News of the Year

Dec. 26—Kenneth Wieting/Glendale, Wis.

I expected the No. 1 story to be the accelerating decay in journalism and reporting (selective choosing and ignoring of events and statistics), which robbed us of dependable, decision-making information on No. 2 Pandemic, No. 3 Tension, and No. 4 Politics.

News of the Year: Tension

Dec. 26—Jared Nissley/Lancaster, Pa.

It was a poor choice to run the photo depicting George Floyd’s violent death. Leaders and voices of color have said that amplifying and sharing “trauma porn” does not further the conversation about race. Instead, it only re-traumatizes people of color who are already bombarded by images of violence against black and brown bodies.

News of the Year: Politics

Dec. 26—F.L. Jacobs/Redmond, Wash.

Nearly half of our country no longer has faith in the accuracy of the voting system in their country or their state. Every citizen should be very concerned that corruption does not spread across the land to the point where we are just another banana republic.

William V. Roland/Veradale, Wash.

My wife and I sent a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi last year, stating that the image of her tearing up President Trump’s State of the Union address would have the same notoriety as Nikita Khrushchev banging his shoe on his desk at the United Nations in October 1960.

News of the Year: Deaths

Dec. 26—Barry Bertram/Campbellsville, Ky.

I always appreciate the annual list of notables who died during the year. It is nice to be reminded of their accomplishments plus the brevity of life. As Christians we know only what is done for Christ will survive us.

2020’s church divide

Dec. 26—Neil Evans/Caldwell, Idaho

We live in an independent culture. “My way is the right way” is the anthem we all sing, in different keys, different melodies, and different rhythms. God designed Christians to be dependent people: dependent on God, each other, and local church leaders.

Deep and wide

Dec. 26—Russell Guetschow/Vicksburg, Mich.

As I read WORLD Magazine and The Sift, I am amazed at the quantity and quality of the material you generate every day. I find it hard to fathom how it is even physically possible to do this. Then I remember Who is the Source of the strength and the interviewing, research, and writing abilities of your staff.

Imprecation and appreciation

Cheryl Burns/Leawood, Kan.

Once WORLD became “never Trumpers,” I cut my membership. Now my “Christian” friend of 30-plus years is an intellectual and social snob. I hope God will smite you, not send you to hell but give you back some of the suffering you have caused in dividing the body of Christ.

Karla Lail/Sharpsburg, Va.

Thanks for being my go-to source for news that’s trustworthy when it’s hard to trust things. We’re going to make it through this time, with God’s help and our own patience and prayers.

Corrections

President Franklin Roosevelt called Dec. 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy” (“Safe harbor during political turbulence,” Dec. 26, p. 13).

Missionary Aviation Fellowship pilot and IT specialist Joyce Lin died in a plane crash in Papua, Indonesia. Former New York Mets pitcher Tom Seaver died Aug. 31 (“2020 News of the Year: Deaths,” Dec. 26, pp. 90, 103).

More letters, emails, and comments we didn’t have space for in the print edition:

Seeking modern-day Zengers

Dec. 26—Candice Watters/Louisville, Ky.

Thank you, Marvin Olasky, for pouring your life and talent into making Biblically objective journalism available to believers around the world. But even more, thank you for your commitment to raising up generations of faithful and skilled reporters.

2020 News of the Year: Pandemic

Dec. 26—Doreen Kaiser/Cheyenne, Wis.

Your choice of photo to open this section is in poor taste. It is unsettling that we are conditioning children to allow someone in a position of authority to point a gun-shaped object at their foreheads.

2020 News of the Year: Politics

Dec. 26—Dan Owens/Cincinnati, Ohio

Sometimes less is more. WORLD finished its comment about the Trump campaign’s claim that the election was “rigged for Biden” with “despite failing to offer substantive proof.” WORLD would have done well to take Marvin Olasky’s advice from his column: “One advantage of believing in the God of the Bible is the realization that He is wise and we are stupid. Without that understanding, we often sling opinions and skip the reporting that connects us with reality outside our brains.”

Rich Thorne/Bettles, Alaska

More investigation needs to be done into election fraud. President Trump’s legal filings should have started a discovery phase that would have brought much more to light. The courts let us down.

Joy Noack/Waxahachie, Texas

Who’s telling the truth concerning election fraud? Let’s all pray that His truth will prevail and that any wanton deceit will be thoroughly exposed and vigorously punished no matter which side it’s coming from.

2020 News of the Year: Deaths

Dec. 26—Tom Preston/Greenville, S.C.

You listed several unarmed black people killed at the hands of police officers, which is indeed a tragedy that must be addressed. But there wasn’t a single obituary of a police officer killed by a black man. Shame on you—not for mentioning the ones you did—but for not honoring those on the opposite side of that equation.

2020’s church divide

Dec. 26—Alan Versaw/Colorado Springs, Colo.

The Church in Paul’s day was more constrained by the government and local special-interest groups than we are today. We will do well to open our Bibles and see what there is to learn from how Paul and the early Christians dealt with the threats around them.

Lois Droegemeier/San Angelo, Texas

Sophia Lee’s article matches the discord and bickering I have seen. I expect division outside the body of Christ, but it saddens my heart that the Church has experienced such division.

Cynthia Tully/Birmingham, Ala.

I weep for the unique suffering of pastors. This is a time of great suffering and discord, not the first or the last. The pity is fewer and fewer Christians seem to be open to God’s grace in the gift of love.

Christina Wilson/Edmonds, Wash.

Back in the day, it would have been unheard of to leave a church over disagreements about masks and indoors vs. outdoors. Aren’t there bigger issues in the Lord’s kingdom? The same with politics. The Lord Jesus is a much broader, stronger common denominator than any political party.

The great division

Dec. 26—Barry Pannebaker/Dillsburg, Pa.

I can see Andrée Seu Peterson’s point. People are emotionally holding onto something they’d have to let go of to acknowledge the truth.

Win one for Joel

Dec. 5—Rob Hrabak/Twinsburg, Ohio

While reading Marvin Olasky’s column about Joel Belz, I was reminded of my teaching career that began in elementary education at a Christian school in Ohio that opened in 1979. Soon after, my school began subscribing to God’s World News, for which I have been forever grateful. I became even more grateful when the student newspapers expanded into WORLD Magazine for adults. It’s the only magazine I’ve read cover to cover ever since I first subscribed.