This week in Gdańsk, youth activist Oliwier Starczewski questioned former PiS parliamentary candidate Robert Bąkiewicz about Jesus’s identity, accusing him of manipulation.
Starczewski Questions Bąkiewicz on Jesus
Starczewski thanked Bąkiewicz for his insight, saying Bąkiewicz “opens the eyes of young people like me.” He accused him of exploiting Christian faith for intolerance and hatred, and asked which image of Jesus Bąkiewicz would identify with: a sword and rosary, pulling weeds from Polish soil, or exterminating enemies. Concluding, Starczewski stated that while people can be deceived, God cannot be fooled.
Bąkiewicz Responds: A Lesson on Metaphor
Bąkiewicz replied that Starczewski’s critique is “unjustified” and pointed out that Christ said “I came into this world not to bring peace, but to bring a sword,” a metaphor, not literal war. He claimed that textbooks never taught students how to interpret metaphor, implying the activist’s misunderstanding. Bąkiewicz emphasized that “love has its limits”—a theme he later linked to national defense and the necessity of choosing between love for family and the duty to neutralize threats.
The Debate on Love, Warfare, and History
Later Bąkiewicz criticized the activist for invoking historical figures—such as Jan III Sobieski, Józef Piłsudski, and Cardinal Wyszyński—and suggested that condemning him would mean condemning all these icons. He argued that history is not an idealized place of tolerance but a harsh reality, and that his rhetoric aimed at encouraging people to “pull out weeds” in both society and personal character.
Calls to “Pull Weeds”
During his speech, Bąkiewicz urged participants to “take a scythe or a sword and go to battle” while “holding rosaries.” He called for annihilating enemies and destroying opposing ideas, likening it to removing unwanted plants from the land to prevent regrowth. He added that violence was justified for higher good.
Prosecution Action After PiS March
At the PiS march held Saturday, where Bąkiewicz spoke, he urged people to “withdraw napalm from Polish soil” and “pull out weeds.” In response, the Warsaw District Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation under Article 255(2) of the criminal code for “public incitement to hatred.”
