausländische Hilfe gestützt behoben werden könne, und ergriﬀ entsprechende Maßnahmen. In der ersten Phase der Transformation von 1989 bis 1996 wurde vorrangig die Schaﬀung von Arbeitsplätzen und die Bekämpfung der Korruption einhergehend mit Privatisierungen behandelt. In der zweiten Phase von 1996 bis 2002 lag das besondere Augenmerk

202

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bezüglich der europäischen Integration In diesem Artikel wird der Erweiterungsprozess der Europäischen Union im Fall der Slowakei behandelt. Der Beitrittsprozess sowie seine Herausforderungen und Probleme werden kurz besprochen. Besonders wird der Fortschritt der Slowakei behandelt betreﬀend die Erfüllung der Beitrittskriterien genauso wie die Beitrittsverhandlungen zwischen der Slowakei und der EU. Anschließend bewertet die Autorin die wichtigsten, sich aus der slowakischen EU-Mitgliedschaft ergebenden Veränderungen, hauptsächlich im Bereich der vier grundlegenden Freiheiten des Binnenmarktes. Schließlich scheint die EU-Mitgliedschaft trotz vieler Schwierigkeiten der einzige Weg für die Slowakei in dieser geschichtlichen Situation. Marián

KUNA

Gott, christliche Werte und die Europäische Verfassung: sollte letztere sich auf erstere beziehen? Warum? Der Artikel untersucht, ob die Präambel zur Europäischen Verfassung auf Gott und die christlichen Werte Bezug nehmen sollte. Der Autor geht an das Problem heran, indem er die beschreibenden und normativen Aspekte der in Frage stehenden Punkte unterscheidet. Er versucht zu erklären, warum dieser Bezug für mache EuropäerInnen als zu kontroversiell erscheint. Ebenso geht er der Frage nach der Begründung dieser Zweifel auf den Grund. Für diesen Bezug auf Gott und christliche Werte in der Verfassung scheint es genügend Argumente zu geben. Es scheint dieser Bezug wäre eine Möglichkeit, den europäische ChristInnen angemessene (also verfassungsmäßige) Anerkennung zu verschaﬀen.

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HUBER

Ján

MIHÁLIK

Eine ständige Glaubens- und Ordensinitiative

Drei innerreligiöse Veränderungen im interreligiösen Dialog

das Ökumenische Ziel zu deﬁnieren

Der Autor sucht Inspiration in Friedensstudien. Darauf aufbauend definiert er interreligiöse Beziehungen als Konflikte mit Veränderungen und Möglichkeiten, die solch eine Perspektive bieten kann. In diesem Artikel führt er die Begriffe religiöser Konflikt, Religion im Konflikt und religiöser Friede ein, um einen geneueren Rahmen für das Nachdenken über interreligiöse Beziehungen abzustecken. Danach bringt er drei Beispiele für interreligiöse Gespräche. Die drei Standpunkte werden durch drei Fragen beschreiben: Woran glauben sie? Was glauben sie über andere? Wo stecken sie ihre Grenzen? Diese Fragen ermöglichen ein Veränderung jedes religiösen Systems in den eigenen Antworten im ununterbrochenen interreligiösen Dialog. Wenn die religiös Agierenden ihre eigenen Möglichkeiten und Optionen nicht kennen, können sie diese nicht kreativ einsetzen, um den Spalt zu überwinden, der sie von anderen trennt. Eine wesentliche Voraussetzung für jeden, der in der Lösung religiöser Konflikte einbebunden ist, ist also das Voranbringen eines gesunden innerreligiösen Dialoges.

Der Artikel basiert auf dem zweiten Kapitel einer großen Untersuchung, die für das ökumenische Studienprogramm am Ökumenischen Bossey Institut des Ökumenischer Rat der Kirchen 2001 geschrieben wurde. Der Originaltitel lautet Das wirkliche, aber nicht vollkommene Abendmahl. Bedeutende Übereinkommen und einige verbleibende Änderungen in vier jüngeren interkonfessionellen Initiativen mit evangelisch-lutherischer Beteiligung. Die drei anderen Kapitel untersuchen neun lutherisch-römisch katholische Dialoge in den Vereinigten Staaten, das historische Übereinkommen von 1999 zwischen Vatikan und Lutherischem Weltbund in Bezug auf die Rechtfertigung und die Abendmahlsgemeinschaft zwischen der evangelischlutherischen Kirche in Amerika und fünf anderen Kirchen. Eine große Entdeckung dieser Untersuchung ist die Tatsache, dass das ökumenische Ziel nicht nur Übereinkünfte in Glaubensfragen sonder auch in Strukturfragen braucht. Aus diesem Grund gelangt der Autor, ein lutherischer Ökumeniker, zu einer mehr katholischen Vision des Gebetes in Johannes 17.

Henrik Lindberg

HANSEN

ROZS-NAGY Szilvia ‒ NAGYPÁL Szabolcs

Die bedeutungsvolle Wahrheit von Gott

Der Tag von Jezreel: Ökumenische Implikationen

Gespräche zwischen Religionen sind eine ziemlich neue Erscheinung in der Hinsicht, wie wir jetzt daran herangehen. Die Christen neigen zu Selbstgenügsamkeit in ihrem Auftreten gegenüber anderen Religionen, aber während der letzten Jahrzehnte haben wir eine offenere Haltung gegenüber anderen Religionen und ihren Wahrheiten eingenommen. Bevor wir in diesen Dialog eintreten, haben wir uns selbst kritisch zu befragen, um eine offene Haltung zu entwickeln. Wir müssen einige grundlegende Fakten im Christentum ansprechen, um herauszufinden ob wir bereit sind, in den Dialog einzutreten. Einer dieser Punkte ist das Konzept der Wahrheit. Wenn das Christentum nicht die Wahrheit wiederspiegelt, welche uns wirklich erfüllt, spüren wir Gott nicht mehr. Aber zur gleichen Zeit müssen wir die Wahrheit anderer Religionen anerkennen und bereit sein, davon zu lernen.

der alttestamentlichen Konfliktlösung Dieser Artikel beschäftigt sich mit sieben wichtigen Texten über Konfliktlösungen in dem Alten Testament, die tiefe Auswirkungen für uns haben, wenn wir die wachsende Einheit von Gottes Volk prophezeien, bauen und bezeugen, und die Erfüllung erwarten ‒ den Tag von Jezreel. Gott kümmert sich um alle Glaubensgemeinden, offenbart sich ihnen, akzeptiert ihre Opfer, beruft sie ein Segen für die Welt zu sein und behandelt sie mit tiefem Erbarmen. So sind wir aufgerufen, unsere Einstellung gegenüber unseren Schwestern und Brüdern, vor allem innerhalb der christlichen Kirche. Eine andere Welt ist möglich, wo nach Jahrhunderten des Erduldens des Leidens wegen unserer Teilung, wir bereit sind, unsere Sünden zu bekennen, bereuen und Opfer bringen. Unsere Gaben und Beiträge sollten vor uns kommen, als Zeichen unserer ersten Liebe, sogar bis zu dem Punkt der Selbstentleerung. Gebet und Fürbitte sollten unsere ständigen Begleiter zu Heilung, Versöhnung, Glück und Konfliktlösung sein. Unser Dialog wird von der wachsenden Kenntnis der anderen und der Annäherung mit Wohlwollen. In der Solidarität mit unserem Nachbarn versuchen wir, zusammen zu bleiben und in Einheit zu wachsen. Ist unsere Vater noch lebendig?

