WERSJA POLSKA
A letter in defense of the family's sovereignty
An open letter from evangelical Christian leaders to the local government authorities.
"For the rulers are not a terror to those who do good, but to those who do evil".
Romans 13:3
For thousands of years the Bible has been teaching Christians respect for secular authority. At the same time, history teaches us that power is a dangerous gift. Independence from others can lead to pride, create totalitarianism and dictatorships; lead to genocide and hatred. People with this special privilege forget that they also have power over themselves – this is the power of the Creator. The Creator of every man, but also of every community - including the family.
Regardless of the personal attitude of the leaders to God, He makes them responsible for the care entrusted to the them. As you can see in the verse quoted at the beginning, the rulers are to be a terror to those who do evil and support for those who live honestly. Such a power is a blessing for the whole of society. It brings economic prosperity, gives a sense of stability, justice and security. It strengthens interpersonal relationships, builds healthy relationships between consecutive generations, teaches respect to authorities, encourages the birth and education of children, without whom the prosperity of the nation is doomed to failure.
In this basic plan of the Creator for nations, the family is the key. It is the nucleus of every society. Reflecting the eternal bond of the Father, Son and Spirit, it is the first society that we encounter both in the pages of the Bible and in our experience. It is from the love of a father and mother that the child learns about what a community is. And at the same time from the very beginning of time, the family is vulnerable to attacks. Faithfulness to imperfect people - and each spouse has some shortcomings - is a serious challenge and not all of us are able to meet it. Bringing up children in a world so complicated and fraught with dangers is a task that many modern adults are running away from, choosing a more comfortable and calmer life without any children.
However, many still take up this challenge to raise a family. They deserve respect and help. We are asking you, dear readers, to help and strengthen parents who raise children, without being discouraged with adversity.
The family is an organic structure. Naturally, it flows from the union in love of a man and a woman. Naturally, the fruit of this love appears in the community that is responsible for its creation. Therefore, the family, as devotedly taking the burdens of education, has the full right to do so in accordance with their personal beliefs. It is a natural law. Law and social authority should recognize and strengthen these beliefs, in the face of danger and weakness. Do not be a hindrance, trying to interfere in this particular area. In addition, Christian parents have a great responsibility to raise their children "for the Lord" (Ephesians 6: 4). We encourage you not to hinder this task.
We are writing to you about all this, not without specific reasons. The President of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski has signed for the capital city of Warsaw the Warsaw "LGBT + declaration". Undoubtedly, it will also exert pressure on you to accept such a declarations.
This declaration affects the rights of parents and the well-being of children in many ways. "WHO Sexual Education Standards" - to which the Declaration appeals, eroticize children, that is, they stimulate an attitude that is still naturally dormant. And so children under 4 are encouraged to masturbate as joy and pleasure in touching their own body (page 38); children aged 4-6 are to accept all sexual preferences (p. 41). Children aged 6-9 are persuaded to accept intercourse and sex and accept same-sex love (page 42). Interference in school curricula and the introduction of the so-called Anti-discrimination classes are nothing more than encouraging children to undertake sexual practices, including homosexual ones, against the will of their parents. Moreover: against their own nature. Convincing children towards positive homosexual activity in the phase of shaping personality and sexual identity can be the cause of psychological wounds. It is child abuse and a rape on parents, how the totalitarian state interferes in the home. Without denying the right of adults to choose their own attitude to the homosexual lifestyle - because respect for every person, regardless of their lifestyle, is inscribed in Christian ethics - we believe that it is not the task of the school or self-government to instill attitudes and values of strangers to their homes. We say it as representatives of religious minorities in Poland who know what it means to suffer from intolerance and contempt.
In particular, we should be wary of initiatives that violate family sovereignty. Our national identity would not have survived if it were not for Polish families who, contrary to the authorities and schools of the partitioning and communist countries, cherished a Christian and national identity. Do you want to continue these oppressive activities in a free, modern Poland? Christianity gave our country the identity and values that made us survive during the most difficult moments. Can you imagine that gender ideology would be able to guide us in a similar way through it?
The president of Warsaw has also declared the introduction of LGBT observers to schools and support for teachers who, even against the will of the rest of the teaching staff and parents, want to promote a homosexual lifestyle among students. Looking at Polish history, analogies are coming to mind again. These observers seem to be like modern censors, equipped with a camera of coercion over students.
Contemporary changes in the LGBT lifestyle is an experiment that does not look promising in Western Europe. Regardless of moral judgments, the result of their propaganda is the death of nations. This means that this project is unstable because it cannot ensure stability for subsequent generations. In addition, it creates a lonely and wounded people. The community, including the family above all, but also the Church, has a great value, overcoming painful loneliness, providing real support in life; strengthening our decisions. They are not structures of oppression - as the supporters of extreme individualism want them to be seen- because they place people among other people in a community. And this is always better than living alone. Even in absolute sexual freedom, which, after all, can be the cause of the destruction of something valuable. There are dysfunctional relationships that should be repaired or left behind. We also create relationships that we want to protect, giving up our freedom for them. When everything is right and permissive, nothing is dysfunctional or particularly valuable. Therefore, the LGBT ideology, unable to diagnose dysfunctions or encourage a formation of a community which leaves people without help.
Readers, I encourage you to be a blessing for Poland and Poles! We are asking for prudence. For action not influenced by shouting or only politically correct voices, but thinking about the prosperity of our country in the perspective of many generations. With reflection also on our past. Please support families in the difficulties of upbringing; that they may be strengthened and do not be discouraged. Please help in securing space for teaching values that have worked for centuries. Please have moderation and reason against those supposedly better, who have so far not been able to demonstrate their culture-forming activity in any way.
Warsaw, 9th March 2019
Rev. Dr. Mateusz Wichary
Chairman of the Council of the Church of Baptist Christians in the Republic of Poland
Member of the Board of the Evangelical Alliance
Rev. Andrzej Bajeński
Presbyter-in-Chief - Bishop of the Church of Christ in Poland
Member of the Board of the Evangelical Alliance
Rev. Cezary Komisarz
Presbyter-in-Chief of the Evangelical Christian Church in Poland
Member of the Board of the Evangelical Alliance
Rev. Andrzej Jeziernicki
Presbyter of the Christian Church of the Evangelical Faith in Poland
Member of the Board of the Evangelical Alliance
Rev. Dr. Marek Kamiński
Bishop of the Pentecostal Church in Poland
Chairman of the Board of the Evangelical Alliance
Rev. Henryk Skrzypkowski
Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Church of Baptist Christians in the Republic of Poland
Rev. Marek Głodek
Member of the Presidium of the Council of the Baptist Church in Poland
Rev. Marcin Górnicki
Member of the Presidium of the Council of the Baptist Church in Poland
Rev. Henryk Kufeld
Member of the Council of the Baptist Church in Poland
Rev Dr. Wojciech Kowalewski
Member of the Council of the Baptist Church in Poland
Rev. Dawid Bednarczyk
Member of the Council of the Baptist Church in Poland
Rev. Dr. Włodzimierz Tasak
Rector of the Baptist Theological Seminary in Warsaw