733
Pr egledni	znans tv eni	članek/ Article	(1.02)
Bogoslovni vestnik/Theological Quarterly	81	(2021)	3,	733—745
Besedilo	pr eje t o/R eceiv ed:05/2021;	spr eje t o/ Accep t ed:08/2021
UDK/UDC:	366.1:37.01:27	
DOI:	10.34291/B V2021/03/Ose w sk a
©	2021	Ose w sk a	e t	al.,	CC	B Y	4.0
Elżbieta Osewska and Józef Stala
The Human Being Lost in Consumerism: A Polish 
Perspective and Challenges in Religious Education 
V potrošništvu izgubljeno človeško bitje:  
poljski pogled in izzivi verske vzgoje
Abstract : The	 c on t empor ar y	 educ a tional 	 c on t e x t	 is	 v er y	 div er sified,	 but	 in	 mos t 	
Eur opean	 c oun tries	 is	 based	 on	 pos tmodernity	 with	 all	 its	 c onditions,	 with	 spe -
cial emphasis on individualism, consumerism and cultural changes. The predo-
minance	 of	 ‚ the	 dict a t or ship	 of	 c onsumerism ‘	 lea v es	 mos t	 Chris tian	among 	
them	 P oles	 in	 a	 position	 wher e,	 if	 the y	 wish	 t o	 r e t ain	 their	 cultur al	 indepen-
dence,	 mus t	 un der s t and	 the	 pr esen t	 challeng es	 and	 s t and	 ag ains t	 a	 po w erful	
ideological tsunami. Taking into consideration a variety of challenges and 
thr ea ts	 arising	 fr om	 ‚liquid	 modernity ‘ ,	 among	 them	 s tr ong	 c onsumerism,	 it	 is	
import an t	 in	 acc or d	 with	 per sonalis tic	 theor y	 inspir a tions	 t o	 support	 Chris tian	
r eligious	 educ a tion.	 This	 article	 e xplor es	 the	 chang es	 tha t	 ha v e	 t ak en	 place	 in	
P oland	 in	 the	 las t	 30	 y ear s	 –	 the	 tr ansition	 fr om	 a	 socialis t	 t o	 a	 c apit alis t	 socie ty , 	
with	 emphasis	 put	 on	 the	 chal leng es	 posed	 b y	 c onsumerism.	 Then,	 e v alua t es	
c onsume r ism	 and	 its	 c onse que nce s	 in	 the	 ligh t	 of	 P ope 	 John	 P aul	 II’ s	 t e aching.	
In	 the	 las t	 part	 pr esen ts	 the	 mos t	 import an t	 c onclusions	 f or	 Chris tian 	 R eligious 	
E duc a tion	 in	 sc hools, 	 e spe c ia lly 	 t he 	 ne e d	 f or 	 m or e 	 issue -or ie n t e d	 e duc a tion	 in	
or der	 t o	 help	 pu pils	 t o	 be	 critic al	 think er s	 discerning	 c on t empor ar y	 social,	 cul -
tural and moral issues.
Keywords : Chris tian	 r eligious	 educ a tion,	 c onsumerism,	 individualism,	 per sonalis tic 	
approach, Poland
Povzetek :	 Sodobni	 v z g ojni	 k on t ek s t	 je	 z elo	 r aznolik,	 a	 v	 v ečini	 e vr op skih	 drž a v	 t e-
m e lji	 na 	 pos t m ode r ni	 z 	 v se m i	 nje nim i	 pog oje nos t m i, 	 zlas ti	 na 	 indiv idua lizm u, 	
na	 potr ošniš tvu	 in	 na	 k ulturnih	 spr emembah.	 Pr e vlada	 »dik t a tur e	 potr ošniš tv a« 	
v odi	 v eč ino	 kris tjano v	 med	 P ol jaki	 v	 polo ž aj,	 v	 k a t er em	 mor ajo	 r az ume ti	 seda-
nje	 izziv e	 in	 se	 upr e ti	 močnemu	 ideološk emu	 viharju,	 če	 ž elijo	 ohr aniti	 s v ojo 	
k ulturno	 samos t ojnos t.	 Upoš t e v ajoč	 r azlične	 izziv e	 in	 ne v arnos ti,	 ki	 izhajajo	 iz	
, t ek oče	 moderne ‘ ,	 med	 njimi	 izr azit o	 potr ošniš tv o ,	 je	 v	 skladu 	 z	 na v dihi	 per so-
nalis tične	 t eorije	 pomembno	 podpir a ti	 kr šč ansk o	 v er sk o	 v z g ojo.	 Članek	 obr a v -
na v a	 spr emembe,	 ki	 so	 se	 z g odile	 na	 P oljsk em	 v	 z adnjih	 tridese tih	 le tih	 –	 pr ehod 	

734 Bogoslovni vestnik 81 (2021) • 3
iz	 social is tične	 v	 k apit alis tično	 družbo	 s	 poudark om	 na	 izzivih ,	 spodbujenih	 z a-
r adi	 potr ošniš t v a.	 N a t o	 o v r e dnoti	 potr ošniš t v o	 in	 nje g o v e 	 posle dic e 	 v 	 luč i	 nau-
k a	 pape ž a	 Jane z a	 P a vla	 II.	 V	 z adnjem	 delu	 pa	 pr eds t a vi	 najpomembnejše	 sklepe 	
z a	 kr šč ansk o	 v er sk o	 v z g ojo	 v	 šolah,	 zlas ti	 potr ebo	 po	 bolj	 t ema tsk o	 usmerjenem 	
pouk u:	 učencem 	 naj	 bi	 pomag al,	 da	 pos t anejo	 kritični	misleci,	 ki	 pr esojajo	 so-
dobna	družbena,	k ulturna	in	mor alna	vpr ašanja.
Ključne besede :	 kr šč ansk a	 v er sk a	 v z g oja,	 potr ošniš tv o ,	 individualiz em,	 per sonalis tič -
ni pristop, Poljska
1. Introduction
In	 the	 Chris tian	 vie w ,	 the	 per son	 has	 its	 dignity	 and,	 a t	 the	 same	 time,	 is	 c alled	 t o	
bec ome	 who	 he/ she	 is	 b y	 on t ologic al	 na tur e.	 A	 critic al	 analy sis	 of	 the	 situa tion 	
of	 the	 c on t empor ar y	 human	 being ,	 as	 w ell	 as	 the	 curr en t	 educ a tional	 challeng es	
arising	 pr edominan tly	 fr om	 the	 his t oric al,	 politic al,	 ideologic al,	 juridic al,	 social, 	
cultur al,	 r eligious,	 ec onomic	 and	 financial	 c on t e x t,	 leads	 t o	 some	 c onclusions	 (Ba-
h o v ec	 2015). 	 Amo n g	 th em,	 esp eci al l y	 o n e	 r el a t ed	 t o 	 th e	 mai n 	 i ssu e	 o f	 th i s	 articl e 	
is	 tha t	 in 	 the	 Eu r opean	 socie ty	 of	 the	 21
st
 century, the human being is inundated 
with	 pr oposals	 of	 c onsump tion	 which	 has	 incr eased	 t o	 unpr eceden t ed	 e x t en ts. 	
, A	 c onsumer	 society‘	 not	 only	 implies	 tha t	 people	 t ak e,	 use	 and	 c onsume,	 as 	
this	 has	 alw a y s	 been	 an	 indispensable	 elemen t	 of	 lif e.	 Wha t	 has	 chang ed	 is	 the 	
wide	 r ang e	 of	 pr oducts	 a v ailable	 f or	 c onsump tion.	 Unlik e	 the	 pr oductiv e	 socie ty	
that contributes to industry development, contemporary society has enthroned 
c onsump tion	 –	 it	 is	 c onsump tion	 tha t	 our	 social	 position	 depends	 on.	 In	 or der	 t o	
function	 w ell,	 t oda y ’ s	 socie ty	 does	 not	 seek	 righ t eous	 people,	 de v ot ed	 w ork er s,	
economic farmers or talented innovators, but naive, thoughtless consumers. Thus, 
the	 e xis t en tial	 dilemma	 of	 a	 c on t empor ar y	 man	 is	 as	 f ollo w s:	 do	 I	 c onsume	 t o	 liv e, 	
or	do	I	liv e	in	or der	t o	c onsume?