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Daniel

PASTIR ÁK

Übermäßige Fixierung als eine Quelle von Ungleichgewicht in

Künstlerische Kreativität und Christliche Spiritualität

Beziehungen (Veranschaulicht anhand Søren KIERKEGAARDs Theorie der

Bei der Untersuchung der Beziehung zwischen Spiritualität und künstlerischen Kreativität kann man eine gemeinsame Quelle, aus der künstlerischen und religiösen Impulse zu entspringen scheinen, erkennen. Die diesem Thema werden zwei wesentliche Fragen aufgeworfen: Warum Kunst? Und, gibt es eine christliche Kunst? Diese Fragen führen zu weiteren Fragen: Was ist die Rolle der Kunst in der Kirche? Oder, was ist die geeignete Beziehung zwischen der Kirche und der Kunst? Wenn man die Vergangenheit mit der derzeitigen Situation der Kirche vergleicht, sieht man, dass es Zeiten gab, in denen die beste Kunst dieser Zeit die wesentlichen Elemente des Gottesdienstes formten. Die Kirche integrierte alles von Architektur, Skulpturen, Gemälde und Poesie bis zu Musik in das liturgische Leben. Aber heutzutage nimmt die Kirche im Allgemeinen ihren kulturellen Auftrag nicht wahr. Sie sollte hier sein, um allen ernsthaften Bemühungen, unsere Erkenntnis über die Wirklichkeit zu vergrößern und unsere Wahrnehmung des Geheimnisses des Lebens zu vertiefen, Bedeutung und Unterstützung zu geben. Die Wirklichkeitsauﬀassung der Kirche gibt nicht-kommerziellen Künsten und theoretischer Wissenschaft eine Bedeutung. Sie ist bestens geeignet, die Entwicklung von nicht-kommerzieller Kunst, in der Wahrheit und Schönheit eine bleibende Bedeutung haben im Kontext des ewigen Schicksals der Menschheit, zu verfechten.

Persönlichkeitsentwicklungsstufen)

Diese aktuelle Studie untersucht das Konzept der Fixierung als Quelle von Konﬂikten und Stagnation sowohl in der persönlichen Entwicklung und in zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen, als auch in der Beziehung mit Transzendenz (Gott). Übermäßige Fixierung wird mit Beispielen aus den Werken des dänischen Philosophs Søren KIERKEGAARD veranschaulicht. Zur besseren Demonstration der verschiedenen Aspekte der Fixierung verwendet diese Studie die von Søren KKIERKEGAARD entwickelte Theorie der Stufen. Negative Fixierung wird hier in einem Rahmen von Lebensstilen von ästhetischen ethnischen und religiösen Orientierungen analysiert. Die Studie versucht, den Prozess der Entstehung von Fixierung darzustellen sowie die Argumente, mit denen sie gewöhnlich verteidigt wird, aufzuzeigen. Außerdem unterstreicht die Studie die Wichtigkeit der kreativen Autonomie jedes menschlichen Wesens. Rebecca

BLOCKSOME

Die Kunst von Krieg und Frieden: Theorien zu Kreativität und Konfliktlösung Ausgehend von den Arbeitserfahrungen der Autorin bei einer NGO in Bosnien-Herzegowina, die künstlerisch-kulturelle Versöhnungsarbeit leistet, erforscht dieser Artikel die Beziehung zwischen Schöpfung und Zerstörung, und wie kreative Kunst als Methode der Versöhnung und Wiedergutmachung in von Gewalt auseinander gerissenen Gemeinden funktionieren kann. Der Artikel versucht, eine solide theologische Erklärung für die Verbindung zwischen Kreativität und Versöhnung zu finden, ein Phänomen, das in aktuellen Friedensstudien beschrieben wird, indem Analogien zwischen den Bereichen des Natürlichen und Übernatürlichen gezogen werden. Die Theorie konzentriert sich auf eine Diskussion der wahren Natur der Realität und die Rolle des Menschen, sich darin zu definieren und sich anzupassen. Dabei wieder der Schwerpunkt auf die Schaffung eines positiven Friedens zwischen den Menschen untereinander, mit der Natur und Gott gelegt, im Gegensatz zu einem negativen Frieden als bloße Abwesenheit eines offenen Konfliktes.

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mediacje/medytacje, pojednanie: Rozwi zywanie konﬂiktów a integracja europejska

Pete

HÄMMERLE

Pojednanie i budowanie pokoju w podzielonych społecze stwach Autor opisuje w tym artykule wszechstronn koncepcj pokoju Johna Paula LEDERACHa jako pojednania i transformacji konﬂiktu, oraz wskazówki praktycznego wprowadzenia ich w yciu w ramach półdniowego warsztatu. Dla autora pojednanie z jednej strony oznacza odbudow relacji pomi dzy zwa nionymi stronami, a z drugiej strony jest ono miejscem spotkania przeszło ci i przyszło ci, a tak e na pozór przeciwstawnych idei jak prawda i lito , czy te sprawiedliwo i pokój. Poj ciowy zakres pojednania i budowania pokoju, aby by podtrzymywanym, musi mie do czynienia z ró norodnym uj ciem czasowym (krótko-, rednio- i długoterminowym), z ró norodnymi poziomami uczestników (najwy szy, redni, oddolny ruch społeczny) oraz z procesem przemian, transformacji i uzdrawiania relacji.

Susannah

SCHMIDT

Przegl d sprawiedliwo i i pojednania: Spadek india skich szkół z internatem a podró w kierunku pojednania

Od połowy lat dziewi dziesi tych ró norodne wydarzenia przyspieszyły zmian w dyskusji głównych kanadyjskich mediów i ko cioła dotycz cej podzielonych relacji z rdzennymi mieszka cami. Sprawiedliwo i pojednanie: Spadek india skich szkół z internatem oraz podró w kierunku pojednania opublikowane przez Zjednoczony Ko ciół Kanady w 2001 roku ujmuje pojednanie jako problem „złamanych relacji , obejmuj cy słuchanie historii, nawrócenie oraz solidarne po wiecenie si pracy dla sprawiedliwo ci w duchu solidarno ci. W pierwszej cz ci przedstawiony jest krytyczny rys historyczny udziału Zjednoczonego Ko cioła w szkołach z internatem, który ani nie bagatelizuje wpływu polityki asymilacji, która była promowana w szkołach, ani te nie czyni kozłami oﬁarnymi osób, które pracowały w szkołach. Druga, teologiczna cz zakłada model „prawdomówno ci, lamentu i skruchy oraz poszukiwania ducha oparty na biblijnej i rdzennej m dro ci. Ostatnia, najwi ksza cz wyszczególnia ekumeniczne, wieckie i mi dzynarodowe podej cia do rdzennego poparcia, solidarno ci i pojednania. Zainspirowana przez t publikacj Zjednoczonego Kos cioła Kanady i jego twórców, praca ta jest pocz tkiem dalszego dialogu oraz katalizatorem dla innych wyzna id cych w te same lady.

