A Catholic Time Capsule

Having spent a considerable time abroad - and not as a tourist - I cannot but admit that my exposure to different societies is fairly divers, and thus perhaps my mindset is influenced much more differently than the average of the current society around me. In an age, where we surf, chat, and mail - today even with our smartphones, and therefore a computer is no longer required for such - it is still remarkable how many people tend to be misinformed. This would not be too much of a problem were it not, that some of these people are in fact ... priests.

Priests have the sad privilege, that a community more or less take their word - relatively - for an infallible truth. Provided, the said priest is a humble wise and learned person, that would hardly be a problem to swallow. When such a person lacks some of these attributes, then it becomes dangerous. 

Last week namely, an acquainted priest-blogger posted an article, in my view as a slightly provocative gesture towards woman rights activists. The contents I didn't take too seriously, as it contains arguments, which in my view are no longer of this time. I left it for a while, until I started to ponder, why should a person with a certain community status feed readers with such a rhetoric? Would this not be exactly the school book example, why certain groups hardly get out of their shell and remain constantly indulged in navel-gazing?

I decided to re-read the article, and even to follow the discussion beneath - where the author is actively reacting on the comments. From here, the student-like diatribe appeared not to be just a lighthearted jest, but it transpired that not only was the author dead-serious, on top of it, the constant slightly old fashioned anti-Semitic implications were made. And sadly; obviously through ignorance, either from the theological or historic point of view.

A correspondence followed, where I tried to point out some missing facts from his statements, I couldn't help feeling a bit detached; as if we were talking at different wave-lengths, where the author had little understanding of the point. His fairly limited remarks on Judaism were embarrassingly off our nowadays reality. Lack of fact-knowledge, unaware of historic developments, global theological discussions. Almost, as if I was writing to a member of the clergy from the 17th century.

Unfortunately, this continues to feed wrong signals to the community, which regards priests as revered authorities. And indeed, such were the comments in the discussions. Certain conservative tendencies are perhaps not fully exclusive for Slovakia alone. Remarkably, his last sentence was; society still needed much to get rid of their prejudices. Fully true. Yet it was he himself, who repeatedly instigated these prejudices., and the facts I put forth had hardly an impact. Apparently, they live in a time capsule. A Catholic one that is; and those not belonging to this club hence are not noticed. 

And how dangerously far poisonous prejudices can go, is history... Beware.

The prerogative of politics

Ever since antiquity, rulers - usually born into their function, or believed to be predestined by a divine scheme - exercised their power with fairly little interest to the masses over which they ruled, up to the extent that life and death was decided within a second. Perhaps the Hellenistic conception of the first forms of democracy were in their lifetime exceptional, until the Enlightenment not much has changed. 

Especially the Enlightenment philosophies, where suppression of the common man was being questioned - and again; especially the divine justification for suppression - many fled the absolutist European nations to settle in a new world, which in the end culminated in the creation of the United States of America. This deed, to sever political ties from the old world, would finally inspire Europe as well - to begin with the French Revolution, as you know.

The concept of politics changed dramatically; it was the people themselves, who gave the mandate to their representative to exercise power in their name. History has shown us, that not all attempts and systems worked out quite the way they were intended, but the foundation of modern politics was laid. Somewhat after the carnage of two horrifying world wars perhaps most understood where the boundaries of power should lie - at least in some western countries.

After the fall of the Iron Curtain, the role model of the west became the idol to the newly freed nations, who have been suppressed for another odd 40 years under a rigid totalitarian system. Especially that experience together with a role model next door, one would expect they wouldn't fall into the same trap. 

Independence and a new economic system brought new responsibilities as well as experience. The framework of a NATO membership followed by entering the EU was a great step with especially high political symbolism. 

Nevertheless, something didn't go as smooth as expected; Though communist parties either forbidden or marginalized, practically disappeared from the political arena, yet politics itself differed slightly from the 1989 period. Except for some cosmetic changes, where elections were free (I dare to challenge, whether they were fair) politician, even those who embrace democratic, 'christian', conservative, liberal whichever western sounding values, would do exactly the same mistakes democratic leaders should not do; dodgy business because of absolute power. Including bribes, cronyism and the like. 

The level of acceptance - or being powerless to do something against these ongoing trends - makes the players complacent. Slovak politics is proving, despite a reformist approach and definitively many shades better than the former government, that except a handful of individuals with genuine good will, people based on a lack of awareness of accountability repeat over and over again the same absolutist slash totalitarian streaks, leading to a considerable mismanagement. 

