IHFIVOLUME . 70 NUMBER. 6 HESJUNE 1987 S publication. and Honduras: reuse for Launchpad

required for war Denise Stanley Permission DFMS. / Nicaraguan

Church [women...and

Episcopal children, the of too

Archives y Lou 2020. Copyright Confronting covert acts: When Congress had courage F. Forrester Cnurch Letters

the time comes of recognizing the is a woman bishop present. I suggest Wrong end of telescope? orders of men "ordained" by women, that our bishops should stay away from The Rev. Richard Mansfield's article there will be total disruption and ec- Lambeth because it is being held in a "Holding Canterbury accountable" clesiastical integrity will have disap- province of the Anglican Church that (March) is looking at the problem through the wrong end of the telescope. peared. And the burden of such dis- refuses to accept the orders of some of Indeed there is a major division within ruption will be on those who have the priests that they have ordained. But the Anglican Communion, but it is the made the change, not on those who if they do attend, I certainly hope they, American/Canadian/New Zealand/etc, cannot accept it. in solidarity with our sisters, will not provinces which have caused it, not the Dorothy W. Spaulding practice their sacramental ministry Church of England. We are the ones McLean, Va. while they are in that province. publication. who have changed the nature of the The Rev. Richard i I. Mansfield, Jr. Hartford, Conn. and sacramental ministry, and we should Mansfield responds not be surprised when other portions I understand that the Church of Eng- reuse of the church refuse to recognize the land's Synod has just approved the Harris columns powerful for novelty. Indeed, many of our own ordination of women as priests. The Kudos to the Rev. Barbara Harris for members do not recognize it either. If Church of England has now joined people are starting to worry about dis- her consistently provocative, profound "the American/Canadian/New Zea- theological message. She tackles the required unity and division, I suggest they were land etc. provinces" in recognizing this tough issues with verve, tenacity and warned about it long before the change, "novelty." Surely now the Church of and they chose to ignore the warning. integrity. She makes us think. Her England should be able to remove the January and March columns have restriction against women Anglican Permission And when Canon Mansfield says "a been especially powerful. Thank God bishop celebrates Holy Communion priests practicing their sacramental and THE WITNESS for her. by the fact that he is ordained a pres- ministries in England. The word "nov- Nell Braxton Gibson DFMS. elty" is Ms. Spaulding's unsuccessful

/ byter as well as a bishop" he has it attempt to trivialize the growing and Executive Assistant backwards again. A priest celebrates, to the Bishop of New York holds office, exercises oversight, only significant realization by our church Church because he is ordained by a bishop, as of our oneness in Christ. The nature of a deputy of that bishop. Bishops came the sacramental ministry has not been Meese threatens freedom before presbyters in the church, and changed. It has only been fulfilled by Bishop Coleman McGehee's guest

Episcopal the latter order developed only as a making ordination a possibility for all editorial in the March issue of THE God's people regardless of gender. the necessity when the burden of oversight WITNESS astutely spotlights a fact of of grew to be too much for one bishop in Bishops in our church today first which many church leaders in this an area. were enabled to celebrate the eucharist country seem unaware: the policies of When he says "There are no women as priests. I hope that neither priests Attorney General Edwin Meese pose a Archives bishops (yet)..." he is obviously ex- nor bishops in our church will cele- danger to the religious freedom of us pecting it to happen soon. Dissention brate communion in the Church of all. 2020. and disruption will only be multiplied England when some of their ordained As the Bishop points out, Meese's in this case. A number of bishops colleagues are unable to do so. That is a apparent lack of understanding of the throughout the Anglican Communion real issue of "ecclesiastical integrity." freedoms guaranteed by the Consti-

Copyright have said they cannot attend Lambeth I am not surprised by, nor do I fear tution is leading him to dismantle if a woman claiming episcopal orders dissension or disruption. But I do some of our most important rights, as is present; if this happens, it will be her challenge those who espouse our Angli- well as the wall of separation between novel ministry which has disrupted can Communion and Christian unity church and state. By his support for things, not long held beliefs of others. through acceptance of each other's government-sponsored school prayer The Church of England has not said it orders when one of the provinces in he denies the basic tenet that even the does not recognize the orders of men our communion refuses to accept the most vocal opponents of church/state ordained in the historic ministry even orders of some clergy in other provinces. separation recognize in the First from provinces which have changed Mrs. Spaulding suggests that some Amendment: a prohibition on estab- the nature of that ministry, but when bishops will not attend Lambeth if there lishment of religion.

THE WITNESS Meese stands, however, as a repre- dread and inward horror / Of falling Arndt & Gingrich wrote that a spir- sentative of the entire Reagan admini- into nought? Why shrinks the soul / itual man "possesses the divine pneuma, stration, which seeks to have the gov- Back on itself, and startles at destruc- not beside his natural human soul, but ernment support religious education tion? / 'Tis the divinity that stirs within in place of it;" This can be the case only through tax deductions and direct sub- us; / 'Tis heaven itself that points out when a person has laid down his life so sidies, leading to destructive entangle- an hereafter / And intimates eternity that God can make his crucifixion with ment between church and state and the to man." the Anointed One reality, and having destruction of public education; and William Dauenhauer been reborn he is filled with all the which wants to legislate religious Wickliffe, Ohio fulness of God. morality through the constitutional Nothing else matters in a person's publication. amendment process. Nothing could be life until he has allowed God to bring and a greater threat to the vitality of the Negative models in control him to this state. It is therefore useless church; nothing could be more de- I have consistently enjoyed THE WIT- to consider anything else until people reuse structive of the freedom of conscience NESS copies supplied to me by a San are in this state. God can do his will for we all enjoy under the Constitution. Diego subscriber, so I now wish to sub- only in these spiritual people. Any- Bishop McGehee deserves our thanks scribe on my own. Excellent articles! I thing done by, in, or through unspir- for his timely warning. Let us hope it is am a Roman Catholic priest who has itual people is of the evil ones and has required not too late. had salary cut off because of my con- the nature of sin. stant sermons on women priests. I hope Dr. Robert L. Maddox a retired Catholic bishop will soon or- Charles H. Bergsland Executive Director dain some Catholic women. Through Sequim, Wash. Permission Americans United for Separation the Holy Spirit the feminine will save of Church and State the church and this planet. WITNESS to archives

DFMS. Negative masculine models are in As archivist for the Society of the / Stimulating thoughts control everywhere. Male and female Companions of the Holy Cross, I want Charles Meyer's essay, "Eleven myths alike need feminine consciousness; to express my appreciation for the re- about death" in the March WITNESS Church soul intuition! We have no feminine printing of excerpts of Chapter 10 of was the most thought-stimulating piece thealogy so we don't know what a fe- Mary Sudman Donovan's book, A I've read in many moons. male priest or bishop would look like. Different Call, in the February WIT- Nowadays the optimist/pessimist NESS ("The feminist dimension of the Episcopal Let us imagine together so we can hope. dualism seems intensified to harsh The Rev. Neil Voigt Social Gospel"). I would like to order the polarity in our society. We are tempted of San Diego, Cal. two copies for our Adelywood Library. to opt for the here-and-now of material Ruth S. Leonard things, rather than ardently seek spir- Boston, Mass. itual insight. For spiritual people only Archives "We are poor, silly animals," reflected When I first read a flyer covering your Kudos on anniversary Horace Walpole. "We live for an in- 2020. publication it seemed worth while to For the last five years I have subscribed stant upon a particle of a boundless see what might be written in it and so I to your magazine. Yours is perhaps the universe, and are much like a butterfly subscribed. Yesterday the first issue only national publication in the Epis- that should argue about the nature of came and I found that you write about copal Church educating our society on Copyright the seasons, and what creates their the same things as all religious publi- the many issues confronting it and our vicissitudes, and does not exist itself to cations. That is you are only interested church in particular. see an annual revolution of the sun." in the world, things like peace, treat- Whether I agree or not on your ap- What a glaringly optimistic contrast ment of homosexuals, etc. proach I always read your publication is contained in Joseph Addison's familiar Jesus recognized that those people with interest and expectation. In this lines: who had been given to him by his your 70th anniversary my most heart- "It must be so; Plato, thou reasonest Father were not of the world. Spiritual felt congratulations. well, / Else whence this pleasing hope, people are not of this world but almost The Rev. Canon Herbert Arrunategui this fond desire,/This longing after no one is concerned or interested in National Hispanic Officer immortality? / Or whence the secret spiritual things. Episcopal Church Center

June 1987 EDITOR Mary Lou Suhor

SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Robert L DeWilt

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Richard W. Gillett Carter Hey ward James Lewis

publication. Manning Marable J. Antonio Ramos and

reuse STAFF for Ann Hunter Susan Small Table of Contents required

PUBLISHER Acting on faith not fear: When Congress had courage Episcopal Church Publishing Company 6 F. Forrester Church Permission Q Map: Central America in agony ECPC BOARD OF DIRECTORS DFMS.

/ CHAIR Why Ben Under is dead Kwasi A. Thornell 10 Norman Solomon

Church VICE-CHAIR "I "l Nicaraguan women, and children, too J. Antonio Ramos Mary Lou Suhor SECRETARY Episcopal "I Q Honduras: Launchpad for war Gloria Brown the -*- ^ Denise Stanley of TREASURER Carman St. J. Hunter

Archives ASSISTANT TREASURER Robert N. Eckersley 2020. John H. Burt Credits Cover, TSI Visuals; photo p. 7, official photo. The White House; Linder Otis Charles photo p. 10, courtesy Norman Solomon; photos pp. 11, 12, Mary Lou Suhor; photo p. 15 courtesy Quixote Center. Migdalia DeJesus-Torres Copyright Steven Guerra Nan Arrington Peete William W. Rankin THE WITNESS (ISSNO 197-8896) is published monthly except July/August by The Episcopal Church Chester L Talton Publishing Company. Editorial office: P.O. Box 359, Ambler, PA 19002. Telephone (215) 643-7067. Chris Weiss THE WITNESS is indexed in the American Theological Library Association's Religion Index One Periodicals. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI, reproduces this publication in micro- form; microfiche and 16mmor 35 mm film. Printed in U.S.A. Copyright 1987. SUBSCRIPTIONS: $15 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR per year, $1.50 per copy. Foreign subscriptions add $5 per year. CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Please advise of changes at least 6 weeks in advance. Include your label from the magazine and send to: Barbara C. Harris Subscription Dept, THE WITNESS, P.O. Box 359, Ambler, PA 19002.

