I'm an agnostic who treats the Decalogue as a moral compass.
It's not just a worldview statement, it's an expression of my constant search for the good and intent of life. I ask myself questions about morality, about the place of religion in human life — besides outside the Church.
It's not just a worldview statement, it's an expression of my constant search for the good and intent of life. I ask myself questions about morality, about the place of religion in human life — besides outside the Church.
If I accept God’s existence, I am closer to the God of the fresh Testament — the God of love and forgiveness. specified a image of God I owe to Father Joseph Tischner, who spoke of Him not as a dogma, but as He who calls upon man to freedom, dialog and act in accord with his own conscience.
However, I have a subjective impression that the Polish Catholicism is dominated by a harsh, vindictive, even cruel “old-estrate” image of God. besides frequently religion is based on fear, guilt, and obedience alternatively of love.
This image, unfortunately, leads to criticism — both of the Church and of God’s very idea. It is more like a control strategy than a space of spiritual freedom.
However, I must honestly admit that I can point out many of the pastoralists I know who represent a different, more open, evangelical, Tischner imagination of faith. These are priests, theologians, and lay people who talk of God as Love, not as a guardian of prohibitions.
Unfortunately, their voices do not always pierce as powerfully as those thundering, harsh, moralistic. Fear is usually louder than trust or love. It is besides easier to “accomplish”. Like evil, it does not require effort, it is attractive. But good is hard and can be considered boring.
Nevertheless, I believe that religion — even if not full accepted — can inspire reflection on good, love, and responsibility. Tischner said that “the man in man meets God.” And that conviction is crucial to me.
Fr Joseph Tischner:
There was a time erstwhile Europe and Poland were threatened by left-wing terrorism. Currently, he raises his head, reports right-wing terrorism, which is simply a threat due to the fact that he has a full mouth of religion.
He legitimizes himself with noble, beautiful Christian values. And it tempts the Church. This is simply a large temptation to the Church. She has very beautiful promises. Bad luck is that I know a small history, especially this period of the Church's romance with Nazism in Germany, and I warn, but not to offend, just to think.
It is not excluded to say that certain forms of religion are already bored to God.
Namely recognition of state and spiritual celebrations. Declarations about religiousness, about God – declarations empty, e.g. in constitutions.
When I sometimes look at people clumping prayer (although I actually have a beautiful good view of people and about their interior), I wonder if God is boring. They are convinced it's the right thing to do. And it is very easy to usage your religion as an excuse for interior dishonesty.
Was it not that religion served as a fig leaf in Europe’s history? You gotta cut it down bravely.
What does Poland do with religion? He frequently makes his neighbour hateful.
Our loyalty broke the limits of totalitarianism yesterday. Let's remember these days. Let us remind the figure of Fr Jerzy Popieluszko. A bond has been revealed between those who were different, yet their own, their ownness in differentness and their ownness. We touched the very core of religion. We became participants in a bond that did not "totalize". And then it broke down somewhere. Our reasoning has become reasoning “species”. The "Species of Catholics" faced the "species of atheists" and many another "species". We became victims of smaller and larger totalizations.
How was that possible? Who's to blame? Who started it? I think everyone's a small guilty. They were all carried distant by any current that so much loved the fight that it threatened even the largest and deepest community—the community of faithfulness.
The fight proved stronger than solidarity.
In our country, religion is very frequently utilized to legitimize political divisions: the political opponent becomes a spiritual enemy. Criticizes the political opponent from the position of religion. What does that mean? This means that our religion becomes sectarian, that with the aid of religion we are building our political authority.
And that is the essence of the priesthood, that it can show something that unites enemies. This is the function of pastoral ministry to show that enemies are neighbors.