SZ NYI László Gyula Rozwi zanie powojennych socjalnych konﬂiktów: Sprawa wsi Törökbálint

Claudia

KAPPACHER

Poj cie mediacji Mediacja polega na byciu w rodku. Chodzi o to, aby pomóc ludziom rozwikła konflikt i znale takie rozwi zanie, które b dzie odpowiadało ka dej ze stron. Mediacja działa, je eli mediatorzy wykonuj swoj prac najlepiej jak potrafi , a zainteresowane strony naprawd pragn konsensusu, niezale nie od wieku uczestników oraz do wiadcze z przeszło ci w rozwi zywaniu konfliktów. Bez wzgl du na to, jakie s nasze konflikty, istnieje w ka dym z nas mocna ch do zgody i pojednania.

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Druga wojna wiatowa spowodowała w Europie Centralnej daleko id ce zmiany zarówno polityczne jak i społeczne. W tym duchu połowa populacji w niemieckich wioskach na W grzech uległa zmianie: prawie połowa Niemców (ponad 500.000) zostało deportowanych, a ich domy zostały zaj te przez wiejskich robotników z niedorozwini tej wschodniej cz ci kraju, jak równie przez setki tysi cy uchod ców wygnanych z terytoriów odci tych od W gier. Przeniesienie Niemców zostało dogł bnie opisane przez w giersk niemieck literatur specjaln , ale migracje (kto, sk d, jak i kiedy przybył) oraz trudno ci z nimi zwi zane, konﬂikty i mo liwo ci ju nie. To studium konkretnego przypadku opisuje wpływ tych przemian na wie Törökbálint obok Budapesztu i jest oparte na archiwalnych badaniach, wspomnieniach, publistyce, statystykach i cz ciowo na literaturze specjalnej dotycz cej teorii konﬂiktów etnicznych, gdzie korzenie klas etnicznych le gł boko w nierówno ciach społecznych zwi zanych z własno ci , dochodami i kultur .

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wiat, gdzie nie ma małych problemów: Projekt EHO YRM‒CBC, do wiadczenie pojednania Artykuł dotyczy praktycznego podej cia do pojednania i prezentuje projekt Młodzie owe spotkania pojednania ‒ cykl mi dzynarodowy) Ekumenicznej Humanitarnej Organizacji (EHO) z Novi Sad w regionie Vojvodina w Serbii i Czarnogórze. Projekt skierowany do dzieci w wieku 10‒14 lat jest wyj tkow inicjatyw od 1996 roku. Na pocz tku dotyczył on problemu pojednania pomi dzy dzie mi‒rdzennymi mieszka cami i dzie mi‒uchod cami w regionie Vojvodina, a nast pnie wyszedł poza granice byłej Jugosławii i obj ł dzieci z Chorwacji, Bo ni i Hercegowiny oraz w przewa aj cym stopniu muzułma ski region Sandžak w południowo ‒ zachodniej Serbii. Projekt ma na celu zasadnicz podstaw pojednania ‒ wybaczenie. Orinta

ŽVIKAITE-RÖTTING

Przepa

mi dzy pokoleniami: Rozwi zywanie konﬂiktów

pokoleniowych Pokolenie to konstrukt społeczny, który pomaga w rozmowie o ci głych sociopolitycznych zmianach i w rozwi zywaniu konfliktu w zło onych twierdzeniach, odpowiednich do wiadczeniach, społecznych dekleracjach i perspektywach yciowych, poprzez dane empiryczne. Taka wiedza zale y od stosunku mi dzy wielorako ci nazwanych jednostek pokoleniowych oraz ich identifykacjami a antyidentifykacjami, w ich formach ambiwalentnych. Przepa mi dzy pokoleniami jest konceptem zło onym o ró nicach mi dzy róznymi jednostkami społecznymi. Jego u ytek te pokazuje, jak ró norodne konflikty mog by sfiltrowane przez wyjasnienie ich zastosowania i celi jednostek pokoleniowych, nie tylko jednego pokolenia, zdefinowane przez ich wiek. „Przepa mi dzy pokoleniami to prawdziwy termin do opisu licznych konfliktów, lecz mniej odpowiedni do mierzenia tych konfliktów. Te konflikty, które nazywamy „konfliktami pokoleniowymi (konflikty przepa ci mi dzy pokoleniami) s godne uwagi jako lustro do studiów nad sprawiedliwo ci równo ci . Nawet je eli taki konflikt mo e by zdemitologizowany, zdekonstruowany, zdemoralizowany, on jednak istnieje w swoich wszelakich nieuzasadnionych formach.

HOCHMAN Ágnes Szal i waga: Zró nicowanie w zawieszeniu kary w historii prawa karnego młodocianych przest pców Prawo karne pa stw Europy Centralnej jest scharakteryzowane w metaforze jako rurka, gdzie młodociani przest pcy, którzy prze li przez ten system nie mog unikn wi zienia. Natomiast w Europie Zachodniej system

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prawa przypomina lejek, gdzie niewielki procent winowajców skazywanych jest na kar wi zienia, a wi kszo z nich otrzymuje jakiego rodzaju alternatywnych wyroków. Reforma prawa karnego w Europie Centralnej skupi si na systemie sankcji w kształcie lejka, zwłaszcza, gdy dotyczy ono młodocianych przest pców. Jednym z podstawowych problemów jest poł czenie dwóch orientacji sprawiedliwo ci: jednej, daj cej kary proporcjonalnej w stosunku do czynu i drugiej, aprobuj cej indywidualne karanie, bior cej pod uwag specjaln sytuacje ka dego przest pcy. Tak, czy inaczej, legislatorzy reformuj cy system karny musz znale rozwi zanie tego dylematu, aby zreformowa system karny.

KÖRMÖCZI-KOVÁCS Péter Członkostwo w Unii Europejskiej ‒ całe szcz

cie?

Od czasu powstania Unia Europejska (UE) ewaluowała od ekonomicznej wspólnoty sze ciu pa stw do obecnej ekonomiczno‒politycznej unii integruj cej dwadzie cia pi , czyli wi kszo europejskich pa stw. Przyj cie w maju 2004 roku pa stw Europy Centralnej jest najwi kszym krokiem w istnieniu UE zwi zanym nie tylko z ilo ci przył czanych krajów, ale równie z poszerzeniem populacji. Kto i co wygrywa w zwi zku z poszerzonym rozmiarem i akceptacj standardowych zasad? Artykuł ukazuje krytyczne pytania i problemy (prywatyzacja, migracja siły roboczej, dopłaty rolnicze, giełda wierzytelno ci, suwerenno , delegowanie władzy), o których rzadko jest mowa, poniewa słu one interesom inwestorów, ale ich rozwa enie ma fundamentalne znaczenie dla oceny zalet i wad przyst pienia do wspólnoty. Wnioski s takie, i obecne kryteria wst pnych pertraktacji nie s korzystne dla krajów post-komunistycznych, jednak e nie ma lepszej alternatywy.

