Both sides, now

June 27—Richard Hutter/Onalaska, Wis.

Thank you to Marvin Olasky for his voice of reason in an age of unreasonable extremes. Racial injustice is deeply rooted in many places, but the injustice and extremism of violent protests makes rectifying those racial injustices harder to accomplish.

Joel Solliday on Facebook

Level-headed overview. We should recognize the good the police do, considering what does not need to be reformed while assessing wisely what does.

Kevin Fong/Beaverton, Ore.

The demonstrators want the police to be held accountable. But if protesters truly believe in justice, where is their clamor for accountability for rioters who destroyed the businesses and belongings of innocent bystanders?

Bill Powers on wng.org

What should a discussion of racism look like? A genuine conversation convicts before change can start. If there is no sense of guilt, but only accusation and self-righteousness, then it stokes fires and cements the feeling that change is impossible.

Jim Schroeder/New Richmond, Wis.

We’ve seen, all the way back to things like forced busing, that top-down change doesn’t work. Only a change of heart can address a systemic problem, and the riots won’t help with that. In my blue-collar neighborhood there is sympathy for George Floyd but none for the riots.

Local failure, national tragedy

June 27—Sushannah Laurange/Chatham, N.Y.

Thank you for this thoughtful assessment. I work with many liberal people who focus on racial injustice as the fault of white people. Janie B. Chea­ney’s column helped me remember there are other crucial issues at play.

Conrad Showalter/Goshen, Ind.

I liked much of this column, but we do have a problem with systemic racism. Dismissals of respectful protest are destructive. Listening to quiet but powerful voices in years past might have prevented the recent rise of more violent voices.

Grant: A man for our times

June 27—Sharon Wells on Facebook

This is the best miniseries I have seen, and I learned a new respect for Ulysses S. Grant.

Frank Cook/Bartlett, Tenn.

Sadly, the same day I read your review, I read elsewhere that vandals in San Francisco had torn down a statue of him. If a president noted for his support for freedmen and opposition to the KKK is not safe, what historical figures are?

Earth on our heads

June 27—Gwen Peycke Schneider on Facebook

I appreciate this perspective. Thank you.

A tale of two series

June 27—Steve P. Sanchez on Facebook

This was a great review detailing the intricacies of these flawed, brilliant characters.

Correction

Detroit Hughes is 57 years old (“Hands up—‘Defund the police!,’” Aug. 1, p. 46).

Mozambique gained independence in 1974 (“Brutal and brazen,” June 27, p. 74).

Projections indicate the U.S. will admit fewer than 1,900 Chrisitan refugees from countries Open Doors monitors for persecution (“A closed door,” Aug. 1, p. 38).

An influenza pandemic forced football game cancellations in the fall of 1918 (“A pandemic amid a world war,” Aug. 1, p. 34).

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

Both sides, now

June 27—Brian Cage/Shawnee, Kan.

The death of George Floyd was a tragedy. But blue lives matter too, and no Target stores were burned in their names.

Susanne Haynes on Facebook

The words on the mask in your cover image, “I can’t breathe,” is the theme for 2020. The virus steals your ability to breathe, masks do the same, and now George Floyd. I wonder what’s next?

Lee Taylor/Dade City, Fla.

The real “gentle giant” was David Dorn, a black retired police captain who was murdered during the protests in St. Louis.

Local failure, national tragedy

June 27—Dave Wredberg/ Fuquay-Varina, N.C.

Janie B. Cheaney’s balance and insight were refreshing and convicting.

A page of history

June 27—Doug Perkins, Wilmington, Del.

Another fine column by Joel Belz. The bulletin in the image includes a reference to WORLD’s future in radio: an announcement about the American Council Broadcast recorded in that little church building in 1949. We listened to that show on the radio six mornings per week. As a child turning the church bulletin into paper airplanes, Belz was already surrounded by airwaves.

Walking stick

June 27—Claudette Burkhart on Facebook

This makes me nostalgic for walks through the woods with my dad. He always carried a walking stick.

Friends and farewells

June 6—Nathan Howell/Amarillo, Texas

I noticed your series on long-term marriages. My parents just celebrated their 40th anniversary. I know God hates divorce and I would rarely advocate it, but about five years ago my wife divorced me. I almost never hear stories like mine. Sometimes I want people to know, “Yes, God is for your marriage, but that does not mean that He will always fix your marriage.”

Blessed be the name

June 6—Bob Coulter/Cover, Ore.

At the moment I read it my wife was being taken to a lab to have her heart shocked back into normal rhythm. In another country or time she would not even be alive today. Baruch Ha-Shem for accessible modern medicine.

WaPo laud, glory, and honor

June 30—Lois Droegemeier on wng.org

Chief Justice John Roberts has been a huge disappointment. Given how many abortions are performed each year in the U.S., I doubt very much that women are burdened unduly with accessing a clinic. The burden is in their heart.

Black Lives Matter: The slogan vs. the organization

June 26—Sam Lochinger on wng.org

The goals of this organization are far from bringing healing to the black community. I am so saddened that young people have associated themselves with this organization, thinking it represents answers when what it really represents is anarchy.

When cancel culture comes to newsrooms

June 22—Chris Bayee on wng.org

Excellent story, and unfortunately, not a surprising one to me. I spent more than two decades working in newsrooms of daily papers in the West and Midwest. As the rare conservative (and Christian) at the last metro I worked for, I observed a quantum shift take place in the past decade.Gone were the days when one could disagree. While those disagreements weren’t always respectful, you could have them, move on, and work together to produce an accurate news product. That’s no longer the case. Voice an opinion out of step with the news mob and the response is, “How dare you think that?!” Or worse. And accuracy in reporting? I see less and lessof it outside of select outlets. Agenda-based journalism, a reflection of the warped worldviews ofa majority of those in the field, rules the day.

Diocesan discord

June 27—Mark B. Anderson on Facebook

It is sad that Anglican Christians on both sides failed to settle or drop their dispute on their way to court. It’s easy for me to say as an outsider, but it seems they missed an opportunity. On the other hand, I too have filed a lawsuit against another professing believer. Perhaps, sadly, there are times when this is necessary.

How to learn about China

May 9—Gale Trow/Sierra Vista, Ariz.

Thank you for the great list of books on China. I’ve read several of them and shared them with a group of folks who have gone to China nearly every year to teach English and encourage Christians.

By the numbers: A staggering abortion toll

June 27—William Wynter Kruger on Facebook

The worst of evils, and the saddest number ever: 61,628,584. We intentionally destroy the infant image-bearers of God.