Tiltai

Current transition from agrarian societies to industrial ones around the globe carries shift of values along with – namely, from Traditional to Self-expression. The shift has been described by analysts of the World Values Survey Association (WVSA). In much described Inglehart-Welzel cultural map of the world Baltic States are positioned somewhere in the middle between the poles. The article sketches dangers arising from one-sided over-emphasizing benefits of democracy and self-expression. Societies undergoing fast transition between their former experiences and current challenges testify frictions and they may be described as torn societies. The author uses the term “plastic man” coined by Martin Heidegger – in whom the changing part of personality is increasing whereas the steady side is decreasing. As sociologist Arnold Toynbee puts it, the man of today is a “man running away from God”, consequently, his plasticity takes over and man is not in position to control his own choices and his changeability. The article offers Christian anthropological view of man in his relations with God. The reminder refreshes knowledge of European Christian roots and challenges current social development.