– Erős hit az, ha tisztelettel tudsz bánni azokkal, akiknek más a világnézetük – fogalmazta meg saját krédóját a leköszönt amerikai elnök, aki Angela Merkel oldalán hatalmas tömeg előtt beszélt Istenről.

Az elmúlt időszakban nagy figyelmet felkeltve először Horányi Özséb professzor vetette föl a keresztény politizálás kérdéskörét. Az ő gondolataitól is inspirálva fogalmaztam meg beszédemet múlt vasárnap, szintén a keresztény politizálás témakörét érintve, amely talán ugyancsak alkalmas arra, hogy gondolkodásra késztessen minket, keresztényeket, mit is értünk keresztény politikán.

A kérdés az, hogy keresztény politikára, vagy keresztény politikusokra van-e szükségünk? Ha ugyanis politikánkat törekszünk keresztényivé tenni, hamar elszemélytelenedhet törekvésünk, és kitűzött céljainkhoz (amelyektől keresztény létünket tettük függővé) előbb-utóbb keresztényietlen eszközöket is megengedünk. Viszont, ha személyes mivoltunk hitelességére és élő istenkapcsolatunkra helyezzük a hangsúlyt, akkor abból szükségszerűen áldásos lépések fognak majd születni, bár az út bizonytalanabb. Az előbbi szerepfelfogás arra hasonlít, mint amit Jézus a hegyi beszédben a képmutatókról mondott: „Amikor tehát alamizsnát adsz, ne kürtöltess magad előtt, mint a képmutatók teszik a zsinagógában és az utcán, hogy dicsérjék őket az emberek! Bizony, mondom nektek: megkapták jutalmukat.” A leghatalmasabb tetteink általában a homályban, a magányban, láthatatlanul, csendességben történnek, így alkalmatlanok arra, hogy szavazatokhoz, népszerűséghez juttassanak minket.

Én, Lukácsi Katalin nem attól vagyok keresztény, ha sokszor és szépen el tudom mondani akár egy politikai beszédben, vagy egy interjúban Jézus nevét. Attól vagyok az, ha a két beszéd és két interjú között a velem kapcsolatba álló embereket, az engem támadókat és az engem segítőket Jézus kezébe adom és szüntelenül imádkozom, leesdve számukra Mennyei Atyánk kegyelmét.

Sokan Magyarországon, de szerte a világban is (ha éppen keresztényként érdeklődnek Magyarország iránt) Orbán Viktort egyértelműen keresztény politikusnak tartják, mert politikájában gyakran hivatkozik a kereszténységre. Nem nagyon tudjuk, Orbán Viktor hogyan éli meg hitét, mit gondol istenkapcsolatáról, vívódásairól sem nagyon hallunk. Pedig ekkor tudjuk megismerni igazán az embert. Most, hogy ezt a cikket írom, utána is kerestem az interneten, hátha találok ilyen beszédeket, előadásokat. A Népszabadság (!) archívumában találtam is egy kötet ismertetését, amelyben idézik mai miniszterelnökünk vallomását hitének alakulásáról (a 2006-os beszámolóból például megtudhatjuk, hogy felesége fontos inspirációt jelentett a számára, és hosszú út kellett ahhoz, hogy hívőnek tudja nevezni magát). Az önreflexiókból lehet igazán megismerni az embert. Nagy luxus egy politikus számára az őszinteség, de néha muszáj megengedni, bármibe kerül is. A hallgatóság részéről pedig muszáj feltételezni, hogy az adott politikus vajon épp őszinte-e (aztán legfeljebb úgy érezzük, nem), különben megszűnik a társadalmi közbizalom.

Az idei Kirchentag, amely a keresztények nagy ünnepe Németországban, különleges alkalom volt, hiszen beszédet tartott rajta Barack Obama leköszönt amerikai elnök is – ráadásul ez volt nagy nyilvánosság előtti első szereplése mandátumának lejárta óta. A nyilvános beszélgetésben sok mindenről szó esett. Obama beszélt személyes hitéről, miként lehet a politikában helyesen követni meggyőződésünket, szólt politikájának megítéléséről is. A beszélgetés elején elmondta: közéleti szereplését azzal kezdte, hogy Chicago-ban egyházakkal dolgozott együtt szegény közösségek megsegítéséért. Politikai tevékenységével kapcsolatban kétszer hivatkozott Istenre: „Azt gondolom, hogy azok számára, akik egy jobb világ kialakításában érdekeltek, szükséges egyfajta céltudatosság és hitérzék. Hit abban, hogy a dolgokat jobbá tudjuk formálni, hogy az emberekkel tudunk kedvesen és türelemmel bánni, hogy áthidalhatjuk a létező különbségeket nemzetek és vallások között, és hogy eggyé vagyunk kovácsolva a jóságos Isten által. Ez vezetett engem munkám, életem során.”