SPALLER Endre Polityczne i ekonomiczne przemiany na W grzech Chocia transformacje na W grzech uwa ane s za jedne z najbardziej udanych w krajach postkomunistycznych, to przemiany ekonomiczne były wyj tkowo trudne. Kryzys ekonomiczny w połowie lat osiemdziesi tych w znacznym stopniu przyczynił si do upadku komunizmu, a pogł bił si on po przemianach politycznych. Na szcz cie nowy demokratyczny rz d wiedział, i ekonomiczny impas mo e by rozwi zany tylko przy pomocy wewn trznych ródeł, bez polegania na zagranicznej pomocy i zastosował wła ciw polityk ekonomiczn . W pierwszym okresie transformacji w latach 1989‒1996 nacisk został poło ony na stworzenie miejsc pracy, redukcj korupcji oraz prywatyzacj . W drugim okresie w latach 1996‒2002 rz d skupił si na reformie prawa podatkowego, tak, aby pozwoli na akumulacj kapitału w kraju. Reformy te odniosły niemały sukces, a poziom wzrostu ekonomicznego był dwa razy wy szy ni redni wzrost w Unii Europejskiej. Jednak e w latach 2003‒2004 nast piła stagnacja, co oznacza, e ekonomia wci jest krucha i trzeba b dzie przetrwa wiele trudów zanim nabierze ona silnej pozycji.

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MOGYOROSIOVÁ

Pogl d Słowacji na integracj europejsk Artykuł dotyczy procesu powi kszenia Unii Europejskiej (UE) z punktu widzenia Słowacji. Przedstawia on w skrócie proces akcesji, wyzwania problemy. Szcz gołniej uwagi jest po wi conej post powi Słowacji w spełnianiu kryteriów członkostwa, oraz negocjacji akcesyjnych pomi dzy Słowacj i UE. Autor próbuje tak e oceni najwa niejsze zmiany wynikaj ce z członkostwa Słowacji w UE, głównie w sferze czterech podstawowych wolno ci rynku wewn trznego. Wygl da na to, i pomimo wielu trudno ci członkostwo w UE jest w historycznej sytuacji dla Słowacji jedynym rozwi zaniem. Marián

KUNA

Bóg, Konstytucja Europejska i warto ci chrze cia skie: Czy ostnatnie powinne nawi zywa do poprzednego i dlaczego? Artykuł analizuje pytanie, czy Konstytucja Europejska powinna nawi zywa do Boga i warto ci chrze cija skich w swojej preambule. Podchodzi on do problemu poprzez rozró nienie opisowych i normatywnych aspektów omówianego zagadnienia. W ten sposób próbuje on wyja ni dlaczego takie odwołanie si tak wydaje si kontrowersyjne dla niektórych Europejczyków czy ich w tpliwo ci s dobrze uzasadnione. Autor udowadnia i nawi zanie do Boga i warto ci chrze cija skich w Konstytucji jest uzasadnione, gdy powody takiego nawi zania wydaj si opisowo bezsprzeczne i normatywnie zdolne do obrony. Co wi cej, wygl da na to, i takie odniesienie pomo e zapewni europejskim chrze cijanom wła ciwe (tj. konstytucjonalne) uznanie. John George

HUBER

ekumenicznego celu wymaga zgody nie tylko w kwestii wiary, ale równie w kwestii porz dku. Dlatego autor, ekumenista lutera ski, przyj ł bardziej katolickie wyobra enie Arcykapła skiej modlitwy Jezusa zapisanej w Ewangelii w. Jana, 17.

ROZS-NAGY Szilvia ‒ NAGYPÁL Szabolcs Dzie

Jezreela: Ekumeniczne implikacje starotestamentowego

rozwi zywania konfliktów Artykuł dotyczy siedmiu wa nych tekstów zwi zanych z rozwi zywaniem konfliktów w Starym Testamencie, które maj powa ne konsekwencje je eli chodzi o proroctwa, budowanie i po wiadczanie rosn cej jedno ci bo ych dzieci oraz oczekiwanie jej spełnienia ‒ dnia Jezreela. Bóg troszczy si o wszystkie wspólnoty wiary, odsłania im swoj bosko , akceptuje ofiary i po wi cenie, ustanawia ich błogosławie stwem dla całego wiata oraz okazuje im wielk lito . Dlatego wzywani jeste my do tego, aby zmieni nasze nastawienie do sióstr i braci, głównie w Ko ciele Chrystusa. Mo liwy jest inny wiat, gdzie po wiekach próby i cierpienia spowodowanych podziałem, gotowi jeste my wyzna nasze grzechy, nauczy si pokory, okaza skruch i uczyni ofiar . Nasze dary i wkład jako dowody naszej pierwszej miło ci powinny by wa niejsze od nas, nawet gdyby dla nas nic ju nie zostało. Modlitwa i wstawiennictwo powinny by naszymi stałymi współpielgrzymami na drodze do uzdrowienia, pojednania, szcz cia i rozwi zania konfliktów. Nasz dialog piel gnowany jest dzi ki rosn cej wiedzy o innych oraz zbli anie si do nich poprzez hermeneutyk dobrej woli. W solidarno ci z naszym s siadem zamierzamy by razem i rosn w jedno . Czy nasz Ojciec wci yje? Ján

MIHÁLIK

Ci gła Inycjatywa Wiary i Porz dku

Trzy wewn trzreligijne wyzwania dla mi dzyreligijnego dialogu

w deﬁniowaniu ekumenicznego celu

Autor poszukuje inspiracji w studiach nad pokojem i w oparciu o nie definiuje mi dzyreligijne relacje jako konflikty z wyzwaniami i mo liwo ciami, które taka perspektywa mo e zaoferowa . W artykule pojawiaj si takie terminy jak „konflikt religijny , „religia w konflikcie oraz „religijny pokój , aby zaoferowa bardziej dokładne ramy dla my lenia o mi dzyreligijnych relacjach. Nast pnie autor wymienia trzy przykłady mo liwych perspektyw analizowania sposobów, w jaki konkretna religia nawi zuje mi dzyreligijny dialog. Te trzy perspektywy scharakteryzowane s poprzez trzy pytania: W co oni wierz ? Co oni my l o innych? Gdzie oni ustawiaj granice? Pytania te stanowi wyzwania dla ka dego systemu religijnego, aby poszukiwa na nie odpowiedzi w ci głym, wewn trzreligijnym dialogu. Je eli przedstawiciele

Artykuł oparty jest na drugim rozdziale pracy badawczej napisanej w Ekumenicznym Instytucie Bossey wiatowej Rady Ko ciołów w 2001 roku. Praca jest zatytułowana „Prawdziwa, lecz niedoskonała wspólnota : Znacz ce umowy i kilka pozostaj cych wyzwa w czterech ostatnich inicjatywach dotycz cych udziału luteran. Pozostałe trzy rozdziały dotycz dziewi ciu lutera sko‒rzymsko-katolickich dialogów w Stanach Zjednoczonych, historycznego porozumienia osi gni tego przez Watykan i wiatow Federacj Luteran na temat doktryny usprawiedliwienia w 1999 roku, oraz pełnej wspólnoty osi gni tej przez EwangelickoLutera ski Ko ciół w Ameryce wspólnie z pi cioma innymi ko ciołami. Wielkim odkryciem w tym badaniu jest u wiadomienie sobie, i realizowanie