In order to respond to the above dilemma and present challenges, the authors 
of	 this	 article	 giv e	 a	 critic al	 assessmen t	 of	 P olish	 socio-cultur al	 r eality ,	 then	 ev alua t e 	
c onsumerism	 thr ough	 critic al	 r e flection	 in	 the	 ligh t	 of	 P ope	 John	 P aul	 II’ s	 t eaching 	
and	 c onsequen tly	 giv e	 c onclusions	 in	 or der	 t o	 chang e	 Chris tian 	 R eligious	 E duc a tion.
2. From Empty Shelves to Abundant Consumerism
Acc or ding	 t o	 P olish 	 educ a tionalis t,	 Furmanek	 »c onsumerism	 is	 a	 subjectiv ely	 and 	
neg a tiv ely	 per ceiv ed	 phenomenon	 of	 e x cessiv e	 individual	 c onsump tion	 of	 g oods« 	
(2020).	 Scholar s	 such	 as	 Gock o	 and	 Jano w ski	 emphasiz e	 tha t	 »c onsumerism	 is	 a	
w orldvie w	 or	 a ttitude	 based	 on	 a	 selfishly	 under s t ood	 c oncep t	 of	 happiness	 /…/	
in	 which	 the	 spiritual	 dimension	 in	 man	 is	 subor dina t e	 t o	 the	 ma t erial	 one«	 (Goc-
k o	and	Jano w ski	2002).

735 Elżbieta Osewska et al. - The Human Being Lost in Consumerism
Consumerism	 is	 a	 phenomenon	 tha t	 g oes	 be y ond	 r eal	 needs	 t o	 the	 buying	 and 	
g a thering	 of	 v arious	 ma t erial	 g oods	 and	 the	 use	 of	 ser vices	 off er ed 	 b y	 the	 mark e t. 	
Inor dina t e 	 c onsum p tion	 is	 assoc ia t e d	 w ith	 sa tis f y ing 	 our 	 se c ondar y 	 ne e ds, 	 suc h 	
as	 the	 lus t	 f or	 po w er ,	 g aining	 pr es tig e	 or	 higher	 social	 s t a tus.	 Thus	 c onsumerism	
is, on the one hand, enforced by personal factors, and on the other by cultural, 
civiliz a tional	 chang es.	 Apart	 fr om	 e x cessiv e	 accumula tion	 of	 it ems	 or	 a v ailing	 one -
self of services that one perceives as indispensable, consumerism also encom-
p ass es	 b u i l d i n g-s p eci fi c	 i mag es	 an d 	 p r o mo tin g	 n e w	 s tyl es	 o f	 b ei n g	 ( O se w s k a	 an d 	
Simonič	2019,	23–32).
In	 the	 period	 1944–1989, 	 when	 P oland	 w as	 under	 the	 politic al	 in fluence 	 of	 the 	
USSR,	 w e	 lack ed	 the	 basic	 pr od ucts	 tha t	 w er e	 essen tial	 f or	 liv ing ,	 so	 tha t	 g aining	
them	 w as	 part	 of	 a	 daily	 s trug gle	 t o	 sus t ain	 oneself .	 The	 dr ama tic	 inability	 t o	 sa t -
i s f y	 c on su mer	 needs	 w as	 deepl y	 hu mi l i a ting	 –	 w e	 c ou l d	 not	 si mpl y	 bu y	 a	 pr oduct 	
but	 had 	 t o	 ,hun t ‘	 f or	 it,	 ,bag ‘	 it	 or	 g e t	 it	 thank s 	 t o	 one’ s	 c onnections. 	 The	 g oods 	
w er e	 no t	 deliv er ed	 r egularly	 but	 ‚plumped‘	 t o	 the	 shop s.	 In	 or der	 t o	 buy	 cert ain	
c ommodities,	 one	 oft en 	 had	 t o	 enr ol	 on	 a	 special 	 lis t;	 ther e	 w er e	 ,queue	 c ommit -
t ees ‘	 mean t	 t o	 k eep	 or der	 as	 only	 a	 f e w	 fir s t	 w er e	 lucky	 enough	 t o	 g e t	 wha t	 the y	
had	 line d	 up	 f or .	 In	 such	 cir cums t ances,	 P oles	 learned	 ho w	 t o	 be	 frug al	 and,	 as	 it	
w as	 c ommonly	 c alled,	 »t o	 mak e	 up	 some thing	 out	 of	 nothing«.	 Their	 cr ea tivity 	
w as	virtually	unique.
On	 the	 other	 hand,	 the	 situa tion	 c on tribut ed	 t o	 f orming	 s tr ong	 bonds	 within	
the	 f amily ,	 among	 friends	 and	 neighbour s:	 people	 had	 t o	 help	 each	 other	 in	 or der 	
t o	 sur viv e.	 P er sonal 	 r ela tionship s	 w er e	 in t ense,	 authen tic	 and	 vibr an t	 (in	 c on tr as t 	
t o	 the	 superficial	 actions	 t ak en	 in	 the 	 public	 spher e, 	 which	 w er e	 only	 a	 f ac ade). 	
The	 older	 g ener a tion	 of	 P oles	 who	 liv ed	 in	 a	 socialis t	 s t a t e	 learned	 ho w	 t o	 se ttle	
f or	 little 	 and	 f ocused	 on	 e v olving	 cultur e	 ins t ead	 (Cobel-T ok ar sk a	 2014, 	 22–37). 	
Consumer	 r ev olution 	 t ook	 place	 aft er	the	 political 	 tr ans f orma tion,	 especially 	
among 	 y oung 	 and	 w e alth y 	 inhabit an ts	 of	 big	 citie s.	 A 	 r ampan t	 r ush	 t o	 c onsume 	
resulted in many people living on credit, taking loans beyond reason in order to 
get the material goods of their dreams.
The	 P oles’	 e xperience	 of	 So vie t	 socialism	 g ener a t ed	 dis trus t	 and	 an t ag onism 	
t o w ar ds	 the	 s y s t em	 imposed	 on	 them	 and	 ar oused	 an	 op timis tic	 and	 e v en	 ideal -
is tic	 in t er es t	 in	 the	 socie ties	 of	 W es t ern	 Eur ope.	 Ensla v ed	 b y	 the	 So vie t	 in fluence,	
P oles	 c onsider e d	 W es t ern	 socie ties	 ideal:	 their	 citiz ens	 c ould	 gr o w ,	 fully	 enjo ying	
the rights they did not have under communism. Thus, Poles held great expecta-
tions	 about	 changing	 the	 socio-politic al	 s y s t em,	 the	 shift 	 fr om	 ensla v emen t	 t o 	
c omple t e	 fr eedom.	 Un f ortuna t ely ,	 the	 ne w	 r eality	 disappoin t ed	 their	 hopes	 as 	
‚ the	 ideal	 w orld‘	 on	 the	 other	 side	 of	 the	 Ir on	 Curt ain	 had	 mor e	 dr a wback s	 than	
e xpect ed.	 The	 long ed- f or	 fr eedom	 turned	 out	 t o	 be	 acc ompanied 	 b y	 politic al 	 c or -
rectness.
Mor eo v er ,	 the	 fr ee	 choice	 r ela t ed	 t o	 the	 r ealm	 of	 c onsump tion	 pr o v ed	 t o	 be 	
illusiv e.	 Initially ,	 P oles	 r elished	 the	 chance	 t o	 shop	 a t	 supermark e ts	 bec ause	 the y	
inadv ert en tly	 assumed	 tha t	 –	 in	 c on tr as t	 t o	 socialism	 which	 deceiv ed	 citiz ens	 and 	

736 Bogoslovni vestnik 81 (2021) • 3
lied	 t o	 them	 –	 c apit alism	 pr esen t ed	 the	 truth,	 also	 as	 f ar	 as	 ma t erial	 g oods	 w er e	
c oncerned.	 Learning	 the	 secr e ts	 of	 adv ertising 	 mechanisms	 has	 been	 a	 pain ful 	
e xperience	 f or	 man y	 P oles	 (So w a	 2003,	 4–6).	 T o	 this	 da y ,	 P olis h	 senior s	 ar e	 easily	
manipula t ed	 b y	 ‚usur y	 c ompanies ‘	 tha t	 pr esen t	 lo w -quality	 y e t	 e xpensiv e 	 pr od-
ucts as healthy and indispensable.