Később, a menekültválsággal kapcsolatban beszélt arról, hogy a geográfiai sajátságoknak köszönhetően Amerikába kevesebb menekült érkezik Szíriából és Afganisztánból, de annál több Közép- és Dél-Amerikából. „Ugyanazzal a küzdelemmel néztem szembe én is az Amerikai Egyesült Államok elnökeként, amit Angela vív, Isten szemében ugyanis egy gyermek a határ másik oldalán nem kevésbé méltó a szeretetre és az együttérzésre, mint az én saját gyermekem. Nem különböztethetjük meg őket értékességükben és bennük rejlő méltóságukban. Menedéket, szeretetet, nevelést és lehetőséget érdemelnek, de mi egy nemzet vezetői is vagyunk, és felelősségünk van az állampolgárainkkal és az emberekkel szemben a határainkon belül, és csak véges források állnak rendelkezésünkre.”

A hit szerepéről aztán a következőket mondta: „Az Amerikai Egyesült Államok nagyon vallásos ország, és meggyőződésem, hogy ez nagyon fontos erőforrás.” Amerikában élésen szétválasztották az államot az egyháztól, amely védelmet jelent a közösségeknek, és így szabadon gyakorolhatják hitéletüket. A veszély az, ha elmulasztunk tekintettel lenni arra, hogy egy demokráciában az emberek számos különböző világnézetet vallanak. „Az Amerikai Egyesült Államokban mi túlnyomórészt keresztény nemzet vagyunk, de muszlim, hindu, zsidó nemzet is, és egy olyan nemzet, akik között sokan nem hívők, de találhatunk olyan etikai és erkölcsi elveket, amelyek összekötnek minket. Ha ezekre a pontokra figyelünk, akkor tudunk előrejutni.” Azt is megvallotta a volt amerikai elnök, hogy számára, a személyes hitében hasznos, ha van egy kis kétely is. Mondatát taps és egyetértés fogadta a sok tízezres tömeg és Merkel kancellár részéről. „Azért van szükségünk hitre, mert olyan dolgokban hiszünk, amelyeket nem láthatunk azonnal, ennek következtében mindig alázatos vagyok, törekszek alázatos lenni, amikor a hitemre kell támaszkodnom. Nem gondolom, hogy Isten kizárólag általam beszél. (...) Azt gondolom, hogy ebben a sokszínű világban, rengeteg különböző emberrel, akik különböző hitéleti hagyományokból érkeznek, próbáljuk megőrizni az érzékünket arra, hogy közülünk bárki csak az igazság egy részét látja, nem az egész igazságot, ez egy fontos jellemvonás, amit birtokolhatunk. (...) Az alapján kell cselekednünk, amit igaznak és helyesnek hiszünk. Azt javaslom, miközben e szerint cselekszünk, emlékeztessük magunkat arra, hogy Isten nem hozzánk beszél egyedül. (…) Számomra az erős hit az, ha oda tudod szánni magad olyan embereknek, akiknek más a világnézetük, tisztelettel tudsz velük bánni és odafigyelsz rájuk.”

Ma, amikor a Nyugat hanyatlásáról beszélünk (ismét), és hanyatló keresztény kultúráról, fontos emlékeznünk arra, hogy a világ két vezető politikusa (igaz, az egyikük pár hónapja leköszönt) személyes hitéről beszél egy hatalmas társadalmi eseményen.

Sok keresztény számára frusztrációt jelent az, hogy ma már nem általános, természetes és egyértelmű az istenhit. Ez azonban nem kell, hogy szorongást okozzon bennünk, mert mi nem mások miatt hiszünk. Barack Obamáról rengeteg legenda és vélekedés kering zsidó és keresztény körökben egyaránt. Van aki szerint ő maga az antikrisztus. Angela Merkel is rendszeresen megjelenik abban a szövegkörnyezetben, amely szerint a német Kereszténydemokrata Unió a keresztény szó kiüresedésének példája a politikában. Kisebb léptékben Orbán Viktor őszinte istenkeresése is eléggé megkérdőjelezett. Részletkérdés az, hogy számomra Obama vallomása hihetőbb, mint Orbán Viktoré – másnak fordítva. Azt kell látnunk, hogy Jézus útja forradalmi. Nem erőszakos, mégis felkavaró: felkavarja és megújítja a társadalom állóvizét.

