Post by nathanael on May 22, 2008 4:29:52 GMT -7
Irish and Polish are wonderful people, not apples and oranges! We enrich each other wherever we engage in dialogue on the destinies of this common homeland we call America. Yet it is a well "publicized" fact, that Irish-Americans and Polish-Americans often quarrel about trivialities, even though, deep inside, we are all the same. Even the most well-intentioned non-partisan people cannot escape this tension for the Nation's destiny and politics cannot be separated. In forum exchanges, I occasionally sense an unhealthy "spirit of competition" which pops in wherever Polish and Irish talk. It is understandable since our experiences are so different. Like the Irish, I also am a U.S. citizen and a patriot, and believe me, we Polish know a lot about patriotism, about freedom, and about human rights! But it happens that, above all, we Polish appreciate honesty about the truth which defines us as human beings. No one had expressed this better that John Paul II himself when , in his early book Person and Act he observed, that "cz³owiek o tyle jest cz³owiekiem, o ile osoba jego kszta³towana jest przez [jego] akty na gruncie transcendentnego odniesienia do prawdy" (man is a man in the measure his acts are forged on the transcendental ground of truth). The truth of our acts, for Wojty³a, is what defines us as persons. Therefore, ja wierzê w to co ja wierzê, on wierzy w to co on wierzy kind of thing should govern every dialogue, and should be the golden rule whereby all multi-cultural forums work. As far as "the rule on asking questions of each other," I stand by what I have been saying: often a tiny disagreement can be blown out of proportion, and "bad words and naughty behavior" are in the eyes of the beholder. This is why the personally critical questions should be limited to bare minimum, to avoid animosities and "two-way dialogues." It may be an unspoken rule, but it is a noble rule, nonetheless. Let's say what each person has to say, and let the people draw their own conclusions! Politics and policies are not synonymous always, and we Polish know a lot about that also. While we can never truly "remain outside of everyone's policies," I am a living proof that one can be non-partisan and still do some good to both parties, and more importantly, to the Nation of which one is citizen out of own free choice.