Chang es	 in	 P olish	 socie ty	 manif es t ed	 themselv es	 in	 rising	 sales	 of	 man y	 c on -
sumer	 g oods,	 especially	 a ft er 	 2004	 –	 P oland	 f ormal	 accession	 t o	 the	 Eur opean 	
Union	 (S zlendak	 2004).	 In	 2007 	 pur chases	 of	 fla ts	 and	 houses,	 especially	 in	 cities	
cen tr es,	 r eceiv ed	 a	 boos t	 fr om	 cheap	 mortg ag e	 cr edits,	 whose	 2007	 v alue	 r eached 	
57	 billion	 P olish	 zloty ch	 (18	 billion	 US$),	 acc or ding	 t o	 the	 P olish	 Bank s	 Associa tion. 	
The	 mos t	 critic al	 f act or s	 in fluencing	 c onsumption	 gr owth	 in	 P oland	 include	 an 	
incr ease	 in	 r eal	 inc omes,	 appr ecia tion	 of	 the	 domes tic	 curr ency ,	 eas y	 access	 t o 	
c onsumer	 cr edit,	 and	 gr owing	 c onsumer	 aspir a tions.	The	 21
st
 century brought 
e x tr eme	 manif es t a tions	 of	 c on sump tion	 of	 all	 g oods	 in	 P olan d,	 support ed	 b y	 the	
e xpansion	 of	 the	 In t erne t,	 in t erna tional	 mobility ,	 a	 c on vincing	 hedonis tic	 pr essur e 	
in	 the	 media	 and	 the	 incr easing	 shopping	 pr actice 	 in	 malls.	 Another	 tr end	 char -
act eris tic	 of	 c onsumer	 socie ties	 is	 ea ting	out.	 In	 the	 pas t,	 P oles	 lik ed	 ea ting	a t 	
home	 in 	 the	 f amily	 cir cle.	 In	 2006,	 ea ting-out	 e xpenditur e	 r ose	 19%	 c ompar ed	 t o	
2004	 and	 is	 s till	 gr owing	 despit e	 the	 pandemic	 (Mr ó z	 and	 Janoś-K r esło	 2006). 	
Thr ee	 main	 tr ends	 c an	 be	 de fined: 	 ,health	 and	 sa f e ty ‘	 ( gr owing	 import ance	 of 	
pr oduct	 origins,	 quality ,	 meals	 nutritional	v alue	 and	 diet etic 	 aspects),	 ,c on v e -
nie nce ‘ 	 (high	 de mand	 f or 	 , f as t	 f ood‘ ),	 , ple asur e 	 and	 e xpe r ie nce -se e k ing ‘ 	 (in t e r e s t 	
in	 e thni c	 cuisine s,	 a tt en tion	 t o	 in t erior s	 design	 and	 c our ses	 c omposition,	 individ -
ualiz a tion	 of	 c onsum p tion).	 The se 	 de v e lopme n ts	 de mons tr a t e 	 tha t	 c onsump tion	
and	 r ela t ed	 ma t erialis tic	 v alues 	 ha v e	 been	 g aining	 gr ound	 in	 P olish	 socie ty	 (K o w -
alcz uk	 and	 Cz arnieck a-Sk ubina	 2015,	 75–83).	 On	 the	 neg a tiv e 	 side,	 P oles	 not ed 	
the	 incr ease	 in	 individualism,	 c onsumerism	 and	 w eak ening	 of	 in t erper sonal	 ties.	
Pr oblems	 c onnect ed	 with	 the	 ne w	 c onsump tion	 models	 should	 c onsider	 the	 need 	
t o 	 p r eser v e	 n a tu r al 	 r eso u r ces	 an d 	 r esp ect	 f o r	 th e	 s y s t em	 o f	 v al u es	 (Jas trz ęb sk a-
Smolag a	 2000).	 Un f ortuna t ely ,	 the	 c onsump tion	 in	 P olish	 socie ty	 slo wly	 turns	 in t o 	
c onsumerism	 when	 it	 ceases	 t o	 be	 the	 means	 and	 bec omes	 the	 g oal	 of	 lif e	 and 	
such	 a	 dominan t	 activity 	 tha t	 ,ha v e ‘	 is	 c omple t ely	 subor dina t ed	 t o	 wha t	 , t o	 be ‘ 	
poin ts	out	(Mariański	2006;	2008).
P oles	 ar e	 a tt ached 	 t o	 Chris tianity . 	 Ther e f or e,	 curr en tly ,	 in	 P oland,	 Chris tian 	
s ymbolism	 is	 f ound	 in	 shoppin g	 cen tr es.	 Ho w e v er ,	 it	 is	 objectified;	 used	 as	 a	 t ool	
t o	 achie v e	 high er	 pr ofit.	 Buyin g	 has	 bec ome	 an	 er sa tz	 sacr ed	 rit e.	 Shopping	cen-
tr e s	 ar e 	 built	 ‚ in	 the 	 imag e ‘ 	 of	 t e mple s: 	 the y 	 ar e 	 suppose d	 t o	 a ttr act	 c onsume r s 	
with	 their	 gr andeur ,	 dec or a tiv eness	 and	 dis tinctiv eness.	 Consumer s	 belie v e	 the 	
adv ertising	 and 	 almos t	 g ener ally	 c onsen t	 t o	 the	 s tructur e	 of	 supermark e ts	 g oing	
around all spheres of their lives. Thus, this structure becomes the main point of 
r e f er ence	 t o	 which	 all	 other	 s tructur es	 ar e	 c ompar ed	 (Pies z ak	 2013,	 78–81).	 The	
ne w	 ,r eligion ‘	 is	 built	 on	 beautiful	 adornmen ts	 f ound	 in	 shopping	 malls:	 f oun t ains, 	
e x otic	 plan ts,	 music,	 or	 the	 shopping	 c alendar	 tha t	 spotligh ts	 da t es	 and	 f es tiv als	
be f or e	which	one	ough t	t o	shop	e x t ensiv ely .

737 Elżbieta Osewska et al. - The Human Being Lost in Consumerism
In	 this	 c on t e xt,	 a	 c onsumer	 bec omes	 a	 v aluable	 member	 of	 socie ty:	 he/ she 	
buy s	 quickly ,	 acquir es	 and	 uses	 ne w	 g oods	 and	 f eels	 a t	 ease	 with	 the	 w orld	 of 	
adv ertising , 	 c ompanies,	 br ands	 and	 pr oducts.	 It	 seems	 tha t	 the	 c on t empor ary 	
human	 has	 giv en	 up	 the	 dictum	 »I	 think,	 ther e f or e	 I	 am«	 or	 »I	 lo v e,	 ther e f or e	 I 	
am«	 and	 leans	 t o w ar ds	 »I	 c onsume,	 ther e f or e	 I	 am«.	 A	 c on t empor ar y	 P ole	 will 	
w ork	 har der	 and	 har der ,	 f ocusi ng	 on	 r eceiving	 a	 higher	 salar y	 and	 looking	 out	 f or	
his	 in t er es ts	 in	 or der	 t o	 s tr eng then	 his	 position	 as	 a	 c onsumer .	 A	 pos tmodern	 c on -
sumer	 is 	 not	 on ly	 f ocused	 on	 possessing ,	 hoar ding	 and	 sho wing	 ma t erial	 g oods;	
he	 also	 has	 –	 hi thert o	 unkno wn	 t o	 him	 –	 ne w	 desir es,	 sensa tions,	 pleasur es	 and	
e xpe rie nce s.	 The	 w orld	 of	 the 	 me dia	 and	 c ar e fully 	 t ar g e t e d	 adv e r tising 	 only	 fue ls 	
the	 pr essur e	 t o	 g ain	 things	 f as t er	 and	 mor e	 e ff ectiv ely . 	 This	 violen t	 shift	 fr om	 a 	
pr oductiv e	 socie ty	 t o	 a	 c onsum er	 socie ty	 has	 made	 a	 br eak thr ough	 in	 all	 aspects	
of	 per sonal,	 f amily ,	 w orking ,	 social	 and	 cultur al	 lif e	 (Hala w a	 and	 W r óbel	 2008, 	
13–19).
