The case of the teacher throwing English into the basket of the cross at the school in Kielno shows at least 2 things about the ongoing debate in Poland on the protection of spiritual objects and spiritual feelings. Firstly, that from the beginning to the end the left-liberal side of this discussion treats the cross and tries to depreciate its importance, so that the public treats cases of violations of the legal order and customs in this respect as irrelevant. And secondly, on the example of Tomasz Terlikowski, that journalists who depend on the media arrangement, who are considered social authorities, will change their opinion from day to day, if only specified is the anticipation of their environment. Even if it means utilizing alleged victims blaming, that is to blame or at least part of it, the actual victims of specified cases. In this peculiar case, they are children of kilen.
What We Know
Let's start with the apparent issues that no 1 questions. On December 15, 2025, a teacher from Kielna threw a cross hung by children on a wall in 1 of the classrooms into the trash can. Let us add, quoting a description of the situation that we know through the legal representatives of students:
“According to the consistent relation of the children, during the lesson the teacher noticed the presence of the cross and instructed 1 of the students to remove it. The student refused. Then the teacher – clearly agitated – took off the cross herself, climbing up to the table where the hamster cage stood. The teacher then approached the garbage bin and threw a cross into it, making a vulgar comment about the cross. The accounts disagree in the exact wording of words, but they all confirm the usage of vulgarism and clearly contemptible speech of speech. After throwing the cross in the basket, the teacher was to shake her hands with clear aversion and disgust.”
Barbara Nowacka does not deny
The case of throwing the cross in the basket is unquestionable. There was a cross, suspended by children on the wall, and it went into a dumpster. It doesn't substance if it was hung by a hamster cage, on the site of an old clock, and if it was made of inexpensive plastic. Even Minister Barbara Nowacka, who is ready to break the Constitution, on the air, to vote against religion from schools! “TVN24 has said that “everyone has the right to respect the dignity of his faith” and “teachers have a peculiar work to show children values, value and respect.” In fact, the English minister in Tuska's government considered the actions to be “loathing”. She besides added that it was a "mistake that should not take place in school" and "preservation of unacceptable social standards".
The students' relation is besides clear in this matter: there was a situation of tension in the presence of the cross in a area where desecration had already occurred. The cross disappeared respective times despite the legitimate efforts of the teacher of religion and students to have its permanent place there. Finally, after another incidental of the disappearance of the cross, the students decided to take matters into their own hands and suspended – according to the relation – a cross made on the 3D printer from synthetic material. It is worth to add that in all the halls of the fresh part of the school – the school was late expanded – the crosses were suspended at the initiative of parents and the local politics, so it was not a controversial issue from the point of view of the community associated with this educational facility.
Tricky defense
It is now worth quoting the longer message of the teacher – it took place on 9 January this year – which is rather a skillful effort to distract the public from the substance of the matter. It began with a reaction to the accusation that by throwing the cross into the basket she added to this action an inappropriate, or possibly even vulgar comment.
“This is bullshit. I have never utilized vulgarity in my life in contact with or in front of students. I'm a vocational teacher. I love my job. I love my students. I truly go to work all day with joy and joy. Not by force. I like what I do. Nothing like this has always happened.”
In the above paragraph, which could possibly contact the hearts of unoriented audiences, we find nothing more than a creation designed to warm the image of the author of these words. Let's decision on. It's not worth stopping. truly crucial things happen further:
“I have never commented on spiritual objects in my life. I just threw that gadget in the trash. I threw distant the gadget from the Halloween costume that the kids were playing with, and then they hung it over the hamster cage – in the place where the clock was hanging before. I respect objects of spiritual worship, and I would never throw distant a cross representing religion in my life. I am religiously neutral and very tolerant. I respect faith,” says the teacher.
“The wall over the hamster would be in my opinion a place demeaning with spiritual worship. His place should be high, next to the emblem or possibly above the door. However, I repeat: This object, which was hanged by children, was an component of cosplay costume – specified a disguise; children dress up as different characters, sometimes as a monk, priest or death. No 1 always prayed to him – she said, indicating that only the emblem was hanging in the English hall, and the “plastic toy”, available for the order on the network for PLN 7.99, students suspended during her break in classes as part of a prank – the Englishman concludes the speech.
“Cross representing faith”
This passage, which I divided into 2 parts only for the convenience of reading, raises basic questions. If we were dealing with a toy cross, with an irrelevant object, why was it in the basket? Why this “psicus” caused specified a violent reaction of the teacher, and at the same time a clear opposition of the students – as long as they were only joking. If it was just a “psychos”, the pedagogical way out of the situation arranged by the students should be completely different from the 1 chosen by the teacher.
