I leave aside for the moment any reflection on the Church in Eastern Europe since last year. The cement is a healthy dose of Christian realism, combined with a siege mentality. I would submit that the position of the Church behind the Iron Curtain was, in many ways, more conducive to a faithful living out of the Gospel than is the case in our own society. Even the persons most favorably disposed toward rapprochement with the Communists had to acknowledge that religious persecution is part and parcel of historical Marxist philosophy and politics. Therefore, anyone living in a Marxist state should automatically be on guard against government encroachment on the Faith.
Eternal vigilance is joined to solidarity in faith, resulting in a strong religious community.
No one can lay hold of minds and hearts prepared to resist such a process. I doubt if anyone would question my analysis to this point. The critical question to be answered, however, is if the Polish situation has a parallel in the United States. I believe it does and would argue further that this is likewise the case in most of the developed nations of the West. This would certainly seem to be the conclusion of Solzhenitsyn, another Slavic observer.