Boże, coś Polskę

Boże, coś Polskę (God save Poland)

It’s amazing how many people turn to God, when disaster strikes like in the case of Hurricane Sandy, when terror falls upon us like the school shooting in Connecticut or in the fevered pitch of battle. Sometimes just when it’s convenient for mortal man to pay homage to his Creator.

Historically, in Poland it was completely commonplace for her indigenous people to reverently acknowledge and pay homage to God, Christ and Matka Boska Częstochowska on a regular basis.

While this was true through the millennia during triumphant times as well as the partitions, atrocious Nazi occupation and the bondage of Soviet dominated communism, change is afoot since the faith of liberation led by native son Pope John Paul II came to fruition.

Now, atheists are mounting a billboard challenge to the Catholic Church, which for centuries provided an important role and influence that for most Poles was sacrosanct and a totally inseparable aspect of Polish identity.

Billboards that were first erected in Lublin back in October are mushrooming across the country and have generated a large amount of publicity in a nation where 90 percent of the population still categorizes itself as Catholic.

Jacek Tabisz is the head of one of the organizations putting up the billboards. He says, “In a country considered to be Catholic, it’s very hard to be an atheist. There are many of us although not all of us that let our beliefs be known.”

The president of the Polish Association of Rationalists went on to say that the billboard action is not aimed at believers; it’s to show people that in a country where the stereotypical Pole is a Catholic there is a large group of atheists.

Trying to advance the argument that morality need not be based in religion, some of the billboards show a series of boxes labeled “Do Not Kill, Do Not Steal, Do Not Believe”. Each box is ticked. Then again, it could be argued that morality was codified in the tablets Moses brought down from Mt. Sinai, which include 8 more items. Other billboards ask the question “Don’t believe in God? - You are not alone.“

As you might expect resistance to the message is fairly significant. Many Poles, particularly those over the age of 40, remain grateful to the Church for the role it played in the eradication of the faithless Communist government in 1989.

Traditionally revered as the bastion of Polish culture and mores, after the fall of communism the state granted a number of privileges to the Church. Technically, Poland has a secular government, but the state instituted a "church fund" which benefits the Catholics in pension assistance and other types of assistance.

But, the advertising campaign has led to an extraordinary debate in Poland over the status and power of the Catholic Church. Until now not much was said about priests giving classes in “religion” from kindergarten age upwards or supportive financial measures from tax relief to state funding for ecclesiastical property.

While for years privileges have gone virtually unchallenged, last month the third largest political party and the one with a clear anti-clerical agenda, called for an end to religious instruction in schools, claiming it to be in breach of articles in the Polish constitution ensuring equality of all faiths.

Some experts dismiss talk of an anti-clerical revolution in Poland, pointing out that despite the challenges to the Church’s position the country remains robustly Catholic.

But, as Poles travel, work abroad and are exposed to a more cosmopolitan and more secular lifestyle the once significant influence of the Church has begun to wane as church attendance and those entering service to the Church decline.

Throughout history Poland has exhibited exceptional religious tolerance. From accepting Jews driven from so many anti-Semitic nations to the Muslim Tartars who after the failed Mongol invasion turned their allegiance to the White Eagle. Groups of various faiths sought and found peace and prosperity without persecution for their beliefs in Poland.

Therefore, it shouldn’t be too hard for anyone of any viewpoint to live in Poland.

Maybe Jacek Tabisz and his Association of Rationalists should thank God they live in Poland and not some Muslim country. Maybe someone should erect billboards to suggest it to them.


Side Bar

Boże, coś Polskę (God save Poland) is a solemn prayer for the nation, included in all Catholic Church songbooks, and sung in Polish churches. Since its 1828 publication, the revised hymn, known also as "The Prayer of the Polish Army," gradually increased in popularity in Poland and abroad, especially in France - with its strongly pro-Polish popular sentiments.

Words to the refrain have changed over the years.

To your altars we carry a prayer:

· Save our King, Lord ! (1816)

· Return our Homeland to us, Lord ! (1830)

· Bless our Homeland and freedom, Lord ! (1989)