New Martyrs in El Salvador | Sojourners

New Martyrs in El Salvador

Jamie Moffett, co-founder of The Simple Way and director of The Ordinary Radicals, traveled to El Salvador to film the documentary Return to El Salvador. While there, he heard about Marcelo Rivera, an activist who was tortured and then murdered. As this saga began to unfold, Moffett realized he had a much larger and more complex story to tell that had significant connections to the United States.

I interviewed Jamie about his experiences in El Salvador for Religion Dispatches. Here's one question in particular that stood out for me.

Why should this story be of particular interest to people of faith?

This is the land of Oscar Romero, where the Maryknoll sisters and Jesuit priests were killed as well. These religious figures were murdered by people who were trained at the School of the Americas (now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation) at Fort Benning, Georgia. We turned a blind eye to what was happening in the '80s and now these murders appear to be happening again .... People of faith admire these martyrs' stories, but how will they respond to today's tragedies?

portrait-becky-garrisonBecky Garrison is one of the many voices featured in the documentary The Ordinary Radicals.