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religii nie znaj swych mo liwo ci i opcji, nie mog u y ich w kreatywny sposób, aby wypełni przepa ci oddzielaj c ich od innych. Ka dy, kto zaanga owany jest w rozwi zywanie konﬂiktów religijnych, powinien zacz od zdrowego, wewnatrzreligijnego dialogu. Henrik Lindberg

HANSEN

Gł boka prawda o Bogu Obecne podej cie do dialogu pomi dzy religiami jest relatywnie nowym zjawiskiem. Chrze cija stwo przejawiało do tej pory tendencje w kierunku samowystarczalno ci je eli chodzi o stosunek do innych religii, ale w ci gu ostatnich kilku dekad przybrali my bardziej otwart postaw i uznali my istnienie prawd w innych religiach. Przed rozpocz ciem dialogu, aby osi gn t otwart postaw , musimy spojrze na siebie krytycznie. Musimy skierowa nasz uwag na podstawowe zagadnienia chrze cija stwa, aby dowiedzie si , czy jeste my gotowi i ch tni do nawi zania dialogu. Jednym z tych zagadnie jest koncepcja prawdy. Je eli chrze cija stwo nie reprezentuje prawdy, która przepełnia nas do gł bi, wtedy nie istniejemy w obecno ci Boga. Jednocze nie musimy zaakceptowa i by gotowymi poznawa prawd reprezentowan przez inne religie. Peter

ŠAJDA

Nadmierna obsesja jako ródło nierównowagi w relacjach (na przykładzie teorii poziomów rozwoju osobowo ci Søren KIERKEGAARDa)

Autor bada koncepcj obsesji jako ródła konﬂiktów i stagnacji w rozwoju osobowo ci i relacji interpersonalnych, jak równie zwi zku z transcendentalnym (Bogiem). Nadmierna obsesja jest zilustrowana przykładami zaczerpni tymi z prac du skiego ﬁlozofa Søren KIERKEGAARDa. Dla lepszego zobrazowania ró nych aspektów obsesji wykorzystana została teoria poziomów stworzona przez Søren KIERKEGAARDa. Dzi ki temu negatywna obsesja analizowana jest poprzez styl ycia estetycznych, etycznych i religijnych orientacji. Autor próbuje opisa proces powstawania obsesji, jak równie prezentuje argumenty, które ja wspieraj . Z drugiej strony w pracy podkre lona jest rola kreatywnej autonomii ka dego przedmiotu człowieczego.

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Rebecca

BLOCKSOME

Sztuka wojny i pokoju: Teorie kreatywno ci i rozwi zywania konfliktów Artykuł opiera si na do wiadczeniach autorki, pracownicy NGO w Bo ni Hercegowinie zajmuj cej si kreatywn , artystyczno‒kulturaln prac na rzecz pojednania i dotyczy relacji miedzy kreacj i destrukcj oraz tego, w jaki sposób twórczo mo e funkcjonowa jako model pojednania i zbawienia w społeczno ciach rozdartych przemoc . Rysuj c analogie pomi dzy sfer naturaln i nadnaturaln autorka próbuje przedstawi rzetelne teologiczne wytłumaczenie zwi zku pomi dzy twórczo ci i pojednaniem, fenomen zauwa ony i opisywany we współczesnych wieckich pracach nad pokojem. Teoria skupia si wokół dyskusji nad prawdziw natur rzeczywisto ci i rol człowieka w definiowaniu i/lub dostosowywaniu si do niej, z poło eniem nacisku na stworzenie pozytywnego pokoju pomi dzy lud mi, sob , wiatem natury i Bogiem, w przeciwie stwie do negatywnego pokoju ‒ zwykłej nieobecno ci otwartego konfliktu. Daniel

PASTIR ÁK

Artystyczna twórczo

a chrze cija ska duchowo

Kiedy badamy zwi zek pomi dzy duchowo ci i artystyczn twórczo ci , zauwa amy to, co wydaje wspólne ródło pobudek artystycznych i religijnych. Dochodzimy tutaj do dwóch podstawowych pyta : Dlaczego sztuka? i Czy istnieje sztuka chrze cija ska? Pytania te prowadz do kolejnych: Jaka jest rola sztuki w Ko ciele? lub Jak wygl da wła ciwa relacja pomi dzy Ko ciołem i sztuk ? Je eli porównamy przeszły i obecny stan Ko cioła, zauwa ymy, e były czasy, kiedy najlepsza sztuka okresu formowała główne elementy kultu. Ko ciół integrował z yciem liturgicznym wszystko pocz wszy od architektury, poprzez rze b , malarstwo i poezj , a ko cz c na muzyce. Jednak e współczesny Ko ciół generalnie nie dostrzega swej misji kulturalnej. Powinna ona istnie , by nadawa znaczenie i wsparcia wszelkim szczerym wysiłkom, aby powi kszy nasz wiedz na temat rzeczywisto ci i pogł bi postrzeganie tajemnicy ycia. Ko ciół posiada zrozumienie rzeczywisto ci, co nadaje znaczenia sztuce niekomercyjnej i nauce teoretycznej. Ko ciół najlepiej nadaje si do przewodnictwa w rozwoju sztuki niekomercyjnej, takiej, gdzie prawda i pi kno maj znaczenie w kontek cie wiecznego przeznaczenia ludzko ci.

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(szemlélet)közvetítések, (meg)békél(tet)ések: Viszálykezelés és európai egységesülés

Pete

HÄMMERLE

A béke megteremtése és kiengesztel dés a megosztott társadalmakban Cikkünk a béke átfogó ‒ az összeütközéseket átalakító és kiengesztel ‒ fogalmát írja le John Paul LEDERACH fölfogásában, illetve azt, hogy miként lehet kiaknázni lehet ségeit egy félnapos m helymunka során. A kiengesztel dés LEDERACH szerint egyfel l az ütköz felek közötti kapcsolatok helyreállítását jelenti, másfel l a múlt és a jöv találkozásának helyszíne, illetve az olyan látszólag ellentétes fogalmaké, mint igazság és részvét, vagy igazságosság és béke. A megbékülés és kiengesztel dés fogalmi szerkezetének fönntarthatósága érdekében beszélnünk kell annak különféle (rövid-, közép- és hosszútávú) id kereteir l, különböz (fels -, közép- és alapszint ) cselekvési rétegeir l, valamint az átmenet, az átalakulás és a kapcsolatok gyógyításának folyamatairól.

