In December 1989, Romanian Christians Peter Dugulescu and Ion Alexandru believed it was their Christian duty to stand against their government. Now that communism has been overthrown, they believe it is no less their Christian duty to participate in government.
On December 22, 1989, just after the city of Timişoara declared itself free of communist rule, Baptist pastor Peter Dugulescu addressed a crowd of 150,000 people that had gathered in the city square. “In this great, historic moment,” he said, “we need to turn our face back to God and pray.” He then led the crowd in the Lord’s Prayer. He is now a member of Romania’s House of Deputies.
Ion Alexandru, an Orthodox Christian, participated in the revolution in Bucharest. He has since helped form the Christian-Democratic National Peasant party.
He was elected to the Senate in May 1990.
Dugulescu and Alexandru spoke to CHRISTIANITY TODAY’s Thomas Giles during a recent visit to the United States.
According to the Gallup polling organization, 63 percent of the people living in former Eastern bloc countries say they are dissatisfied with democracy. Why?
Peter Dugulescu: Like the Israelites in Egypt, they lived in slavery for decades. Now we must learn how to live in freedom. Some nostalgics in Romania say, “It was better under [former leader Nicolae] Ceausescu because, though he was a dictator, we knew what to expect from him. We had our own jobs, our small salaries, our living provided.” But now in our free-market economy, we must struggle to make a living. This is the risk of democracy.
What have Romanian Christians done with their freedom?
Dugulescu: While some churches do not know how to use these freedoms, most of us are able to plant new churches, preach the gospel in the streets, ...
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