THE WITNESS Editorial Losing our own country ' Some Episcopalians — such as Vice-President George Bush, Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, Rear Admiral John Poindexter, Lt. Col. Oliver North — all of whom are members of our church, support our government's efforts (in Nica- ragua). What we must remember as we seek to understand the situation is the fact that the Episcopal Church in Nicaragua is a part of our church community, as

publication. much as the Diocese of Vermont or the Diocese of Maine. Thus, when we speak of theContra war supported by our government, we are speaking of a war prosecuted and against another country, Nicaragua, which includes a diocese of our own church. I

reuse can think of no more important task for the Standing Commission on Peace for the for Episcopal Church to address than that situation in which Episcopalian is killing Episcopalian.

required — The Rev. Nathaniel Pierce, Chair Episcopal Church Standing Commission on Peace

otic. As one person said, "This is not Permission I at Pierce, reflecting on the "Epis- undemocratic ... Policies arrived at copalian connection" to Contragate, a Marxist revolution, it is a Nicara- and carried out in secret make an in- above, points out an anomaly in the guan revolution run by Nicaraguans. telligent exercise of one's franchise to DFMS. I returned to the United States with / present debacle where government of- vote in a liberal democracy as impos- a keen awareness that we are not re- sible as the communists claim it to be ficials are secretly funding terrorist ceiving a clear picture of the situation

Church warfare — in essence, Christians are from our own press. On several oc- — for in such a situation one can never helping to kill Christians. Pierce and casions, we were told of the impor- know what the real issues are. Demo- other Peace Commission members met tance of visiting church groups who cracy requires that the state's powers

Episcopal in Managua in March and visited with then returned to the United States to be severely limited. There are things that a democracy must forego which a the human rights, church and press repre- give a first hand report of what they of sentatives, including those who sup- had seen and heard. totalitarian state can — indeed must — ported and those who opposed the do. For the sake of democracy we must Sandinista government. Afterwards, Nicaraguans, even while engaged in sacrifice such 'guarantees' of state Archives Pierce reported: war, have patiently and graciously security as secret police, political ar- hosted church and other U.S. people- rests, secret trials and torture, and even 2020. I could find no one who felt that to-people groups which have traveled the macho self-image we conjure up conditions under the Somoza regime in great numbers to establish what is for ourselves by means of covert acti- were better than what people were truth and what is propaganda. But vities." Copyright experiencing under the Sandinistas. when U.S. citizens have to venture Heretofore, U.S. peace delegations Clearly the poor are better off today overseas to search out facts, a second have gone to Nicaragua in droves, fear- than they were 10 years ago and the anomaly surfaces — and that is the use ing that Nicaraguans might lose their government continues to place a high of the codename, Project Democracy by priority on dealing with problems of country under present U.S. policy. But housing, hunger and illiteracy. the National Security Council for its the recent revelations about U.S. mili- bizarre, immoral covert operation. I could find no one who supported the tary adventurism reveal a different war of the Contras. (Emphasis his.) As Ron Goetz pointed out in a recent scenario: It is we in the United States The present leadership of the Nica- issue of The Christian Century, "Gov- who are in danger of losing our own raguan government is intensely patri- ernment via covert activity is inherently country. •

June 1987 Acting on faith, not fear: When Congress had courage by F. Forrester Church

atching the Iran-Contra affair unfold, I cannot help free society that can go only so far. We become our own but wonder what my father, Frank Church, for 24 years a worst enemy if we bring down a free society in the very publication. senator from Idaho and outspoken critic of covert actions, name of defending it." and would be saying if he were still alive. My guess is that his Church applied Williams' principle first to illegal and response would be little different than it was 12 years ago, immoral corporate business practices abroad. In 1975, he reuse when he chaired the Senate Select Committee on Intelli- conducted the first in-depth investigation of illicit connec- for gence. "The United States must not adopt the tactics of the tions between multinational corporations and foreign enemy," he wrote in his introduction to the committee's governments. In a series of blockbuster revelations, his

required report on assassinations. "Means are as important as ends. Subcommittee on Multinational Corporations exposed Crisis makes it tempting to ignore the wise restraints that the following: make us free; but each time we do so, each time the means • Exxon parceling out $27 million in illegal political we use are wrong, our inner strength, the strength which contributions in Italy in return for economic favors from Permission makes us free, is lessened." the government; In 1974, during my first year in the doctoral program at • Gulf Oil doling out $4 million in illegal corporate DFMS.

/ Harvard, my father and I spent an evening discussing contributions in Korea; theology and history with George Huntston Williams, Hollis • Northrop paying an agent $450,000 for the purpose of Professor of Divinity and my faculty advisor. Shortly Church bribing Saudi Arabian generals; thereafter, one theme that Williams identified as recurring • United Fruit slipping the president of Honduras $1.2 throughout the ages emerged as the cornerstone of Frank million to lower the export tax on bananas;

Episcopal Church's own critique of corporate and governmental • Lockheed making illegal payments to government of- lawlessness during his investigations of multinational the ficials in countries around the globe — in Europe, in Asia, of corporations and of the American intelligence agencies. in the Middle East, and in the Far East — amounting in the "George Williams, one of the much beloved professors aggregate to many millions of dollars. of theology at Harvard Divinity School, once said to me In addition. Church released a complete list of U. S. Archives something that I have always remembered," Church said firms on the Arab boycott list. during an interview for Parade magazine. " 'Choose your One after another, corporate executives confessed the 2020. enemy very carefully, for you will grow to be more like truth of the committee's findings. There was a notable lack him.' " After World War II the Soviet Union became our of contrition. As my father noted at the time, "All of this perceived enemy and we undertook to contest with the wrongdoing is acknowledged by straight-faced executives Copyright Russians everything in the world. To justify emulating who say they had to break the law in order to get the their method we said we had to treat fire with fire. And in business. The excuse, after all, is written plainly in the the process, of course, we've become more like them. In a adage, 'When in Rome ...' But the excuse is hollow. The bad habits of Rome were brought home to America. The roster of companies that made illegal corporate contribu- F. Forrester Church, newly named weekly columnist for the Chicago tions to the Nixon campaign in 1972 includes many of the Tribune, is pastor of the Unitarian Church of All Souls, New York City. He is companies which have turned to bribery abroad. If we the author of a personal biography of his father, Sen. Frank Church, entitled condone bribery of foreign officials we will sow the seeds Father and Son. His latest book, Entertaining Angels, was released last month by Harper & Row. of corruption in our own land."

THE WITNESS Again, the Williams principle pertains here. In Church's own words, "We must never accede to the rationale, in foreign policy or in business, that we must become as ( corrupt as those we come up against." The bridge from Church's chairmanship of the Multi- W national Subcommittee to that of the Senate Select Com- mittee on Intelligence was his investigation of ITT's secret offering to the CIA of a million dollars to prevent Salvador Allende, lawfully elected by the people of Chile, from becoming president. As Jerome Levenson, chief counsel for the Multinational Subcommittee, observed, "Church knew they weren't going to do a damn thing on [CIA r Director Richard] Helms or [Secretary of State Henry] Kissinger, but he pushed it. The rest of the committee just publication. wanted it all to go away. He was the only guy who pressed and on. The State Department and everyone was urging him to stop and he just blasted them all to get where we did. The reuse net plus is we exposed as issues things that had previously for been sacrosanct." f My father's single most important and sensitive assign- required ment during his 24 years in the Senate was the chairing of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. "It's not at all clear that the public will fully appreciate the need for an m MB investigation of this kind," he said in May, 1975, just after Permission the committee's work had begun. "It's necessary for us to look very closely and critically at some of the activities of DFMS.

/ the CIA and FBI and other agencies," particularly covert activities of the sort that had been "glamorized after a whole generation [fed] on a constant diet of Missions Church Impossible." Vice President Rockefeller published his own report,

Episcopal assuring the American public that the CIA's transgressions

the were "not major." Senator Church disagreed. He said that of he and Rockefeller both had hard evidence of CIA assas- sination plots. Church preferred the word murder. "I don't regard murder plots as a minor matter," he said. "Ours is Archives not a wicked country and we cannot abide a wicked gov- ernment. If we're going to lay claim to being a civilized 2020. country we must make certain in the future that no agency of our government can be licensed to murder. The President The late Sen. Frank Church and President Jimmy Carter

Copyright of the United States cannot become a glorified godfather." The last week of November, 1975, the Church committee released its findings on CIA assassination plots. Drawing these attempts, as well as its agents' ineptitude in carrying on nearly 10,000 pages of sworn testimony taken from them out, lent a kind of amateurish James Bond quality to more than 100 witnesses over 60 days of closed-door its exploits. In the case of Castro, for instance, there were hearings, the report outlined five CIA attempts, all un- poison cigars, skin-diving suits dusted with lethal powder, successful, upon the lives of foreign leaders: Cuba's Fidel even seashells charged with explosives to be laced in Castro, the Dominican Republic's Rafael Trujillo, Vietnam's Castro's favorite diving grounds. Ngo Dinh Diem, Congo's Patrice Lumumba, and General Church characterized the CIA as a "rogue elephant." Rene Schneider of Chile. The methods used by the CIA in Though there was little clear evidence either way, most in

June 1987 the press and the agency itself argued that the CIA was just the law itself." We are frequently told that the U.S. press is following executive orders and would be both constitutionally insufficiently patriotic, insufficiently anti-Soviet, and too and practically incapable of initiating policy on its own. objective. Such critics would feel right at home in the The committee was unanimous in its findings, but Soviet Union, where the press filters current events Senators Barry Goldwater of Arizona and John Tower of through a red lens as suits its ideological taste. Texas did issue a minority report dissenting to its publication. New Republic columnist Michael Kinsley sums up the "The wholesale foraging of the Congress into the details of "new Patriotism" and its accompanying argument in favor foreign policy and the intelligence services upon which it of a new Realpolitik in these words; "nations like America depends can only serve to give comfort to our opponents are too decent and humanitarian for our own damn good." and to embarrass our friends," Goldwater said. He goes on to add, "I wish that the putative defenders of Church disagreed. "A basic tenet of our democracy is American liberty and democracy would show a bit more that the people must be told of the mistakes of their enthusiasm for these fine things. Instead, they criticize government so that they may have the opportunity to America's openness, its idealism, its raucous dissent as correct them. We believe that foreign peoples will, upon unsuitable to this cold world." publication. sober reflection, admire our nation more for keeping faith Because of my father's Intelligence Committee work, he and with our democratic ideals than they will condemn us for was unable to enter the 1976 race for the Democratic the misconduct itself. Moreover, whatever the possible nomination for the Presidency until early Spring. Though reuse short-term detriment to our reputation abroad, it will be far he won four primaries, his late successes were insufficient for outweighed by the constructive result at home of enabling to stem the Jimmy Carter tide. the American people to fully understand what was done But I do remember so well that crisp day in March,

required secretly in their name. Revealing the truth will strengthen when, standing on the steps of the historic red brick court- our political system, which depends upon an informed house in Idaho City, Frank Church announced his candi- public, and will help reestablish the trust of the American dacy for President. His supporters, many of them clad in people in the candor of their government." blue jeans and wearing cowboy hats and boots, went wild. Permission Among the other abuses of power within the intelligence More than 2,000 of them cheered and waved placards that services Church uncovered during the course of his read: RETURN TO GREATNESS, and A TIME FOR DFMS.

