I am a Polish teacher and I asked my students what the Decalogue is. "I think any Hail Mary" – the answer came. It's not an anecdote, it's a symptom of spiritual illiteracy. In Poland there is simply a generation that does not know the basic concepts of faith.
What is spiritual illiteracy?
How are those who do not know the words to talk of the fact to follow? Those who cannot explain the word “sin” cannot call evil. And what he can't call – he can't avoid it.
The fact that the language builds the reality around us and thinks about it reminds students of Orwell, showing the fresh Language of Oceania in 1984. If we let the words “unwanted” to be removed from our language, we will give others the chance to form our thinking. In mass culture, words defining what is conservative or uncomfortable are eliminated. That way, we can pretend that there is no evil in us. Sin, death, judgement – these are not concepts over which a young man, stimulated by a light and pleasant TikTok, wants to wonder. In the end, his dictionary of religion drastically depletes.
Loss of cultural code
Many times erstwhile I started classes in Polish, the subject of which was the Bible, I heard, “What are we on religion?” Many of them have a skeptical attitude toward these subjects. But knowing the Bible’s code is simply a prerequisite for knowing European culture. The Bible created a dictionary of meanings on which art, literature and morality of our civilization grew. Without that key, you look at the works, but you don't realize their meaning.
I late discussed with advanced school students the 3rd part of the "Grandfathers". We talked about seeing Father Peter. I asked questions that were expected to show the analogy between the passion of Christ and the suffering of the Polish nation under the partitions. No 1 in more than 30 years of age could recreate Jesus ’ last hours of life. I did not hear that his side was pierced or that standing under the cross of Mickiewicz Freedom must be the parent of God.
There is simply a problem due to the fact that the Bible does not meet between rolls in social media. Young people do not know the spiritual dictionary due to the fact that they live in a culture that no longer uses it even in symbolic form. Who is Christ in their eyes? For many, it remains a vague historical figure. individual they don't think about and who they don't effort to understand, and after all, their ability to read the sense of religion and culture depends on this reflection.
Reasons
“Let the children come to me” (Mk 10:14). Are young people led to Christ today? My parents showed me the way of faith. If it weren't for them, I could be 1 of the students who late called the Bible "the dragon fairy tale." If there is no talk of religion at home, the household does not attend the Mass, how the student is to admit the passage in the lesson Psalm or answer the question, what is the symbol of the Lamb? The young are cut off from the Source, which should be found first in the household home.
Recently published statistic show that In Łódź, only 39.5% of students from all types of schools take part in spiritual classes. In their advanced schools, this consequence falls to 7.5%. Many adults take distant the chance of learning about God from their children, and mass culture, which is unfavorable of Christian values, only increases the perceived aversion. Hence the ignorance of the subject. frequently no 1 shows the young truth. They don't get the key to the religion code.
Reflection regression
How, then, can we talk about religion erstwhile we have lost her tongue? Simplify the transmission? This will only infantilize the notion of religion to the level of “church and bead before bed”. It's been like this for years. present the situation is even more serious: it is frequently missing even this. advancement is called a multi-hour scrolling of short videos on social media. A class that suppresses the request for deeper reflection. alternatively of reasoning about life, death and meaning – a superficial image. due to the fact that it's besides hard, due to the fact that it's besides serious, due to the fact that it's besides depressing. Parents with no opposition give advanced school students money for a horror screening at the cinema, but already the text about the eventual Court seems besides stressful. There are frequently discussions on the isolation of children from stressful death issues. They may see her in computer games, but erstwhile Grandpa dies, it's best if they don't attend the funeral. It is thought that children should be spared. But what attitude will specified a young man have toward life and passing through? Will he ask himself what's after this life?
When a Word Loses a Picture
Short videos, rolls and another forms of social media dominate the everyday life of young people, limiting the ability to concentrate deeply. The image dispels the word, and reflection gives way to immediate consumption of stimulus. Teachers observe situations erstwhile a student left without a telephone or headphones falls into a state of large confusion. He can't stand to stay quiet, focus on his own thoughts. Young people inactive request a screen, music, continuous stimulation. But if they are building their everyday life present on a transmission coming from the screen, excluding critical and creative thinking, who will they be in the future? Do they have a chance to become conscious Catholics who reflect on the religion and intent of life?
What is the future?
Analabety in the language of religion is not just a substance of ignorance of concepts. The problem goes deeper. If we do not separate between concepts, we fall into moral relativism. What is good and evil? How do you separate them? spiritual illiteracy leads to moral chaos: If I can't name sin, everything becomes relative. Without cognition of the language, we cannot make appropriate moral discernment. If there are no words to call good and evil, it is hard to realize their actual meaning and thus to guide their course. Benedict XVI pointed out: “When a man stops talking about God, he loses his ability to talk about himself.” Without the fact there is no light in life that will show the way and scatter the darkness. As a result, we feel lost and overwhelmed. If youths do not talk of sin due to the fact that it is an uncomfortable subject, they open up to what mass culture will tell them about it. Or rather, what he won't say. He'll mess with the concept. He will call the darkness light. With the sound of social media, the conscience will be stifled, which had no chance to full develop. As a result, religion is not rejected but misunderstood.
The Spark of Hope
Each of us in our soul desires light and does not want to walk in the dark. Eventually, he's intuitively searching and asking questions. Saint Augustine calls it a restless heart that will not remainder until he finds God. Today, not only do young people not know the fact — they no longer have language tools to admit it, even if they accidentally encounter it. How, then, can we show young ones the way to know the truth? Who is to explain the code of religion to those spiritually neglected? Priest? They no longer attend religion or Holy Mass. Teacher? It's hard to anticipate a mathematician to put catechesis between the logarithms. A parent? frequently he himself has a deficiency or negative attitude that he passes on to his child. There are no authorities, no sources. So what is the answer to the problem of spiritual illiteracy?
It is we who inactive talk the language of religion that are to be a surviving dictionary for young people – frequently the only witnesses from whom they can inactive hear this language. It's not about spectacular testimonies, it's about a message given in everyday life. Sometimes the “first word” is the sign of the cross made in a tram. The teacher's exhortation to read the parable of the Merciful Samaritan with due respect. A medal on a friend's neck that raises a question. I remember being an example to me of 1 of the lecturers at the university, whom I saw coming into the church for adoration after class. These are impulses that awaken from spiritual ignorance. They are not a solution to the full crisis — alternatively sparks in the darkness that we can ignite to awaken awareness and reflection. Therefore, the goal of adults towards young people is not to “return them immediately” or to flood spiritual clichés. The goal is to awaken the awareness that religion needs language, and the language needs witnesses. For if young people no longer hear the language of faith, we are to be that language — visible in regular gestures, clear in attitude and present where they may yet discover it. Without this, we will have neither catechesis nor culture nor young people capable of distinguishing right from wrong.
Anna Dubaniowska
