Bernie Hauerwas
Second Main Committee: Economic and Financial
Topic: Defamation of Religion
Country: Nicaragua
Religion is a big part of Nicaraguan culture, so much so that it makes up
part of their constitution. There, people have the freedom of religion. The main
religion is Roman Catholic, but there are other protestant denominations. Since
the late 1990s there have been more protestant religions that have been
spreading throughout the country due to some United States intervention.
Catholicism plays a major role in the country. For example, bishops often give
their opinion on national issues. There are also many Catholic schools within the
country that help educate upper and middle class children. The Catholic people
of Nicaragua also celebrate their religion by celebrating many holidays as a
country including the Immaculate Conception.
During the 1970s and 80s, there were some religious and political conflicts
within the church. This was a time period when people wanted a more liberal
church and tried to make the church more democratic by trying to help with the
poor. Many priests and nuns organized community projects to help set up
Catholic communities. Most of these Catholic communities had backed up the
Sandinista Party (FSLN). One of the bishops believed that the Sandinistas were
trying to separate the Catholic Church by creating a Popular Church. These
bishops sided with anti-FSLN groups, and throughout the 80s, both pro and antiFSLN parties manipulated religion for political effect. The FSLN had also taken
capture of any non-Christians and persecuted them along with bombing the only
synagogue in Nicaragua at the time.
Today, many protestant religions are becoming more popular such as the
practice of Islam, Judaism, along with other denominations. There is less tension
than there was in the Sandinista Movement of the 80s. The number of Catholicbased communities have also gone down. The country still gets help from
countries such as the United States that help support their churches and
remaining programs such as the Catholic Relief Services that have been helping
since 1964. Through this program, aid is sent in times of need such as after
hurricanes or epidemics.
Based on these past experiences, Nicaragua wants to try and avoid religious
uprisings. We are for the freedom of religions. We believe that religion plays a
huge roll on culture so we would encourage other countries to try and incorporate
holidays and try to celebrate as a community. We don’t want any more bad
upbringings like the FSLN.
Sources
http://nicaragua.usembassy.gov/religion2005-nicaragua.html
http://www.nicaragua.com/culture/religion/
http://crs.org/nicaragua/