/ investigation were the use by the Internal Revenue Service OLD-FASHIONED HONESTY and CHURCH FOR of a staff to gather intelligence on American citizens PRESIDENT. "The pioneers of the early west were men simply because they disagreed politically with the Nixon and women of uncommon strength and faith," Church Church administration; the illegal accumulation by the CIA of said. "They had the strength to endure the hardships of life 7,200 files on American citizens because they dissented on in the wilderness. And they had faith enough in them- the Vietnam war; and illegal mail-opening programs by selves and the future to overcome their fears." Episcopal the CIA directed against Americans between 1950 and Much of Church's announcement was a point-by-point the

of 1973. In his own file, Frank Church was surprised to find a rendition of the liberal agenda, complete with a few of the letter that he had written to his mother-in-law from "small is better" twists that distinguished the new Demo- Moscow in 1971. cratic rhetoric from that of the Great Society days. But he Archives Though my father managed to enact a law against assas- opened and closed with his one distinctive and most sination by any agency of government, most of the reforms cherished theme. 2020. he recommended, including radical limitations to be It was 1976, the Bicentennial year. Church's obligatory placed on covert action, were scuttled before his legislation invocation of the Founding Fathers called forth the vision reached the floor. of a very different America from that traditionally celebrated Copyright Openness, of course, is inconvenient, especially to in Fourth of July speeches. "In stark contrast with contem- people in power. Conservative philosopher Sidney Hook porary Presidents, our Founding Fathers were a different laments "how fragile a self-governing democratic society breed. They acted on their faith, not their fear. They did not is... For its very own rationale encourages a constant believe in fighting fire with fire; crime with crime; evil with critical approach that its enemies can exploit to weaken it." evil; or delinquency by becoming delinquents. They set In his book How Democracies Perish Jean-Francois Revel themselves against the terrors of a totalitarian state by warns that not only is a democracy "not basically structured structuring a government that would obey the law. They to defend itself against outside enemies, [but also] democracy knew that the only way to escape a closed society was to faces an internal enemy whose right to exist is written into accept the risk of living in an open one." •

THE WITNESS • Democratic government under Jacobo Arbenz overthrown in CIA- backed coup (1954). • U.S. military aid, cut off in 1977 • Honduras is the poorest country by Carter Administration because in the Western Hemisphere, except of human rights violations, resumed for Haiti. Per capita income is $ 162/ under Reagan Administration — year. The top one-fifth of the popu- $35.3 million in 1986-87. lation commands 70% of the na- • Guatemala has only 3% of Latin tional income. America's population, but it has • Honduras is the center of U.S. 40% of Latin America's disappeared military operations in Central — 40,000 by the end of 1986. U.S. intervention, America. Between 1983-87,70,000 • Two percent of the landowners U.S. troops have been trained in own 70% of cultivated land. Central America military maneuvers there. • 15,000 non-combatants were • The U.S. has helped to establish killed between 1978-86. bases for over 15,000 Contras to in agony launch attacks into Nicaragua. • 15,000 Hondurans have been displaced from their homes along the border with Nicaragua, due to publication. Contra activity. and reuse for required

• Contadora: The peace effort launched by Contadora nations: Permission Mexico, Panama, Colombia, and Venezuela. The name comes from an island off the coast of Panama DFMS.

/ where the nations first met in Jan- uary, 1983. Another peace initia- tive has been launched recently by

Church • 50,000 persons have been killed, chiefly by the military and right- President Arias of Costa Rica. wing death squads, over the past five years in El Salvador. • Ruled by U.S.-backed Somoza Episcopal •Archbishop Oscar Romero as- dictatorship for 46 years, Nicaragua the sassinated as he celebrated Mass was reclaimed by the Sandinistas of 3/24/80. Four women — U.S. reli- in 1979 after a long, popular gious workers — and four Dutch revolution. journalists murdered in 1981-82. Definitions:

Archives •An Oct. 10, 1986 earthquake • Sandinistas: Nicaragua's revo- left 1,000 dead, 8,000 injured, lutionary forces and party in power,

2020. 200,000 homeless. However, the named after Augusto Cesar San- devastation wrought by the civil dino, revolutionary leader assassi- war is much greater. nated by Dictator Somoza. • The Reagan Administration has • FSLN: Acronym for Frente • Once called the Switzerland of Copyright given over $1 billion in economic Sandino de Liberacion Nacional, Central America, Costa Rica is aid and over $700 million in mil- the army which toppled Somoza. facing runaway inflation and the itary aid to El Salvador, which is • Contras: The forces backed by worst economic crisis in its history. bombing its own people. the Reagan Administration, which Some 70% of the population lives calls them "Freedom Fighters." below the poverty line. Largely comprised of former Na- •Costa Rica has a $4.1 billion tional Guardsmen from Somoza's foreign debt. regime and known for their vio- • Costa Rica abolished its army lence and brutality, they are trying in 1948; however, the U.S. has to recapture Nicaragua from the been pressuring it to re-establish Sandinistas. an army. • In May 1985, U.S. Green Beret advisors began training units of the Costa Rican Civil Guard on a base 10 miles from the Nicaraguan June 1987 border. Why Ben Linder is dead by Norman Solomon

Linder has been laid to rest in it is part of a grim reality: Unable to far-off Nicaragua. Here in his home gain much of a foothold, the Contra town of Portland, Ore., mourners are forces — termed "the moral equal of struggling with intense grief and seeth- our Founding Fathers" by Ronald ing anger. Reagan — have increasingly turned to Media coverage has described how terror tactics and disruption of the Ben Under at work in Nicaragua. Benjamin Ernest Linder, 27, was work- already-destitute Nicaraguan economy. ing as a mechanical engineer at a rural Contras purposely target health-care White House basement. publication. hydroelectric project when he died workers, teachers, clergy and engineers Six months into the Iran-Contra

and April 28 at the hands of Contra guer- laboring in the provinces to help arms scandal, it's all too easy to forget rillas fighting against the Sandinista peasants learn how to make progress that — far away from Washington — reuse government. against grinding poverty. real people are suffering and dying for But as the glare of publicity fades, With a degree in civil engineering, now because of White House policies those of us with personal memories are Ben Linder went to Nicaragua in 1983 in Central America. Congressional left to ponder the meaning of Ben's to begin working on small-scale elec- hearings promise to be exciting and required death. The night before he was buried trical projects. His salary amounted to suitably dramatic. But while past mal- in the Nicaraguan countryside, we $13 a month. "He brought electricity to feasance undergoes scrutiny, large were among a thousand Oregon resi- clinics to keep vaccines cold, to light quantities of weapons and ammunition Permission dents who gathered to light candles at schoolhouses and to light farmhouses," are moving from the United States into dusk in front of the Federal Building in recalled a friend who had visited him. Contra base camps.

DFMS. downtown Portland. Together we sang,

/ Of course he knew that he was in a Those who still support aid to the we listened to speeches, and we cried. war zone. And he knew that the area Contras may not have given much I met Ben in 1977, when he partici- had become a war zone because of U.S. thought to John Linder's words: "The Church pated in protests against a nuclear government policies. He became the U.S. government killed my brother. power plant near Portland. At age 17, first U.S. volunteer to share the fates of The Contras killed my brother. Ronald he conveyed gentleness and a quiet many thousands of Nicaraguan civil- Reagan says he is a Contra. My brother's Episcopal determination that remained with him. ians murdered by the Contras. death was not an accident. His death the When our paths crossed again in the was policy." of Such carnage is likely to increase early '80s, he said he'd become very during the next several months. Early Yet Contra boosters may find it more concerned about the situation in Cen- this year, Contra leaders say, their disquieting to consider the statement

Archives tral America. troops were down to a few bullets per issued by former Contra leader Edgar For people who knew Ben even week. But a new infusion of U.S. aid Chamorro in the wake of Ben Linder's 2020. slightly, the media accounts inevitably has brought a wealth of ammo and death. seem pale. No narrative can dispel the much else. Now the blood will flow "The Central Intelligence Agency is painful noncomprehension of his death. again in torrents. very much in control of the Contras," Copyright Why would anyone want to kill Ben Ben Linder caught some of the first Chamorro said. "The CIA is sending a for working to provide electricity to a shrapnel of the resupplied Contra army. message to those in the international small village in an impoverished We may never know whether the fusil- community who provide political sup- country? In a personal context, it makes lade that killed him was financed by port for Nicaragua that they are no no sense. At a political level, however, profits from the U.S. arms sales to Iran, longer safe there. The CIA and the or one of the private funding sources Contras are killing the best, the people from North America, or a CIA conduit who want the best for Nicaragua." Norman Solomon is a Portland-based writer, co- author of Killing Our Own: The Disaster of Amer- developed by Lt. Col. Oliver North Ben was one of those people. That's ica's Experience With Atomic Radiation (Dell). when he was running amok in the why he's dead. •

10 THE WITNESS Nicaraguan women, and children, too: When tears are not enough by Mary Lou Suhor Wee were headed from Managua to Yali, near the Nica- For example, she launched a U.S. appeal to help the ragua-Honduras border, on March 6, and had stopped at 15,000 war orphans in Nicaragua, to which there was little the fourth military checkpoint enroute to see if any Contra objection. Then she could raise the question — Why do activity had been reported in the area. war orphans exist? — and move on to enlightening audi- A bearded Sandinista, rifle in hand, circled our van ences about the role of U.S. intervention in Central bearing an AMNLAE insignia, designating it as a vehicle America. of the Nicaraguan women's association. Examining its Herconsciousness raising was so successful that church passengers, he showed no outward curiosity, but must women were eventually to provide funds for a new Toyota publication. have wondered why an international delegation of 20 van for AMNLAE, which, coincidentally arrived during and women, most from the United States, was heading deeper our visit. We were told by Silvia McKewans of the into the war zone. As we proceeded, some soldiers waved AMNLAE directorate that on its first journey it trans- reuse back at us; one spit at the van. ported Miskito women from the Atlantic Coast to Mana- for The angry soldier could not know how much we gringas gua's International Women's Day festivities. on the van understood his gesture. No matter howpeaceful Our delegation was also donating a $5,000 check for war

required our intentions, that Nicaraguan soldier would be protect- orphans, boxes of furry toys, and school supplies. ing us from Contras outfitted by our own country to carry Youth is a hallmark of Nicaragua. Even its revolution is on a bloody war. only in its eighth year. Nicaragua has a population of 3Vi Our destination was a war orphanage in Yali, where we million people. The median age is 15, and 1 million are Permission would be distributing toys and supplies. We were a dele- under 8 years old. The Contra war has orphaned thou- gation of church women in Nicaragua to bury the ashes of sands of those children. It has also been responsible for DFMS.

