Questionable Mission to Moscow

By Richard Stengel

At a conference, Billy Graham glosses over Soviet persecution

When the Rev. Billy Graham first saw the light, he also spied the devil. Satan, he asserted years ago, is the god of Communism. "Either Communism must die, or Christianity must die," he wrote in 1954, "because it is actually a battle between Christ and the anti-Christ." But in 1979 Graham seemed to view the situation in a different light. A vision of the world destroyed by a nuclear Armageddon replaced Communism as the greatest evil. And it was this revelation that was on display during Graham's appearance last week at a Kremlin-approved anti-nuclear conference in Moscow--a series of sermons, meetings and dinners that seemed to dazzle and delude the globetrotting evangelist. "In the U.S., only a millionaire could afford caviar," Graham noted, "and here I have had caviar with every meal."

The World Conference of Religious Workers for Saving the Sacred Gift of Life from Nuclear Catastrophe, sponsored by the Russian Orthodox Church, invited Graham, as well as some 600 other distinguished clergy from around the world. Even Pope John Paul II sent two observers from the Vatican's Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity. Despite the impressive invitation list, Reagan Administration officials had urged Graham not to accept, insisting that the conference was a forum for endorsing Soviet foreign policy and a not so subtle public relations ploy designed to demonstrate religious tolerance in the U.S.S.R. Graham, they feared, would become an unwitting prophet of Soviet propaganda.

As the week's events unfolded, their worst fears seemed to be realized. Speeding from appointment to appointment through Moscow's wide streets in a black, chauffeur-driven Chaika limousine, Graham saw only what his hosts wanted him to see. Moreover, he seemed to say only what his hosts wanted him to say. At the end of a hectic schedule, which included a sermon at the only Baptist church in Moscow, a homily at the opulent Yelokhovsky Orthodox Cathedral, a speech at the conference (held in Moscow's World Trade Center) and a meeting with the six Pentecostalists taking refuge at the U.S. embassy, Graham earnestly commented that he had seen no evidence of religious repression. Questioned on the point at a Moscow press conference, he said: "There are differences, of course, in religion as it is practiced here and, let's say, in the U.S. But that doesn't mean there is no religious freedom." He later added that "in 'Great Britain, they have a state church. Here the church is not a state church. It is a free church."

During his sermon at the Baptist church, Graham told a well-dressed congregation that the Bible calls on citizens "to obey the authorities," and that Jesus gave "man the power to be a better worker, a loyal citizen." One woman in the congregation disobeyed; she draped a banner over the balcony that read, "We have more than 150 prisoners for the work of the gospel." She was quietly escorted out of the church by several men in plain clothes and was presumably detained for questioning. Asked his opinion of the incident later, Graham replied: "We detain people in the United States if we catch them doing things wrong."

By midweek, however, Graham may have begun to sense that he was treading on dangerous territory. When delegates began accusing the U.S. of escalating the arms race, he removed his earphones. He listened intently when Lutheran Bishop David Preus from Minneapolis objected to the anti-U.S. bias of the conference. Thus when it came time for Graham, the conference's star attraction, to deliver his speech, he made some attempt to modify his stance. Graham inserted into his prepared text an appeal for freedom of religious belief: "I urge all governments to respect the rights of religious believers as outlined in the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights." A relieved Bishop Preus called the speech "very fine," and other U.S. delegates seemed to share his approval.

Yet, throughout the week, Graham seemed oblivious to the precarious role of religion in a country that endorses scientific atheism and outlaws public evangelism. It is a country where only the officially sanctioned Russian Orthodox Church is permitted to exist in relative peace, where Protestant groups are tolerated only if they accept government restrictions and are harassed if they do not. The Baptists who heard Graham's gospel can hold worship services, but they cannot preach the word of God in public or bring up their children with religious instruction. As a result of Graham's confusion, or perhaps ignorance, about the reality of Soviet religious persecution, his otherwise laudable and certainly sincere concern over the nuclear arms race got lost in the din of criticism that followed.

Middlebury College President Olin Robison, an ordained Baptist minister who has visited the Soviet Union more than 20 times, noted that "a man of his sophistication cannot possibly be unaware of the Soviet record on religious groups and individuals." The Rev. Carl F.H. Henry, a leading U.S. Baptist theologian, suggested that Graham's behavior could be explained by his desire not to embarrass the Russian Orthodox Church, which might extend him an invitation to return. "Billy Graham has a legitimate desire to preach the gospel to the nations of the world," affirms Henry. "But I wonder about the high priority he has given to returning to the Soviet Union on a broad-based evangelical crusade." Graham has confirmed his desire to return: "I would like to go from Siberia to the Black Sea on a crusade." Will he get his wish? "Oh, they will invite him back," says Robison, "but it will be on their own terms." On last week's evidence, it seemed that Graham might well be willing to accept those terms. --By Richard Stengel. Reported by Erik Amfitheatrof/Moscow

With reporting by Erik Amfitheatrof

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