Or was the case a small different, and were the disciples impatient with the antireligious stubbornness of the school community of the teacher, whom they knew or suspected of taking down the crosses, determined to stand their ground? I don't even regulation out that all of this started in the temper of a bit of a scepter of spite, and to the students the seriousness of the substance reached the minute the cross landed in the basket. This does not change anything in assessing the performance of the teacher from Kielna. From a 3D printer or from Temu for a PLN 7.99 object hung on the wall and thrown into the basket proved to be a “cross representing faith”.
Publicist in fog
Let's decision on to the second point, signaled in the introduction. Tomasz Terlikowski's statements, although usually not worth dealing with, are, unfortunately, sometimes necessary, due to the fact that in matters concerning religion it became the main resonant box of liberal propaganda. A commentator on social media has well characterized Terlikowski's publications: “Tomorrow the communicative will change and your position will change again. You're specified a commentator. Funny’. It's hard to deny.
The way Tomasz Terlikowski is heading is shocking in his own way. This publicist, erstwhile even an overly aggressive apologist of faith, whose large career in liberal media began, as it might seem, by defending children and another susceptible people utilized by adults, especially in the Church, now – in the case of Kielna – undermines the credibility of victims of force – symbolic and verbal – which students experienced from an adult. This suggests that today, as a writer of the liberal stream, in fact, he collects a pension not so much of his own justice in matters calling for vengeance to heaven as a willingness to attack the Church and people who know.
On January 8, this year, Tomasz Terlikowski wrote on his social profile as follows:
“And here we must be absolutely clear. There is no excuse for specified actions of the teacher, and if true. If a individual is incapable to accept the views and beliefs of his disciples, if he consciously decides on the act (let us measure it from a completely secular perspective) of manifest hostility towards the emotions and beliefs of his disciples (and their parents), then he should not teach in public school. If 1 does not realize – that does not mean that he must accept it – the meaning of the spiritual cross and does not realize that specified behaviour is hurtful to the students, then there is not adequate empathy to be a teacher. Who wants to aggressively impose their worldview on students should change their profession.”
Like a flag
Here we see a healthy Christian reaction of solidarity with brothers in the religion to which Tomasz Terlikowski was capable and ready in the past. However, this sober evaluation maintains its actuality only 1 day. On January 9, Tomasz Terlikowski writes something else, the way any of the media postponed the wave to turn and lie:
“Scandal – is inactive the right word for what happened. Only now they request to be directed towards politicians and right-wing activists. Why? due to the fact that they revealed the teacher's name, which they weren't allowed to do. The only consequence of this action was the hatred directed towards it. And hate, regardless of intent, is evil. It was besides scandalous, as I wrote, to organize protests in front of the school, to interfere with lessons, to build political narratives on the expected (today we know more about this) defence of the cross. Untested information was utilized to build hatred and hostility. no of these are surely Christian.”
Within twenty-four hours, the perpetrator of the unworthy act abruptly becomes the main victim of the situation, and in the light of the accusation are collectively “politicians and right-wing activists”. By default, students as tools for bad adults. 1 can even grin bitterly how the meaning of the earlier word scandal that opens the paragraph is reversed in this statement. It is besides clear what the priorities of Tomasz Terlikowski are, that the criticism that the teacher met for her actions is an absolute evil, not a profanation of the cross. This 1 abruptly seems insignificant.
It is besides worth the criticism from Tomasz Terlikowski of the protests that took place under the school. It fits perfectly into the liberal request to close spiritual matters in fragile and private caresses, and thus to take distant people who believe the right to effective defence in public space. Moreover, this criticism has been justified by questioning the credibility of the students who have indeed been harmed in this substance and have communicated to the planet the scandalous behaviour of the teacher. Consistent kid certificates are, according to Terlikowski, “untested information” and “building hatred”. In this crowd of words, the publicist, who seems to know small about the situation in Kielno, dies the basic origin of the scandal, that is to say, to throw out a cross representing Christian religion in the garbage can.
narration development
In an interview given by Tomasz Terlikowski to the “Baltic Journal” (publication of 16 January this year), both the evaluation from the second entry from social media, as well as the self-defenced words given by the teacher from Kielna, were further treated increasingly – unfortunately – to distance their author from reality.
