PNW STAFF
When a government begins treating Bibles like weapons, the danger is no longer theoretical--it is fully realized.
That is the reality now unfolding in Nicaragua, where tourists traveling into the country are reportedly being barred from bringing Bibles across the border. At bus terminals operated by Tica Bus--one of the main transit routes from Costa Rica to Managua--Bibles now appear on an official list of prohibited items. They sit alongside drones, cameras, knives, magazines, newspapers, and other materials the regime considers threats.
Let that sink in: the Word of God is being treated as contraband.
Multiple representatives from Tica Bus across Central America have confirmed the ban, noting that it has been in effect for over six months under the rule of Nicaragua's co-presidents, Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo--leaders of the socialist Sandinista National Liberation Front. What may sound shocking to Americans unfamiliar with life under socialist regimes is, in fact, a familiar pattern to anyone who has studied history.
Socialism does not merely seek to govern economies. It seeks to govern truth.
This latest restriction is not an isolated incident--it is part of a long and accelerating campaign against Christianity in Nicaragua. Since 2018, more than 1,300 religious organizations have had their legal status revoked. Public religious processions have been banned unless they are organized or approved by government-aligned groups. Pastors are surveilled, interrogated, detained, and in some cases exiled.
In 2024 alone, Christian watchdog groups documented 222 cases of religious persecution, including forced event cancellations, police monitoring of churches, and mandatory weekly check-ins for religious leaders. Forty-six pastors were detained that year. In 2025, the situation worsened: 73 Christians were detained, and over 300 churches and Christian buildings were closed, vandalized, or attacked.
Missionary Britt Hancock, speaking after the arrest of 13 pastors, described the situation plainly: "The freedom of the Gospel doesn't mix well with totalitarian regime ideology." She is right--and history proves it.
Why Socialism Fears the Bible
The Bible presents a fundamental problem for socialist and communist systems: it recognizes a higher authority than the state.
From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture affirms that human dignity, moral law, and ultimate allegiance come from God--not from government. Socialism, especially in its authoritarian forms, cannot tolerate that idea. It demands total loyalty. It requires ideological conformity. And it relies on centralized power to define truth, morality, and justice.
The Bible undermines all of that.
Scripture teaches that rulers are accountable. It affirms individual conscience. It empowers ordinary people with moral clarity that does not require government permission. It teaches that oppression is sin, that truth is objective, and that salvation does not come through political systems--but through Christ alone.
That is why socialist regimes consistently move to restrict Bibles, churches, and pastors. It happened in the Soviet Union. It happened in Maoist China. It happened in Castro's Cuba. It is happening today in Venezuela, North Korea, and now--openly--in Nicaragua.
Socialism does not merely compete with Christianity. It seeks to replace it.
From Control to Silence
When Nicaragua's government lumps Bibles in with knives and drones, the message is unmistakable: the regime sees faith as a destabilizing force. And that is precisely because faith gives people courage--courage to question, to resist, to endure suffering without surrendering their soul.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide's advocacy director Anna Lee Stangl called the Bible ban "highly concerning," especially given the broader climate of repression. She is being diplomatic. What is happening is not just concerning--it is a warning.
In February, Nicaragua withdrew from the U.N. Human Rights Council entirely after a report exposed the regime's systematic suppression of democracy, free expression, and religious freedom. Rather than correct course, the government chose isolation--another hallmark of authoritarian socialism.
The lesson here is not only about Nicaragua. It is about the nature of socialism itself. Wherever the state demands ultimate authority, the Bible becomes a threat. Wherever government seeks to redefine morality, Scripture must be silenced. Wherever power is centralized, faith must be controlled--or crushed.
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