P olish	 e xpert, 	 K a w ecki	 poin ts	 out	 tha t,	 in	 or der	 t o	 sa tis f y 	 his	 artificially 	 induced 	
desir es,	 a	 pos tmodern	 man	 c an	 turn	 in t o	 a	 w ork aholic,	 ruin	 his	 health,	 neglect	 his 	
f amily ,	 lie	 t o	 friends	 and	 c oncede	 t o	 c orruption.	 He	 will	 do	 all	 this	 t o	 be	 in	 the 	
cen tr e	 of	 c onsu mp tion,	 use	 r ec ogniz able	 br ands	 and	 impr ess	 other s.	 Thus,	 r egu-
lar	 c onsumption 	 bec omes	 a	 c ons t an t	 pur suit	 of	 ma t erial	 g oods	 and	 appeasing 	
desir es	 (K a w ecki	 2011,	 23–32). 	 P os tmodern	 c onsump tion 	 en t ails	 shopping	 addic-
tion,	 hoar ding ,	 and	 dr a wing	 a tt en tion 	 t o	 oneself .	 Wha t	 is	 mor e,	 an	 ambitious	 c on-
sumer	 is	 a w ar e	 tha t	 things	 ar e	 disposable,	 so	 tha t	 his	 deepes t	 desir es	 will	 not	 be	
sa tis fied	 as	 ther e	 will	 alw a y s	 be	 some thing	 ne w ,	 mor e	 allurin g	 t o	 g e t.	 Lif e,	 ther e-
f or e,	 bec omes	 a	 c ons t an t	 s triving	 t o w ar ds	 ob t aining	 the	 ne w ,	 a	 social	 position	 and 	
r ec ognition.
In contemporary society, people consume goods pervasively because of their 
s ymbolic	 meaning	 r a ther	 than	 their	 utilit arian	 na tur e	 (Wą tr oba	 2009, 153).	 Tha t	
is	 wh y	 the y	 oft en	 choose	 pr od ucts	 adv ertised	 b y	 hug e,	 globa l	 c ompanies	 iden ti-
fied	 e v er ywher e.	 Acc or ding	 t o	 ne w	 assump tions, 	 our	 position	 and	 pr es tig e 	 ar e 	
determined by the logo of recognizable companies – our belonging to a more or 
le ss	 a ffl ue n t	 social	 gr oup	 de pe nds	 on	 it.	 Mor e o v e r , 	 the y 	 also	 c ar r y 	 cultur al	 c ode s: 	
e xperts	 in	 global 	 c orpor a tions	 use	 cultur al	 c odes	 t o	 e ff ectiv ely	 mark e t	 pr oducts 	
tha t	 t ar g e t	 c ons umer s	 fr om	 v arious	 cultur es.	 Especially	 in	 P oland,	 wher e	 people	
did	 not	 ha v e	 eas y	 access	 t o	 basic	 c ommodities,	 the	 a v ailability	 or	 e v en	 o v er abun -
dance	 of	 g oods 	 initially	 c on tribut ed	 t o	 c onsumer s’	 c on fusion.	 La t er	 the y	 learned	
tha t	 a	 r ec ogniz able	 br and	 guar an t ees	 their	 dis tinction	 in	 the	 cr o w d	 (Barber	 2007). 	
Paradoxically, global companies develop products desired by various social groups. 
Thus,	 e v er y	 c onsumer	 will	 find	 an	 it em	 tha t	 will	 be	 pr ecious	 t o	 him,	 r ec ogniz ed 	
and	accep t ed	in	his	in-gr oup.
Consump tion	 pr opag anda,	 r apidly	 de v eloping	 due	 t o	 in f orma tion	 t echnologies, 	
cr ea t es	 the	 impr ession	 tha t	 one	 belongs	 t o	 a	 particular	 gr oup	 only	 if	 one	 buy s 	
certain products. In postmodern society, the propaganda is not only about con-
tr olling	 c onsumer ’ s	 beha viour	 but	 also	 about	 cr ea ting	 a	 c onsumer ’ s	 cultur e	 main -
ly	 thr ough	 e x erting	 a	 massiv e	 in fluence	 on	 the	 media	 b y	 the	 c orpor a tion	 and	 bank 	

738 Bogoslovni vestnik 81 (2021) • 3
pr esiden ts.	 B y	 being	 in	 c on tr ol	 of	 cr ea ting 	 and	 publishing	 c on t en t	 in	 the	 media, 	
global	 c orpor a tions	 ha v e	 a	 sub s t an tial 	 impact	 on	 c onsumer s,	 which	 c an	 be	 per -
ceiv ed	as	c onsumer	indoctrina tion	(Sałamacha	2015,	133;	Ose w sk a	2020).
3. Consumerism in the Light of John Paul II’s Teaching
P ope	 John	 P aul	 II	 emphasiz ed	 the	 phenomenon	 of	 gr o wing	 c onsumerism:	 »The 	
only	 g oal	 which	 c oun ts	 is	 the	 pur suit	 of	 one’ s	 o wn	 ma t erial	 w ell-being.	 The	 so-
-c alle d	 ‚ quality 	 of	 lif e ‘ 	 is	 in t e r pr e t e d	 pr imar ily 	 or	 e x clusiv e ly 	 as	 e c onomic	 e ffi cie n-
cy, inordinate consumerism, physical beauty and pleasure, to the neglect of the 
mor e	 pr of ound	 dimensions	 –	 in t erper sonal,	 spiritual	 and	 r eligious	 –	 of	 e xis t ence.« 	
(1997b,	no. 23)
The	 pope	 fr om	 P oland	 underlined	 the	 specific	 pr oblems,	 challeng es	 and	 thr ea ts 	
emer ging	in	modern	socie ties.	
»In	 earlier	 stages	 of	 development,	 the	 human	 being	 always	 lived	 under 	
the	 weight	 of	 necessity.	 The	 nee ds	 we re	 fe w	 and	 were 	 determi ned, 	 to	 a	
degree,	 by	 the	 objective	 structures	 of	 his	 physical	 make-up.	 Economic 	
activity	 was	 directed	 towards	 satisfying	 these	 needs.	 It	 is	 clear	 that	 today	
the 	 pr oble m	 is	 not	 only	 one	 of	 supplying	 pe ople 	 with	 a	 sufficie nt	 quantity 	
of goods, but also of responding to a demand for quality: the	 quality	 of 	
the	 g oods	 t o	 be	 pr oduced	 and	 c onsumed,	 the	 quality	 of	 the	 ser vices	 t o	 be 	
enjo y ed,	 the	 qu ality	 of	 the	 en vir onmen t	 and	 lif e	 in	 g ener al.	 T o	 c all	 f or	 an	
e xis t ence	 tha t	 is	 qualit a tiv ely	 mor e	 sa tis f ying	 is	 of	 itself	 legitima t e,	 but	 one 	
c annot	 f ail	 t o	 dr a w	 a tt en tion	 t o	 the	 ne w	 r esponsibilities	 and	 dang er s	 c on -
n ect ed	 wi th	 th i s	 p hase	 of	 h i s t or y . 	 Ho w	 n e w	 n eed s	 ari se	 and 	 ar e	 d e fined 	 i s 	
al w a y s	 mark ed 	 b y	 a	 mo r e	 o r	 l es s	 ap p r o p ri a t e	 c o n cep t	 o f	 man 	 an d 	 h i s	 tru e	
good. A given culture reveals its overall understanding of life through the 
ch o i ces	 i t	 mak es	 i n	 p r o d u ction 	 an d 	 c o n su mp tio n . 	 It	 i s	 h er e	 th a t	the phe-
nomenon of consumerism	 arises	 /…/	 In	 itself ,	 an	 ec onomic	 s y s t em	 does 	
not	 possess	 the	 crit eria	 f or	 c orr ectly	 dis tinguishing	 ne w	 and	 higher	 f orms	
of	 sa tis f ying	 hum an	 needs	 fr om	 artificial	 ne w	 needs	 which	 hinder	 the	 f or -
ma tion	of	a	ma tur e	per sonality .«	(1997a,	no.	36)
R e f erring	 s tr ongly	 t o	 the	 assump tions	 of	 per sonalis tic	 philoso ph y ,	 John	 P aul	 II	
ceaselessly recalled the primacy of the person over the object, being over having, 
e thics	 o v er	 t echnology	 and	 lo v e	 o v er	 jus tice	 (1997d,	 no.	 15–16).	 These	 pr ecep ts	
basic ally 	 c annot 	 ,function ‘ 	 separ a t ely	 in	 social	 lif e;	 the y 	 ar e 	 so	 closely 	 r ela t ed	 tha t 	
the	 implemen t a tion	 of	 one	 is	 impossible	 without	 the	 other s.	 Since	 the y	 c ons titut e 	
a	 s y s t em	 of	 principles, 	 it	 is	 only	 within	 this	 c oher en t	 s y s t em, 	 in	 the	 mutual	 r ela-
tions	of	per sons,	tha t	the y	ma y	be	accur a t ely	f ormula t ed	and	in t erpr e t ed.
