“You can protest and demonstrate, but I am afraid that with a four-year mandate in power they will continually break the law. We see the willingness to act outside the Constitution and the permission of outside centers to do so. The current authorities in Poland are very encouraged by this,” said Prof. in an interview with the wPolityce.pl portal. Mieczysław Ryba, historian, lecturer at the Catholic University of Lublin.
wPolityce.pl: In a New Year’s Eve recording for TV Trwam, the professor says – as a kind of message to Poles – that lay Catholics must increasingly speak out against attempts to “revolutionize and overthrow everything natural that God has created.” Does this also apply to our politics? What seems particularly dangerous in this context today?
Prof. Mieczysław Ryba: It seems that it would be worthwhile to first undertake a general reflection: what are we dealing with in the electoral context, but deeper than just asking who won, who lost and why?
There is no doubt that against the background of the past elections, their results and the current events related to them, we had and continue to have a powerful clash of patriotic and cosmopolitan forces in Poland. These patriotic people are naturally looking for issues of identity. And this was also the case during the PiS government. We see it in the transmission of history, in education, in culture, museology and in many other areas. The second, cosmopolitan camp is, on the one hand, based on certain dreams of being part of the construction of a European empire that by definition liquidates nation states and must refer to them. On the other hand, this camp is based on neo-Marxist ideology. This in turn seeks to eliminate Christianity as competition. This ideology functions like a religion and does not tolerate competition. It undermines all structures and communities – family, marriage, national, church, etc. – and views them as oppressive. So we have a kind of religious war, which then translates into culture.
These are the things that are questioned in the ideology of multiculturalism or the sexual revolution or other variants thereof. And this is the battle that is happening before our eyes. So we see how the cosmopolitan camp that has taken power is the first decision to order the removal of crosses, as was the case at the provincial office in Lublin, or to limit religious lessons in schools. We also have the topic of the Church Fund or teaching history and the present in schools – everything that defines Poland’s patriotic identity.
We are dealing with all this and, it seems, will be dealing with it in an increasingly serious form. As you can see, both from the perspective of the ministries, from the perspective of the media, and from certain trends, such a war is being prepared for us. And this is an incredibly serious and important war when we talk about our future.
How do you think the Polish right, the patriotic camp, should act in this situation and what actions should it take in this situation?
Above all – as mentioned above – the United Right and its electorate must become more deeply aware of the fact and reality of the said clash. Secondly, you need to choose a methodology that suits the modern age. What I mean here, for example, is that we should not always play for one party with a strong decision-making center, without looking for and adding to different circles that are not parties, but function outside the party circulation, and that participate very effectively in this struggle . different places. PiS needs such groups. It just needs to be renovated. This cannot be based only on very limited human resources, without fluctuations in elites, selection and young and intellectually gifted people. It seems that the existing model of a centralized structure, where one game is played, is no longer effective. We also see this in other countries. Besides Hungary, everyone in power in other countries, including the very conservative right, is looking for and finding coalition partners.
How can we defend the law and the constitution in the light of current events, when the Minister of Justice himself and – incidentally – the former Commissioner for Human Rights turn a blind eye to violations of law and civil rights, for example when it comes to pluralism in the media?
You can protest, you can demonstrate, but I’m afraid that with a four-year government mandate, they will continue to violate these rights. There are many indications that a change of government will be necessary to restore public order and respect for the law. We see the willingness to act outside the Constitution and the permission of outside centers to do so. The current government in Poland feels enormously strengthened by this.
What purposes might these “external centers” serve?
Purging and eliminating the right wing in Poland, which, for example, does not want a super state. Therefore, it allows the Polish government to take extra-constitutional measures. I’m really afraid that stopping this will require a change of government.
How does all this compare to Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s declaration in his New Year’s message that he will unite the nation?
These are just words contradicted by actions. Everything Prime Minister Tusk and his government are currently doing is aimed at a huge confrontation. Let’s take the example of the attempts to remove half of religion classes from schools. This means that half of the religious teachers will be fired. Is this the way people reconcile? Even in Austria, which is much more atheist than Poland, we have two religion classes a week. The same applies to the liquidation of public television. Is he doing this to unite people? I experience Prime Minister Tusk’s speech on reconciliation as irony.
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Source: wPolityce