The death of Pope John Paul II was a great loss for the world. This was a man who did a lot of great things in his time as Pope, and was probably the single biggest factor in humanizing the Catholic Church.
The death of Pope John Paul II was probably one of the best things that could have happened to Poland.
Poland is a land of Catholic Church dominance. Priests hold sway in society, enjoying great respect and abusing that respect freely. Everyone knows that the Church in Poland is corrupted, and no longer deals exclusively with the health of human souls. It gets into politics, economics, and business. Even though everyone knows this, one will not find a single person in the country who will speak of this in any other way but with hushed voice, and furtively looking around. When I clearly and loudly speak my mind on the subject, people get nervous.
Where does this dominance come from? Poland has a long history of Catholicism, dating all the way back to the foundations of the country in 966 AD. Throughout history, through all the wars, the strife, and the divisions of the country by surrounding empires, the Church has persevered. It has always been a solid foundation to which Poles could turn in times of their greatest need. This was also the case throughout the post-WWII era. Pope John Paul II fought the communist occupation, spoke out against it, and supported the Polish Church throughout the period. Poland was one of the few countries behind the Iron Curtain that had no restrictions on religious activity. The Russians knew that this would spell open rebellion, and desisted.
So why is this a bad thing? It's not. The consequences are what's bad. The Church has had such a good run in this country without any competition that it has gotten fat and bloated. As with any monopoly, effort to improve and provide an attractive product declines with lack of competition. The result here is widespread corruption and the taking for granted of the Church's position. Having a Polish Pope didn't help matters. It excused the priests, because they had full support from the Vatican. They could do no wrong, because the Pope was Polish, and was great.
An entire generation of Poles grew up knowing only the Polish Pope. They identified the Church with the Pope. Now, that is no longer possible. They will have to evaluate the Polish Church on the basis of its own merits and actions. The Church itself will no longer have a free hand, and will start getting questioned when its decisions are too suspect.
The death of the Pope is the first step to a recovery of Poland's identity. The country where the Church pays no taxes, gets government donations, and rips off the poor and gullible, will finally have a chance to stand on its own two feet and put the Church back into perspective. This will be a long process, and not always a clearly improving one, but it has begun. The local priest driving a Mercedes S class to mass will hopefully disappear, an unfortunate side effect of events in the past.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
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.
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.
Monday, September 26, 2005
Elections
There is so much talk everywhere about the right of people to choose their own government, the need for democracy, and how wonderful it is to be "free". Then comes the true test. Elections. And, more often than not, the truth comes out.
Those in the "free" world do not care, or respect their right. They are more interested in their own daily grinds, their interests and personal problems, and not whether the government is controlled by one party or another. There are a couple of possible explanations of this. One is ambivalence towards who rules, because as long as things are stable, people don't care. Stable economies, stable political systems, both tend to enhance this attitude. But the reason that drove such low frequency in Poland is different.
There, the reality is that people are sick of the same old thing, and over the last decade have lost all hope that the government can make a difference. Every year a series of scandals comes out, regardless of which party is in power, and nothing gets done, nothing seems to improve overall. Yes, there is progress, but as with all emerging economies, the progress affects first those at the very top, and only slowly trickles down, especially in the eyes of those who have nothing. People expect improvements overnight, and are highly disappointed when those do not materialize. Opportunists capitalize on a weak system as well, making things worse.
Poland just had parliamentary elections on Sunday. There was a 39% turnout. Horrible. Just over one third of the country decided it was worth it to go to the ballot box. The rest made a very loud and clear statement. They're sick of the bull, sick of having to deal with a bunch of stuffed shirts making money for themselves, while helplessly poking at the state of the country, with a complete lack of knowledge of how to deal with things. And this after fifteen years since true independence.
I voted. Not with confidence that I will make a difference, but with the feeling of responsibility to my country, and to myself. If the results of the election are not to my liking, at least I can say I tried. If I didn't vote, I would have wondered, how much would be different if those like me had voted... Instead I wonder, how many more years until we have a skilled and experienced government?
Those in the "free" world do not care, or respect their right. They are more interested in their own daily grinds, their interests and personal problems, and not whether the government is controlled by one party or another. There are a couple of possible explanations of this. One is ambivalence towards who rules, because as long as things are stable, people don't care. Stable economies, stable political systems, both tend to enhance this attitude. But the reason that drove such low frequency in Poland is different.
There, the reality is that people are sick of the same old thing, and over the last decade have lost all hope that the government can make a difference. Every year a series of scandals comes out, regardless of which party is in power, and nothing gets done, nothing seems to improve overall. Yes, there is progress, but as with all emerging economies, the progress affects first those at the very top, and only slowly trickles down, especially in the eyes of those who have nothing. People expect improvements overnight, and are highly disappointed when those do not materialize. Opportunists capitalize on a weak system as well, making things worse.
Poland just had parliamentary elections on Sunday. There was a 39% turnout. Horrible. Just over one third of the country decided it was worth it to go to the ballot box. The rest made a very loud and clear statement. They're sick of the bull, sick of having to deal with a bunch of stuffed shirts making money for themselves, while helplessly poking at the state of the country, with a complete lack of knowledge of how to deal with things. And this after fifteen years since true independence.
I voted. Not with confidence that I will make a difference, but with the feeling of responsibility to my country, and to myself. If the results of the election are not to my liking, at least I can say I tried. If I didn't vote, I would have wondered, how much would be different if those like me had voted... Instead I wonder, how many more years until we have a skilled and experienced government?
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