John	 P aul	 II	 c on tr as ts	 the	 c ommunity	 of	 people,	 which	 ma y	 be	 c alled	 , the	 civi-
liz a tion	 of	 per sons ‘ ,	 with	 the	 utilit arian	 ,civiliz a tion	 of	 things ‘	 in	 which	 per sons	 ar e 	

739 Elżbieta Osewska et al. - The Human Being Lost in Consumerism
objects	 f or	 use	 jus t	 as	 things.	 The	 pr ecep t	 , t o	 be	 mor e ‘	 o v er	 , t o	 ha v e	 mor e ‘ ,	 ther e -
f or e,	 mus t	 be	 associa t ed	 with	 the	 c on viction	tha t	 per sonaliz a tion	of	 social	 lif e 	
c annot	 be	 ,c arried	 out ‘	 if	 w e	 do	 not	 r espect	 the	 per son	 as	 essen tially 	 ha ving	 a 	
v alue	 tha t	 is	 en tir ely 	 inc ompar able	 with	 the	 w orld	 of	 objects.	 Tha t	 is	 wh y	 it	 is	 cru-
cial	 t o	 s tr e ss	 the 	 spir itual	 sphe r e 	 of	 human	 lif e ,	 which	 will	 e nable	 the 	 c onsume r 	
t o	 ov er c ome	 the	 eg oism	 tha t	 thr ea t ens	 him	 (1996,	 no.	 8;	 1997c,	 no.	 6).	 In	 the 	
ency clic al	 le tt er , 	 Sollicitudo	 r ei	 socialis	 John	 P aul	 II	 righ tly	 poin ts	 out	 tha t	 mer e 	
possession of things and goods does not, by itself, perfect the person as it does 
not	 c on tribut e	 signific an tly	 t o	 enriching	 his	 ,being ‘ ,	 t o	 fulfilling	 his	 human	 v oc a tion 	
in	 its	 en tir e ty	 (1997e,	 no.	 28,	 33;	 1997d,	 no.	 15).	 Indeed,	 c onsumerism	 ma y	 pr o-
vide	 cert ain	 err a tic	 pleasur es,	 y e t	 it	 does	 not	 bring	 true	 jo y ,	 which	 ma y	 be	 e xpe-
rienced	only	in	a	c ommunity	wher e	one	shar es	e v er y thing	with	other s.
The	 c ommon	 g ood	 ma y	 be	 the	 primar y	 f act or	 ar ound	 which	 the 	 socie ty	 of	 per -
sons is built. When many people refer to the common good in their being and 
actions,	 then	 a	 ne w	 quality	 appear s,	 which	 ma y	 be	 c alled	 ,w e ‘	 (W ojtyła 2020).	 The 	
P olish	 pope	 oft en	 ar gued	 tha t	 wha t	 Eur ope	 needs	 is	 not	 c onsumer s	 but	 per sons	
who	 r espect	 the	 dignity	 of	 the	 human	 per son	 and	 ar e	 r eady	 t o	 w ork	 f or	 the	 sak e	
of	the	c ommon	g ood	(John	P aul	II	2003,	no.	99).
John	 P aul	 II	 pe r ce iv e d	 pe r sonalism	 as	 the 	 f ounda tion	 f or 	 the 	 actions	 of	 the 	 hu-
man being and an opportunity to overcome consumerism. At the beginning of the 
21s t	 ce n tur y , 	 the 	 pe r sonalis tic	 social	 me ssag e 	 is	 ne ce ssar y 	 if	 the 	 human	 pe r son	 is 	
t o	 be	 sensitiv e	 t o	 the	 g ood	 be y ond	 c onsump tion, 	 not	 only	 in	 P oland	 but	 also	 in 	
e v er y	 c oun tr y .	 As	 John	 P aul	 II	 writ es,	 this	 »social	 messag e	 will	 g ain	 cr edibility	 mor e 	
immediately from the witness of actions than as a result of its internal logic and 
c onsis t ency«	(1997a,	no.	57).
Despit e	 a	 s tr ong	 dict a t e	 tha t	 one	 mus t	 fulfil	 only	 one’ s	 per sonal,	 some times 	
selfish	 aspir a tions	 mainly	 r ela t ed	t o	 c onsump tion,	 man y	c on t empor ar y	P oles	 act	
f or	 the	 bene fit	 of	 other s	 –	 either	 on	 their	 o wn	 or	 within	 v arious	 charit able	 or g a-
niz a tions	 supporting	 people	 all	 ov er	 the	 w orld	 (Mar ody	 and	 Giz a–P oles z czuk,	 2004, 	
337).	 Acc or ding	 t o	 John	 P aul	 II,	 man	 bec omes	 a	 fuller	 human	 being	 if	 he	 giv es 	
him se lf	 sinc e r e ly 	 t o	 othe r s.	 Ca tholic 	 pe r sona lism 	 hig hlig h t s	 the 	 sit ua tion	 in	 w hic h 	
man	 is	 no	 long er	 neighbour -orien t ed	 and	 bec omes	 blind	 t o	 God,	 as	 the	 lo v e	 of 	
one’ s	 neighbour	 is	 one	 of	 the	 pa ths	 t o w ar ds	 the	 Cr ea t or .	 Thus,	 per sonalism	 c on -
tr as ts	 ma t erialis tic	 c onsumerism	 with	 the	 cultur e	 of	 solidarity	 and	 selfless	 lo v e 	
(St ala	and	V odič ar	2019).