/ a remarkable U.S. feminist and ecumenist, Sister Marjorie 2,000 amputees, the majority of whom are women and Tuite, who had befriended Nicaragua during 14 visits and children. was much loved in that country. But activist that she was, In Yali we caught up with some of war's victims. Since Church Marjorie would never have brought an ecumenical dele- the school year was between sessions, children converged gation to Central America just to bury her remains without around us, clowning for the cameras. putting us through the paces of an unforgettable six days.

Episcopal Then Maria Lourdes Taleno, the psychologist in charge At the end of our brief stay, we had not only met the war the

of orphans, but also with women's delegations from Mata- galpa and Yali; attended International Women's Day activities in Managua; visited a Granada law office named Archives after Tuite which advocated forwomen's rights; stayed in a barrio and shared the plight of the people who were with- 2020. out water for three days; visited Christian base communi- ties which hosted Margie's ashes; met with women in government structures; and oh, yes, participated in Mar- Copyright jorie's burial. She would have loved it. Marjorie Tuite, a Dominican nun, was ecumenical action officer for Church Women United and coordinator of the National Association for Religious Women when she died in June of last year. She had a reputation for Nicaraguan war orphans anticipate contents of making connections to help women understand how vari- gifts being opened by ous types of oppressions are linked. She was a good judge U.S. women's delega- of their political awareness, and would lead them to more tion. See reactions next sophisticated levels of analysis. page.

June 1987 of Yali's orphanage, appeared. She is 25 years old, and when construction on the site is complete, she will be supervising a project caring for 150 boys and girls, aged 7 to 15, orphaned by war. Forty children have already arrived. Administered by the Nicaraguan Department of Social Welfare, the project offers total care as well as part-time care for local children who have family in the area but need supervision while adults work. Psychiatric treatment is provided for children traumatized by the death of one or both parents, or by torture, or by some other war horror. Children relate to families in the area in a process similar to adoption, and their progress is monitored for six months. Clearly, at 25 Taleno faces a situation that would challenge an experienced senior in her profession. publication. Before leaving, we presented our gifts. The children's and faces, the wonderment in their eyes when the furry animals appeared, will live with us forever. But even as I photo- reuse graphed the happy scene, tears threw me out of focus as I for realized that a teddy bear would never replace a lost parent. And we strongly needed to press Marjorie's

required question, Why, indeed, are there war orphans? Enroute back to Managua we discovered Juana Cen- teno, 52 years old and the mother of 13 children (the average Nicaraguan woman has between five and six). Top to bottom: Toys from Permission Juana is one of six women who launched a restaurant in U.S. women delight orphans, as Maria Lourdes Taleno, Matagalpa named "Heroes and Martyrs Anonymous," in their director, distributes DFMS.

/ honor of those who died and are still dying for their furry animals; Juana Centeno country. and son Guillermo, 13; in so- She quietly appeared before Mireya Silva, our AMNLAE ciodrama, Nicaraguans tell Church guide, and asked if she might tell how she and her friends U.S. visitors, "all we hear is blah, blah, blah and the war had set up the people's comedor in which she had just goes on." served us a lunch of tortillas, beans and salad. Episcopal Juana's daughters had gone to the mountains with rifles the

of to fight with the Sandinistas against Somoza. She lost one of her 13 children in the revolution. Each member of her restaurant collective had experienced personal losses Archives during the war, and had made a pact to take care of each other. "From that moment, we took our place in the new 2020. society," she said. They received some financial aid from Holland, thanks to workers from that country who stopped in to eat. "We work from 6 in the morning to 8 at night, and Copyright we have been so successful that we are about to open another business," she said. She made a plea to our group: "In each country where we live there has to be a light for those who live in darkness. Transmit that light. Do not acccept bad government or you will become part of the human evil. Carry the message to your people from this collective that here we have all kinds of freedom, including religious freedom. No one here manipulates anyone." It was apparent that Juana was not accustomed to

12 THE WITNESS addressing visiting delegations from abroad. Her voice soared. Here we reveled, watching trucks and buses and trembled throughout, although she spoke without hesi- vans disgorge women in droves from every province who tation. A member of our group commented, as we left, how had come to celebrate their unity, strength, sex, and the Juana Centeno was typical of the women we had met fruits of their work. whose message compels them to speak out. "Two buttons The women carried banners and slogans and many were missing from her blouse, her hair was a bit disheveled provinces brought musicians to announce their arrival. from long work hours. Compare this to the women who Our group, carrying tiny flags reading "Delegation meet foreign delegations in the States — concerned about Marjorie Tuite," had seats of honor among visiting inter- their appearance, well-groomed, anxious about their self- national delegations. image. I think of Nancy Reagan as the anorexic, well Music and chanting rocked the sports coliseum where coiffed symbol of these women," she said. the event was held. A dancer supporting a 12-foot papier The next day we had a dramatic meeting in Matagalpa mache figure of a woman entertained the crowd. Nicara- with women who painfully shared their stories of death, guan officials headed by Tomas Borge, minister of the mutilation, torture, and kidnapped loved ones at the interior and last living member of the FSLN, filed in with publication. hands of the Contras. Most of us had heard or read such women delegates. Sandinista Council member Bayardo

and accounts, but to look into the eyes of our Nicaraguan Arce left the procession and danced through a selection sisters as they described their grief— one had lost six sons with an AMNLAE official, to the crowd's delight. But the reuse — was like being operated on without anesthetic. Josefa festivities had a more serious side. for Echevarria, Angela Justan, Soltera Martinez, Esperanza Nicaraguan women had comprised more than one third Cruz and a long litany of others testified to war's demonic of the Revolutionary Sandinista Army which toppled manifestations. Somoza. Yet they still experience job discrimination, vio- required Then the meeting took a surprise turn. The Nicaraguan lence in the home and sexual abuse in a traditionally women put on a sociodrama that anticipated our response macho society. The Sandinistas have done much to trans- — portraying caricatures of women who. had come their form Nicaragua since Somoza's overthrow—women have Permission way before, had promised to go home and work for peace benefited most from literacy, programs, health care and — yet the war raged on. The stereotypes of the sincere day care. But they still work a double day, inside and

DFMS. outside the home, and many have been deserted by their / activist, who vowed opposition to U.S. intervention; the copious note taker who put down every word, pledging to men. Overall, 48% of families are headed by women; in publicize Nicaragua's plight; the ethnic radical who de- urban areas, the figure rises to 60%. Some 85% of single Church clared solidarity — were all acted out by the women with mothers work. such amazing accuracy that we could recognize them in While women presently hold down a majority of health Spanish before our interpreter translated the dialogue. care and civil defense jobs, they are underrepresented in Episcopal "All this blah, blah, blah," our translator ended, "and the government leadership posts, filling only 31% of these the

of war simply continues." positions. One of the most notable women leaders is Com- And when the delegations returned to the safety of the mander Doris Tijerino, head of the Sandinista police force United States, the Nicaraguan women had only to look and Vice Minister of the Interior. Archives forward to further visiting delegations to whom they were Women comprise 25% of the unionized Nicaraguan invited to tell their painful stories all over again — only workers, but focus their concerns differently. In a recent 2020. now the stories recounted additional deaths, more women study by the Rural Workers Association, (ATC) one widowed, further destruction. woman worker expressed it this way: "Men want pay raises We responded as best we could, with nervous laughter to drink more or to keep a mistress. Women are concerned Copyright during the drama (I recognized myself as the copious note about social wages, distribution centers to provide basic taker) and later with tears, sharing stories of our own goods for their families, health clinics, schools and run- arrests, civil disobedience, participation in demonstrations, ning water so they don't have to walk miles to a river to as we tried to convey how much of a struggle this was, wash clothes." trying to change U.S. policy. The sociodrama unzipped a Part two of this article will describe the latest Sandinista lot of frustration about the war, both from us and from proposal to bring about a more just society for women; the them. work of the women's lawoffice in Granada, and the burial In welcome contrast, International Women's Day in of Marjorie Tuite's ashes in a Nicaraguan cemetery of Managua uncorked an air of festivity as womanspirit heroes and martyrs. •

June 1987 13 A Nicaraguan History

„ „ Nicaragua is settled by Indians from Mexico and the Caribbean who Source: Quixote Center, Hyattsville, Md. 75 n.C. iive together in racial harmony for 1500 years. The Sandinista National Liberation Front (F.S.L.N.) forms. The party is named in memory of Cesar Sandino. Catholic Delegates of • C02 Columbus lands in Nicaragua and claims the west coast as a colony tne Mord and ISW* of Spain. The English colonize the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua. 1961 local peasants join FSLN members in peaceful protests against Somoza rule across the countryside. Peaceful ISOO- Nicaragua lives under colonial rule. Host of the native protests are brutally repressed by the National Guard. Nicaraguan population is wiped out by disease, killed in 1800 conquest, or traded to other countries as slaves by Spanish and Ambitious Anastasio Somoza, Jr. takes power from his older British colonists. 1967 moderate brother, Luis. He claims the presidency and resumes the tight control his father exercised. 1821 Nicaragua gains independence from Spain. An earthquake destroys the capital city of Managua. The present day Central American nations of Guatemala, Honduras, o_. Foreign relief pours in from all over the world. The money never 1838 El Salvador, Costa Rica and Nicaragua unite to form a short-lived 1972 reaches the victims of the quake. Somoza and the National Guard republic. keep most of it for themselves.

jyjid United States seeks exclusive rights to build an interoceanic Hatred for Somoza grows in all sectors of Nicaraguan society. The publication. 1977- FSLN peasant-based resistance becomes full scale armed rebellion. canal across Nicaragua. U.S. mining and fruit companies Tne 1800s appropriate land and set up multinationals. IO7O National Guard massacres civilians, bombs schools and and •*"'" hospitals and destroys factories, following Somoze's orders. William Walker, a U. S. military adventurer from Tennessee, Casualties from the war climb to 100,000. „ leads a force of mercenaries into Nicaragua and proclaims himself reuse 1X56 president—a presidency which the United States government Opposition by peasants gains support of business, labor and for recognizes as legitimate. Eventually, Walker is run out of July, church people. This broad-based coalition forces Somoza out of Nicaragua by populist forces. jgyg the country. Members of the National Guard also flee, but not before looting the National Treasury and leaving Nicaragua with a 400 U.S. Marines invade Nicaragua to overthrow its president— huge foreign debt. required 1909 Jose Zelaya--and to install Adolfo Oiaz, the United States' choice for president. People form New Nicaraguan Government of National Reconstruction. 1980 UNESCO and World Health Organization praise Nicaragua's efforts U.S. marines occupy Nicaragua for 20 years to keep Diaz in power. to improve health care and literacy levels. 1912 * peasant, Cesar Au gusto Sandino, leads popular opposition to the Bands of counter-revolutionaries, largely consisting of Somoza's

Permission marines presence, challenging the U.S. forces until they finally leave in 1933. former National Guard, begin attacking Nicaraguan border 1981 villages. The "contra" army is conceived, directed and armed by Before the marines withdraw from Nicaragua, they train an armed the United States Central Intelligence Agency.

