Prague, Czech Republic - Every year UPF-Czech Republic organizes a conference on the occasion of the UN Day of Families. This year's conference on May 23 took place in the European House in Prague. The topic of the conference was: "The Role of the Family in Today's Changing World – Challenges and Opportunities."
There were three presentations. In the first presentation Dr. Juraj Lajda, Secretary General of UPF-Czech Republic, presented the basic principles of a good and functioning family. He explained the four realms of heart (children's, brother and sister, husband and wife, father and mother) and gave insights about each.
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Mgr. Anna Kučerová, an Ambassador for Peace and pedagogue, gave a very interesting presentation under the title: "Children of Touch." As a pedagogue she elaborated on the new phenomena of children having closer relationships with the electronic devices (i phones, tablets, computers, etc.) through the touch than with the real living people next to them (parents, brothers and sisters, and close friends). There are many games which can influence children in a very negative way. If an adults play a computer game they distinguish between the reality and virtuality, good and evil, but the child is not able to understand this difference. As a result children become aggressive towards others. They may think that the living people have another life, as in a computer game, and do not feel when they are hurt.
The last presentation was delivered by Dr. Kateřina Děkanovská, head of the Association for Interreligious Dialogue. She spoke on "The Role of a Religious Community in Case of Families with an Economic Need." She showed that economics cannot be separated from the spiritual life. In a very practical way she advocated that members of a religious community help somebody who has some financial difficulties. It is better to search for help in one's religious community than in a bank, which often represents a trap for people who are in need. In her speech she introduced several examples.
There was a very good discussion among the participants afterwards.
Reported by Juraj Lajda