Susannah

SCHMIDT

Az Igazságosság és kiengesztel dés ‒ az indián bentlakásos iskolák öröksége és a kiengesztel dés felé vezet út cím nyilatkozat ismertetése A kilencvenes évek közepe óta egyre több esemény járult hozzá a kanadai nyilvános és egyházi közbeszéd megváltozásához, a bennszülött emberekhez f z d mindig is töredékes kapcsolatrendszert illet en. A Kanadai Egyesült Egyház 2001-ben közzétette az Igazságosság és kiengesztel dés ‒ az indián bentlakásos iskolák öröksége és a kiengesztel dés felé vezet út cím nyilatkozatát. Szövege a kiengesztel dést a „megtört kapcsolatban jelentkez föladatként írja le, amely a történetekre odaﬁgyelést, megtérést és elkötelezettséget igényel a felel s és testvéri munka során az igazságosságért. Az els rész az Egyesült Egyház részvételét tekinti át a alaposan bentlakásos iskolákban. Nem becsüli alá az iskolai beolvasztó politika hatását, ugyanakkor nem csinál b nbakot azokból, akik az iskolákban dolgoztak. A második, teológiai rész az „igazmondás, a bánat és megbánás, illetve a lélek keresésének szentírási és si bölcsességen nyugvó modelljét állítja elénk. Az utolsó, nagyobb szakasz az si pártfogás, összetartás és kiengesztel dés ökumenikus, világi és nemzetközi szempontú megközelítéseit részletezi. E találékony és ihletett m hasznos kiindulópont a további megbeszélésekhez, és hozzájárul ahhoz, hogy más felekezetek is kövessék példáját.

SZ NYI László Gyula A háborút követ társadalmi összeütközések megoldása: Törökbálint példája

Claudia

KAPPACHER

A közvetítés fogalma A cikk középpontjában a közvetítés mibenléte áll. Leírja, hogy miként segítsük az embereket összeütközéseik földolgozásában és a résztvev k számára megfelel megoldások kimunkálásában. A közvetít i munka során ‒ amennyiben a közvetít k minden t lük telhet t megtesznek, és a felek valóban meg akarják oldani összeütközéseiket ‒ nem számít, hogy az érintettek milyen id sek, vagy hogy milyen tapasztalataik vannak az összeütközés múltbéli föloldásairól. Az sem számít, hogy mi az összeütközés tétje, hiszen mindannyiunkban ott van az er s vágy az egyetértésre és a kiengesztel désre.

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A második világháború és annak lezárása Közép-Európában nemcsak politikai, de társadalmi téren is mélyreható változásokkal járt. Ezek során a magyarországi sváb-német falvak lakossága jórészt kicserél dött: a körülbelül félmilliós hazai német lakosságnak közel felét kitelepítették, házaikat Magyarország szegényebb, keleti területeir l agrárproletárok és a háború után újra elvesztett területekr l el zött magyarok százezrei foglalták el. A magyar és német szakirodalom a sváb kitelepítést igen alaposan földolgozta, de a betelepülést (kik, honnan, hogyan és miért érkeztek), valamint a vele járó nehézségeket, összeütközéseket és lehet ségeket alig. Esettanulmányunk f ként levéltári kutatásokból, visszaemlékezésekb l, id szakos folyóiratokból és statisztikákból, kisebb részben pedig a megfelel szakirodalomból merít. Az írás a Budapest melletti Törökbálint településén a fönti folyamatok vetületeit a nemzetiségi összeütközéselméletek következtetéseinek összefüggésében kutatja. Ezek szerint a nemzetiségi szembenállások gyökereit a társadalmi (vagyoni, jövedelmi és kulturális) egyenl tlenségek mélyén érdemes keresni.

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DRAGIN

HOCHMAN Ágnes

Korántsem mellékes kérdések a világ el tt:

Talár és mérleg: variációk a próbaid rendszerére

az újvidéki Ökumenikus Szeretetszolgálat kezdeményezése és

a ﬁatalkorúakra vonatkozó büntet jog történetében

a kiengesztel dés megtapasztalása

A közép-európai büntet jogi rendszereket egy cs alakjához hasonlíthatnánk: a büntet jog hatókörébe került elkövet k, „átesve a rendszeren, börtönbe jutnak. Ezzel szemben a nyugat-európai büntet jogi szankciók egymásutánja inkább a tölcsér alakjára emlékeztet: az elkövet knek csak töredékét ítélik szabadságvesztésre, a többség az alternatív szankciók valamelyikében részesül. A közép-európai büntet jogi megújulások egyik f törekvése a szankciórendszer „tölcséresítése , kiváltképp a ﬁatalkorú b nelkövet k tekintetében. A jogalkotás egyik sarkalatos kérdése, hogy miként lehet ‒ társadalmi és jogtechnikai téren ‒ föloldani az igazságérzetünk által megkövetelt egyenl elbánás és tettarányos büntetés elve, valamint az egyéniesített büntetési módok közt feszül ellentétet. Annyi már bizonyosnak t nik, hogy a törvényalkotóknak a válaszokat a pártfogói-felügyeleti rendszer területén kell keresniük.

A cikk a kiengesztel dés egyik gyakorlatias megközelítését, az újvidéki (Vajdaság, Szerbia és Montenegró) Ökumenikus Szeretetszolgálatnak a Megbékélés Ifjúsági Találkozói ‒ Határokon Átível Kör elnevezés kezdeményezését mutatja be. Az 1996-ban létrejött egyedülálló kezdeményezés a 1014 éves gyermekeket vette célba, és a helyi, illetve a menekült gyermekek közti kiengesztel dés kérdésével foglalkozik ‒ kezdetben a vajdaságiakkal, míg kés bb a szó szoros értelmében átlépte a volt jugoszláv határokat, és Horvátországból, Boszniából és Hercegovinából, illetve a túlnyomórészt muszlimok lakta Délnyugat-Szerbia Szandzsák területér l is megszólított gyermekeket. A kezdeményezés elveinek részletes leírása ismételten arra irányítja ﬁgyelmünket, ami mindenfajta kiengesztel dés lényege: a megbocsátásra. Orinta

ŽVIKAITE-RÖTTING

KÖRMÖCZI-KOVÁCS Péter

Szakadék a nemzedékek között:

EU-tagság ‒ vegyes áldás?

a nemzedéki összeütközések megoldásáról

Az Európai Unió (EU) létrejötte óta fokozatosan b vül: a kezdeti hat országból álló gazdasági közösség mára az európai országok nagy részét összefogó, huszonöt tagállamból álló gazdasági és politikai szervezetet alkot. A közép-európai államok 2004. májusi fölvétele a legnagyobb lépés az EU történetében ‒ nemcsak a csatlakozó országok számát, hanem az össznépesség alakulását tekintve is. Ki mit nyer és veszít a b vül taglétszámmal és az egységes szabályok elfogadásával? A cikk sorra veszi ama kritikus kérdéseket és problémákat (magánosítás, munkaer áramlás, mez gazdasági és egyéb támogatási rendszer, adósságállomány, ideiglenes engedmények, szuverenitás és hatalommegosztás), amelyekr l nem vagy csak nagyon ritkán lehet hallani, mert a befektet k érdekeit szolgálják; mérlegelésük viszont meghatározó fontosságú a csatlakozás el nyeinek és hátrányainak összevetése szempontjából. Majd megfogalmazza azon zárógondolatát, mely szerint a jelen körülmények között a csatlakozás ugyan nem föltétlenül el nyös, de hosszú távon nincs más valódi alternatíva a volt szocialista rendszer országai számára.

