The Judas Doll in Poland

As everyone knows I was in Europe in the summer and spent two days in Poland.  Poland is known to be a very Christian country.  I found out recently that Poland has officially declared that Jesus Christ is their king.  I later found out that the part of the country that I was in was the most religious area.  I do have to admit, I was impressed.

Over the last year or two there has been somewhat of a Cold War between Poland and Israel.  It really broke out when Poland was in the midst of passing a law saying that one couldn’t refer to German death camps as Polish camps or say that Poland was responsible for the holocaust.  Many constantly repeated the phrase of former Israeli PM Yitzhak Shamir where he said: “every Pole sucked anti-Semitism with his mother’s milk.”  Of course if a Polish PM ever said: “every Jew sucked hatred of the goy with his mother’s milk” there would be calls for an international boycott of Polish goods.  It should also be pointed out that Shamir was part of a terrorist organization called Stern Gang and was a wanted criminal by the British government before 1948.  Water under the bridge I suppose?

When I was in Poland I was in a small city called Przemysl.  It’s only about a 30 minute drive from where the town of Pruchnik is located.  Why is Pruchnik so important?  On Good Friday, the people in the town made a giant rag doll of Judas, beat it with sticks, drug it around town, cut off it’s head, burnt it, and then threw the burning doll in the river.  The media was in a frenzy calling Poland anti-semitic because the doll supposedly looked like an Orthodox Jew.

I must admit that this scene was a little odd.  I was actually afraid that the young Polish children would poke someones eye out with the sticks.  Despite this act, no Jew was killed or harmed and no Jewish property was damaged or destroyed.  All that happened was some Judas doll that resembled an Orthodox Jew(Judas was Jewish after all) was beat up and torched.  It was bizarre but ultimately harmless.  The global media is once again calling Poland anti-semitic which is absurd.  You may call this weird but to call it anti-Semitic is simply incorrect.

Poland has a special place in my heart.  I’m one eighth Polish and that’s the only reason I’m Roman Catholic.  The other three grandparents on my mother’s side are Byzantine Catholic.  I certainly wouldn’t have minded being Byzantine Catholic.  On the other hand, my dad’s family ancestry is entirely Lutheran, so I have this special spot in my heart for Poland.  I could feel a deep love for Christ in that country and felt right at home.

I stand with Poland; they’re not anti-Semitic at all.  They only lost their Jewish population(of three million) when a foreign power invaded and murdered them.  Why do I think that Poland is hated so much?  I’m going to guess that it’s because of their deep devotion to the Christian faith.  After all, Jesus Christ sad that following Him would bring hatred.

The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil.

– John 7:7

You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

– Matthew 10:22

I really wish Canada and America would one day be hated like Poland.  That would be the day when Christ is enthroned as King and we help promote the Gospel on a global level.  We could focus on converting the Islamic nations.  Let’s all pray for this to happen.