IN DEFENCE OF OUR VALUES
MATEUSZ WYRWICH
CitizenGO organization was established last year, and has been functioning in 60 countries now. It addresses its petitions written in 11 languages, both to authorities and citizens. Whereas, actions undertaken by it, standing in defence of Christian values are very effective. Today CitizenGO gathers over 2 million people
The CitizenGO organization was established in Spain in September 2013. It was established by a group of friends, the Catholics, under the leadership of a lawyer Ignacia Arsuagi Rato. During one of meetings they decided that there is an urgent need for establishing a Christian, conservative foundation which would be an answer to a lack of respect for human dignity and the evil resulting from it, which is happening in the world. Its creators decided to fight for Christian values, creating an non-governmental organization. The newly established structure is to become an alternative for big and very influential liberal-leftist platforms acting all over the world, whose activists use various methods to persuade politicians of the European Union or the United Nations Organization to actions which do not favour the family, life protection or conscience freedom. The CitizenGO organization wants to oppose to this leftist minority which thinks, similarly as the Russian Bolsheviks used to think, that they are the majority.
Locally and internationally
CitizenGO undertakes various actions in over 60 countries. They are either of local or international range. Starting with defence of the youngest against the wave of pornography in mass media – to defence of unborn children against killing them through abortion. It happens that despite an attempt of abortion, a child survives. As we read in one of petitions of CitizenGO: ‘Every year in Europe there are cases of births of alive children during procedures of abortion done after the 20th week of pregnancy. These children are usually left behind to death by not giving them medical help, and who fight for every breath, sometimes during a few hours, or they are also killed by a lethal injection or strangulation, and then they are thrown away as organic waste’.
However, CitizenGO often undertakes national actions of local range. They concern events important for a particular society. The range of discussed issues is very wide. In Poland a few organizations and groups, through CitizenGO, demand dignified burials of the Accursed Soldiers murdered by communists in the 40s and 50s of the last century. Whereas, recently, from the initiative of the Foundation PRO-Right for Life and the platform CitizenGO, a network of Empik shops was called for boycott because a leader of the group of Behemoth Nergal was employed, who promotes Satanism and mocks at Christian values. CitizenGO also issued a petition to the management of TVP and governmental authorities against: ‘(…) supporting institutionalization of partnership relations of homosexual people, contradictory with the art. 18 of the Polish Republic Constitution’. And, standing in defence of women’s dignity, participants – users of the platform informed in one of their letters that, among the others, the ‘LUX MED group, owning 163 medical institutions in Poland and about 1600 cooperating institutions, offers, in some of its centres, implementing allegedly ‘modern’ contraceptive implants. It is a temporary hormonal sterilization. These non-ethical practices have been known, however, for a long time, mainly because of neocolonial countries of Africa, where global corporations test contraceptives and abortion methods on a global scale, for money of UNO agencies.
Despite the short time of activity, CitizenGO has already been popular for its many actions in defence of freedom and dignity of the human being. Protests against persecution of the Christians in Iraq and Syria echoed very much, as well as protests in defence of a Pakistan woman Asia Bibi, sentenced to death penalty for an alleged insult of the Muslim religion, or a Canadian woman Mary Wagner imprisoned for protests outside clinics, where unborn children are killed.
Individually and in groups
Polish platform CitizenGO was established at the time of establishing the organization in 2013. Its director was Magdalena Korzekwa. A lawyer, a student of psychology, an author or co-author of a dozen books about friendship, love and joy. A student of the prestigious College of Humanities and Social Studies of the Warsaw University. A few years ago she conducted a popular catholic TV programme ‘Ziarno’. Describing activity of the foundation CitizenGO in Poland she says: - We ask everyone to participate in the petitions. We see the value of unification of a big group of people for whom values resulting from human dignity are very important: protection of life, family, religious freedom, conscience freedom. At the moment, in the world the action CitizenGO has already been joined by over 2 million people! The majority, because 299 279 people are Poles.
A person signing an online petition becomes a member of the CitizenGO group. It does not mean that, certainly, he must support all petitions, but the person is informed about every action undertaken by the organization. – We try to control new legislative ideas in Poland, EU and international organizations – says Magdalena Korzekwa. – For, CitizenGO, as it is defined, supports the participation of the society in politics. Online petitions are a typical example of indirect lobbying. According to our possibilities, we also try to participate in important sessions of international organizations and talk to countries delegations directly. We want to reverse false propositions. It is improper that organizations, representing a small part of the society and fighting for abortion or legalization of partnership relationships are over-represented in important organizations such as UNO or EU institutions. Now it is time we defended life, family and conscience freedom as well as religious freedom. CitizenGo is just for this purpose!
An interesting form of the action of CitizenGO is also a possibility of creating its petition on the website: www.citizengo.org. One can only describe a problem, indicate an addressee and….that is all. The petition works. One can also encourage others to sign it. We read about the most important petitions in email news, which are sent to us – sometimes a few times a week – by CitizenGO. One of successful actions was an action of parents of children suffering from a rare kind of cancer. The therapy was not financed in Poland (although it was paid for by the Czech Republic, Italy, Russia or Germany). Under the engagement of parents who encouraged a dozen thousand people to participate in the action, a decision was taken about implementing the therapy in Poland. – The essence of functioning of CitizenGO are not actions prepared by employees but only the small and big petitions written by our users, as well as by other non-governmental organizations – says Magdalena Korzekwa. – I am glad about every new action because it gives a chance to change the reality for the sake of more life and family protection. We must both oppose to the evil and support the good. Our organization gives such a possibility.
AA
„Niedziela” 2/2015