See and Hear No Evil

The 266 American church leaders said they had come to the Soviet Union "with an open mind, without prejudice or preconception." But as their two-week tour, sponsored by the National Council of Churches, drew to a close last week, it seemed that many of them had also come without much discernment. While joining their Soviet hosts in condemning the U.S. role in the arms race, delegation members were less forthcoming about the Soviet Union's human rights record.

The delegation visited selected Russian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist and Pentecostal congregations in 14 cities across the country, and then expressed surprise that there was such freedom of worship.

It took two Soviet Baptists to remind the churchmen that all was not as it seemed. During a prayer service, the two unfurled a banner reading REMEMBER, WE ARE A PERSECUTED CHURCH. They were promptly hustled away. A delegation leader later dismissed the prayer-service protest as an attempt to "grab media attention," but his view was not shared by all the Americans. Said one: "The message we got right from the start was not to do anything that might insult our Soviet hosts."