Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Polish people staunchly for the Cross of Christ in public life (latest poll)

From Gazeta Wyborcza via Free Republic:

Having been newly elected to the Polish Parliament, forty MPs of Janusz Palikot's movement started a new session demanding the Crucifix to be removed from the main hall of the parliament, which has already ignited a political war in Poland. (...)

Sala plenarna Sejmu. Fot. Maciej Stankiewicz/Onet

Gazeta  checked out the opinion of the Polish people regarding the presence of the cross in Seym (the name of the lower chamber of the Polish Parliament) 


According to the poll, 70% claim  the cross should be there to stay and never removed, which is opposed by 20%. What is more, the cross in the Polish parliament is also supported by majority of those, who voted for the  Democratic Left Alliance, let alone the Civic Platform, Law & Justice or Polish People's Party.   Only about 57% of Palikot's voters are against the cross in the Parliament.
At the same time, Gazeta decided to find out about the opinion of the Poles as regards the other crosses in the public life. 

Crosses in hospitals are accepted with overwhelming majority. Not only do 84% of Poles think the Crucifixes are allowed in hospitals, but, what is more, they claim Crucifixes ought to be there to stay.  

A clear majority, 72%, claim that Crucifix ought to be in shool classrooms. (...) Crucifix in schools is supported by voters of: Law & Justice (93%), Polish People;s Party (86%), the Civic Platform (68%), and even Democratic Left Alliance (62%) . Only the voters of Palikot's Movement do not want the Crucifix there (57%)

It's worth mentioning, 78% of the youngest ones (aged 18-29) claim the cross ought to be in school classrooms.

As to crosses in the state offices, 53% is for and 41% is against. What is astounding, 63% of the youngest Poles  are ready to defend of the cross in the state offices. (...)


Janusz Palikot changed his opinion about the Crucifix in the Parliament. As an MP of the Civic Platform, he called the Crucifix the symbol of the national identity and even finished his parliamentary oath declaring "So Help Me God".  Asked about the change of his mind, he said the Crucifix became the political symbol of the opposing Law & Justice party after the Smolensk crash in Apr.2010.