Only	 the	 cultur e	 of	 lo v e	 with	 its	 sensitivity , 	 empa th y ,	 c ompassion	 and	 mer cy 	
ma y	 r esis t	 c allous	 c onsumerism.	 When	 the	 cultur e	 of	 w ealth	 turns	 a	 man	 in t o 	
someone	 insensitiv e	 t o	 the	 other ,	 it	 bec omes	 indispensable	 t o	 liber a t e	 him	 in 	
v arious	 w a y s	 fr om	 his	 eg ois tic	 desir e	 t o	 possess.	 »In	 our	 ser vice	 of	 charity ,	 w e 	
mus t	 be	 inspir ed	 and	 dis tinguished	 b y	 a	 specific	 a ttitude: 	 w e	 mus t	 c ar e	 f or	 the 	
other	 as	 a	 per son	 f or	 whom	 God	 has	 made	 us	 r esponsible.	 As	 disciples	 of	 Jesus,	
w e 	 a r e 	 c a lle d	 t o	 be c om e 	 ne ig hbour s	 t o	 e v e r y one 	 (Lk 	 1 0 : 2 9 -3 7 ), 	 a nd	 t o	 sho w 	 spe -
ci al 	 f a v ou r	 t o	 those	 who	 ar e	 poor es t,	 mos t	 al one	 an d	 mos t	 i n 	 need .«	 (Joh n	 P aul	

740 Bogoslovni vestnik 81 (2021) • 3
II.	 1997b,	 no.	 87)	 An	 e x cellen t	 e x ample	 of	 this	 ar e	 the	 activities	 or g anised	 within	
Caritas Polska (Caritas Poland ),	 a	 charit able	 ins titution	 es t abl ished	 in	 1926,	 abol -
ished	 b y	 the	 c ommunis ts	 and	 r eactiv a t ed	 in	 1990.	 Since	 2004	 it	 has	 had	 the	 s t a tus 	
of	 a	 public	 bene fit	 or g aniz a tion.	 It	 runs	 pr of essional	 c ar e	 and	 educ a tional	 cen tr es: 	
Carit as	 Nur sing	 St a tions, 	 r ehabilit a tion	 cen tr es,	 nur sing	 and	 c ar e	 f acilities, 	 nur sing 	
homes,	 Occupa tional 	 Ther apy	 W ork shops,	 Single	 Mother	 Homes,	 f eeding	 the	 poor , 	
da y c ar e	 cen tr es	 f or	 childr en,	 the	 elderly	 and	 other	 cen tr es/in itia tiv es.	 The	 w ork s	
of	 Carit as	 s t em	 fr om	 the	 idea	 of	 	 	 helping	 other	 people.	 Carit as	 eng ag es	 v olun t eer s 	
(including	 childr en,	 the	 y oung	 as	 w ell	 as	 the	 elderly)	 in	 man y	 of	 its	 activities.	In 	
the	 gr oup	 of	 emer g ency	 aid	 or g aniz a tions, 	 ther e	 ar e	 P arish	 Carit as	 T eams	 and 	
Carit as	 School	 Cir cles	 –	 the y	 function	 in	 almos t	 5,000	 parishes,	 with	 appr o xima t e-
ly	 63,000	 associa t ed	 member s	 (2014).	 Among	 parish 	 or g aniz a tions	 tha t	 pr o vide 	
emer g ency	 aid,	 one	 ma y	 find:	 V olun t eering ,	 Leg al	 Counseling ,	 Help	 t o	 the	 Disabled 	
P eople,	 Associa tion	of	 Disabled	 Adults,	 Malt ese	 Medic al	 Ser vice,	 Sick	 Support 	
Gr oup,	 Childr en’ s	 Community ,	 as	 w ell	 as	 v olun t eering	 within	 v arious	 c ongr eg a-
tions	and	or der s	(Ose w sk a	2017).
The contemporary human being faces a huge challenge that arises from a 
meaningless	 pur suit	 t o	 enhance	 his	 abilities	 in	 the	 spher e	 of	 c onsump tion.	 Inor -
dina t e	 ,dispensability ‘	 of	 ma t erial	 g oods	 of	 all	 kinds	 oft en	 turns	 the	 human	 per son 	
in t o	 someone	 with	 a	 narr o w	 r ang e	 of	 per cep tion	 and	 e xperience,	 a	 sla v e	 of	 pos -
session	 and	 immedia t e	 sa tis f action.	 Mor eo v er ,	 c onsump tion	 has	 domina t ed	 oth -
er	 w alk s	 of	 lif e,	 some	 e v en	 as	 signific an t	 as	 science,	 mor ality ,	 art	 and	 r eligion	 (Ja-
cyn o	 2007,	 56). 	 In 	 th i s	 c on t e x t,	 ed u c a t or s,	 esp eci al l y	 i n	 R el i gi o us	 E d u c a tion ,	 n eed	
t o	 r e f ormula t e	 their	 aims	 within	 a	 mor e	 educ a tional	 languag e	 r esponding	 t o	 the	
present challenges.
4. Conclusions and guidelines for Religious Education 
(RE)
Philosophic al,	 theologic al,	 pedag ogic al	 and	 e xis t en tial	 per spectiv es	 show	 tha t	 c on-
sumerism	 c on tribut es	 t o	 the	 des truction	 of	 the	 human	 being	 in	 v arious	 w a y s	 (V o-
dič ar	 2016).	 Cons t an t	 pur suit	 t o	 possess	 ab sorb s	 the	 per son,	 wr eak s	 ha v oc	 within 	
the	 per son	 and	 their	 r ela tionship s	 with	 other s.	 A	 y oung	 per son	 who	 c onsumes 	
e x cessiv ely	 e xperiences	 v arious	 limit a tions	 t o	 his	 e xis t ence	 and	 y e t	 f eels	 tha t	 their 	
d esi r es 	 an d 	 e x p ect a ti o n s	 ar e	 l i mi tl ess 	 e v en 	 th o u gh 	 th e y	 ar e	 al mo s t	 en tir el y	 r ed u -
ced	t o	the	ma t erialis tic	r ealm.
Consumerism	 fuels	 eg ocen trism	 and	 hinder s	 human	 gr o wth;	 ther e f or e,	 ade -
qua t e	 educ a tion	 is	 ur g en tly	 needed,	 especially	 a	 RE	 tha t	 will	 support	 the	 per son	
t o	 r e sis t 	 suc h	 e nsla v e m e n t .	 I t 	 is	 c r uc ia l	 t o	 sho w 	 t ha t 	 t he 	 o v e r a bunda nc e 	 of	 g oods	
tr ansla t es	 in t o	 human’ s	 oppr ession.	 Ther e f or e,	 mor al	 and	 r eligious	 educ a tion	 mus t 	
help	 educ a t e	 the	 per son	 t o	 f ollo w	 mor al	 rules	 when	 sa tis f ying 	 their	 needs	 (Os-
e w sk a	 2020).	 The	 y oung	 per son	 needs	 t o	 r e flect	 on	 wha t	 he/ she 	 possesses	 and 	
wha t	he/ she	truly	needs.	

741 Elżbieta Osewska et al. - The Human Being Lost in Consumerism
»To	 call	 for	 an	 existence 	 which	 is	 qualitatively 	 more 	 satisfying 	 is	 of	 itself 	
legitimate,	 but	 one	 cannot	 fail	 to	 draw	 attention	 to	 the	 new	 responsibilities 	
and	 dangers	 connected	 with	 this	 phase	 of	 history	 /…/	 In	 singling	 out	 new	 needs 	
and	 new	 means	 to	 meet	 them,	 one	 must	 be	 guided	 by	 a	 comprehensive	 picture 	
of	 man	 which	 respects	 all	 the	 dimensions	 of	 his	 being	 and	 which	 subordinates 	
his material and instinctive dimensions to his interior and spiritual ones. If, on 
the	 contrary,	 a	 direct	 appeal	is	 made	 to	 his	instincts	-	 while	ignoring	in	various 	
ways	 the	 reality	 of	 the	 person	 as	 intelligent	 and	 free	 -	 then	consumer attitudes 
and lifestyles can	 be	 cr eated	 which	 are	 objectively	impr oper	 and	 often	 damag-
ing	to	his	ph ysical	and	spiritual	health.«	(John	P aul	II	1997a,	no.	36)
Mor eo v e r , 	 c onsumerism	 highly	 c on tribut es	 t o	 the	 crisis	 of	 iden tity , 	 especially	
amon g	 y o u n g	 P o l es	 wh o ,	 wh en	 c on fr on t ed 	 wi th 	 a	 n e w	 r eal i ty ,	 s tru g gl e	 wi th 	 an -
s w e r ing 	 the 	 que s tion: 	 »t o	 be	 or	 t o	 ha v e ?	 Shall	 I	 pr e se n t	 m y se lf	 t o	 m y 	 pe e r s	 as	 a	
posh	 c onsumer	 or	 someone	 who	 adher es	 t o	 v alues?«	 This	 dilemma	 is	 a	 hug e	 chal-
leng e	 f or	 c on t empor ar y	 educ a tion	 in	 f amilies,	 schools,	 and	 other	 educ a tional	 in-
s titutions, 	 but	 it	 is	 dir ectly	 c onnect ed	 with	 RE	 in	 P olish	 schools.	 In	 the	 c ase	 of	 the 	
R oman	 Ca tholic	 f aith,	 the	 dominan t	 one	 in	 P oland,	 the	 curriculum	 and	 t e x tbook s 	
ar e	me ticulously	pr epar ed	b y	Chur ch	authorities	and	made	kno wn	t o	the	c ompe-
t en t	 s t a t e	 authority .	 Other	 c on f essions	 and	 r eligious	 associa tions	 possess	 equal 	
righ ts	 (Mąk osa	 and	 Z ając	 2009).	 The	 mor al	 f orma tion	 is	 one	 of	 the	 crucial	 t ask s	 of 	
Ca tholic	 R eligious	 E duc a tion,	 which	 c oncen tr a t es	 on	 f orming	 r esponsible	 a ttitudes 	
of pupils and their capacity for moral judgment based on conscience. The sole kno-
wledg e	 of	 wha t	 is	 mor ally	 g ood	 and	 wha t	 is	 mor ally	 wr ong	 is	 insufficien t.	On	 the 	
one	 hand,	 mor al	 educ a tion	 opens	 a	 human	 being	 f or	 lo v e,	 gr ace	 and	 mer cy ,	 sha-
ping	 the	 a ttitude	 of	 penance	 and	 r ec oncilia tion;	 on	 the	 other	 hand,	 it	 e xhibits	 the 	
r ela tionship	be tw een	fr eedom	and	truth.	A	 fundamen t al	norm	f or	mor al	f orma ti-
on	is	the	c ommand	of	lo v e	(Congr eg a tion	f or	the	Cler gy	1997, no.	23).
