Too late

The Republicans ("Directionally challenged," June 3) need not try and look busy this week fighting for conservative issues like gay-marriage amendments, elimination of pork barrel spending, or curbing the growth of big government: It's too late. After 31 years as a loyal Republican I'm burning my voter registration card. The party is too much a part of the Beltway mentality to ever represent my interests again. I'll wait patiently for a people's alternative and hope this small trickle of defiance becomes a torrent. -Carter Somerset; Pensacola, Fla.

Now is not the time to administer a shellacking to more moderate Republicans such as Sen. DeWine of Ohio ("DeWine detractors," June 3). Punishing the Republicans now will only serve to punish us when far-left liberals take Congress, or even the presidency in 2008. -Alberta Griffith; Aston, Pa.

If I lived in Ohio, I would probably vote for Mr. DeWine. But I live in Washington, a liberal state with two Democratic senators. In the fall I will vote for a Republican if he has a reasonable chance of winning. If not, I will vote for a third-party candidate. I'd like to think it is important to have control of both houses of Congress and the White House, but it seems Republicans can't get anything done and are taking the base for granted. -Anne Robertson; Bothell, Wash.

Un-Hitched

I found your recent interview with Christopher Hitchens fascinating ("The world according to Hitch," June 3). It revealed the incoherency of moral relativists, even though he claimed not to be one. He thinks evolution is the ruling law of nature, yet claims mankind has a responsibility to protect the weakest members of the society, the unborn? He views freedom from religion as the ultimate advancement of civilizations, but finds morals and social justice for all in atheism? The killing fields and gulags of the 20th century perpetrated by secular, atheistic governments tell a very different story. -Tom McKnight; St. Louis, Mo.

My heart grieves for the soul of this "commentator and contrarian." In his worldly wisdom he describes himself as an "anti-theist." What a shock awaits him. -Helen Ferguson; Spring, Texas

Healing rivers

Marvin Olasky's point about the mindset of graduation ceremonies is right on, and is true of our society as a whole ("Rivers on the bare heights," June 3). The outlook that life should be fun and adventuresome without hardships or failures has affected even children's soccer games by having both teams win. This will only set us up for major disappointment in God when trials do come. -Andrew Elzinga, 16; Beaverton, Ore.

Having experienced what I would hope to be at least my fair share of disappointment and doubt, I found every sentence of "Rivers on the bare heights" to ring true. The more I allow my heart to be honest before God, the more He can minister that healing supernatural grace to my heart. -Michele Damron; Winter Garden, Fla.

A threat

Few things in WORLD have bothered me as much as Nebraska District Judge Kristine Cecava's decision to give a convicted sex offender probation because she thought he was too small to survive in prison (Quotables & 'Toons, June 3). This man is a threat to children, whatever his height and weight. -Sara Hall; Portland, Ore.

Heed Isaiah

Those opposing the legalization of illegal immigrants as a law-mocking "amnesty" don't realize that we are hypocrites regarding our own law ("Amnesty compromise," June 3). We have set our immigration quota for low-skilled workers at only a few thousand visas per year while we absorb millions of illegal immigrants to work in our fields. We don't enforce laws requiring employers to hire only legal workers, allowing entire industries to depend on cheap illegal immigrant labor. Our legislature, and our nation, would do well to heed Isaiah: "Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed." -Obadiah Manley; Pasadena, Calif.

Childish humor

Why does it seem so upsetting to WORLD that children find it funny that squirrels can belch their ABCs ("Creature comforts," June 3) or that Shrek has a gas problem? There is so much legitimately wrong with the film industry today that objecting to childish humor in children's movies is a waste of print. -John Fitzgerald; Windermere, Fla.

Not an option

Andrée Seu's column ("Abstinence stigma," June 3) resonated with us because we have seen firsthand how it is simply assumed that abstinence is not an option. Our ad agency withdrew a bid on a state contract to inform young people about sexually transmitted diseases when the real objectives of the campaign became clear: Our job would be to creatively encourage condom use among teenagers. -Bruce Schultz; Minneapolis, Minn.

Paying the price

As a country, we were willing to pay the price in previous wars, as Joel Belz's chart of "U.S. war deaths" shows, but are we willing to pay it now ("Comparison shopping," June 3)? We must not forget the 3,000 Americans who were murdered on Sept. 11, 2001, and we can only speculate how many more would have perished at the hands of terrorists if a stiff response had not been mounted. -Larry Mills; Ruston, La.

I find your comparison between gas prices and Iraq War deaths appalling and insensitive to the families of those who have lost loved ones. -Steve Holle; Billings, Mont.

This, too

Gene Edward Veith wrote, "It never occurred to most of us who worried about the impact of The Da Vinci Code that it would turn out to be a really bad movie" ("Busted blockbuster," June 3). It reminds me of the furor surrounding The Last Temptation of Christ in 1988. The media played up the pickets, boycotts, and dire warnings, yet it was a box-office flop. Christians need to learn to stop letting the world set their agenda, remembering that this too shall pass, and sooner than expected. -J. Cameron Fraser; Lethbridge, Alberta

Preserve vs. delay

I did not appreciate how you portrayed Ms. Vo's case as a war with the medical establishment ("Rescue me," May 27). Why should the hospital waste valuable resources, such as a ventilator and a dialysis machine, on a patient who is clearly beyond hope? At some point you have to draw the line between preserving the sanctity of life and delaying the inevitable. -Tim Mackie; College Park, Md.

Clarifying

I truly appreciate WORLD's writers who analyze everything through the clear and clarifying Word of God, who appreciate the law and the gospel, and that the magazine is produced in a spirit of love without backing down from truth. I may see things with which I do not agree, but I appreciate that you call things as you see them. -Peter J. Snyder; Saginaw, Mich.

Hollow deception

Mrs. Seu's note about C.S. Lewis' advice to King's College students generally applies to male and female alike ("Be somebody," May 27). Our desire to be in the inner ring is a hollow deception that robs God of His rightful honor. Our salvation is in meeting Jesus, like the woman at the well. The encounter reveals the deception and reminds us of the purpose for which we were created. -Dick Friedrich; Grand Rapids, Mich.