Life / Why are Polish so conservative and religious? [240]

Harry, I'm afraid the term to assist used in the context of mass, means the same as attend. We learned about this in secondary school. Assisting at the mass means that you don't just sitting there, admiring the stained glass windows or making up your shopping list in your head while the priest rambles on. It means that you pay attention, perhaps follow the rite in a missal (that practice gradually became discouraged but a lot of older people still carried it on). With respect to you and indeed to everyone else we're all somewhat out of our depth here. Canon law and liturgy are incredibly complex and none of us are really sufficiently educated in it to be having a debate on it. But I think particularly if you weren't raised as a Catholic it's very hard to understand the weird and wonderful nuances of how Catholicism is actually practised and how the Canon is interpreted in the real world.

Life / Why are Polish so conservative and religious? [240]

I think what they meant was assist in the sense of bringing up the offertory gifts or doing one of the readings. Did you attend religion classes in the school Harry?

Life / Why are Polish so conservative and religious? [240]


You sound a little affronted. I'm not criticizing you. I just wondered. The Dominicans are a nice order, generally very reflective and intelligent in their approach. It's very interesting that you went to a Catholic school. How long were you there?

News / Does democratic Poland guarantee it's LGBT citizens respect for human and civil rights? [1169]


Do you mean charity, in the sense of fund raising for the whole community or for the LGBT community. The latter would be frankly ridiculous. As for general fund raising gay people just take part in charitable works alongside their hetro peers. They don't set up their own charities such as 'Gays For Cancer Research'. Why would they??

Life / Why are Polish so conservative and religious? [240]

84% of the population of Ireland identify themselves as Catholics. So clearly it was the Catholics of Ireland who voted in favour of equal marriage rights for gay people. Even in the most conservatve counties in Ireland the 'yes' vote was over 50%.

This discussion shall be about Poland

UK, Ireland / Best location to open Polish shop in the UK [3]

Hi Agnieszka. You should have a look at the UK Office of National Statistics website and see if you can find the breakdown of figures by region so you can identify where the most Poles are located. Basically any large urban centre will be likely to have a sizeable Polish community. If there's a Polish community there will be business for a Polish shop but you'll face a lot of competition as there are many Polish shops that have been established for several years.

Life / The best online shopping portal in Poland? [41]

Try Allegro.pl. Lots of different online shops there.

History / Give Poland back it's lost land ! [132]

Well Szeliga the problem with that is,that if you look at Belarus for example, the majority of the population is not Polish. They're Belarussian. Why would they want to be governed by a foreign power?? Just because Belarus was once a Polish territory doesn't mean it should be again. People have a right to govern themselves, however badly they do it.

And I think you'll find that when it comes to the crunch, however sentimental Poles may be about their Polish brothers in the borderlands, when it comes to sharing the Polish money pot with them it would be a different story. Poland itself is a developing nation which cannot afford to take on the problems of places like Ukraine and Belarus. Also even if Poland were rich enough to do it, life would not be better for those people. They would be a minority in Poland, probably flooding to the large towns and cities, competing for jobs and being intensely disliked by Poles.

Love / Are Polish men handsome to you? [182]

The 'poem' contributed by Veles is a re-hash of the lyrics to the song 'Rasputin' by Boney M.

There lived a certain man in Russia long ago
He was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow
Most people looked at him with terror and with fear
But to Moscow chicks he was such a lovely dear.

Classic bit of late 70s/early 80s disco cheese, complete with authentically Russian balalaikas and thoroughly pop-tastic. Check it out on You Tube and enjoy........

UK, Ireland / Question for UK Poles who voted in the last British elections - what party and why? [5]

Ok, this is how it works. Any Pole living in the UK can vote in European elections, so they can have a say in which MEPS represent Britain in the EU parliament. They can also vote in local elections for town councils. They can't vote in general/national elections unless they are British citizens. There were a number of local elections held at the same time as the recent general election so all Poles living in the UK could vote in those.

Life / Why are Polish so conservative and religious? [240]

The Catholic church permits Catholics to decide for themselves whether they wish to believe in creationism or the theory of evolution. For those Catholics who wish to teach evolution to their children yet acknowledge God, a wonderful way is through the story of 'God With No Hands' by Dr Maria Montessori, a great educator, a Catholic and a scientist.

News / Polish parliament refuses to consider shack-up draft between both traditional and same-sex couples [96]


Believe it or not Oldenglisbird 'konkubin/konkubina' is indeed the official/legal term in Poland for co-habiting couples. In the West we would consider concubine a very archaic term, and of course it referred to an illicit or not quite respectable liaison. We would regard such a term as rather offensive but Polonius uses the term correctly in the Polish sense.

News / Polish parliament refuses to consider shack-up draft between both traditional and same-sex couples [96]


Are you addressing me Polonius? I sincerely hope not.

News / Polish parliament refuses to consider shack-up draft between both traditional and same-sex couples [96]

Hi Harry. I just meant that the term concubine is used in Poland. I've heard some women referring to themselves as concubines. An elderly lady I know said she wouldn't be able to get guardianship of her grandchild because she wouldn't be considered respectable, being 'konkubina'. Sad isn't it?

Life / Why are Polish so conservative and religious? [240]

Ah come on now Obiwandonnelly, with a name like that you must be Irish. Going to mass every day hasn't been common practice in Ireland (or in Poland either I would wager) for many years. My grandmother certainly went to daily mass but she was a stay-at-home mother and lived about 5 mins walk from the church. Can you imagine the average person trying to squeeze mass into their daily commute/half hour lunch break? I don't think anyone would go that far unless they're trying to get beatified.