Ha világi hatalmasságaink a rájuk szavazó tömegekkel mind Krisztus útján járnánk, Isten Országa már felépült volna közöttünk. Krisztusibbá válásunk tehát mindannyiunk feladata, amely a csendességben és az imádsággal indul.

Lukácsi Katalin

(Nyitókép forrása: thelibertyconservative.com)

 

 

 

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Barack Obama teljes beszédének leirata:

I am deeply honored to have been invited to participate in this wonderful event in part because my own public life began working with churches in poor communities in Chicago and I think that for those of us who are interested in creating a better world it requires a sense of purpose and a sense of faith a belief that we can change things for the better that we can treat people with kindness and tolerance that we can bridge the differences that exist between nations and between religions and that we are unified by a benevolent God and that’s what’s driven me throughout my work and throughout my life and as has already been mentioned part of what I’m most encouraged about is to see so many young people here today because at a time when the world is a very complicated place when we concede the terrible violence that took place just recently in Manchester and we had a chance backstage to send a message to the people of Manchester about how heartbroken we are by the loss of life and to grieve with the families and it’s a reminder that there is a great danger and terrorism and people who would do great harm to others just because they’re different it’s also a time of great opportunity and my hope is is that not that I’m no longer president but I’m still hopefully have a little bit of influence that I’m going to be in a position to help more and more young people to deal with some of these challenges to encourage a new generation of leadership so that we can marginalize those who would try to divide us and bring together more and more people who are trying to unite us around common good and I think this event is a great place to start.

Well, first of all I think it’s important to realize that it’s only been four months so I’m not sure I have best historical perspective mostly I’ve been trying to catch up with my sleep I’ve been trying to make sure that I’m spending more time with Michele so that she forgives me for all the times that I’ve been away I’ve been spending time with my daughters who are now getting old enough where they I’m not always the most interesting person they’re more interested in their friends but they feel sorry for me sometimes and they’re willing to do things with me and I try to take full advantage of that but I look I’m very proud of the work that I did as president and I think that as Chancellor Merkel will tell you when you get involved in public life you have to recognize that you never achieve a hundred percent of what you want that this is a human Enterprise and so inevitably it’s flawed what you try to do is to work with others who share your values and share your vision to try to make things better understanding that you won’t make things perfect a good example something I’m very proud of is health care reform in the United States now this is as many of you know you healthcare in the United States we are unique among advanced countries that we don’t have universal health care that oftentimes they’re people who are sick who cannot get care or they have to go to an emergency room to get care my hope was that I was able to get a hundred percent of people health care while I was president we didn’t quite achive that but we were able to get 20 million people health care who didn’t have it before and certainly I have some regrets that we weren’t able to get everyone health care and obviously some of the progress that we made was is now imperiled because there’s still a significant debate taking place in the United States but the point though is is that for those 20 million people their lives have been better and we’ve set a standard of what’s possible that people can then build on I often say that in politics or at least what I used to say about the presidency as I saw myself as a relay runner I would take the baton and I would run my leg of the race and then I pass on the baton to someone else and again that’s part of the reason why I’m so interested in talking to young people here today because each generation tries to make progress knowing that what we do is not going to be perfect that it’s not going to be solve every problem and that we’re going to have to then pass the baton to somebody behind us but hopefully we’ve run our leg of the race effectively and the world’s gotten a little bit better and certainly that’s been true in Germany that’s been true in Europe when you think about just what’s happened in my lifetime despite all the tragedies that we see every day the world has never been wealthier it has never been more healthy it’s never been better educated young people today have access to information and opportunities that would be unimaginable when I was born or Angela was born and if we can sustain that progress then I feel very optimistic about our futures but it’s ultimately going to depend on the young people of your today and my job now is to help them take it the next step.

