Mass Media as the Key Space for Preaching and Defending Christian Personalism

The Person and the Challenges Volume 10 (2020) Number 1, p. 89–123 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15633/pch.3612 Dariusz Oko ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9292-3472 The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków, Poland Mass Media as the Key Space for Preaching and Defending Christian Personalism Abstract Since the invention of print, the media have been increasingly influencing individual and social awareness. They seem apt to undo, in a relatively short period of time, whatever good the upbringing and authorities of a high moral standard have instilled into a person. However, the media can also support the development of this good in a significant way. They are a powerful tool that everyone has to reckon with, they are a place to exchange all sorts of ideas – from the worst to the best. That is the reason why anyone who wants to proclaim the principle of Christian personalism in society should try to think through how to wisely use them to spread the message. However, this message will inevitably meet with strong opposition from people who have opposite beliefs and from the media they own, as they have made them a fundamental place for the struggle for power and dominion over human consciousness. This article, written on the basis of theoretical considerations, but also the rich media experience of the author, attempts to provide practical advice on these matters. The article explains the common structure of all such opposition that follows the pattern of the very loud media case of Fr. Krzysztof Charamsa (in which the author was himself deeply entangled), Tygodnik Powszechny and Gazeta Wyborcza which supported him. In this way, the article shows the mechanisms of manipulation of contemporary media, but also the remedies available. Keywords Media, Human Person, Christian Personalism, Media Manipulation, Gender, Homosexuality, Tygodnik Powszechny, Gazeta Wyborcza, Krzysztof Charamsa. The Person and the Challenges Volume 10 (2020) Number 1, p. 89–123 90 Christian personalism is one of the most significant contemporary currents in philosophy, and not without reason. Among the multitude of various philosophical views, sometimes uncertain, contradicting and fighting each other, one of the potential loci of agreement may be acknowledging the central role of the person. This metaphysical and anthropological minimum is what many thinkers can agree upon. Moreover, it is well justified by the following philosophers: Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Thomas Aquinas, Immanuel Kant, Max Scheler, Dietrich von Hildebrand and Karol Wojtyła. Inasmuch as some of them may have been inspired by Christianity, their thinking is all the more valuable, as it is Christianity that, as it were, discovered the meaning of the person.1 One could say that personalism combines what is best in ancient, medieval and modern philosophy. Christian personalism perceives the person as the peak of the created world, a being endowed with self-awareness, individuality, emotionality, intelligence, rationality and freedom. Thus, the person may know oneself, the world and God; she/he may form a bond with God and other persons, may have a spiritual life and is capable of making decisions. Endowed with the flesh, the person is able to act not only in the spiritual world but also in the material one. Equipped with the highest and most precious properties that there are, she/he is worthy of the deepest respect. One should therefore care most of all about the dignity, good and growth of every human being. Respect should be the foundation for all relationships, as well as for every community and culture as a whole. Such a community should make room for Christianity – religion best ‘suited’ to the nature of person and in accord with personalistic principles. If the person grows in a relationship with God developing her/his intelligence, rationality, morality, spirituality and wisdom, so much the better for the culture he/she creates. And the more profound the culture is, the more enriching its influence on the person. Nowadays the crucial platform for creating and spreading culture is mass media. They play a decisive role in informing people, shaping them and thus contributing to who they will ultimately be. According to the principles of Christian personalism, mass media should help discover and communicate the truth as in this very way. they will best serve the growth of people and their interactions. However, it is well known that this is not the case. Mass media serve their owners and those who run them rather than contribute to the truth and the good 1 Of course, this is about Christianity in terms of a discovery and not in terms of justification, because then we would be rather dealing with theology. Dariusz Oko Mass Media as the Key Space for Preaching and Defending Christian Personalism 91 of the person. As such, they manipulate more than inform, diffusing ideology according to the wishes of the media oligarchs. Instead of contributing to the liberation and development of people, mass media enslave and “format” them. Thus, they are the arena of (also spiritual) wrestling for anyone who tries to act in accord with the principles of personalism: the truth and good of the person. In this article I explain my main message regarding the personalistic struggle in the media. I draw on my theoretical, philosophical and theological analyses of the role that mass media play, as well as my personal experience in the field.2 Readers may notice that my theoretical thinking and experience intermingle and inspire one another. I shall start with discussing an exceptionally telling mass media affair into which I became deeply entangled: a coming out campaign of Fr. Krzysztof Charamsa PhD. The method I employ is “participant observation” which enables particularly deep insights into the matter. 1. Prelate as a Sexual Homo-Revolutionist On the last day of September 2015 on the front page of Gazeta Wyborcza, the most influential daily newspaper of the day, one could find an article by Michał Wilgocki entitled Ksiądz Oko pod lupą [Fr. Oko Under Scrutiny]. It was a quasisummary and endorsement of a different text, Teologia i przemoc: przypadek księdza Oko [Theology and Violence: The Case of Fr. Oko], which was published on the very same day in Tygodnik Powszechny3. Interestingly, on the front page of Gazeta Wyborcza there was yet another article Putin rzuca Ameryce wyzwanie [Putin Throws Down a Challenge to the USA] which informed of the intentions 2 Although everything is ultimately a gift, not a merit, I must admit that especially by the opinion-making elites of this country my media activities are assessed as my having significantly contributed and am still contributing to a defense of Poland against atheistic ideologies. 3 Cf. M. Wilgocki, Ksiądz Oko pod lupą, (Fr. Oko Under Scrutiny) “Gazeta Wyborcza” 30.09.2015, No. 228 (8561), p. 1 also K. Charamsa, Teologia i przemoc: przypadek księdza Oko (...truncated)