Life / Why are Polish so conservative and religious? [240]


Le'ts not add ageism to the other 'isms' that are all too plentiful in this forum.


By evil old man in a dress, do you mean the Pope or senior churchmen in general?

Catholicism does not require people to kow-tow to anybody nor does it require you or encourage you to hate anyone. The essential message of christianity and of Catholicism is 'love God and love your fellow man.' If you are really to be a 'good Catholic' you must love your gay neighbour as you love your straight neighbour. It is God and not the Church who asks this of you. As Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, the Catholic Primate of Ireland recently said 'if you're homo-phobic, you're God-phobic'.

News / Polish parliament refuses to consider shack-up draft between both traditional and same-sex couples [96]


That's fine Polonius, no problem.

News / Polish parliament refuses to consider shack-up draft between both traditional and same-sex couples [96]

Agree totally. It's ludicrous to refer to a man as their 'mother'.

News / Polish parliament refuses to consider shack-up draft between both traditional and same-sex couples [96]

Let's not over-complicate things. Clearly a man cannot be someone's mother nor can a woman be someone's father. Birth certs can simply be re-designed to add the neutral term 'parent'.

By the way what 'bills' and 'acts' about marriage are you referring to and in which country?

News / Polish parliament refuses to consider shack-up draft between both traditional and same-sex couples [96]


The law of gravity is natural thus cannot be changed by man, the laws of man are man-made, can be changed, have been changed continuously throughout history and will carry on being changed.

News / Polish parliament refuses to consider shack-up draft between both traditional and same-sex couples [96]

Sorry Polonius, I'm not sure if you're asking me that question or just commenting on the thread in general? I know we're not allowed to use quotes if we're replying to the last comment posted so I was just checking.

News / Polish parliament refuses to consider shack-up draft between both traditional and same-sex couples [96]

Okey doke. It's all getting very complicated!

News / Polish parliament refuses to consider shack-up draft between both traditional and same-sex couples [96]

Obiwandonnelly, I suspect you've never lived in Poland. It is a very conservative country and co-habiting couples are viewed by many as 'living in sin'. So the Polish parliament does not favour giving un-married couples equal status with their married counterparts. It would be seen as condoning 'immoral' behaviour. Like all people in power, their chief interest is staying in power and if they think that a change in the law would alienate their supporters and lose them votes, they won't change the law. Simple as that.

News / Polish parliament refuses to consider shack-up draft between both traditional and same-sex couples [96]

Yes, of course, not everyone has that attitude. What would your own view be Obiwandonnelly as to why Poland doesn't want to acknowledge co-habiting couples?

News / Polish parliament refuses to consider shack-up draft between both traditional and same-sex couples [96]


My personal definitiions of what is 'normal:

Heterosexuality is the norm because nature has created most people hetero.

Heterosexuality: Natural, normal
Heterosexuality with deviancy/fetishes: abnormal but acceptable between consenting adults
Homosexuality: Natural, abnormal (in that it deviates from the heterosexual norm)
Paedophilia: Unnatural, abnormal

Not in the least confused. Bob's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt.

News / Does democratic Poland guarantee it's LGBT citizens respect for human and civil rights? [1169]

I think one has to realise that Poland never really experienced the cultural revolution of the 1960s because it was essentially a Soviet state. Whilst 'free' Europe underwent a gradual change in attitudes over the last five decades, Poland has been pitchforked into debates like gay marriage equality, that it simply isn't ready for. People keep mentioning Ireland, but Ireland's history is very different to Poland. We have been a free nation for almost a hundred years and we had a basically democratic infrastructure left in place by the British. We are culturally much more similar to Britian than to Poland and we generally follow the same trends as the UK but about ten years later.

News / Polish parliament refuses to consider shack-up draft between both traditional and same-sex couples [96]

Polonius, obwiandonnelly's attitude is very cynical but yours is very unkind and not worthy of a Christian. To dismiss the marriage vows taken by people in civil marriages as worthless is not right.

News / Polish parliament refuses to consider shack-up draft between both traditional and same-sex couples [96]


It's known as a la carte Catholicsm where people pick and choose the bits of the religion that they want to follow and ignore the bits they don't. Most modern, progressive/reform Catholics are guilty of that including myself. It also works the other way with the very traditional ones who use certain doctrines to support their own agenda, but conveniently ignore the commandment to love your neighbour as yourself and deny their neighbour equal rights within the law. After all nobody is asking that same sex couples be allowed to marry in church, merely that they can have a civil marriage like any citizen.

Incidentally Harry, what about Judaism where a girl can marry at 12????? But I'd defy you to find a Catholic priest or a rabbi who'd actually carry out such marriage ceremonies. Of course these laws are hopelessly antiquated, dating from a time when life expectancy was low and people routinely married in their early teens. Look at Romeo and Juliet, she's fourteen and her mother is probably not more than thirty. Should be changed of course. We need a Vatican III.

News / Polish parliament refuses to consider shack-up draft between both traditional and same-sex couples [96]

Well now that's a bit of a leap of imagination, assuming somebody is in the closet. Polonius doesn't like any form of union between anybody that doesn't conform to the doctrine and dogma of the Catholic Church.

Life / Boy Scouts in Poland = Patriotism, honesty, and self-sacrifice [13]

Yes that was the original idea. Sadly the profile of the boy scout is changing somewhat. For one thing it's quite an expensive hobby in Poland. Many working class kids can't afford to join because the uniform, money for trips, camping gear etc are beyond their parents' budget. In Ireland I actually saw girl scouts in uniform throwing litter in a park. As a teacher, I couldn't ignore it, walked up to them and said 'So that's what they teach you now in scouts girls, is it?' They picked up the litter.