DFMS. 1933 native Nicaraguan National Guard and set up Antonio Somoza Garcia / as its commander. 1984 Nicaragua holds its first free elections.

/O7v Somoza executes Sandino and 300 prominent Sandinistas and assumes The U.S. government appropriates $27 million 1n "humanitarian" 7OJK a1d for the "contra" sr"y attacking Nicaragua. The Nicaraguan Church total control of Nicaragua. •*"*" government responds by filing against the United States in the IQTJ Somoza takes personal ownership of most of the resources of World Court. '"•**' Nicaragua. As he builds up his family wealth to an estimated $500 1956 million dollars, Nicaragua peasants become some of the poorest Numerous reports surface of gross human rights violations by the "contras." The U.S. government appropriates $100 million 1n Episcopal people In the world. /ftftf logistical military aid for the contras. Meanwhile, the World the 1956 Anastasio Somoza 1s assassinated. Luis, his oldest son, takes Court rules in favor of Nicaragua in their case against the of power. United States. Archives 'Come and get me' get me, coppers, you'll never take me alive. by any peaceful method, at least what they If there is one thing I learned about myself Call it being selective, call it common sense, get will be their own, and not the American 2020. during the Vietnam experience it is that I'll be call it the legacy of Vietnam. style, which they don't want and above all damned if I'll send my son to die on foreign Clark DeLeon don't want crammed down their throats by soil for some political notion of the party in The Philadelphia Inquirer 1/5/87 Americans.

Copyright power. Believe me, this has nothing to do General David Shoup with lack of patriotism. In fact, it has every- Commander, U.S. Marine Corps thing to do with patriotism. I can show no Quote of note 1960-63 and winner greater love of my country than byfighting to I believe that if we had and would keep our of Congressional Medal of Honor keep its young alive. dirty, bloody, dollar-soaked fingers out of these nations so full of depressed, exploited Surprising statistic At the same time, I know myself, I'm anti- people they will arrive at a solution of their By the year 2000,83% of all young people war, but I'm not a pacifist If it's Dec. 8,1941 own... and if unfortunately their revolution between ages 15 to 24 will be living in Asia, — I'm there. But Vietnam? Laos? Cambodia? must be of the violent type because the Africa and Latin America. Nicaragua? El Salvador? Hah! Come and "haves" refuse to share with the "have nots" Maryknoll 3/87

14 THE WITNESS Quixote Center's 'Quest': Waging peace in Nicaragua

. group which takes its name from plies by June 1986. an "impractical" dreamer is waging a Today, donations toward the new $ 100 peaceful campaign against the Reagan million goal come from all over the Administration's policies in Nicaragua. United States. At the Center's ware- The Quixote Center — named after the house, the supplies are gathered and Staffer Kathy Lewis great romantic figure of Spanish liter- shipped to Nicaragua. To handle the Quest for Peace ature, Don Quixote — is carrying out flow on the other side, the Quixote 80 million aspirins, along with basic publication. an ambitious program of humanitar- Center built two warehouses on the medical supplies like gauze and band- ian aid to the people of Nicaragua. and campus of the Jesuit University of ages, were distributed among Nica- The program — Quest for Peace — is Central America in Managua. Distri- ragua's poor. reuse a massive relief effort, coordinated by bution of supplies throughout Nicaragua The Quixote Center also gives as- for the Center, and designed to counteract is coordinated by the University's Insti- sistance to self-help projects in Nica- U.S. support for the Contra rebels, tute of John XXIII. ragua. When the Center learned that 70 whose constant attacks have caused The aid is chiefly destined for Nica- Nicaraguan women were trying to oper- required widespread suffering and destruction ragua's rural poor, who most often bear ate a pottery co-op and fruit canning of civilian lives and property in Nic- the brunt of Contra attacks. And the factory outside the city of Esteli, the aragua. supplies are distributed directly to those Center helped them find materials to Permission According to staffer Kathy Lewis the in need, instead of being passed through build kilns and contributed $8,000 to Quixote Center, based in the Washing- agencies or government offices. Typi- the project. The project's aim is to build a

DFMS. ton, D.C. area, is "a broad-based faith- cally, a person connected with a church facility that will produce ceramic can- / oriented organization involved in mak- or community group is responsible for ning pots to use in preserving the tons ing connections with people in Nica- delivering the supplies to his or her of fruit produced yearly that would Church ragua." A program like Quest for Peace, village. Small regional warehouses and otherwise rot. The pots and also cer- whose current goal is to match the $ 100 resource people have also been estab- amic tableware will be produced using million in recently appropriated Con- lished throughout the countryside, so appropriate technology. Since the war Episcopal gressional aid to the Contras with food, that aid can be rushed as quickly as makes the supply of electricity unre- the clothing and medical supplies, is "an possible to rural communities after a liable, the factory will use manually- of opportunity for people of faith to resist Contra attack. powered potters' wheels and wood-fired U.S. government policies in creative Quest is careful to consider needs kilns and stoves.

Archives and productive ways." As of May 1, the and to give aid that is appropriate. For The Center has also collected seeds Quest had received $35 million in dona- example, Nicaragua suffers from a and other agricultural supplies to en- 2020. tions towards the $100 million goal, chronic shortage of medical supplies able the people to grow their own food, Lewis told THE WITNESS. due to the Contra war, the U.S. trade and has helped build medical clinics The Quixote Center first appealed to embargo against Nicaragua, and lack and hospitals throughout Nicaragua. Copyright U.S. groups and concerned individuals of foreign capital to buy supplies. In The Center constantly solicits dona- to donate medical supplies for ship- 1985, it was reported that there was tions of medical supplies of anything ment to Nicaragua in 1983. By 1984, almost no aspirin to be had in Nica- from blood bags to centrifuges to keep $2.4 million in donated supplies had ragua. the hospitals and clinics operating. been sent to Nicaragua. In the summer The Quixote Center immediately Other programs coordinated by the of 1985, when Congress voted to send started a campaign to ship 5 to 10 Center include "Project: Clean Your $27 million in aid to the Contras, the million aspirin tablets to Nicaragua. Desks," which asks U.S. students to Center launched Quest for Peace, and Donations poured in from people donate spare school supplies such as collected $27 million in donated sup- throughout the United States, and over paper and pencils, which are so scarce

June 1987 15 in Nicaragua that students must often of supplies, was "a wonderful celebra- and questioned its right to a non-profit take notes in the margins of old news- tion," said Lewis. "It was very empower- status. In December 1986, two U.S. papers. ing to put action behind the protest in a Customs agents armed with subpeonas The work of the Quixote Center and concrete way. Bishop Gumbleton blessed appeared, demanding all the records the Quest for Peace has received sup- each load before we sent it," she said. — financial, shipping and correspond- port from religious groups across the While the Center serves as a clearing ence — of Quest for Peace on the United States Roman Catholic Bishop house and shipping point for Quest for grounds that they were searching for Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit is a Peace donations, Lewis explained that evidence that Quest was a cover for national spokesperson for Quest for the staff would also like to see groups arms smuggling to Nicaragua via Costa Peace, and Quest has received endorse- shipping donations themselves. Rica. ments from prominent Episcopalians. "We find that it's not hard to raise The Center staff — with the help of Kathy Lewis, herself an Episcopalian humanitarian aid. People can raise that the Center for Constitutional Rights in and the daughter of WITNESS con- more easily than money," she said. But New York City and U.S. Congress people tributing editor Jim Lewis, noted that she pointed out that the cargo con- Steny Hoyer and Barbara Mikulski — publication. Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Brown- tainers necessary to do the shipping was able to head off Customs seizure of and ing and Bishop Paul Moore of New are expensive — $6500 a piece — and the records. When Customs finally York and John Walker of Washington fund raising is necessary to get the aid reviewed the inventory of supplies, it reuse have all been supportive of Quest for to Nicaragua. was found that none of the items vio- for Peace. Sometimes even when supplies are lated the U.S. embargo on shipping to Quest for Peace recently got a big found, controversy arises when funds Nicaragua. required boost from religious and peace groups are solicited to ship them. Lewis cites The Center eventually wants to be- during the April 25 Mobilization for the example of what happened when come less involved in the shipping of Peace and Justice in Central America her father found a donor with a ware- supplies to Nicaragua and more in- and South Africa in Washington, D.C. house full of medical supplies in North volved in helping groups do their own Permission A caravan of 42 trucks, filled with Carolina. shipping and keeping track of Quest donations, traveled from 21 states to be "He got $5,500 towards shipping costs activities around the country. The DFMS.