Succumbing to consumerism may imply that freedom is misinterpreted, espe-
cially	 b y	 the	 y oung er	 g ener a tion	 of	 P oles:	 her e,	 fr eedom	 does	 not	 ser v e	 man’ s 	
gr o w th	 but	 his	 e x cessiv e	 c onsu mp tion,	 not	 only	 in	 the	 spher e	 of	 ma t erial	 g oods	
but	 also	 as	 a	 s timulan t.	 Ther e f or e,	 fr eedom	 mus t	 be	 shown	 t o	 be	 g ood,	 which	 w as 	
and	 s till	 is	 highly	 pr ecious	 t o	 the	 older	 g ener a tions	 of	 P oles.	 Y oung	 g ener a tions 	
need	t o	be	educ a t ed	on	ho w	t o	e x er cise	it	wisely .
Inor dina t e	 c onsump tion	 leads	 t o	 f ocusing	 on	 oneself	 and	 abandoning	 the	 pr e-
cept	 of	 solidarity	 with	 the	 other .	 This	 is	 manif es t ed	 by	 thr owing	 a w a y	 f ood,	 clothes, 	
e v ery da y	 objects	 tha t	 c ould	 s till	ser v e	 other	 people.	 So	 par en ts,	 t eacher s,	 and 	
pedag ogues	 ar e	 c alled	 t o	 help	 y oung	 P oles	 be	 sensitiv e	 t o	 their	 neighbour s’	 needs, 	
sho w	 solidarity ,	 and	 shar e	 with 	 other s.	 In	 P olish	 schools,	 ther e	 ar e	 s till	 initia tiv es	
t o	 support 	 those	 parts	 of	 the	 w orld	 in	 which	 people	 suff er 	 po v erty	 and	 hung er . 	
Ho w e v er ,	 the	 number	 of	 initia tiv es	 among	 childr en	 and	 y outh	 is	 decr easing	 with	
the	 de v elopmen t	 of	 the	 c onsumer	 socie ty .	 Ins t ead,	 the	 older	 g ener a tion	 of	 P oles	
is	 s till	 v er y	 a tt en tiv e	 t o	 the	 needs	 of	 other s,	 and	 in	 the	 c ase	 of	 c a t as tr ophes	 and	
w ar ,	 in	particular ,	 the y	 r egularly	 participa t e	 in	 financial	 and	 ma t erial	 fundr aising.

742 Bogoslovni vestnik 81 (2021) • 3
A	 cr itic al	 analy sis	 of	 the	 situa tion	 of	 c on t empor ar y	 c onsumerism	 in	 P oland,	 as	
w ell	 as	 the	 curr en t	 educ a tional	 c onditions	 arising	 pr edomina n tly	 fr om	 the	 politi -
c al,	 soci al,	 cultu r al,	 educ a tional	 and	 r eligious	 c on t e x t,	 leads	 t o	 the	 f ollo wing	 c on -
clusions:
a. If	 the	 ne w	 r eality	 c alled	 pos tmodernity	 or	 ,liquid	 modernity ‘	 modifies	 and	 mix es 	
the	 e xis ting	 assumptions,	 norms	 and	 t ene ts,	 then	 it	 is	 crucial	 t o	 help	 the	 y oung 	
g ener a tion 	 t o	 c onsciously	 discern	 and	 choose	 so	 tha t	 they	 do	 not	 succumb	 t o	 the 	
imposed	 socio-cultur al	 tr ends,	 but	 ar e	 c apable	 of	 making	 their	 o wn	 deliber a t e 	
decisions	(Pla t ovnjak	2017).
b. Undermining	 the	 signific ance	 and	 pot en tial	 of	 human	 r eason	 f or	 the	 sak e	 of	 the 	
domina tion	 of	 f eelings,	 ins tincts	 and	 desir es	 should	 enc our ag e	 the	 f amily	 and	 RE 	
in	 school	 t o	 undert ak e	 c onscious	 ‚educ a tion	 of	 emotions ‘ ,	 showing	 tha t	 a	 per son 	
is	 not	 only	 subject	 t o	 them	 but	 ma y	 w ork	 t o	 under s t and	 be tt er 	 and	 c on tr ol	 emo-
tions. 	 On	 the	 other	 hand,	 in t ellectual	 educa tion 	 should	 not	 c onsis t	 in	 though tless 	
r epr oduction	 of	 men t al	 c on t en t	 but	 should	 include	 pr eparing	 y oung	 people	 t o 	
pr esen t	 their	 ar gumen ts	 r espectfully	 t ow ar ds	 partner s	 in	 a	 discussion.	 (V odič ar 	
2017)
c. Curr en t	r ein f or cemen t	of	individualiz a tion	 and	c onsumerism	tha t	deepens	eg o-
cen trism	 and	 w eak ens	 bonds	 with	 other s	 r equir es	 a	 r esponsible	 emphasis	 on	 the 	
signific ance	 of	 c ommunity	 in	 human	 lif e	 and	 gr o wth,	 as	 w ell	 as	 a	 pr oper	 in tr o-
duction	t o	the	lif e	of	a	c ommunity	(Ose w sk a	and	St ala	2015).
d. A	char act eris tic	tr ait	of	human	living	in	pos tmodern	socie ty	is	‚ the	crisis	of	mea-
ning ‘ ,	 which	 oft en 	 leads	 t o	 tr agic	 c onsumerism,	 so	 RE	 should	 be	 f ocused	 on	 su -
pporting	y oung	people	in	their	sear ch	f or	c ompr ehensiv e	meaning	in	lif e	(Cr a w -
f or d	and	R ossit er	2006).
e. F aced	 with	 mar ginaliz a tion	 or	 r emov al	 of	 the	 virtue	 of	 self -giving	 fr om	 popular , 	
c on t empor ary	 cultur e,	 RE	 needs	 t o	 emphasiz e	 the	 t opic	 of	 r ole	 models,	 authori-
ties, 	 and	 leader s	 who	 sacrifice	 themselv es	 f or	 other s	 and	 thank s	 t o	 these	 r ole 	
models,	 childr en	 and	 y outh	 will	 r ec ogniz e	 the	 signific ance	 of	 these	 virtues	 (Ho-
r onow ski	2020).
