Religion still has a major part to play in popular protest, as it did in Poland 30 years ago
Thirty years ago this week Poland woke up to find tanks in the streets, phone lines cut, and roads blockaded. On the morning of 13 December 1981 General Jaruzelski declared war on his own people, imposing martial law in an attempt to shut down Solidarnosc – the trade union which had become a freedom movement. In the years that followed, one institution would sustain the dream of a new Poland more than any other, shaping the movement’s language and providing its leaders – the Catholic church. With the archbishop of Canterbury suggesting last week that Jesus would have been an Occupy LSX protester, this anniversary is a reminder of the role religion can play in popular protest…
The Guardian, 17 December 2011, p. 49.
Sophia Deboick 