/ part of the protest against Reagan from Episcopalian donors, but there Center is always in need of donations Administration policies. The trucks, was some controversy. After all, North to carry on its work. Monetary contri- some from as far away as Alaska, drove butions, or questions about materials Church Carolina is Jesse Helms country", she along the Mobilization march route said. to be shipped to Nicaragua (do not and then delivered their cargoes to the The U.S. government has cast a send any supplies without querying Center's warehouse. Episcopal doubtful eye on the Center and Quest about packaging) can be addressed to: The Quixote Center, P.O. Box 5206, the The resulting "packing party," which for Peace activities. The Internal Rev- of yielded three tractor trailer-sized loads enue Service has audited the Center, Hyattsville, MD 20782. (301) 699-0042. •

Archives Vignettes from recent sojourners to Nicaragua 2020. A visit to Radio Insurrection magnet. stations, boasting a union with 850 working Before the earthquake in 1972, houses I entered the lobby, introduced myself members. stood in the now empty lot across from the and asked to speak to the station manager. The station broadcasts 24 hours. Its pro- Copyright Cathedral in Matagalpa. Somoza didn't He came at once, an obliging gentleman grams include international, national and bother rebuilding the damaged areas and, who, without hesitation, accommodated my local news, music, practical information for since the revolution, Daniel Ortega has had request to see the broadcasting facilities. women and for campesinos. Some programs other priorities. Today the cleared lot is an A young woman engineer was trans- are educational and informational. One, for early morning marketplace. mitting a taped newscast. The control room example, stresses the importance of punctu- After a 6 a.m. weekday Mass, I stood on was tight and the small studio was dark. ality and time management Another focuses the Cathedral steps noting the patience of Javier Ramos Rugama had studied com- on health care. In general, the station aims to those who waited to buy oranges, onions munications at the Sandino Institute. After advance the policies and goals of the Sandi- and carrots. Then, looking toward a row of graduation 15 years ago he worked in radio, nista government. nearby buildings, I saw an antenna and a and is now with the state-owned radio sta- Consonant with that is the station's effort sign: Radio Insurreccidn. For me it was a tion in Matagalpa — one of 17 syndicated to discover local artists, poets, crafts ex-

16 THE WITNESS perts. Reporters from the radio stations longtermers) arrived from six dusty days Many memories of La Posolera stand out attend festivals in the towns and country- without lights or water for showers in San vividly. Our meeting base was a school — a sides to identify people who contribute to Juan del Rio Coco. When we opened the one-room building with simple desks, and a the culture or who are able to share the door, Bob said not a word but marched past small blackboard. The school windows were collective memories of a region. Those indi- us for the shower like a man possessed. He covered with chain-link fencing so that viduals are invited to the radio station to was lucky— 15 minutes later the lights went grenades could not be thrown in. I recall express their interests. From 1 to 3 p.m. out. On subsequent occasions we would be seeing the face of another member of our members of the audience are encouraged wiser, rushing for the nearest water faucet, delegation drop as we heard this. His face to call in their questions and reactions — buckets in hand, the moment the lights failed. reflected the pain I felt in my gut. On the perhaps to debate. According to Ramos We just forgot that the water in Estelf is walls of the school were the names of "the Rugama this participatory radio allows pumped electrically! The Contras blow up fallen," seven killed in a Contra attack on the Nicaraguans to air their tensions, to recog- an electric tower and our priorities quickly village last April, and in a Contra ambush of nize their own creative citizens and to learn present themselves with great clarity. First one of the village trucks in September. One from the experience of publicly voicing their and most important is water to drink. After of the victims of the April attack was a 70- opinions. that, everything is luxury... clean clothes, year-old man whom the Contras took while "You look across the open lot to the clean dishes, clean bodies, clean floors, he was bathing just outside the camp. He Cathedral," I said. "What is your relation- clean toilets all so much vanity except was later found beheaded and dismem- publication. ship with the Catholic Church?" for the blessed liquid which heals the-dusty, bered in the hills outside the village. We and "It depends," he answered. "The pastor, parched throat. were free to move about the area, but were Padre Guillermo Frenzel is of German de- Estelf is a city of 70,000 people, in a cautioned to keep aware of the nearest reuse scent, but was born here. When he has time region of 320,000, all without lights or water bomb-shelter. One family had two bomb-

for on Sundays, he has access to the station. In when the power lines are blown. So, the next shelters, one was obvious, and one was the program Christ Today, he speaks about morning at five, off we went bleary-eyed in a hidden from view — this was because in the the Scriptures. He announces the sacra- neighbor's truck with pails and buckets past the Contras had been known to throw grenades into bomb shelters with women required mental events and church activities for the from the entire neighborhood. A relative of coming week." our landlady had a small farm on the out- and children. "What about the claims by Cardinal skirts of the city. The farm had a hand-drawn With all these emotionally packed days Obando y Bravo that the church is experi- well. People face days without lights or water behind us, it was good to do some physical

Permission encing censorship and persecution?" I by sharing and organizing in their neighbor- work. One morning we stacked truckloads pressed. hoods. of lumber where the villagers were planning "I respectthecardinal," he replied. "I don't Our most recent (and fourth) such exper- to build new houses and a day-care center. DFMS.

/ see him as an enemy. The cardinal and other ience was this March, again during the The government had dropped the wood off, members of the hierarchy have their own hottest, driest month. When the Contras blow but we had to carry it to the building sites. interests to protect. Their primary interest is up electric towers, it just makes life tougher The next day we helped villagers clear

Church the institutional church. We understand that." here. People must use the river, which is a shrubs, grass, and small trees off the hill that The political clash between the Catholic cesspool in the dry season. Children get led down into the village. The Contras had hierarchy and the Sandinista government is sick. Coffee processing plants stop. Gas come in from these hills during the April undeniable, he explained. "But that does not stations can't pump gas. Health problems, attack, and the villagers wanted to clear Episcopal affect my relationship with God or lessen my more transportation difficulties, more eco- away any cover the Contras could use. the faith. I am solidly with the revolution, but I go nomic losses. All of this becomes for the Our last morning in La Posolera, we took of to Mass and practice my religion. The priests Nicaraguans not a prelude to surrender or part in their Sunday liturgy. As part of the are themselves divided. Some see religion revolt but rather another opportunity for more service, our delegation made crosses which as a form of liberation; others as a way of sharing, organizing, ingenuity, patience, we carried to the places where the men had Archives controlling the faithful." determination, heroic deeds by ordinary fallen during the attack, and to the homes of — Camille D'Arienzo, R.S.M. workers.... and even more humor. those killed in the ambush of the village

2020. Brooklyn, N.Y. — Jim & Lucy Phillips-Edwards truck. As we prayed, accompanied by many Marjorie Tuite Delegation 3/5-10,1987 Esteli, Nicaragua of the villagers, I became aware of how real Witness for Peace this "way of the cross" was for these people, our friends, the families of "the fallen." The Copyright Searching for water reading of the Gospel that Sunday was from Too often we find ourselves at Nicaraguan With La Posolera refugees the first chapter of John, where the Baptist wakes, funerals or memorial services, and From Waslala we traveled about 7 kilome- points out "the Lamb of God," the innocent the painful process of taking testimonies ters to a refugee resettlement village of La lamb whose suffering would bring redemp- from survivors often follows. Some days we Posolera. The village had about 300 people, tion even to those who put him to death. spend looking for water at least half of them must have been under Perhaps, I thought, the innocent suffering of The first day we experienced a water 12. For some, this was the third village they the people of Nicaragua might help bring search was last March, the hottest, driest had moved to in hopes of protection from redemption to the people of North America. month of the Nicaraguan year. We were in the Contras. While in La Posolera we lived — The Rev. Mike Fedewa the Witness for Peace house in Esteli. At 9 with families, interviewed — as always — Battle Creek, Mich. a.m., Frank, Sara, and Bob (three WFP and did some physical work. WFP Delegation 1 /10-22,1987

June 1987 17 — the struggle ALutaContinua continues by Barbara C. Harris

Human suffering — new growth industry

iet's hear it for that good old Amer- New York's Upper East Side, Chicago's tive, the person's name will be entered ican entreprenuerial spirit that has American AIDS-Free Association, on the "national registry" and he or she publication. spawned myriad business ventures from Compatibles of South Burlington, Vt, will be sent a laminated card with and A to Z: art-by-the-yard, belly button and Adults in Distress (AIDS, get it?) name, specimen date and validation brushes (mink), frisbees and hula in suburban Dallas. number. "AIDS-safe" is emblazoned reuse hoops to mini-marts, porn palaces, on the card. for Peace of Mind Club offers an AIDS tanning salons and zip-lock freezer testing package for $99 which includes By contrast Ampersand does not bags, which neither zip nor lock. That a red-plastic laminated card with photo hand out cards, offers no discounts nor required spirit is alive and well and currently does it organize any social events. In thriving on human suffering. ID and reads AIDS Tested Only. A white card, however, which sells for this dating service, applicants fill out a Two of the latest fast buck enter- $349 indicates that the person has been five-page biography and make a video-

Permission prises on the American scene vie for tested for AIDS and ten other social tape of themselves that other Amper- top honors in the area of gross insensi- diseases. A top of the line gold card sand members can watch. The only tivity. Prime candidates for the "Marie difference is that to become a member DFMS. shows that the person has been tested / Antoinette Let 'em eat Cake Award" for all diseases every three months. you must bring a statement from your are the creator and marketer of Bag Cost, a modest $649. doctor attesting that you have tested

Church Lady Dolls and the whiz kids who are negative to AIDS within the last six trying to sell reassurance to an AIDS- A Detroit barmaid found that her months. Cost — only $600. worried heterosexual community with $99 Peace of Mind card also entitles Holding to the private enterprise

Episcopal questionable testing schemes and state her to a minimum 10% discount at of the art "AIDS-safe" dating services. more than three dozen area merchants, theory that bigger is better, these fledg- the ling operators are already talking fran- of The Bag Lady Doll scam purports to including a popular local bar, a tan- ning salon and a limousine service. chise operations and cartel. For $25,000, raise consciousness about the plight of prospective investors can own 49% of a the homeless while charging anywhere The outfit, in business a little over three Archives months, already has held a full scale Peace of Mind chapter with 51% re- from $40 to over $100 for shabbily tained by the Detroit owners. Says one dressed caricatures of a growing num- social event and slated for the future 2020. are Peace of Mind Cruises, rafting trips of the owners, "Once we put together a ber of women in this country. The cartel we can open up a city in 29 days." Boston-based manufacturer, his own and holistic health services. Six per- consciousness presumably heightened, cent of all revenues, Peace of Mind As with any marketing transaction Copyright even sent a whopping $100 contribu- owners claim, will be donated to AIDS — caveat emptor. Who does the testing? tion to Rosie's Place, a local shelter for research. How private are the results? What's to the homeless. With equal aplomb, The National Voluntary Immune stop someone from sending in some- Rosie's Place returned his largesse Registry in Tacoma, Wash, will ship a one else's specimen or simply printing with a thanks, but no thanks. "specimen mailer" to anyone who up a batch of phony cards? Meanwhile, in the brave new world sends them $30. The idea is that a sam- Such marketing schemes seldom, if of AIDS entrepreneurs, posh offices ple of blood sent back to Tacoma is ever, are guided by ethical concerns, house such outfits as suburban Detroit's tested for the presence of the AIDS and this should give the community Peace of Mind Club, Ampersand on anti-body. If the test results are nega- much pause. •

