IN THE shadow of a giant, shimmering steel cross in central Warsaw, 17-year-old Alexander Pawlowski has a blunt message for Pope Benedict XVI: “He should tell the Government to stop ramming the Roman Catholic faith down our throats.”Mark
The Pope, who embarks today [May 25, 2006] on his first pilgrimage to Poland, is unlikely to heed the schoolboy protester, who is drumming up support against a fervently Catholic Government led by a right-wing nationalist Prime Minister.
The teenager is, however, one of a growing army of critics who say that Poland is fast becoming the least tolerant member of the European Union. The Pope is treading in the footsteps of John Paul II and will use his trip to echo the words of his Polish mentor: stay true to the Catholic faith at a time of Islamic resurgence and shifting global values. Behind the scenes, though — and explicitly during a planned visit to the Auschwitz concentration camp on Sunday — he will be urging the Polish Church to stay out of politics and do more to encourage social tolerance and civic rights. Pilgrimage will let Pope pray for a country that is turning to intolerance by Roger Boyes
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
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8 comments:
I'm not sure that I understand the significance of this material.
Enlighten me?
Always:
Well, I thought it was interesting to note that not all of Europe is as liberal as Western Europe.
Further, some bloggers have suggested that it is a virtual impossibility for Europe to turn on the Islamifaction process, believing that Europeans have come to accept everything that will be thrown their way.
Swings to the left will inevitably and eventually be matched by swings to the right, in almost Newtonian fashion à la Newton's cradle.
Are we beginning to observe a swing to the right in Poland that will reverberate on the Continent, and perhaps even influence other Western European countries? In other words, is Eastern Europe going to lead the way.
I suggested as much in a comment I posted somewhere - was it iBloga? - that Europeans should not be counted out. I stated further that the dynamics of European politics would inevitably change with their entry into the EU. Eastern Europeans simply aren't as liberal as Western Europeans. It's as simple as that. And having had their Roman Catholicism auppressed under communism, they have now re-emerged from that suppression more devout than ever. They will have little or no time for the spread of Islam, I believe.
That, in a nutshell, is the significance of this material.
Sorry! That should read 'suppressed by communism'. (I pressed the wrong button: publish instead of edit.)
Bld:
That's a very interesting observation.
Mark,
Are we beginning to observe a swing to the right in Poland that will reverberate on the Continent, and perhaps even influence other Western European countries? In other words, is Eastern Europe going to lead the way.
Oh, how I hope you're right! Otherwise, Western civilization is going to go down.
Always:
But this really could happen. By opening the gates to the East, the EU has, perhaps without realizing it, opened the gates to a far more reactionary population. Remember: These people still have the scars caused by communism. They really could change the political dynamics of the Continent as the EU morphs into a shape and form anew.
Mark,
I think you are experiencing email delivery (to you) problems again. I have sent three, but I fear you received none.
Always & others:
Has anyone got any idea where Heather is? It is so very strange! She used to visit so frequently. Now we don't hear a peep out of her. Ever! I can't understand it.
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