‘The great tragedy of South Sudan’

March 4 | Many decry “nation building,” but South Sudan needs guidance in the formation and implementation of a new government. When we seek to empower a nation, not exploit it, what is wrong with nation building? Japan is now a powerful, peaceful democracy. —RICHARD LeNOIR / Middleton, Tenn.

‘Using the source material’

March 4 | Taking up Joel Belz’s challenge to do a word study on “sojourner,” I noticed that sojourners had rights but also responsibilities to live peacefully among the Israelites. Following rules—including those for getting here in the first place—is key for any healthy society. —RAY STEGEMAN / Fort Collins, Colo.

We should provide for needy refugees, and our nation is enriched by immigrants, but there is no Biblical mandate to allow into our country every person who desires to come. —JENNIFER ALWINE MILLER on Facebook

I love that Belz turns the issue inside out: Instead of fearfully thinking about how we can lock our front door even more, let’s devote our best energies and faith in Christ to plotting how we can bring more people in! —STEPHEN P. LEWIS on wng.org

Joel Belz rejects assigning a “dollar value” to prioritize potential immigrants, but scoring mechanisms are already in use here and elsewhere. Governments use immigration to support economic or cultural goals, while failure to shape the stream to those ends may have serious results, as “Northern migration” (March 4) shows. —IAN ROWLANDS / Naples, Fla.

‘Northern migration’

March 4 | Thanks to Jill Nelson and WORLD for truly attempting to inform us about complicated issues. As protests split our society, we need facts simply explained to have any hope of reaching across our political divides. —CYNTHIA TULLY on wng.org

I very much appreciated the views of the various Muslim leaders profiled here. It’s a shame these levelheaded perspectives don’t grab more prominence in the public square. —V.S. KLUTH on wng.org

The last sentence in “Voices on Islam” says it all: “Most of the people on this list face continual death threats.” How can we view Islam as simply another religion when critically examining it results in death threats? —IGOR SHPUDEJKO / Goodyear, Ariz.

Here in Greeley, Colo., I have witnessed a lack of love and acceptance of the Somali and Burmese refugees we have received. I volunteer at the refugee center, and women have asked me why no one will talk to them. They are just trying to survive, and we have the opportunity to share Christ with them. —NANCY AREVALO on wng.org

‘Learning curves’

March 4 | Andrée Seu Peterson described how in her second marriage “God is revisiting me with the issues I didn’t master in the first marriage.” My wife and I, after 63 years of marriage, can learn to be forgiving and go on loving because God forgives us. —PAUL WILLOUER / Bridgewater, Va.

As a retired coach, I must disagree that “practice makes perfect.” Rather, practice makes permanent; perfect practice makes perfect. You have to hold to a standard and return to it; in life that standard is God’s Word. —MIKE TEACHMAN / Farmington, Mich.

This column reminds me of the movie Groundhog Day. God keeps me practicing that I might begin to get life right. —FRANK STEVENSON / Madisonville, Ky.

‘The impossible improbable’

March 4 | I have profited greatly hearing from experts who support young-earth creationism. Thanks for consistently featuring these people. —CHRISTINA WILSON / Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Darwinism remains an elaborate fairy tale for adults, incapable of explaining the three major biological puzzles: life from nonlife; the “information” of life; and irreducible complexity. Let us pray that the Berlin Wall of Darwin-only education topples. Secular humanism deserves no monopoly in the marketplace of ideas. —DARREL WHITE / Baton Rouge, La.

I would argue that studying nature points to an old earth and that Scripture allows for it. Being an old-earth creationist doesn’t mean one is a macroevolutionist. —ORVIN BONTRAGER on wng.org

‘Pledges of protection’

March 4 | Where is the sense of gratefulness that, by the grace of God, America has been spared a Clinton presidency? WORLD’s quest to hold Trump accountable is commendable, but I find it overkill in the current climate. —CHARLENE RANDALL on wng.org

This is the guy who vowed to lock Hillary up and make Mexico pay for his famous border wall. He loves marriage so much, he’s been through it three times; he’s so religious, he doesn’t think he needs forgiveness. WORLD is quite right to keep a close eye on him. —JOHN KLOOSTERMAN on wng.org

‘Royal troubles’

March 4 | We lived in Botswana from 1978 to 1986. Sir Seretse Khama, the subject of A United Kingdom, sowed the seeds of grace between blacks and whites and promoted education and health needs first in areas not of his own tribe. Botswana’s continuing stability stands on the foundation of Khama’s leadership. —PAULA GARCIA on wng.org

‘One rogue liberal’

March 4 | This column about Nat Hentoff is extremely sad. I can only hope that the Spirit of God overwhelmed this man in his last moments. —MARY ANN LAMB on wng.org

‘Rediscovered classics’

Feb. 18 | Often I have walked into bookstores carrying WORLD for its book recommendations. Recently I ordered for our church library all four books you highlighted for black history month. I never would have found Stepping Heavenward on my own. —MIRIAM TOLSMA / Redlands, Calif.

Correction

In the second photo for “New baby? Just relax” (March 18, 2017), Sophia Tsai and daughter Catherine are on the left; Agnes Kong and daughters Abigail and Christie are on the right.

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

‘Using the source material’

March 4 | You allude to our responsibility to shelter and clothe sojourners, and like so much in the media this fails to distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants. The well-being of the former should not be in question; we can certainly aid those who are displaced. —SHARI HULCY / Troy, Mich.

God's people were required to be compassionate to aliens, but they were also commanded not to intermarry or take on aliens’ customs and idols. The Bible does not instruct us to open our borders to anyone who wants to come in. —GARY SCHULZ / Midland, Mich.

Sojourners to Israel, a theocracy, had to convert to Judaism with all its laws, such as death for idolatry and adultery. Some of my liberal friends also throw around verses about welcoming immigrants, but immigrating to Israel was not like immigrating to America. —DONNA HUTCHISON / Bella Vista, Ariz.

‘The impossible improbable’

March 4 | I was an ardent evolutionist and then became a Christian. After seeing the assumptions and vast gaps in evolutionary thinking, I concluded that the Scripture is true and that mainstream science was guessing at the origins of life and the universe. Those who read the science (not the headlines) for themselves will see the flimsy foundation on which evolution and an old earth are based. —PAUL PERRONE on wng.org

‘Rallied for research?’

March 4 | When scientists get political, they shouldn't be surprised if no one listens to them. —LAURA WEIENETH on wng.org