“She had the right to take off the cross, even the toy, hung possibly in mockery by the students. It's apparent to me. but she shouldn't throw him in the garbage. Regardless of the fact that it is simply a cross, as everything points out, halloween, toy, plastic, it is simply a symbol and the teacher should simply take it to another place. In this way it would respect any possible emotions of students, but above all it would not exposure itself to criticism," we read.
We have the same contradiction that we saw in the teacher's words – if this cross was a toy, “a mockery”, “a prank”, why his photograph would trigger any emotions in the students related to their religiousness. Why does Tomasz Terlikowski, although accepting the version that the cross was “halloween”, admit at the same time that respect for it should be respected erstwhile removed? possibly he thinks, like liberals and left, like enemies of faith, that crosses can be simply removed, but not praised?
The publicist ignores entirely, possibly intentionally, the basic issue – the feelings of the students are secondary to the desecration of the subject of spiritual worship. Although Tomasz Terlikowski powerfully suggests this to us – he says as if he was pushing a nail into the board: “all this indicates” erstwhile he wants to emphasize the “toy” character of the cross – it is nothing in what he tries to convey to readers, “obvious”.
On this occasion, it is worth noting the abuses by Tomasz Terlikowski suggesting wordings which he says masking, if not his own deficiency of knowledge, it is at least the complexity of the situation. specified tricks work well on those recipients who are not well-oriented in the issues described by Tomasz Terlikowski. It's just that it's nothing but the usage of propaganda language, dragging to your side utilizing clever treatments. Indeed, Tomasz Terlikowski's language has late become very akin to the language “Gazeta Wyborcza”.
Accusing victims
The main problem of the interview for “The Pomorskie Journal” is, however, that Tomasz Terlikowski – metaphorically speaking – is on the side of those who like to propose that rapes are caused by short skirts.
“If I think the teacher made a mistake, I besides think that the Church should answer the question whether there was adequate respect for the cross in the students. As I realize it, at least any of them go to catechesis," Terlikowski says erstwhile developing an insinuation to turn the blame on students, put them in a bad light and embarrass them.
It must be said that what happens in an interview with the “Baltic Journal” is simply a complete scandal. 1 might even wonder if we are dealing with a poorly camouflaged hate, which does not should be characterized by direct aggression, but may besides hide behind eloquent rhetorical manipulation. surely we are dealing with the taking of the dignity base to those who had the courage to argue the unethical or possibly even criminal conduct of the teacher.
Eyes wide closed
Tomasz Terlikowski besides resents the fact that the full issue is recorded, reported and commented on by various media and organizations – of course those “terrible” due to the fact that they are right-wing. But was it equally outrageous to him that Tomasz Sekielski or Marcin Gutowski were coming on parishes, priests or nuns erstwhile they made their demascator films about the Church (which were mostly dunes – in most cases they turned out to be either stretched or told stories already known)? Of course not, due to the fact that liberal journalists simply “seek the truth”, and right-wing people “politicize religion”, break the unity of society and disturb the peaceful sleep of the narration-dominating narrators. This strategy is old, well-known and repeatedly described, fewer people are already falling for it outside the politically prejudiced audience of tv broadcasting “the fact circular the clock” or readers of a paper that “does not matter”.
Therefore, it will not be very amazing that Tomasz Terlikowski appeared on the channel of the radically politic and anti-cleric portal Onet.pl, in the program of Tomasz Sekielski and Magdalena Rigamonti. Again, he took a symmetrical attitude in the case with Kieln, but in fact, he laughed at the position taken by his disciples and their families. Again, he showed low cognition of the case, but he made strong thesis.
Warning to the enemies of the cross
Let us leave Tomasz Terlikowski. What happened in Kielina, as well as the reaction of the ruling camp – its silence (besides the above described reaction of the minister Nowacka) – and Christians from Kieln and all of Poland who stood in the defence of the cross, let it be a informing to those who want to insult God and people of religion by means of politics, administrative means and hatred. Catholics, and more broadly Christians, are not second-class citizens in Poland and the time for meek laying of ears after themselves, as any intelligent Catholic circles and public figures do, is over. fresh ones come to replace those who capitulate, possibly little loud but more firm. Believers, as we see clearly, do not request concessions from liberals and like to talk with their voice, all the more so that the Republic stands in its rights on their side and should be reminded. It is besides essential to reconstruct the seriousness of these laws. Let's hope that this is what's going to happen about the Killen Cross.
Tomasz Rowinski
The text was created as part of the survey programme of the Institute of Ordo Iuris [Title from the edition of PCh24.pl]
