Antykościelne prądy i ich wpływ na kulturę i życie społeczne

Abstract

The following is a summary of a paper which was given during an academic session on “Spirit and Soul” ‒ held between March 26-28, 2004 at Skałka in Kraków. It deals with the problem of activities relating to anti-Church trends, which in our day, in a special way, affect culture and social life. There is a need to recognise them properly, to identify areas of their presence and to make an estimation of their threat. This kind of task is a religious obligation for Christians. Searching anti-Church trends is also a social obligation because most of these trends constitute dangers for man, which can lead to a disintegration of his spiritual-bodily nature. It turns out that a crisis of atheistic ideology has by no means weakened many liberal circles’ hostility towards Christianity and especially towards the Catholic Church. After the break down of classical atheistic ideologies new ones have appeared entering the stream of Neo-Marxism and Post-Modernism. There is a New Age among them, which gained the biggest popularity at the turn of the century, and is still increasing in its popularity. This New Age is like a gathering of all the mistakes of human thinking so far. It is known that a high point of the New Age activity was planned for the turn of the century. Along with the ending of year 2000 the huge propaganda machine of this New Age was weakened, but not halted, and still recruits new followers. We ought to be prepared that this process will go on a long time yet and will bring many bad effects. The New Age paradigm consists first of all of a belief in reincarnation and ‒ connected with it ‒ the idea of self-salvation. Cosmos-centrism ‒ that is an outlook on life, which is inherent in modem esoteric sects, inspired by Hindu and Buddhist traditions ‒ is an integral part of this paradigm. It is worth noticing that androgynous theory explains, to some extent, and justifies and even gives metaphysical groundwork for the social and civilizing acceptance of homosexuality. Promoted by this New Age thinking the concept of superman is extremely dangerous for society. The Church’s struggle with antagonistic trends makes in fact a fight for man. In this ideological dispute the main idea is a certain view of man, which is present not only in religious life, but first of all in culture and public life. The Church persistently defends the subjectivity of man and his authentic freedom based on truth and directed towards the good. Destructive anti-Catholic trends, not infrequently become, without difficulty, the ideology of political elites, businessmen, and those who hold power in this world, because these trends are propositions for life according to the formula of a “wide, comfortable, spacious way” (cp. Mt 1, 13). But the Gospel teaching of a “narrow, rocky and uncomfortable (hard) way” (Mt 7, 14) very often is rejected as a suggestion which is supposed to threaten freedom and the realization of happiness. Yet the Church does not cease to believe and proclaim that this broad way leads to perdition but a narrow way leads to life! This truth is a cardinal premise for which Christianity enters into confrontation with any of the divergent anti-Church trends.