A nemzedék olyan társadalmi fogalom, amelynek segítségével, továbbá a tapasztalati adatok elemzése révén, megfogalmazhatóvá válnak a folyamatban lév társadalmi és politikai változások, és föloldhatóvá az összeütközések bizonyos állítások sokféle elemei között, illetve az idevágó tapasztalatokon, társadalmi nyilatkozatokon, valamint az élet kilátásain belül. Az eﬀajta társadalmi tudás ama kapcsolattól függ, amely a sokféle nevesített nemzedéki egység és aközött, ahogy magukat valami szerint vagy valami ellenében meghatározzák, fönnáll. A nemzedéki szakadék az eltér társadalmi egységek közti különbségek összetett fogalma. Használata azt is megmutatja, hogy a különféle összeütközésekb l miként sz rhet le a ‒ nemcsak életkor szerint meghatározott ‒ nemzedéki egység fogalmának alkalmazási területe és ezen egységek céljai. A nemzedéki szakadék ugyan számtalan összeütközés leírására használatos, „ szinte kifejezés, ám kevéssé alkalmas ezek mérlegelésére. A nemzedéki szakadék miatt keletkezett, „nemzedéki összeütközésnek nevezett ellentétek azért is érdemelnek ﬁgyelmet, mert tükröt tartanak az igazságosság és az egyenl ség kutatása elé. Hiszen, ha lebontjuk ezen összeütközéseket, ha megfosztjuk ket szokásos metaforáiktól és erkölcsi értékükt l, akkor majd alap nélkül élnek tovább.

SPALLER Endre A politikai és gazdasági átmenet Magyarországon Noha a volt szocialista országok közül Magyarországot tartják az egyik legsikeresebbnek az átmenet szempontjából, a gazdasági váltás mégis er sen megviselte. A nyolcvanas évek közepén lezajlott gazdasági válságnak nagy része volt a szocialista rezsim összeomlásában, és a helyzet

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csak tovább romlott a politikai átmenetet közvetlenül követ években. Az új demokratikus kormányzat azonban szerencsésen ismerte föl, hogy a gazdasági zsákutcából csak bels források révén lehet kijutni, nem pedig küls segélyre támaszkodva, és ennek megfelel gazdaságpolitikát alkalmazott. Az átmenet els , 1989 és 1996 közötti szakaszában a munkahelyteremtés és a korrupció megfékezése élvezett els bbséget a magánosítás mellett. A második, 1996 és 2002 közötti szakaszban a kormányzat az adótörvények reformjára összpontosított, hogy lehet vé tegye a t ke fölhalmozódását az országon belül. E reformok meglehet sen sikeresek voltak, a magyar gazdaság növekedési ütemét az EU átlagának kétszeresére növelték. Sajnos azonban 20032004-ben a pangás id szaka következett, s ezzel megmutatkozott, hogy a gazdaság állapota törékeny, és több nehézséget kell még leküzdenie, amíg létre nem jönnek szilárd alapjai.

Zuzana

MOGYOROSIOVÁ

Az európai egységesülés szlovák néz pontból A cikk az Európai Unió b vítési folyamatának összefüggésében foglalkozik Szlovákiával. Röviden áttekinti a csatlakozási folyamatot, annak kihívásait és föladatait. Különös ﬁgyelmet szentel a tagsági föltételek teljesítésének szlovák oldalról, valamint a csatlakozási tárgyalásoknak Szlovákia és az EU között. Azután a szerz az EU-tagságból ered fontosabb szlovákiai változásokat igyekszik értékelni, f ként a négy alapvet , bels piaci szabadság területét illet en. A cikk azzal zárul, hogy a számos nehézség ellenére Szlovákia számára az EU-tagság t nik az egyetlen járható útnak a jelen történelmi helyzetben. Marián

KUNA

Utaljon-e az európai alkotmány Istenre és a keresztény értékekre ‒ ha igen, miért? A cikk ama kérdést vizsgálja, hogy vajon az európai alkotmány utaljon-e Istenre és a keresztény értékekre el szavában. A szerz a szóban forgó kérdés leíró és el író jellegének megkülönböztetésével közelíti meg a problémát. Ily módon igyekszik megmagyarázni, hogy az utalás miért is t nhetik annyira vitathatónak néhány európai számára, és vajon kritikai megjegyzéseik megalapozottak-e vagy sem. Cikkünk amellett érvel, hogy az Istenre és a keresztény értékekre utalás az alkotmányban jogos, minthogy ennek okai leíró szempontból megkérd jelezhetetlenek, el író szempontból pedig védhet ek. Azonfölül úgy t nik, hogy az eﬀéle utalás segítené az európai keresztények megfelel (pl. alkotmányos) elismerését.

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John George

HUBER

A Hit és Egyházszervezet Bizottság új kezdeményezései az ökumenikus cél meghatározásáról A szerz az Egyházak Ökumenikus Tanácsának (EÖT) Bossey-i Ökumenikus Intézetében szerzett mesterfokozatot, jelen cikke e képzés során (2001) készített tanulmányának második fejezetén alapszik. Címe: „A valódi és mégsem teljes közösség ‒ a jelent sebb közös nyilatkozatok és néhány nyitott kérdés négy újabb, evangélikus részvétel mellett létrejött felekezetközi kezdeményezésben. Az eredeti tanulmány másik három fejezetében el bb a kilenc Egyesült Államokbéli evangélikus‒római katolikus párbeszédet, majd a Római Katolikus Egyház és az Lutheránus Világszövetség (LVSZ) között létrejött, a megigazulás tanításáról szóló történelmi megegyezést (1999), végül pedig azt a teljes közösséget dolgozza föl, amelyet az Amerikai Evnagélikus Egyház ért el másik öt egyházzal. A kutatás egyik jelent s meglátása, hogy az ökumenikus cél megvalósítása nemcsak a hit kérdéseiben igényel megegyezést, hanem az egyházszervezetében is. Vagyis az evangélikus egységteológus szerz a mi Urunk f papi imájának még „katolikusabb látomásához jut el (Jn 17).

ROZS-NAGY Szilvia ‒ NAGYPÁL Szabolcs Jiszreel napja: Az ószövetségi konfliktuskezelések ökumenikus vonatkozásai A cikk hét, kiemelked en a konfliktuskezeléssel foglalkozó, ószövetségi történetet vesz sorra, melyeknek nem elhanyagolható a személyes mondanivalójuk, amikor prófétálunk Isten népének egységesülésér l, illetve dolgozunk érte és bizonyságot teszünk róla, várva az isteni ígéretek beteljesülését, Jiszreel napját. Isten a hit minden közösségével tör dik, kinyilvánítja Önmagát nekik, elfogadja ajándékaikat és áldozataikat, embereket jelöl ki közülük, hogy az egész világ számára áldást hozzanak, és együttérez velük. A mi hivatásunk is az tehát, hogy változtassunk eddigi negatív hozzáállásunkon a testvéreinkkel kapcsolatban, különösen is a keresztény Egyházon belül. Lehetséges ugyanis egy olyan világ, ahol a megosztottságunk évszázados szenvedéseinek elt rése után készek vagyunk megvallani b nösségünket, képesek vagyunk alázatosakká válni, b nbánatot tartani és hálaáldozatokat hozni a megszabadulásunkért. Az ajándékainknak el ttünk kell járniuk, megel legezett szeretetünk jeleiként. El kell érnünk a föltétel nélküli szeretet szintjét. A közbenjáró imádságnak állandó társunkká kell válnia, amikor a gyógyulás, megbékélés, boldogság és a konfliktusok föloldása felé igyekszünk. Párbeszédünket egymás egyre jobb megismerése és jóindulatú értelmezése jellemzi ekkor. Minden egyes társunkkal sorsközösséget, szolidaritást vállalva, együtt maradva és az egység felé növekedve kapunk választ a legfontosabb kérdésre: Él-e még Atyánk?

