I have been incarnating in my current quality for about 700 years in Hungarian-inhabited areas, so I am not considered an indigenous Hungarian. Before that I was born in many countries and cultures, I am a true multinational and multicultural person. Now, yet I live my Hungarian with full devotion, I would not move to another region under any circumstances. Where one is born, there is the task. For some reason one has chosen this country, this people, and one must integrate his/her self-fulfillment into this culture; his/her mission calls him/her here. 

A small nation among large nations has two options: either assimilate or preserve its identity. The question is, is there any value in Hungarians why we should choose to preserve our identity? My answer is YES. 

Firstly, the language, which is beautiful and special; a universal value, worth preserving. It has deep symbolism and unparalleled expressiveness, its vocabulary is almost infinitely expandable, it is compatible with foreign words, which are easily incorporated. It is capable of expressing the most abstract thoughts, while being characterized by a sophisticated logic. It is concise, rich in symbols, almost painterly. All these things are known in the great languages, but there are very few small languages that can compete with the great languages in expressive power. The poetry of any language, from Shakespeare to the Shi-King, can be rendered in Hungarian without loss of content or formal information. 

Secondly, what we call the Hungarian approach, which I myself often criticize, is a characteristic information field. Yet, if we purge it of the personal deposits that contaminate it, we arrive at the level of folktale wisdom and a particular logic. Quite unparalleled depths can be discovered in the so called 'folk common sense' approach, which is unfortunately on the verge of extinction due to the distorting influence of the media, but some of it has been preserved in literary works, in fictions and it may not be too late to save it. The result of this unique perspective is that so many excellent skulls have been born in the Carpathian Basin over the centuries, who, even if they did not speak Hungarian, have become the dominant figures of their time, embedded in this information field. The Hungarian people deserve not to disappear in the multicultural graveyard of nations, because in the last millennium neither the powers of the South (Roman Empire), nor those of the East (Tatar, Turkish, Soviet), nor those of the West (Austrian, German) have been able to crush it. In many cases, it was resurrected from the ashes as a phoenix. 

Let us then examine how national identity consciousness can be preserved in a world that is moving in the direction of a misinterpreted and misguidedly implemented multiculturalism that seeks to confuse everything. There are examples to follow among the Jewish people. The Jews are among the most successful nations and have the most personal successes, despite thousands of years of systematic attempts to exterminate them. What is their secret? 

1. Togetherness. A Jew supports a Jew in every corner of the world. Therefore, we should not be angry with them, but follow them. Let us carry out the following thought experiment. You win the lottery jackpot. Who would you give it to? I guess: your children, parents, friends who think the same way. So, why are you upset when the people in power do the same things you would do? The Jews go one step further, they are able to mobilize the members of their own nation. This is made possible by a strong national consciousness that overrides individual interests and is systematically reinforced at the social and family level. 

2. "Effect, create, enlarge!" Now, this was not said by a Jew, but by a true Hungarian poet (Ferenc Kölcsey). Jews just do it! They have influence, they create and they enlarge. Or did not a Jewish teacher (Jesus) say in his parable of the talents that who cannot increase his talents, from those will be taken away? This means that whoever does not learn to create, he will not have it! You cannot expect anyone to create for you what you need and no one can execute it for you, because if you have not grown up for the possession of some goods, you cannot keep them. 

3. A strong family. The Jewish family is a conservative, patriarchal model, in which the head of the family is the man who carries the family name further, and those who carry on the name of the head of the family belong to the same family. In this system, the woman who marries into the family takes the name of the head of the family and belongs to it until she changes her name. There is either no divorce or, if there is, the children belong to the head of the family because they bear his name. Christianity has loosened this model because it does not understand it. Jews, on the other hand, do. The common name defines the common family karma (life task) in which the wife and children are obliged to participate, and this is guaranteed by the name recording. Thus, there will always be someone to carry on the family business; what the parent has created, the child is obliged to preserve and develop. Elite families deliberately invite children to be born who are capable of doing this. 

4. Common language, common culture. All of these represent the cohesive forces of the nation, which are consciously cultivated. Many Jews learn Hebrew even if they do not use it. 

5. Religion. Religion for Jews is not based on faith, but in many cases on knowledge. Those who think seriously about making their mark in the world undergo deep religious training, which establishes their morals and values, and not incidentally their sense of being chosen. Ideally, the latter can be used positively, i.e. for the benefit of humanity. Religious belonging, and the studies that go with it, give them the inner strength to endure and survive extreme circumstances. The strength of the Christians' faith, the depth of their religious experiences as a whole, compared to the proportions of the population group, does not even come close to that of the Jews. 

There are many other components which I do not wish to analyze further. So, if a nation wants to preserve its national identity, it is worth considering the above aspects. Every nation, which want to survive, has to find itself individually and nationally. They must seek those factors that can provide a sense of belonging for their members. In Hungarian case, if it is football, then so be it. There is no other sport in Hungary today that can move as many people as football. Football is a sport that everyone can play, even if they do not always hit the ball, but at least they can run after it, and universal principles dictate that everything should be done for the process, not for the result. And those who shout in the stands, letting off steam, are not beating their wives at home. We also need to find areas where the nation can perform differently or excel from the average, and develop them as a priority, be it spa culture, equestrian sport or organic farming. 

All I can say as an encouragement that in the next centuries, the Hungarian people will have everything they need to find their mission and service in the world. This mission and service may be so noble and so high that if they are able to fulfill it then it may even elevate the Hungarian nation to the ranks of the most outstanding nations before God. And those who do not wish to participate in it, and who work against this mission, will lose the opportunity to be born Hungarian.

Margaret Rhasoda Varga
UCCM head-master
2021. Budapest, Hungary