The view from ‘Doralzuela’

[ May 25 ] The experience in Venezuela mirrors what has happened in much of Africa: initial excitement and great promises followed by stagnation, ending in despair and greatly reduced standards of living. I wish we had as great a faith in the living God as they have in their dead social experiment. —Clarke McIntosh on wng.org

Thanks for providing the true picture of what socialist governments produce. The mainstream media ignore this story because it undermines Democratic presidential candidates who espouse socialist ideology. They should be ashamed, but they have no shame. —Dave Dahlke / Port Orchard, Wash.

This ought to be required reading for all Democrats. But they would probably say Russia, China, Germany, Venezuela, and North Korea just didn’t implement socialism properly. —Todd Finch on wng.org

The one thing that socialism assures is equally shared misery with zero incentive to do anything beyond the very least to get by. We are headed down a very dark path that will most certainly have some extremely painful consequences. —Wayne Nader on wng.org

For all nations, the final hope is not in American capitalism or socialist government but in Christ Jesus. —Jacob Mattson / Davisburg, Mich.

Money like magic

[ May 25 ] Kudos for pointing out truths so obvious yet so countercultural, such as the dangers of out-of-control spending and socialists’ calls to “just print more money.” —Phil Monroe / Spokane, Wash.

If all the government needs to do is print more money, then why do we need to pay taxes? —Chris Chambers on wng.org

Although not a dictator, W.E.B. Du Bois should be included as the man who led the destruction of Africa with his Pan-African socialism. I grew up with it and see the devastation still. He was an evil man to his core. —Tim Laffoon / Liberty, Mo.

We are tempted to regard material things as supreme, but God, in His mercy, uses economics to remind us of our need for Him. So much is summed up in “Give us this day our daily bread.” —Dick Friedrich on wng.org

Gifts for life

[ May 25 ] I can’t agree that green policy is about “governmental control of every aspect of human life and economy through a ginned-up environmental crisis.” Yes, we should recognize the great good accomplished through fossil fuels, but it’s unfair to impute nefarious political motivations to the many scientists with sincere concern for the environment. —Simeon Andrews on wng.org

Yes, God meant for the earth to bear a human footprint, but should that include landfills and oceans full of plastic? Rivers and watersheds contaminated by fracking chemicals? I doubt it. —Havilah Blum on wng.org

Daily bread

[ May 25 ] As a Bible study leader I could really connect with Mindy Belz’s column. The Lord has blessed me in major ways through my studies in Genesis. —Kathryn Lee / Indianapolis, Ind.

The tedium of the Old Testament? In the two years that it takes me to cycle through the Bible, I find myself longing to hear again the stories of a great “cloud of witnesses” that have become dear to me. —Stephen Whipple / Harmony Township, Pa.

‘Terrifying mystery’

[ May 25 ] I hope not to deepen the misery of the Christian parents whose son attacked a synagogue, but the event is a call to monitor and pray about the online and gaming activities of their children. In the high school where I teach, I witness daily their disturbing power to absorb the soul. —Steven Anderson on wng.org

Being grounded in the gospel protects us from twisted and false teaching in various forms readily available on the internet. It is our defense and we must study deeply its glories. —Deborah Berko on Facebook

Living the Mexican dream

[ May 25 ] This is the first I’ve heard about industrious Haitian migrants settling in Mexico. It’s uplifting and powerful. God truly does work in mysterious ways. —Parker Thompson on Facebook

This great story helps me see how blessed we are here in the United States. —Phillip Woeckener on wng.org

A bony business

[ May 25 ] Those who still cling to the myth of evolution are getting more and more desperate as their “evidence” continues to elude them. —Russ Hepler on Facebook

Misreading the author

[ May 25 ] Thank you for the articulate critique of Tolkien, and for questioning the film’s misinterpretation of his life. The idea that Geoffrey Bache Smith had a romantic interest in Tolkien seems implausible. I also was disappointed that it shared nothing of his faith or his friendship with C.S. Lewis. —Helen Dyar / Chattanooga, Tenn.

A culture of books

[ May 25 ] These reviews, especially of The Enchanted Hour, made my day, my week, my month. There’s nothing like reading books to develop deep, sustained attention, and for language acquisition. I serve refugee families by reading to children and teaching their moms to find good books at the library. We don’t read snippets or analyze selections to death; we just revel in good books. —Cherry Neill / Fort Worth, Texas

Unbreakable bonds

[ May 11 ] It was fantastic to read Mindy Belz’s explanation for why ISIS attacks Christianity in the Middle East, Sri Lanka, and around the world. Of course! —Charlotte Junge / Kempton, Pa.

Madness of March

[ April 13 ] Recently in a nasty park restroom, I mulled over my daughter’s impending womanhood and thanked the Lord that our city has not co-gendered park restrooms. I am mortified that girls dealing with puberty could be confronted with men under the guise of “identifying as female.” How many biological men have period envy? Let us return to sanity. —Alison Hendricks / Fayetteville, Ark.

Corrections

Elisa Bosley serves as a paid chaplain at four senior care centers in the Denver and Boulder areas (“Hymns to remember,” June 8, p. 42).

Brother Yun and Paul Hattaway co-authored The Heavenly Man (“Free at last,” June 8, p. 47).

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

The view from ‘Doralzuela’

[ May 25 ] Much of the mainstream media and Big Tech have become propaganda tools of the left. If you want to know why so many young Americans are buying into socialism, take a look at the media they watch and read. —Sven Trenholm on wng.org

Socialism is a system of greed in which those greedy for power use the greed of the people to subjugate them. It’s a carrot on the end of a stick. —David Clark / Mansfield, Pa.

Thank you for your excellent work, from Doralzuela to Taiwan. —Elise I. Smith / Houston, Texas

Money like magic

[ May 25 ] I doubt that economics students these days read conservative economic thinkers like Von Mises, Friedman, or Sowell. As my economics professor once said, “The laws of economics are just as certain as the law of gravity; you can just postpone them.” —Mike Harper / Dawson, Ala.

Gifts for life

[ May 25 ] Because of coal, oil, and natural gas, trees and whales are no longer harvested for fuel for home heating, transportation, or industry; that’s prevented mass deforestation and the extinction of whales. —Ron Mele / Pinson, Ala.

Human Race

[ May 25 ] Your obituary for Rachel Held Evans felt short on sympathy, given the tragedy of Rachel’s sudden death at a young age and the children she left behind. I realize WORLD readers may be more conservative than Evans on many issues, but she loved the Church even though she asked hard questions. —Linnea Peckham Geno / Milford, Pa.