18 THE WITNESS Honduras: Launchpad for war by Denise Stanley

1 hie continuing war in Nicaragua between the San- Atlantic Coast. And the 1987 General Terencio Sierra exer- dinistas and the U.S.-backed Contra forces has exacted a cises involve National Guardsmen, U.S. Army regulars, heavy toll from the Nicaraguan people. But the Contra war and Honduran personnel. The National Guardsmen will has also drawn in neighboring countries. One of these is come from 11 states in groups of 500-600 to serve in two Honduras — often looked upon as a U.S. puppet in week rotations, involving some 5,000 U.S. Guardsmen. Central America. I believe that the Honduran people have Explaining the need for a large military force in Honduras, publication. received insufficient attention as pawns in the geopolitical U.S. Gen. John Galvin said, "Our presence is necessary to

and conflict. In this article, I will address three controversial demonstrate to the Sandinistas that they should stay at political-economic issues, from the perspective of one who home. U.S. forces are ready to fight shoulder-to-shoulder reuse has served in the field as a missionary. They represent with the Hondurans." for common misconceptions often portrayed in the media, or The object of joint exercises, says the military, is to by the Administration and lobby groups. "acclimatize U.S. troops to the zone and improve cultural

required relations between the two countries." Improving relations Myth #1: The U.S. military presence is helping the is achieved by providing medical services to nearby Hondurans. villagers and undertaking small community projects such Americans have traditionally reached out to those in as digging wells and repairing roads. Permission need. Our country has provided aid to Central Americans for many years. But more recently, under the premise of In spite of goodwill gestures, Honduran reactions to the providing protection from "communist" Nicaragua across U.S. soldiers are mixed. In Comayagua, near the Palmerola DFMS. / the border, there has been a growing U.S. military presence base serving as coordinating center for U.S. military in Honduras. As a missionary concerned about peace and activities, prostitution has increased, there are rumors that soldiers engage in sex with minors, and the spread of AIDS Church justice, my interest lies in how best to support the im- poverished campesinos. And the vast sums of money the has scandalized the nation. Protest marches and denun- United States is pouring into the local economy through ciations by public figures against U.S. military presence are more frequent. In the village of Yoro, where I lived for Episcopal military exercises and civic action programs is not an some time, U.S. soldiers and helicopters frightened some the effective way to help the rural poor. of villagers and offended others, but many of the village In the past six years, Honduras has received over $325 children played war games, imitated the soldiers, and million in U.S. military aid, with another $61.2 million set learned to panhandle money from foreigners. Archives for 1987. Since 1981, the United States and Honduras have Despite problems, a recent Gallup-U.S. Embassy poll conducted some 55 joint military exercises, and more than showed that 65% of urban Hondurans favored the U.S. 2020. 70,000 U.S. Army and National Guard troops have "toured" military presence. Also, many rural Hondurans consider Honduras. About 5,000 U.S. military personnel remain in anything from the United States to be superior to what Honduras at any given time, but that number grows during Honduras offers. Historically, the United States has Copyright maneuvers — as when 40,000 U.S. troops are scheduled to dominated Honduras socio-economically for years, so the participate in the 1987 Solid Shield exercises off the arrival of the U.S. military does not surprise people. On the surface, due to U.S. concern about poverty and Denise Stanley has lived and worked for several years in Honduras as possible communist influence in the region, military Missionary Associate with the United Church of Christ, and is currently a exercises with a humanitarian component appear logical. volunteer with CODE — an Ecumenical development agency founded in But as thoughtful Christians, we must look at long-term 1982 by several Honduran evangelical churches. CODE'S community development work concentrates on areas of health, agriculture, small effects — how the United States has militarized the industry, and training of village leaders, evangelical pastors, and Catholic country and created dependence on U.S. charity. Self-help lay workers. strategies and long term solutions are the most effective

June 1987 19 answers to Honduran problems, but increasing military $638.9 million in economic aid, administered by the dominance has made this impossible. For example, I Agency for International Development (AID). worked with a development program in Yoro which tried AID claimed that by 1986, its programs had helped to train local health workers. But the campesinos said it thousands gain employment, increased agricultural was better to visit the American doctors at the nearby Oso production, and vastly improved education, health, housing Grande Military camp. What will the people do for health and business. U.S. funding now exceeds 10% of the Hon- services when the Americans leave? duran gross national product. Civic action programs are part of of an overall military However, despite massive amounts of aid, the average strategy in Honduras — a public relations effort to win farmer and urban dweller are poorer than they were 10 "the hearts and minds of the people." From living among years ago. Between 1981-86, per capita income fell 14%. the campesinos, I know that most rural people look up to From personal experience, I know that many families in the U.S. military and the handouts. This, combined with the poorest regions eat only tortillas with salt, augmented, the popularity of violent movies like "Rambo" and "Top if at all, by a few beans. Honduran agriculture and live- Gun," and little exposure to newspapers or radio, has stock yields are among the lowest in Latin America. publication. conditioned the impoverished and mostly illiterate Housing loans are out of reach to the majority. An education and campesinos to accept U.S. demands. Now with increasing beyond the third grade is only a dream for most children, weapons stockpiles, the availability of airfields, and trans- and poor health is an accepted fact of life. reuse port facilities, Honduras is an ideal place from which to for Several reasons account for the large gap between the launch a war. Forced recruitment of Honduran youth, upbeat AID statistics and grim reality: taken from movie houses, street corners, buses, and even Corruption and biases in AID programs have been required church services, has increased. Further, the Honduran condemned by Honduran government officials, now military-defense budget continues at $135 million per questioning why the funds do not go to programs for the year, 10% of the budget, while health services are being cut, poor, but instead to wealthy private schools and business and Honduran poverty worsens. Permission associations. Reportedly, as much as 50% of the aid is And human rights organizations state that the militar- skimmed off for private gain, and ex-presidents and min- ization of Honduras has produced greater repression. Kid- isters have constructed luxurious homes with the funds. DFMS. / nappings, death threats, bombings, and torture of "com- AID's philosophy of emphasizing supply-side economics munist subversives" or those critical of the U.S. presence and free enterprise also does not benefit the rural and

Church now appear in the news. Reports of the arrest of Catholic urban poor. Agricultural exports and duty-free zones are Delegates of the Word (lay catechists) who were critical of promoted instead of basic food production and Honduran the U.S. military have been filed as well. government budget priorities are heavily influenced by

Episcopal If the U.S. presence leads to war, and Honduran blood is AID's National Development Plan for Honduras. the shed, the responsibility will be ours as American citizens. The final blow to the Honduran economy is the of Christians should be studying the legality of U.S. military continuing regional crisis. The Contra presence along the presence, the use of National Guard units in Honduras, border with Nicaragua has caused displacement of the funding of military construction sites. Study, prayer thousands of people and the loss of millions in coffee Archives and church reflection can be the first steps toward moving revenues. The Contras and U.S. troops in Honduras have

2020. beyond the myth of military presence as a positive contri- tarnished the country's image abroad and diverted foreign bution to peace in the area. investment. National savings have decreased, while capital flight to banks in Miami and Europe has increased. Myth #2: U.S. economic aid has helped the Honduran poor. Copyright Basically, there is a large gap between AID's desired The second poorest country in Central America and a goal of economic stability and the increasingly disruptive key U.S. ally, Honduras seems to be crying for U.S. aid. In influx of military aid and troops to the region. rural areas, approximately 70% of the people are mal- nourished, infant mortality is 128 per 1000, life expectancy Myth #3: The Contras are not a major problem in Hon- is age 60, 55% are illiterate and the average per capita duras. income is $162 (U.S.) per year. Americans are now familiar with the effects of the Contras To enhance stability and democratization of the region, on Nicaraguan people. Human rights organizations have the Kissinger Report on Central America recommended denounced and documented the numerous destructions increased aid. From 1981 to 1986 Honduras received of property, tortures, and murders carried out by the Contras

20 THE WITNESS in Nicaragua. This Contra activity alone leads one to of the Honduran Army officials to get a piece of that question U.S. financial support of these so-called "freedom business. This was followed by U.S. Rep. Michael Barnes' fighters." revelation that two large checks (one for $450,000) of the Often North American and European observers blame Contra humanitarian aid funds had been endorsed directly the Hondurans for "renting out" their territory for Contra to the Honduran Army. excursions. Internationally, the Honduran government Further, in late December, the Miami Herald revealed denies the Contra presence. But increasing numbers of that Israel had shipped arms to the Honduran Armed Hondurans are becoming anti-Contra as the negative effects Forces, who then sold them at a higher cost to the Contras. of the 15,000 Contra presence in their country become It was estimated that over $3.3 million in arms sent to more obvious. Honduras were routed to the Contras. For example, the Contra presence has caused the dis- The Contras are now very disliked within Honduras. placement of thousands of Honduran families along the Almost every government official, church worker, urban border, created more corruption in the Honduran military, professional and farm leader with whom I have spoken is and contributed to the rise of terrorism and human rights critical of the Contra presence. Paid advertisements by publication. violations. peasant organizations and worker unions against the

and The plight of the displaced has received much press Contras are common in the newspapers and three peace coverage in Honduras. By late 1986, over 15,000 Hondurans marches have taken place this year. Despite security risks, reuse had fled the zone along the Nicaraguan border. This area Hondurans are expressing their opinions on the issue of for was called "New Nicaragua" due to Contra military control, sovereignty. land and business purchases, and even the changing of As U.S. Christians, we must continue to protest the village names in the zone. Few government officials required destruction and loss the Contra war is causing to the complained, as the continued flow of U.S. aid was considered Nicaraguan people, but we should also include the effects essential. Finally, the displaced coffee growers of the zone the war has had on Hondurans. In both countries, innocent began to organize, and are planning to visit Washington, victims abound, and the present stalemate does not paint a Permission D.C. to demand indemnity for losses in the war zones. bright future. • The social effects on the Hondurans in the war zones DFMS. / have been great. Some 40-50,000 Nicaraguans have actually HOME moved into deserted houses; this civilian population — mostly Contra families — are considered refugees while The following was written by Anna Lee Stedman, a r

Church the Whitefish Peace Alliance in Columbia Falls, Mont, after the Hondurans remain displaced. Honduran farm families she spent five weeks in Nicaragua with groups of performing have had their livestock and crops stolen by the Contras, artists there. while some Hondurans have been killed or maimed by Home. Episcopal mines placed in the zone. I am here. Maybe the and I feel as though 1 will suffocate In the blubber of Earlier this year, the Honduran press ran contradictory of words around me stories on the departure of Contras in this zone, reporting or drown In a vat of attltudinal twinkles... that 400 Contras had moved back to Nicaragua and that These saccharine motives around me

Archives the Honduran army now controlled the area. However, the seem so whimsical that bitterness etches local Board of the coffee producers and the Committee of a smile on my mouth 2020. Displaced People denied that the zone was clean of Contras How I want to leave again. Just leave. Home. and fit for rehabitation. Most of the displaced Hondurans And when I try to say what I've seen and heard remain without adequate food, shelter and assurances that ft is often dismissed Copyright it is safe to return to their borderlands. blankly With regard to military corruption, recent revelations in missed and changed with the subject... the U.S. press and publication of the Tower Commission not always, but more often than not. And me feeling like a fish with the guts split open Report have created controversy within Honduras. In spilling on the rocks August, 1986, Honduran security forces stormed the house nerves flailing and banging away of Nationalist Party deputy Rodolfo Zelaya. This led to As though clinging to a past life, I lay investigation of his profitable supply network of "humani- peering at the knife with a glazed eye. tarian aid" (clothing, food, and some arms) to the Contras Anna Lee Stedman through his Supermarket Hermano Pedro and the desire