Well the Chancellor and I were talking briefly before we came out I think the international order is at a crossroads it’s an important time in the international community if you think about what occurred I was born in 1961 which I know that makes me seem very old to many of you but in history that’s actually not a very long time and when I was born Berlin was divided the Iron Curtain was up apartheid still reigned in South Africa dictatorships were the norm and large portions of the world we had just emerged out of a devastating world war a Korean war we’re about to enter into a Vietnam was the United States was countries were still emerging from colonialism and because I think of a set of ideals and principles rule of law the dignity of individuals freedom of religion freedom of the press a liberal market-based economy because of these principles that in fits and starts the Europe and the United States and other countries joined together to try to promote and spread we saw incredible progress and here in Europe there has never been greater prosperity and greater peace than over the last three four decades that’s an amazing achievement and I think sometimes young people take it for granted but I think that what we now have to recognize is that because of globalization and because of Technology and the disruptions that have occurred the inequality that exists between nations and within countries because of the fact that the internet brings us all closer together but we’re still from different cultures and sometimes feel disoriented by the world shrinking because of things like the refugee crisis that this order that has been created has to be changed it has to be updated it has to be continually renewed because there’s a competing narrative of fear and xenophobia and nationalism and intolerance and anti-democratic trends and so when you when I think about my role when I was president but also now as a as a citizen of the United States and part of the world community what I think is most important is is that we rally around those values and ideals that are best and we have to push back against those trends that would violate human rights or that would suppress democracy or that would restrict individual freedoms of conscience and religion and that is going to be a significant battle that we have to fight all of us have to be a part of and it’s not always easy because for example I look at something a place like Syria where despite our best efforts and this is something Angela and I worked on a lot you still have a vicious war taking place you still have millions of people displaced hundreds of thousands killed and it is going to require I think everything we can do to recognize that what happens on the other side of the world or in these other countries whether it’s in Africa or Asia or Latin America that it has an impact on us and we’re going to have be invested in trying to help those countries achieve peace and prosperity and as president I did not always have the tools that I wanted to effect those kinds of changes but at least we tried and part of the goal here is if you try long enough eventually what President Abraham Lincoln called the better angels of our nature I think can win up.

Even though the question wasn’t directed at me I just want to make one comment about this because United States although as a consequence of geography and separation from oceans we haven’t seen the same numbers of refuges from Syria or Afghanistan there it obviously has been a significant immigration debate in the United States people coming from Mexico more recently coming from Central America and Latin America and the struggle of that I think Angela has that I’ve had when I was president Unites States is that in the eyes of God a child on the other side of the border is no less worthy of love and compassion than my own child. We can’t distinguish between them in terms of their Wirth and their inherent dignity and that they’re deserving of shelter and love and education and opportunity but we are also the heads of nation states and we have responsibilities to citizens and people within our borders and we have finite resources so part of the job I think of governments is to express humanity and compassion and solidarity with those in need but also recognize that we have to operate within legal constraints and institutional constraints and the obligations that we have to the citizens of the countries that we serve that’s not always easy. One way that we can do a better job though is to create more opportunities for people in their home countries and that’s why I think one of the challenges that I’ve had in the United States perhaps Angele has had here in Germany is getting people to understand that when we provide development aid to Africa or we are involved in conflict resolution in areas where war has been taking place we make investments to try to deal with climate change and the displacement of farmers and people whose way of life is being changed because weather patterns are changing those things we do not just for charity not just because they’re there the right thing to do or out of kindness but also because if there are disruptions in these countries that there’s conflict if there’s bad governance if there’s war there’s poverty in this new world that we live in we can’t isolate ourselves we can’t hide behind the wall and I think it’s very important for us to see those investments as part of our own well-being as well as to the benefit of us.

Oh, look. The United States is a very religious country and I think that’s been a great source of strength but part of the reason historically that we’ve been such a vibrant faith community is because there’s been a separation between the state and the church and that by the way was viewed as a protection of communities of faith that they would be able to practice their religion freely and it has served as well I believe I think that the issue is not whether there’s too much religious motivation and people going into public service or being part of government I think the danger is when we fail to recognize that in a democracy there are going to be people of many different faiths and that in democracy compromise is something that’s required when we talk about our own religious faith by definition there are certain things we don’t compromise and I think where we get confused sometimes is bringing the same unwillingness to compromise that we may express it our own faith into the political process because the truth is that in the United States were a predominantly Christian nation but we are also a Muslim nation and a Hindu nation and a Jewish nation and a nation that has a lot of non-believers but what we can find is ethical and moral principles that bridge us together and when we focus on those things then we can make progress even if in our own families our own faith communities our own religious practice there are certain things that we’re not going to agree with and that I think is where we sometimes get confused I will say personally for me in my own faith I also think that it’s useful to have a little bit of doubt faith is the reason you need faith is because you’re believing in things that you can’t see right away and as a consequence I’m always humble I try to be humble when it comes to my faith I don’t assume that God is speaking exclusively through me I assume that God sees wisdom and all the people out here too and if I become so convinced that I’m always right that it does not admit the possibility that maybe someone else has some wisdom and is expressing God’s will then the logical conclusion of that ends up oftentimes great cruelty and great violence and I think that in a pluralistic world in a world a which we have many different people coming from many different faith traditions trying to preserve some sense that each of us only sees part of the truth not the whole truth is an important quality to have.

