Prof. Glinski: Attack on St. John Paul II is like an atomic bomb
John Paul II was a figure whom Poles considered the most important in our history. The attitude towards him united us the most. And in order to weaken the community, it is necessary to attack the foundations of social bond – says the head of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, prof. Piotr Glinski. A fragment of his interview for “Gazeta Polska” is quoted by independent.pl.
Excerpt from the conversation of the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Culture and National Heritage prof. Piotr Gliński with Tomasz Sakiewicz, which is to be included in the next issue of the weekly “Gazeta Polska” on Wednesday, March 15, the portal niezalezna.pl quoted on Friday.
The minister, when asked whether the attack on St. John Paul II is a “wide-ranging hate action”, he noted that the attackers showed that “there are no borders”. “That you can destroy everything, every sacred and every cultural taboo. The devastation of value systems is to create space for the construction of crazy, utopian projects resulting from the crisis of contemporary culture. This ideological offensive is aimed at deconstructing the world as we know it, which until recently kept us safe. And it is supposed to relativize all values, annihilate both faith and reason. And since there are no rational arguments, the world is to be based solely on unstable emotions. And then it’s easier to manipulate people,” he said.
Asked whether the reason for these “ruthless attacks are the upcoming elections and an attempt to break up the cohesion of the conservative part of society”, he assessed that the elections will certainly “cause and will cause more and more frequent and more and more ruthless attempts to influence emotions, raise the temperature of public debate”. “From my point of view, there is nothing new in this attack. The aggressors still use the same tactics of +panswinism+ or moral panic, but they are looking for new tools (and objects) to destroy the public sphere, in this case – authorities. They hope that society will get scared of this aggression and withdraw, that it will not defend values. That he’ll give up. It can be terrorized,” said Prof. Glinski.
Referring to the words of the interviewer that they are now “attacking the foundations of our identity”, the minister noted that this has been happening “constantly since the industry of contempt became an element of public life in Poland”. “Donald Tusk’s introduction of hatred towards President Lech Kaczyński, and the introduction of mockery of the victims of the Smolensk catastrophe into Palikot’s political salons – this was, as it turns out, only the beginning. Attacks on Saint John Paul II are a terrifying but +logical+ continuation. Our research, which we conducted for the centenary of independence, showed that John Paul II was a figure whom Poles considered the most important in our history. The attitude towards him united us the most. And in order to weaken the community, it is necessary to attack the foundations of the social bond. So from the point of view of this diabolical strategy, the goal was clear,” he pointed out.
The Deputy Prime Minister also emphasized – in response to the interviewer’s statement that John Paul II is also the most recognizable Pole in the world and that is why he is so “viciously attacked”. “If you attack a figure for which until now there was a consensus of practically the entire community in its opinion, you act with the intention of causing havoc in the dimension of values, in the dimension of authority, but also in the dimension of the image of the nation and state in the world!” he stressed.
“This is a fight without any rules. Those who cause it take no responsibility for anything. I repeat, this tactic was initiated by Donald Tusk after he lost the presidential election to Lech Kaczyński and he continues it all the time. We see it in all fields. This is a tactic of breaking down barriers to destroy literally everything, leaving scorched earth. This is a political struggle on the one hand, and a cultural and ideological one on the other. That is why exclusionary language is used: +villainy+, thieves, murderers, Hitler, +Stalinist methods+,” assessed the Minister of Culture.
“Let us note that all this is happening in a democratic country where, for better or worse, all state institutions work, there are no political prisoners, no one is persecuted or, God forbid, beaten in the streets. There is no unemployment in the country, people feel safe, there are unprecedented support programs for the weakest. And all this despite two years of pandemic, war, global economic crisis … So you have to throw a grenade or an atomic bomb into all this. Because otherwise you will not gain power,” he noted.
This is why, according to him, for some time “we have seen such a vicious, hysterical attack on our institutions.” “That’s why we won the elections and took responsibility for Polish affairs, to institutionalize the values that are constitutive for us. To institutionalize memory, which thus resists the current fluctuations of the so-called political situation. Therefore, instead of living in an atmosphere of hatred imposed by the aggressors, I encourage you to visit, for example, the Museum of John Paul II and Primate Wyszyński in the Temple of Divine Providence in Warsaw. I invite you especially now, during the attacks on the saint. The second powerful museum, which is to show the history of Poland through the axiology of JPII’s teaching – +Memory and Identity+ – is being built in Toruń. We are planning to open this year. We also invite you to Wadowice and many places (as well as reading!), where you can calmly focus on the John Paul II retreat,” added the Deputy Prime Minister. (PAP)
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