June 1987 21 THE WITNESS CELEBRATES 1937 to 1941:

YEARS MJy the end of the 1930s, the shadow of war was spread- THE WITNESS continued its tradition of informing ing across Europe and Asia. Americans watched with readers of social, religious and political conflicts and of the increasing apprehension as Hitler's armies swallowed up movements to address those wrongs. The magazine also country after country and the Japanese pushed further kept a watchful eye on the growing fascist movements across China. The United States hoped to stay out of war, around the world. It exposed the propaganda of lies and comforted by the fact that it was separated by two great hate propounded by anti-Semites like Charles Coughlin, a oceans from the troubles abroad. This country had its own Roman Catholic priest from Detroit whose radio sermons publication. problems to deal with. Unemployment was still wide- and writings railed against an "international Jewish con- spiracy." and spread, a legacy of the Great Depression. Thousands of dispossessed farmers and agricultural workers, as those Editor Bill Spofford also educated his readers about the reuse immortalized in John Steinbeck's 1939 novel. The Grapes of activities of the Dies Committee, the earliest form of the for Wrath, drifted across the West in search of a chance to House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). make a living. HUAC, which was set up to investigate "un-American" Labor was still struggling for workers' rights. During the activity by Communist, Fascist, Nazi and other organi- required winter of 1936-37, over 500,000 workers engaged in the new, zations, became a vehicle for "red-baiting" and harassing and illegal, tactic of sit-down strikes. In the violent Re- those who supported Socialist movements or stood up for public Steel strike, four workers were killed and 84 injured workers' and minority rights. Spofford, himself, was to be Permission in a confrontation with police and company strong-arm hounded by HUAC. men. The Roosevelt Administration, over the objections of But one of the greatest issues of the day, which pitted the

DFMS. conservatives and big business, began to respond to forces of progress against the forces of reaction, was the / workers' needs. The Fair Labor Standards Act, which Spanish Civil War. This conflict began in 1936 when right- raised the minimum wage, set lower maximum work hours wing forces rose up to overthrow the republican govern- Church and banned child labor, was passed in 1938. ment which had replaced a monarchy. It divided Amer- If fascism comes to U.S. everything indicates that the tide is run- the bridegroom might enjoy a happy

Episcopal If fascism comes to the United States it ning the other way today. honeymoon trip to the Orient. This the will not come through the action of the Fascism will not come to the United brought a letter from John Schomaker, of German-American Nazis or any other States through the preaching of Hitler's striking seaman, who addressed Miss group of hyphenated Americans, doctrines by German-Americans decked Dollar as follows: "The striking mari- charmed by foreign ideologies. It is out in uniforms and sam-brown belts. time workers are much interested in Archives more apt to come from men who boast The leadership will be in the hands of your father's public announcement of being 100% Americans. Our eco- those who, preaching an undefined expressing the hope that the strike may 2020. nomic system breaks down. The gov- "Hundred Per Cent Americanism" be settled in order that you and your ernment steps in to provide relief to the will probably vigorously denounce husband may have a honeymoon to millions who suffer. The cost runs into both Hitler and Mussolini, the while the Orient. Although none of us have

Copyright the billions. Taxes mount to cover the leading us into their camp. (William B. plans for extended honeymoons at sea, costs. Increased taxes threaten profits. Spofford 3/23/39) we do have reasons of our own for The time then comes when leaders of wanting strike settlement and we join business must choose between profits Re Dollars and sense your father in his wedding wish to you. and democracy. If they choose profits, R. Stanley Dollar, shipping magnate, We would like to get back to work and which I reluctantly say is probable, we gave away his daughter in marriage in those of us who are married would like have fascism, whether we call it by that an Episcopal Church in San Francisco once again to be able to supply our name or not. If they choose democracy the other day and before the service wives and children with adequate food, and freedom we will have more "New expressed the wish that the seamen's clothing and even some of the minor Deal" rather than less — and surely strike might end in order that she and comforts and luxuries of life. If you

22 THE WITNESS The roar of bombs by Susan E. Pierce

icans politically, socially and emotionally. spoke out against the Nazis. He followed Niemoller's case The Spanish Civil War was almost a holy crusade. The and urged his readers to be aware that there were many Republicans or Loyalists stood against Hitler and the others like Niemoller, interned in concentration camps Franco Fascists, corrupt priests of the immensely powerful because of their resistance to the Nazi regime. Catholic Church, landowners, the military elite, and other By 1940, THE WITNESS was openly calling the Amer- privileged. The Nationalists or Fascists were against ican people to wake up to the atrocities of the Fascists in Marxism, labor, the landless and opponents of the Church. Europe and the Japanese in Asia. Spofford condemned publication. THE WITNESS, fiercely Republican, recorded the suf- America's "look-the-other-way" isolationist stance and and ferings of the Spanish people and called on its readers to U.S. industry's willingness to make a quick buck by selling send aid and support to the Republican cause. arms and supplies to aggressor nations. THE WITNESS'S reuse pleas to Americans echoed the words of British author for Through reports of missionaries in the field, THE WITNESS brought news of the devastation wrought by the George Orwell, who wrote in 1937 after returning from Japanese Army in its conquest of China. The magazine fighting with Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War: required repeatedly called on the U.S. government to end its prof- "Here it was still the England I had known in my child- itable trade in munitions and goods with Japan, and hood ... the familiar streets ... the red buses, the blue warned readers that they could not ignore this conflict policeman — all sleeping the deep, deep sleep of England,

Permission taking place in distant countries. from which I fear we shall never wake until we are jerked Always a staunch advocate of peace, THE WITNESS out of it by the roar of bombs." DFMS.

/ tracked the growing evil of the Nazi empire and came to In 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and Amer- the sad realization that peace was no longer possible. ica awoke to the roar of bombs. Once again, THE WIT- Spofford was particularly shaken by the arrest of Pastor NESS watched attentively as the world went to war. Church Martin Niemoller, a German Protestant theologian who Excerpts from THE WITNESS follow:

could persuade your father to grant our thought of the 50,000 hearts that beat of General Convention than we have Episcopal minimum demands we could get you for Jesus Christ behind black faces that ever known. Clergy and laity were there the to sea in a hurry, and we believe it cry for a chance to go on. They know from the tip of Florida, Georgia, the of might increase the happiness of your they have churches of their own. They Carolinas, from New Orleans, Chicago, trip to know you had helped 40,000 know they have here and there a repre- Detroit, New York, as far east as Cam- maritime workers back to work, in- sentative field worker. They know that bridge, Mass. It represented sacrifice. Archives cluding the very workers who will be the church has opened schools for them Let the new Commission on Negro making your trip a safe and pleasant in the South which have blessed many Work make an impartial and devoted 2020. one." (2/11/37) a young life with hope and courage. I survey and evaluation of our present thought not only of those 50,000 work and future possibilities. But above Seeks Negro vote at GC Negroes, but I thought of not one in all, let representation and franchise Copyright The Negro went to General Conven- General Convention, save Bishop and counsel be forthcoming now. tion with high hopes. He knew that the Demby — without a vote and with little (Sheldon Hale Bishop 12/2/37) Bishop of Southern Ohio, and the voice. It was impossible to miss the committee that worked with him, had surprise, the dismay, on the faces of the Slum house in nave opened the doors of Cincinnati to the people to whom I called attention to A typical New York slum house has Negro so that the most gracious hospi- this fact. They could not believe that no been lifted bodily from its drab sur- tality greeted all delegates and visitors Negro priest, no Negro layman, was in roundings and set up in the nave of the with a Christian love that is seldom the House of Deputies to represent Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New enjoyed in public places. 50,000 loyal church people. York, as a witness to the need of slum As I heard testimonials of faith I More Negroes attended these sessions Continued on back cover

June 1987 23 clearance. Under the leadership of pupils. For a couple of months, the Bishop Manning an effort is being school went double shift. Then, the beans made to unite religious and welfare THE ripened and the next week, the school agencies to press for a demand of the had 20 pupils. (Jack Bryan 3/6/41) elimination of slums, and a conference WITNESS was held at the Cathedral from Feb. 28 Better 'red' than wrong to March 1 toward that end. The slum Remember way back when those of us exhibit, which is described as "a mu- who supported Loyalist Spain were seum of human misery," is the largest charged with being "reds"? Now Hitler's and most comprehensive of the kind troops .are said to be in there to take ever assembled. (3/4/37) Gibraltar, if they can, and Franco, the great humanitarian defender of God War, pots & Seminoles and the Church, has killed a few The genial chairman of the local com- hundred thousand workers. And all mittee to collect aluminum pots and Protestants are persecuted as "reds," pans to further national defense called which avoids the charge of "religious this morning. But her timing was bad. I persecutions" and yet accomplishes publication. had just read in the paper that the the same results. Franco has confis- Aluminum Corporation had made REPORT OF NEW HAVEN CONFERENCE cated and ground into pulp 110,000 and profits out of defense orders running as copies of the Bible for fear the people high as 169% ... will get ideas. He has closed all Protes- reuse tant churches except one in Madrid for The draft boards in Southern Florida grants, uprooted from all ties and are having trouble with the Seminole associations with normal home or com- and one in Barcelona. I don't know Indians. These Indians have disre- munity life, their education and train- how much a peseta is worth in present- required garded all government calls, declaring ing in citizenship neglected. day American money but, whatever it that they are not citizens and that the For these children, equal breadwin- is, the dictator is giving 60,000,000 of medicine men have answered, "No, ners with their fathers and mothers, them annually to the Roman Church No," to all inquiries. This has caused a any chance at education must neces- in Spain. He has also given the Church Permission great problem in that state, for the sarily be regarded a luxury. A school complete charge of education. If you young men of draft age seem to ignore superintendent in a Florida county want to get married in Spain you are married by a Catholic priest or not at DFMS. the whole question. (7/24/41) where there is a heavy migrant concen- / tration admitted, "Education is in com- all. The Living Church's Clifford More- Plight of migrant kids petition with beans here and beans are house told me how wrong I was at the Church At least one-third of the 2 million mi- winning out." When a freeze destroyed time for standing by the Loyalists. grants seeking a living in agriculture all the growing beans in this area last Maybe he was right, at that, from his are children. That means more than winter, many Negro children went to point of view. But I am making no apologies in view of subsequent events. Episcopal half a million of the nation's children school for the first time. Attendance at one school with 280 desks soared to 503 (William B. Spofford 11/7/40) the under 16 years of age are living as mi- of Archives The Episcopal Church Publishing Company NONPROFIT

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