It is interesting to note how the p

It is interesting to note how the prevailing social and political character of a given country can affect the meaning which Protestants attach to human rights. The affecting power of Marxism is conspicuous, for example, in the socialist countries of Europe. As will be discussed below, an important ecumenical consultation was held in 1947 at st. Polten, Austria, under auspices of the Commission of the Churches in International Affairs (CCIA) of the World Council of the churches. The Roman Catholic Church does not belong to the Council, however friend may be its relations to it, so the consultation was composed almost wholly of Protestant and Orthodox participants. A working group of Christians in the predominantly Protestant German Democratic Republic submitted a paper on human right. These persons were not at all disposed to regard the right if individual as prior to those of society. On grounds of biblical teaching, they contended that “the inviolability of life, dignity and property are not a constitutive element of the human being,” since these rights belong to god. They argued, moreover, that civil right such as free opinion and speed subvert “the political and moral unity of the people which are fundamental requirements of the new society.” When individual right are allowed to cause “the disintegration of society into a multiplicity of conflicting groups” they serve only to reinforce “capitalist structures which depend on the competitive struggle and conflict among human beings.