Conservatism

The deep American Fundamentalist South would feel right at home in the Polish countryside. Except for one thing. The Americans would be considered liberal and radical, because they aren't Catholics. The term "Christian" and "Catholic" are completely interchangeable in Poland, with Protestants a different breed. When one mentions that Protestants are Christians too, the response is a reluctant "Well, yes, I suppose so". No conviction, no trust, no understanding of the principles which the two splinters of one religion share. But, that's another story.

There are two radical parties in Poland. The "Self-Defense" party (Samoobrona), which is a populist, shit-stirring sort of group, and the League of Polish Families (Liga Polskich Rodzin). This last is equivalent to the Fundamentalists in the States. It has highly sexist, ultra-religious views of the world, and feels that it is their duty to guide the rest of the population to salvation. They support more children in families, non-working mothers, mandatory religious education, and if given the chance, they'd probably require church attendance on Sundays. They are also actively anti-EU, since the EU is not a Christian institution, but one that emphasizes its secular foundations.

Every nation needs its radicals, and an opportunity for the fringe to have a voice. Unfortunately, in Poland's last election, the "Self-Defense" party got 11% of the vote, and third place behind the primary parties, who had 27% and 24% of the vote respectively. The League of Polish Families got 8% of the vote. These are percentages that stir worry in the hearts of normal people. It means that these parties will be able to influence decisions in Congress, and guide the country in a direction that may very well end up being self-destructive. The populist party has no idea how an economy works. They don't want to guide themselves with examples from successful economies, like those of England or the United States. They have left overs of the old pro-Communist regime, and harken back to those days when everyone had the same, nothing. The League guides itself by the morality of the Polish Catholic Church, and rejects any individual rights that do not conform with this morality.

So, which is more dangerous? Definitely the LPR. They are well educated. The Self-Defense party is populated by a bunch of what one would call red-necks, barely educated, and easily outmaneouvered. The LPR consists of lawyers, professors, and other highly educated individuals, who happen to have an unfortunate ultra-conservative streak in their view of the world.

This last fact makes me wonder, how long it will be possible to last in a country like this. Besides Warsaw, the rest of the country is stuck in the dark ages of morality. The difference between attitudes today, and those of six hundred years ago is minimal.

Thankfully, this is a country where free speech is alive and fairly well off, so you do get to see debate on sensitive topics and it does get televised. The liberal side usually has the harder task, and much less public support, but it can speak it's mind. You get to see things like a talk show where a Nazi-looking conservative discusses gay rights with two gay guests, but presents a point of view that's just silly when heard, like grouping gays and pedofiles in the same sentence.

You also have such things as the Freedom Parade that was supposed to take place in Warsaw. The Mayor of the city, who is now a candidate for president in next month's elections, stalled, and finally rejected the organizers' request for permission and approval of a route. The parade took place anyway, ending in a peaceful picnic in the park, which was disrupted by a youth organization created by LPR, which started throwing stones and getting into fights with the paraders. Thankfully, in this instance, the Police stood on the side of peace, and beat back and arrested many of the attackers, a fact that caused them to be chastised by the Mayor, for supporting an illegal demonstration. Two weeks later, the youth organization received permission to have a Morality Parade by the same Mayor. His name: Lech Kaczyński.

What was the reason for all this? Kaczyński stated that the Freedom Parade offends the public morality, and as such cannot be allowed to take place.

The media didn't help matters much initially, presenting the youth organization as the ones who were the victims in the altercations (some police officers had to rough up a few of the hooligans), and simultaneously airing footage from a gay rights group's misguided distribution of condoms at Notre Dame in Paris, something that had happened a few weeks earlier, and was not reported on at the time. Eventually cooler heads won through, and the misrepresentation was publicly corrected, but not before it did its damage.

Poland is in a time of turmoil. Western Europe had fifty years to move on after the War. Here, the Communist occupation just strengthened the Catholic hold on a country that has traditionally been holier than the Vatican, since there was no one else to turn to. Now, after fifty years of progress in civil rights and tolerance, Poland finds itself far behind, and deeply entrenched in views which can lead only to further strife. If the LPR had its way, Poland would become a Christian version of Saudi Arabia, or Yemen. I'm not sure anyone here truly comprehends that.