Yesterday, I was chatting with a student here at St. John’s who told me about the KONY 2012 campaign that has gone viral, receiving tens of millions of hits in just a few days this week. KONY 2012 is a campaign by a non-profit organization called Invisible Children to arrest and bring to trial Joseph Kony, the leader of the so-called Lord’s Resistance Army, which has been terrorizing Uganda. In particular, the campaign alleges, Kony has been involved with the abduction of tens of thousands of children to serve as soldiers in the LRA. The campaign wants Kony prosecuted for war crimes.

One reason the campaign has gone viral is that Invisible Children has targeted Christian activists in America, who have been promoting KONY 2012 on their blogs. (Although Invisible Children is not a sectarian organization, its founders are apparently Christians whose zeal derives at least in part from their Christian convictions). According to Christianity Today,  however, these activists have begun to have second thoughts. Apparently, Invisible Children has a mixed record for transparency and truth-telling. Critics also point out that Invisible Children backs the Ugandan army, which itself has been accused of human-rights violations. The story is here.