http://www.antipasministries.com/html/file0000105.htm

"Killing for the joy of it is wrong, but killing because it is necessary to fight against an anti-Christ system ... is not only right, but the duty of every Christian." [quoted in Cubie Ward's Paralife Ministries' newsletter, Living Word.; Paralife Ministries is associated with Larry Lea in its work in Central America, specifically, in El Salvador. Both Ward and Lea say they have dedicated the work of their ministry to "God's redemptive purpose in Central America."[1]

Strange things have been going on in the name of Christ. Take the example of an evangelical pastor, Clemente Diaz Aguilar, who was detained by government forces in Guatemala and tortured by mistake: "My captors stole everything from me ... Those who captured me ... divided up my money, and later they led me into the hands of the torturers. In the long hours of torture, they asked me constantly about other pastors ... of some churches in the capital; they asked me also about my views on liberation theology ... The torturers, tired of doing so much damage to me, rested for a while; then I recognized some of them: two are members of a singing duo from these churches (i.e., Verbo and Mision Elim); I begged (them) to recognize me because I recognized them; then they asked me questions about my capture, my complete name, my address, my church and my activities. When they realized I was not the person they were looking for, they begged my forgiveness, saying, 'Brother, we are also Christians'."[2]

What does this mean? - that in building the kingdom of God on earth, it's OK to torture? - even your brothers in Christ if they are perceived to be on the "wrong side?" Obviously, the torturers knew Aguilar was an evangelical - it's just that they had mistaken him for another pastor whom they had reason to believe had gone "soft" in the struggle "to bring in the kingdom."

Of course, the larger question is, since when is it OK for any Christian to torture anyone, Christian or otherwise? What kind of a Gospel is being preached by evangelicals in Latin America? - obviously, at least in certain circles, it's a very politicized one.