f. In	 the	 f ace	 of	 a xiologic al	 chaos	 (pr omot ed	 in	 pos tmodernity),	 which	 leads	 t o	 ano-
mie,	 RE	 mus t	 r e turn	 t o	 the	 pr oper	 under s t anding	 of	 virtues	 and	 v alues	 so	 tha t 	
the y	 ar e	 not	 another	 t ool	 t o	 manipula t e	 socie ty	 or	 simply	 c onduciv e	 t o	 politic al 	
c orr ectness.	 This	 means	 tha t	 RE	 in	 schools	 should	 c ooper a t e	 with	 the	 f amily	 in 	
the	 a xiologic al	 spher e	 and	 sear ch	 f or	 suit able	 educ a tion	 models	 t ow ar ds	 v alues.
g. P os tmodernity	 has	 turned	 c onsumption 	 in t o	 c onsumerism,	 which	 c onsider s	 c on -
suming as the primary goal of life, a religion per se. While returning to the civili-
z a tion	of	lov e,	pr omot ed	by	P ope	John	P aul	II,	in	which	being	alw a y s	has	been	a 	
priority over having, it is necessary that the family and school jointly educate 
humans to discover human dignity regardless of material goods.
h. In order to save the truth about humans and human dignity in the face of emer -

743 Elżbieta Osewska et al. - The Human Being Lost in Consumerism
ging	 r eductionisms	 of	 the	 human	 in t o	 c onsumer	 activities, 	 it	 is	 necessary	 t o	 edu-
c a t e	 in	 a	 w a y	 tha t	 f os t er s	 the	 c orr ect	 answ er	 t o	 the	 ques tion:	 who	 is	 human?	 The 	
t e xts	 by	 K ar ola	 W ojtyła	 /	 John	 P aul	 II	 ma y	 be	 of	 gr ea t	 help	 her e	 as	 the y	 r e v eal	 all 	
the dimensions of the human and human life, emphasizing the dignity of the 
per son	 as	 the	 one	 cr ea t ed	 in	 the	 imag e	 of	 God,	 sa v ed	 b y	 Jesus	 Chris t	 and	 c on-
s t an tly	 tr ans f ormed	 by	 the	 Holy	 Spirit.	 Since	 it	 is	 of	 prime	 import ance,	 RE	 mus t 	
incorporate the criterion of human dignity and service to the real good of the 
human being.
i. RE	 mus t	 be	 able	 t o	 access	 the	 deepes t	 possible	 under s t anding	 of	 the	 r eligion’ s 	
c on victions,	 appr ecia t e	 the	 demands	 it	 mak es	 on	 believ er s,	 but	 also	 eng ag e	 with 	
the	 actual	 pedag ogic al,	 ideologic al	 and	 socio-cultur al	 challeng es.	 It	 a tt empts	t o 	
under s t and	 and	 eng ag e	 with	 the 	 inner	 w orld	 of	 the	 r eligion	 which	 c annot	 be 	
adequa t ely	 obser v ed	 fr om	 the	 outside	 but	 demands	 theologic al	 knowledg e	 and 	
spiritual	sensitivity	(Da vies	2019).
j. Consumerism	 is	 s tr ongly	 pr omot ed	 by	 global	 c ompanies	 and	 politic al	 action,	 so 	
in	 or der	 t o	 dispose	 pupils	 t o w ar ds	 per sonal	 chang e,	 RE	 mus t	 be	 authen tic, 	 su-
pport	 wha t	 c omes	 fr om	 within	 them,	 and	 it	 mus t	 ha v e	 the	 per sonal	 author ship 	
and	appr opria tion	of	per sonal	chang e.
k. W ork	 in	 the	 field	 of	 educ a tion	 is	 ur g en tly	 needed,	 including	 the	 educ a tion	 of	 y o-
ung	 people	 t o	 be	 wise	 c onsumer s	 in	 the	 r esponsible	 use	 of	 their	 pow er	 of	 choice, 	
the	 f orma tion	 of	 a	 s tr ong	 sense	 of	 r esponsibility ,	 critic al	 thinking	 and	 c apability 	
to respond to the contemporary challenges.
l. R esponsible	 educ a tion	 pr ovided	 in	 the	 21
st
	 cen tury	 should	 be	 educ a tionally	 r ea-
lis tic	 (r ec ognizing	 thr ea ts	and	making	the	righ t	educ a tional	 decisions)	 as	w ell	 as 	
integral, that is, covering all spheres. It is crucial not to miss out on any aspect of 
the	 lif e	 and	 gr owth	 of	 a	 per son.	 In	 the	 Chris tian	 per spectiv e,	 an	 in t egr al	 educ a ti-
on	mus t	include	not	only	earthly	g oals	but	also	the	r edemptiv e	purpose 	in	lif e.
m. Succumbing	 t o	 c onsumerism	 undermines	 the	 hier ar ch y	 of	 v alues	 –	 t oda y/ a t	this 	
momen t	 it	 is	 the	 ma t erial	 g oods	 which	 ar e	 on	 t op.	 It	 is	 ther e f or e,	 r easonable	 and 	
r esponsible	 t o	 educ a t e	 in	 the	 f orma tion	 of	 v alues	 and,	 within	 Chris tian	 pedagogy , 	
t o	also	enc our ag e	a	f orma tion	in	virtue.
n. Consumerism	 is	 also	 associa t ed	 with	 the	 des truction	 of	 the	 na tur al	 en vir onmen t 	
as	 disor der ed	 use	 of	 things	 ruins	 the	 r esour ces	 of	 the	 planet.	 Tha t	 is	 wh y	 it	 is	 ne-
cessary	 t o	 mak e	 people	 sensitiv e 	 t o	 the	 ec ologic al	 issue	 and	 educ a t e	 childr en	 and 	
y outh	 in	 such	 a	 w a y	 tha t	 the y	 r espect	 na tur e	 both	 in	 their	 immedia t e	 surr oun-
dings	as	w ell	as	globally	(V odič ar	and	St ala	2018, 	415–427;	St ala	2012,	41–59).
The	 theor y 	 of	 individualiz a tion, 	 acc or ding 	 t o	 which	 the	 individual	 is	 the	 basic 	
r eality ,	 has	 been	 s tr ongly	 associa t ed	 with	 c onsumerism	 impo sed	 b y	 global	 c om-
panies,	 as	 w ell	 as	 neoliber al	 fr eedom	 tha t	 is	 t o	 sa tis f y 	 the	 needs	 of	 individuals. 	
Gr ad u al l y ,	 th i s	 l ead s	 t o	 ad o p tin g	 su b j ecti vi sm,	 l a wl essn ess,	 eg o cen tri sm,	 eg o i sm,	
emphasis	 on	 emotions	 not	 only	 b y	 s tude n ts	 but	 also	 b y	 man y 	 educ a t or s,	 which	 is 	

744 Bogoslovni vestnik 81 (2021) • 3
f ar	 mor e	 dang er ous.	 Consumerism	 and	 demor aliz a tion	 ar e	 oft en 	 s tr eng thened	 b y 	
ideologic al	 slog ans	 tha t	 spr ead	 mainly	 thank s	 t o	 In f orma tion	 and	 Communic a tion	
t echnology .	 As	 a	 r esult,	 theories	 of	 educ a tion	 tha t	 ha v e	 been	 de v eloped	 o v er	 cen-
turies	 ar e	 no w	 being	 disrup t ed.	 Man y	 t eacher s,	 educ a t or s,	 par en ts	 and	 pries ts	 in	
P oland	 under s t and	 tha t	 the	 pr oblem	 is	 gr o wing ,	 but	 the y	 ar e	 not	 pr epar ed	 t o	 f ace 	
‚ pr e da t or y ‘ 	 c onsume rism.	 The r e f or e , 	 it	 is	 nece ssar y	 t o	 r e turn	 t o	 the	 per sonalis tic	
assump tions	 and	 f orma tion 	 of	 social 	 virtues:	 lo v e,	 solidarity ,	 sacrifice,	 self -denial, 	
r esponsibility	and	t emper ance	in	particular .
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