In the fall of 1983, Sojourners helped to launch the Witness for Peace, a venture of faith and prayerful nonviolent action, in response to the U.S.-sponsored war against Nicaragua. I was on the first short-term team sent by the Witness for Peace to Nicaragua's northern border where the war was raging. More than 1,400 U.S. citizens have gone there since. All of us have come back deeply touched by what we have seen and heard in Nicaragua.
I remember a Nicaraguan mother who told us of the night the contras came to her home, removed all of the men from the house, and then, in a horrible torrent of bullets, murdered all of her sons and all of her sons-in-law.
I will not easily forget another mother who tearfully told us how her 13-year-old daughter was decapitated by a contra mortar, or the Baptist pastor who could not understand the brutality of the contras who hacked to death with machetes a whole group of evangelical teenagers who were simply teaching campesinos how to read.
The face of 13-year-old Agenor still haunts me, as I picture this young boy carrying a heavy, beat-up rifle on his back to defend his village from contra attacks. And we didn't know what to say to the sobbing young woman who pleaded with us to take her beloved baby boy named Ricardo to safety in the United States because she feared for his life.
Stories. Endless stories. Every Witness for Peace volunteer can tell stories of terror, torture, rape, pillage, and murder carried out by the contras. This mercenary army, created and sustained by the U.S. government and orchestrated by the CIA, engages in a consistent pattern of savage terrorism to which we have been eyewitnesses and which international human rights groups have thoroughly documented.
It was, therefore, with great joy that I greeted the news of the decision by the U.S. Congress in May 1984 to cut off funding for the contras. Finally, someone stood up and said no. The message was getting through. More and more U.S. citizens, especially in the religious community, were turning against the shameful policies of their government in Nicaragua.
Shortly thereafter rumors about "private" financing of the contras began circulating. What Congress would no longer do, right-wing political groups and paramilitary organizations would. Then, to my great shock, we began to hear that Christian groups were involved. It was hard to believe, but we continued to listen and find out what we could. It appeared that certain Christian groups and organizations were playing a central role in raising money that served, directly or indirectly, to support the contras.
Painfully, I remembered all of the Christians I had talked with in Nicaragua who had lost family members, loved ones, and church friends to the contra violence. How could some Christians help support military forces that were killing other Christians? Despite legitimate political differences that exist in the U.S. churches over the situation in Central America and U.S. policy in that region, is it right for Christians to lend their support to such violence?
Finally, six months ago, we decided to undertake an investigative project to determine the extent of Christian involvement in the private financing of the contras. What we found is contained in the lengthy article published in this issue (see "In the Name of Relief," page 12).
IN THE NAME of relief, many well-meaning Christians are donating millions of dollars that are serving the cause of Nicaraguan contras. Our research reveals that not only is the well-documented terrorism of the contras being sustained through these efforts, but that the refugees themselves are being seriously manipulated and mistreated.
We believe that involvement in such activity by powerful Christian groups and prominent Christian leaders is a scandal of major proportions. Our efforts to discuss these serious matters with those involved have borne no fruit. We, therefore, bring the issue to the public light and to the Christian community in particular, asking the fundamental question of whether such activities are appropriate for Christian organizations, regardless of our political opinions and disagreements. We believe that they are not.
In the course of our investigation, it became clear that the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) plays a central role in this effort. Our reporter called CBN to discuss what we discovered, asking the organization to clarify or correct the information we found. The CBN public relations officer refused to comment and asked her to put all of her questions in writing, which she did. Unfortunately, CBN again refused to respond to the detailed and reasonable questions, which were based on our research.
I then personally tried to reach Pat Robertson, president of CBN. I wanted to raise our concerns very seriously, but at the same time seek to avoid the polarization and antagonism that is so tragically prevalent in the church today. CBN's reply was that Pat Robertson was unable to have that conversation. Finally, I sent him a letter that read, in part:
Dear Pat,
I am sorry you have decided not to talk with me prior to our publication of an article on private groups providing refugee aid in active contra areas. Our research has shown CBN to be one of the major sources of funds for these efforts.
I had hoped we could talk before publication about the very serious problems some of that aid is causing, as well as about some of the non-Christian, pro-contra groups with which CBN is working.
As Christians we have a responsibility to conduct our affairs honestly and openly. I am, therefore, very concerned that CBN chooses not to respond to specific questions about an ongoing operation that has sent millions of dollars from U.S. Christians to areas where contra fighters operate.
It is not a light matter for us to be critical of another Christian organization, and it is certainly not our intention to have an adversarial relationship with you personally or with CBN. There are, however, several legitimate questions and concerns that must be raised and answered.
In this time of great polarization in the church, we as Christians must try to keep our differences from becoming divisions that can easily become stumbling blocks for others. I believe the way to do this is by openly discussing the issues at hand.
I continue to hope you will change your mind and make the time to discuss this article and our findings prior to publication.
Several weeks after our deadline, we received a response from Robertson. It read, in part:
Dear Jim:
Thank you for your letter. I appreciate the spirit in which you wrote. Our Public Affairs Department did not answer a lengthy interrogatory from your staff for the reasons specified. In brief here is my position.
Jim, I want to give any amount of aid possible of a humanitarian nature to the Freedom Fighters who are attempting to overthrow the communist government of Nicaragua.
Unfortunately, I have never known exactly how to effectuate this assistance, and, to the best of my knowledge, most of the reports which allege all kind of shipments of aid to the Freedom Fighters of Nicaragua, are not true.
Christian support for terrorism, whether it be from the Right or the Left, is simply wrong. To allow political ideology to overshadow human needs and fundamental issues of life and death is to go seriously astray. And to use the plight of innocent refugees, who have already suffered so much, to cloak political motivations is to compound the offense. Such activities must be called to account in the Christian community, and we call upon CBN, and other Christian groups involved, to seriously examine and change their policies.
Jim Wallis is editor-in-chief of Sojourners.
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