Rube goes global

Mark Bergin's article about geoengineering ("Geo-gizmos," April 25) was very good, especially the quote from Secretary of Energy Steven Chu about "transforming the global energy system." I think that is more important to climate alarmists than how hot the world gets. And the idea of geoengineering sounds like a Rube Goldberg contraption. We can't seed clouds to rain when we want, and we think we can control the entire global climate? -Mark Saito, Lee's Summit, Mo.

The idea of pumping sulfur into the atmosphere to combat global warming seems a little shortsighted. What happened to all the hand-wringing in the 1960s and 1970s over sulfur dioxide and acid rain? -Nathan Snell Lancaster, Pa.

True relevance

I am deeply impressed with Tony Woodlief's thoughtfulness ("Practical atheism," April 25). Many unbelievers I know personally remain in doubt because of the hypocrisy and outright immorality in the church. It is sad when the world is only drawn to the church because of "relevance" and not truth. -Ashley Carmichael, 15 Cincinnati, Ohio

We need to go back to teaching how God's Word shows us who He is and not, as so many are doing today, using selected Scriptures to legitimize what men have to say. The line about how, if you eliminate the Word and prayer, "all you have left is a competition to see who can provide the best circus," was priceless. -Allen Turek Strongsville, Ohio

Perfect timing

What perfect timing for WORLD to have pieces about homosexual marriage in Iowa ("Hometown values," April 25) and Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley ("Let the sunshine in") in the same issue. Grassley has placed himself in the national spotlight by attacking ministries and people instead of taking care of business in his home state. And Joel Belz's column on the liberal climate of Iowa was right on. For years I couldn't understand why Iowa would elect Tom Harkin. Finally, I got it. -Martie Fangman Marion, Iowa

Not bad, but not good

I was deeply disappointed with your article about Hannah Montana ("Hokey, but wholesome," April 25). She may be a step or two above the average TV show or movie, but Christ did not call His people merely to be a better version of the world. Christian parents would be doing their children a service if they turned off the tolerably moral Hannah and pointed their offspring to entertainment that is strong in artistic quality and spiritual excellence. -Rebecca Woodbury, 16 Tempe, Ariz.

Budget matrix

Andrée Seu pierced the veil in "Matrix re-reloaded" (April 25). Sometimes I think the illusion is so thick that we've bought into the absurdity that spending ourselves into oblivion will somehow just turn out fine in the end. -Gary Brown Oklahoma City, Okla.

Missing in action

Aren't most standards being dumbed-down these days? ("Something missing," April 25). It seems to me that with the advent of TV, our heroes now include media types like Madonna and Snoop Dogg. Where are the heroes of our recent wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, or even Christians who stand up to horrendous smears in political and public life? -Dave Troup Lee's Summit, Mo.

Not recommended

I appreciate WORLD but was dismayed by the April 25 Spotlight piece (Notable CDs) on the band Toy Matinee. I have been familiar with them for many years, and although it is worth noting that Patrick Leonard is now a practicing Christian, at the time of Toy Matinee (1990) he certainly was not. As stellar as the production values on that album are, I would never recommend it to any Christian unless he can stomach the blasphemy and perversion in the lyrics. -Tim Kubit Rochester, N.Y.

Not so historical

As a homeschooler who has used Susan Wise Bauer's history books for children, I was happy to see a review of The History of the Ancient World ("Worlds apart," April 25). However, after reading her descriptions of David and Solomon, I'm not so sure I want to read it. Bauer's treatment of David seems to dismiss his very real encounters with God, and her comparison of Solomon to a pastor of a megachurch is inaccurate and unfair. -Julie Shields Douglasville, Ga.

No more

Thank you for the article on abortionist George Tiller ("The Tiller saga," April 25). Late-term abortions are wrong and I pray that this man will no longer have an opportunity to legally perform them ever again. -Josh May, 17 Derby, Kan.

There and back again

Thank you for remembering James Hudson Taylor III ("A legacy all of grace," April 25). I have the China Inland Mission to thank for ministering to me in the years before the internment of the missionaries in Shanghai. I was living then in China with my mother, a German Jew, and two younger siblings abandoned by my father. I remember going to the CIM compound on Sunday evenings when they opened the doors to young teens for singing around the piano. I was not a Christian then, but there I experienced my first Sunday school lesson, the story of Jesus healing the paralyzed man who was lowered through the roof. When I left China in 1949 to emigrate to the United States at age 20, I never dreamed that I would return at age 69 with my husband Milt to teach English in Hainan, China. -Eva Hetzel Hayward, Calif.

Like family

To save money in these uncertain times, I contemplated not renewing my WORLD subscription. Then I read Marvin Olasky's article ("Crying out," April 11) and I knew that I couldn't not renew-you've become like family over the years. -Stephanie Ellis Littleton, Colo.

Off-mat chivalry

John Piper's suggestion that boys forfeit wrestling matches against girls is brilliant ("Over my dead body, son," April 11). Imagine the message it would send to have a girl advance through the entire season and subsequent state tournament, winning every match by forfeit! It would be a hollow victory indeed and would speak volumes for the young men who prefer to dignify a lady rather than grapple with her. -Jonathan Bentz Burnsville, Minn.

As a former wrestler and the father of a wrestler, I don't like co-ed wrestling. However, I would not ask my son to forfeit a match to a girl. While "men don't fight against women," wrestling is not fighting. A godly young man might handicap himself avoiding some moves while wrestling a girl, but the physical contact is likely to be less sensuous than ballroom dancing. He may pray daily for moral purity, but his prayer stepping on the mat is going to be, "Lord, help me not lose to this girl." -Vance Wendelburg Stafford, Kan.

Not so hopeful

The only time since Obama's election that I've felt a ray of hope was after reading your cover story about Arne Duncan, his newly appointed secretary of education ("The schools that Arne built," April 11). But then I learned that while Duncan was CEO of Chicago's public schools, he approved a proposal (that has been temporarily withdrawn) for a high school devoted to helping students affirm their adolescent belief that they are homosexual. -Meredith Berg Hudson, Wis.

God at the helm

Thank you for "The Obama depression" (March 28). It seems to me that Obama takes his cues from the playbook chapter titled, "How to Undermine a Democracy," and the subsequent chapter may well be "How to Dismantle a Democracy." The stress of reading all the unsettling reports about our nation physically affected me. The exhortation from Hebrews 12 was just what I needed to rejoice in remembering that God is at the helm and I need to be a diligent learner to reap the benefit of His "training." -Julie Dawson Cornwall, Great Britain

Corrections

The $1.85 trillion deficit projected by the Congressional Budget Office for 2009 is $100 billion more than White House projections (The Buzz, May 9, p. 11). `

Linda Marzulla's parents lived in relatives' homes after they lost their living situation just before Marzulla was born ("Love over money," April 25, p. 59).

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