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Peter

Három valláson belüli kihívás a vallásközi párbeszéd el tt A szerz a békekutatás eredményeire támaszkodva a vallásközi kapcsolatokat olyan összeütközésekként határozza meg, amelyek kihívásokat és lehet ségeket egyaránt rejtenek a béke távlatában. Cikkében bevezeti a „vallási összeütközés , az „ütköz vallás és a „vallási béke fogalmát, hogy pontosabb keretet adjon a vallásközi kapcsolatokról gondolkodáshoz. Azután három lehetséges szempontot sorol föl azon módozatok elemzéséhez, amelyekben az egyes vallások párbeszédbe lépnek. A szempontokat kérdésekkel írja körül: Miben hisznek? Mit gondolnak másokról? Hol húzzák meg a határokat? E kérdések egyben föladatot is rónak minden vallási rendszerre: válaszaikat a folyamatos valláson belüli párbeszédben keressék. Amennyiben a vallási szerepl k nem ismerik saját lehet ségeiket, és nem ismerik föl saját választásaikat, nem tudják azokat alkotó módon a másoktól elválasztó szakadékok áthidalására használni. Mindazok számára, akik elkötelezték magukat a vallási összeütközések megoldásában, a kiindulópont mindenekel tt egyfajta egészséges valláson belüli párbeszéd el segítése. Henrik Lindberg

HANSEN

ŠAJDA

A túlzott köt dés mint a kiegyensúlyozatlanság forrása a kapcsolatokban (Søren KIERKEGAARD személyiségfejl dési elméletének állomásai)

Jelen tanulmány a köt dés fogalmát az összeütközések forrásaként, illetve a személyiségfejl dés és a személyközi kapcsolatok, valamint a meghaladóval (Istennel, a transzcendenssel) kapcsolatunk megrekedéseként vizsgálja. A túlzott köt dést Søren KIERKEGAARD dán ﬁlozófus m veib l vett példákkal szemlélteti, a köt dés különféle alakjainak pontosabb bemutatása érdekében pedig a fejl dési fokokra vonatkozó elméletét is fölhasználja. Ily módon a negatív köt dést az esztétikai, erkölcsi és vallási irányultságú életformák alkotta elméleti kereten belül elemzi. A tanulmány megkísérli a köt dés keletkezésének folyamatát megrajzolni, valamint azon érveket igyekszik bemutatni, amelyek e folyamatot szokásosan kísérik. Ugyanakkor kiemeli annak jelent ségét, hogy minden egyes személy rendelkezik egyfajta alkotó öntörvény séggel. Rebecca

BLOCKSOME

Isten értelmes igazsága

A háború és a béke m vészete:

A vallások közötti párbeszéd viszonylag újkelet jelenség abban az értelemben, ahogy ma igyekszünk megközelíteni. A kereszténység korábban hajlamos volt önelégült viselkedésre a más vallásokhoz f z d kapcsolataiban, ám az utóbbi néhány évtizedben már nyitottabban közeledünk, és elismerünk igazságokat más vallásokban. Miel tt azonban párbeszédbe lépnénk, alaposan meg kell vizsgálnunk magunkat, hogy kifejl dhessék bennünk eme nyitott hozzáállás. Föl kell tennünk néhány, a kereszténységre vonatkozó alapkérdést, hogy megállapíthassuk, készek vagyunk-e a párbeszédre, és be akarunk-e lépni a párbeszédbe. Az egyik ilyen kérdés az igazságé. Amennyiben a kereszténység nem képviseli a lényünket teljesen betölt igazságot, akkor nem vagyunk Isten jelenlétében. Ugyanakkor azonban el kell fogadnunk a más vallások által képviselt igazságot, és késznek kell lennünk annak eltanulására.

a teremt er és a viszálykezelés elméletei

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A szerz azon tapasztalataiból indul ki, amelyeket Bosznia-Hercegovinában, egy független szervezet keretén belül a kiengesztel dés érdekében végzett m vészi-kulturális alkotómunka során szerzett. A cikk föltárja teremtés és rombolás összefüggését, illetve azt, hogy az alkotóm vészetek miként válhatnak a kiengesztel dés és a megváltás lehet ségeivé az er szak közepette darabokra szaggatott közösségekben. A természeti és a természetfölötti párhuzama segíti az alkotóer és a kiengesztel dés szoros összefüggésének világos teológiai értelmezését. Ezen összefüggést a mai, világi békekutatás is megﬁgyeli és tárgyalja. Elmélete a valóság voltaképpeni természetének kutatására irányul, illetve az ember szerepének föltárására ezen természet meghatározásában és/vagy a hozzá alkalmazkodásban. Ehhez járul az emberek egymás közötti, illetve az érzékelhet világ és Isten közötti béke megteremtésére helyezett hangsúly, a nyílt összeütközés hiányaként értelmezett békével szemben.

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M vészi teremt er és keresztény lelkiség A lelkiség és a m vészi teremt er összefüggésének tanulmányozásakor eljuthatunk a m vészi és a vallási ihlet közös forrásvidékéhez. E tekintetben két alapkérdés merül föl: miért éppen a m vészet? Egyáltalán, létezik keresztény m vészet? Ezek nyomán pedig újabb kérdések támadnak: mi a m vészet szerepe az Egyházban? Avagy pontosan milyen kapcsolat áll fönn az Egyház és a m vészetek között? Ha összevetjük az Egyház múltbéli és jelenlegi állapotát, azt látjuk, hogy voltak korok, amikor a korszak legkiválóbb m vészete alakította az istentisztelet f bb elemeit. Az Egyház az építészett l a szobrászaton, a festészeten és a költészeten át a zenéig mindent liturgikus életének részévé tett. Napjaink Egyháza azonban többnyire nem ismeri föl, hogy küldetése van a kultúra területén. Pedig ott is jelen kellene lennie, hogy a valóságismeretünk b vítésére és az élet rejtelme iránti érzékenységünk mélyítésére tett minden eredeti er feszítésnek értelmet és támogatást nyújtson. Az Egyháznak olyan képe van a valóságról, amely jelent séget adhatna a nem kereskedelmi jelleg m vészeteknek és az esztétikának. Az Egyház ugyanis valóban alkalmas arra, hogy az ilyen m vészet fejl désének élére álljon, hiszen ebben az igazság és a szépség maradandó értelmet nyer az emberiség örök rendeltetésének összefüggésében.

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