I think the challenge that we all face and there’s no perfect answer for this we discover it through our actions and reflection is. As Angela said were motivated by our faith our conscience the values and ideals that are most important to us we should be willing to risk something for them we should be willing to challenge conventional wisdom if you think about the United States it was people of faith who were the first ones to speak out against slavery and required a sense of righteous anger against an institution that for many they viewed as just natural order of things it was a radical movement initially that eventually elevated people’s consciousness and led to that long march towards freedom we have to act based on what we believe is true and is right my only suggestion is is that when we do so it is important for us also to remind ourselves that God does not speak to us alone that if the actions were taking appear to violate the freedoms the dignity a sense of mutual respect with others if we fail to listen to people who disagree with us if so weak that we can’t have it challenged and we’ve shut people off or lash out against them because somehow they don’t agree exactly with what we agree with then to some degree our faith isn’t very strong. For me the strength of your faith is that you can engage with people who have different views and you can treat them with respect it you can listen to them and you have a good argument and then still find ways to live together and work together and hopefully if you are if your faith is strong enough and your ideas are strong enough and they meet the test of time then ultimately I believe in the words of dr. Martin Luther King the arc of the moral universe bends towards justice sometimes it takes as Angela said a long time to get there and the most important thing the faith provides is maybe persistence and a willingness to continue when it’s hard.

That’s a big question, how much time we have. Let me divide the question into two parts. I think that one of the major questions that this generation and future generations will have to face is the growing gap in opportunity and increasing inequality that we’re seeing between nations and within nations. The amounts of wealth and opportunity and consumption that exists at the very top relative to the enormous need that still exists around the world is something that in my view is unconscionable and there is enough to feed everyone there is enough to shelter everyone and clothe everyone and educate everyone if we are able to design a social compact that reflects our best values now that’s not easy to do I think that it’s not simply a matter of writing a cheque and sending money because part of the goal has to be to create societies that are self sufficient and have self-determination and dignity and this is why when I looked at how we could budget our development and our aid programs we were constantly focused on not simply how do you give a fish but how do you teach people to fish and also by the way how do you make sure that goverments are promoting the interests of the people from the bottom up as opposed to just folks at the top and I think we should take a moment to reflect on the enormous pregress that has been made even in my lifetime there have been hundreds of millions of people who have been lifted out of extreme poverty just over the last several decades. Hundreds of millions of people Chine in India in parts of Africa that are some of the fastest growing in the world we always focus on what still needs to be done but sometimes in order to motivate ourselves we have to look back and see the good things that have been accomplished and have been achieved so that’s point number one. The second point is with respect to military budgets look what I love to see for example a bid the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons from this planet absolutely I spoke about that in part my first as president and in some cases we were able to reduce some of the reliance on both our and Russia’s nuclear arsenals but in the same way that is takes time for us to move to a point where are lifting people out of poverty it’s going to require us to apply steady effort to reduce the need for military budgets and the truth is we do live in a dangerous world we live in a world in which the United States often times is called upon to put pieces back together again when nobody else has the capacity and I’ve saw that firsthand you think about Ebola crisis in Africa where essentially was the United States government and our military that has to go in and built the infrastructure that allowed relief efforts to get in doctors medicine evacuations to get in solve a crisis that could have killed hundreds of thousands of people and there are going to be times where without that kind of military effort bad things happen. What I do think is is that more we can emphasize diplomacy and development alongside our military over time the less reliant we are primarily on our military to achieve the goals that we all have and that means seeing that all as part of our national security budget the national security budget shouldn’t just be seen as military hardware but it should be seen as development and it should be seen as diplomacy and it should be seen as promoting education for girls and villages because we know countries where women are educated tend to do better economically as a consequence they’re less likely to get into conflicts. All those things have to be a part of what we view as our national security policy.