The very few who protest are stigmatized, whereas the majority seems to be clueless. Journalism - as a perfect tool to raise this missing awareness - plays almost an unprofessional and marginal role, not in the least because of laws to curb them. And thus, despite the aforementioned memberships, Slovakia is appearing rudderless in a pool of fascist nationalism, corruption, xenophobia, an inefficient justice system up and including corrupt judges.

Politics is not a prerogative, politics is a responsibility. Else society will hardly move forward as it should. One can point perhaps at Berlusconi, but that's not the point and not a valid argument - else we would start justifying anything which is wrong. One could likewise point at countries with a more solid democratic tradition; the UK, Netherlands, Scandinavian countries, etc. Hungarian instigated double-nationalities, language acts, Vatican treaties; those are futile non-issues, which should be of a far lesser priority and definitively not being used as another excuse for media (or politicians themselves) shouting of another cabinet crisis. Politics has no vision, no leadership, no character, poor experience. 

After the elections, many replacements in government functions were indeed necessary.  Slovak corruption was back to dramatic levels. Unfortunately, but understandably, they remain to be political nominations, and in the end effect, in some cases they appear not always to be a success; a meritocratic system still does not fully exist. An opposition candidate - as long as (s)he has a good record, could equally qualify for a key position. In the meantime, far more vigilance from all of us is needed and foremost, more ethical objectives with a proper understanding, what politics is about. In the end; we all will in some way be affected. 

Thus the only prerogative politics should have is: To be professional and accountable.

A national tragedy

Not that the Catholic Church has been completely absent during the former coalition, yet the new government with a certain emphasis on christian oriented ' objectives'  has given it a renewed impetus to re-establish its hold on society. Not in the least, the slip of the tongue of coalition partner leader Ján Figeľ by referring to a Vatican Agreement, was not just a mere Freudian error.

This morning, although intended to have a relaxed weekend off; while the temperatures were still low spring was in the air. However, two articles somewhat disrupted this weekend bliss. The first article by Oľga Pietruchová as a response to an ongoing discussion regarding sex education. Ms Pietruchová, a leading activist on women issues among others, justly holds up a mirror against the generally used shallow argumentation of the overly conservative catholic clergy. Her article clearly summons up the nonsensical arguments, why the church should finally stop repetitively interfering in state school curricula, and her references to biblical passages to prove her point are thorough and relevant. Albeit that the article may sound provocative, having experienced a number of discussions myself, I know the feeling where one cannot help to become a bit sarcastic.

The disturbing part is, that the reactions which follows are - to say the least - scary. It sadly shows, how utterly un-informed society seems to be. But that would not be all:

Another article by Miroslav Kocúr reflects e.g. on two very recent developments, where a member of the clergy in a pastoral letter openly criticizes so called 'anti-religious' elements for hindering the beatification of a local priest. The fact that the said priest was openly collaborating with the Nazis during WWII, whereas in the other instance the municipality of Rajec wants to honour a fascist official with a statue. Equally, the fascist element is none of the concern of the involved activists. Here as well, the discussions around the said issues would raise your eyebrows, where openly proclaimed anti-Semitic remarks are not too uncommon.

There is a painful tragedy here; too many - and I could fully believe that it is purely a matter of ignorance, rather than intended ideological conviction - seem to have too little awareness regarding the historical dimensions of their past. Being proud of your origin is fine, glorifying a fascist period is dangerous. Even the more, when the Catholic Church becomes a tool in providing them the pseudo-intellectual ammunition.

Slovakia - despite an explicit constitutional reference - does not fully recognize a separation between state and church. And a Catholic Church supporting fascists is perhaps not a new given, but in a 2011 European Union this is out of the question. Simply unacceptable.

Much ado about nothing...

In order to keep politics lively, most politicians might think, we should - instead of governing - make a lot of noise. Noise about how difficult, even unbearable, our position is, preventing us from ... governing.

An economically unstable country like Slovakia, having felt not only a severe whiplash from the 2009 crisis (albeit not in the banking sector), but equally being paralised by a traditionally high corruption, should need a government, which takes quick, adequate and firm measures to get the vehicle out of the mud.

But instead a government sweating over fixing the soaring deficit - after the successful looting rampage of former prime minister Fico, a totally different, even an off-topic issue is paralysing the new coalition to get things done; the double nationality issue.

A sound mind would freeze with shock over such a scenario, but indeed the question whether Slovak nationals should or should not be able to hold two passports, is perhaps the least pressing matter. No matter how annoyed anyone could be about Hungary issuing citizenships to magyars-descendents abroad, it is hardly worth it to put the country's political - and thus economical - future at stake.

The threat of a come back of crypto-communists, who managed not only to squander the state treasury but even justice as well,  is more than just imaginary. Instead of playing big-egos in a kind of 3rd rated B movie, politicians, especially those who are currently responsible and accountable, should move on. And fast!