And evil is creeping, creeping...

Fr. IRENEUSZ SKUBIƚ

Some people think that in fact, everything is relative. Even the Decalogue can be treated selectively: I will obey what I regard as right and feasible and I will somehow omit what is too difficult. And thus moral law, moral norm, which seems to be naturally stable, begins to lapse. Current values become ordinary empty ideas, which strongly hinder our lives - there is no sense to be good, generous, honest, etc. We face the most basic ethical problems. Let us consider for example the commandment 'You shall not kill'. The gates have already been opened because abortion, which the Bolsheviks began promoting, has been included in the legislation of many countries. Once we shivered at the very thoughts about abortion. Then Hitler came, new revolutionary theories were advanced, and today we have the problem of killing the unborn children and the problem exits in the whole world, especially in the so-called civilised countries - in some countries one can kill an unborn child that has been totally formed in the mother's womb. The norms, which order to respect every conceived life, have been lost. And evil is creeping on. The right to euthanasia is becoming common in the world. We see what is going on in Holland, Belgium, where old people do not trust doctors, fearing about their lives. Sick and disabled children are killed. There are families who want to adopt Polish disabled children because there are no such children in their countries. In those highly industralised countries even tiredness of life can be regarded as a sufficient reason for euthanasia. And we go on - to absurdity. The paradox is that people become more and more intelligent, have profound knowledge and talents, and they use them to lead the world towards disaster. Since too comfortable life leads to dehumanization, degeneration, misunderstanding of the essence of life. We see what is happening on the Old Continent. Europe is dying out, fewer and fewer children are born and that's why people from other parts of our globe - people of different cultures, traditions and customs - are being brought. Therefore, we do worry about the fate of the Christian civilisation, which undergoes destruction. (Prof. Rocco Buttiglione presented this problem in a very interesting way during his visit to Poland.) The current problem, which increases evil, is the issue of possessing drugs. This issue has been much publicized in the media in Poland. Where is the limit of a small or bigger amount of substance? We are appalled at the proposal of unpunishability for having drugs for your own use. This is some misunderstanding. A young person cannot see it as a moral problem. But we are astonished that the government, ministers, people responsible for the nation, do not see the problem, either. The fact that many young people are drug addicts and the government cannot cope with this problem does not justify such legal acts. Can theft be eliminated by liberalization of the law and acquiescence in minor theft? We do not realize that evil itself is after all evil. Who will then be responsible for those who take small portions of drugs today, for their own use, and tomorrow or the day after tomorrow they will need more and more drugs until the tragedy does not only affect individuals but social groups as well? What is our responsibility?
We all must base our thinking and evaluation of the present situation on moral norms - lasting and stable. We, Christians, believers, see these norms in the Ten Commandments, the Decalogue. I repeat: if we destroy the Decalogue, we will be wounded by its shrapnels. Let us remember: one cannot consent to evil. The greatest lawmaker is Lord God and his laws are most important. Nobody can dispense us from observing these laws; nobody can make social laws contrary to God's law. Since God's law always aims at man's good - and the man, which the law directly protects and the man, which makes effort to have the law observed even when it seems to be irrational. We should think about this and verify our attitudes.

Editor: Tygodnik Katolicki "Niedziela", ul. 3 Maja 12, 42-200 Czestochowa, Polska
Editor-in-chief: Fr Jaroslaw Grabowski • E-mail: redakcja@niedziela.pl