Mailbag

'All tied up'

(Sept. 24) Your article on government regulation made me more aware of what is holding back the economy. The executive agencies are telling the businesses to create jobs, but then they shackle them with regulations. I fail to see the logic. It frustrates me to know that these officials are unelected and have no accountability to the people. Andrew Willis, 17; Homer Glen, Ill.

"Playing the envy card"

(Sept. 24) If the president is truly concerned about corporate jets, he could back up his rhetoric by getting rid of his own and traveling by land. That would give him less time to make speeches-and that might be a good thing. Richard Bellinger; Brookneal, Va.

"It's not about the dream"

(Sept. 24) This piece about Phil Vischer is one of the most thought-provoking and challenging articles I've read in a long time. It not only gives us an insight into his life and experiences but challenges us to live our own lives in the way that most pleases God. Barbara Baker; Lawton, Mich.

"Banned books"

(Sept. 24) Bless the hearts of these people who work to ban objectionable material from our public libraries, but they're trying to drain the ocean with a sieve. The Hunger Games and Twilight series made the list of the 10 most challenged books of 2010, but these two are prudish compared with many young adult books. Stories of teenagers engaging in sex, witchcraft in its most repulsive forms, violence that would be rated R in theaters-they're all there for anyone to read. Tracy Tanner; Owatonna, Minn.

"The long haul"

(Sept. 24) This article caught my eye because I am the oldest employee at my workplace, although not as old as Lee Anderson! Many people I work with are younger than my children, but I learn a lot from them, and I think they learn something from me occasionally. I would add that there is another paper with two editorial pages here in Lancaster County, the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era, that was also formed by the merger of a liberal and a conservative-leaning paper. Miriam Homer; Lancaster County, Pa.

"Educational pioneers"

(Sept. 24) Thank you for being culturally sensitive. Nineteen years ago, we were one of the first Chinese Americans to homeschool our children. Our own people had such a hard time understanding us, and we could not fully identify with the Caucasian families in our support group, either. We were very lonely and had many ups and downs, but God has been faithful. I'd encourage ethnic minorities to focus their teaching on their language, history, and culture while they are young and instill a kingdom perspective earlier. I regretted not doing so more. Nancy Huang; Los Angeles, Calif.

"Powered by faith"

(Sept. 24) As the father of a multi-race Christian homeschooling family, I found the article about African-American homeschoolers very interesting. However, I was shocked that you lumped Catholicism in with Islam, New Age, and the hippie movement as things in which Alberta Wilson "dabbled." If she felt more at home in another Christian denomination, fine, but please don't make it sound like she dodged an eternal bullet when she decided not to become a Catholic Christian. Peter Broda; Egg Harbor Township, N.J.

"The narrow door"

(Sept. 24) As a high school senior I have been approaching the long-feared college decision with eyes searching for safety. As Andrée Seu called us young girls to seek after true grace, my mind was running back to the idea of going to a public, secular university. Embracing Him wholeheartedly and without reservations can and does happen at a secular school. This is an extremely difficult and patience-building time, but the Lord can and does use it mightily in my life daily. Greta Turnbull, 17; Leavenworth, Wash.

"A place forgotten"

(Sept. 10) This article reminded me that America's greatest asset isn't necessarily her government or her financial infrastructure but her people. Although the terrorists targeted America's highest-profile institutions, the passengers aboard Flight 93 prevented 9/11 from being an even greater catastrophe. Today I see in their heroic sacrifice a stern reminder to a nation in the midst of an identity crisis. Amanda Pearson; Rockford, Ill.

The "husband and wife who had arrived at the airport early enough to take Flight 93 instead of their later flight" had been members of a Sunday school class our son attended. 9/11 touched many people. Larry Marsh; Colton, Ore.

"Where were you on 9/11?"

(Sept. 10) I remember when, after 9/11, the news media showed images of groups of gleeful Arabs parading through streets rejoicing at the wound in New York and the slaughter of our citizens. So I was glad to read Wendy Merdian's account of compassionate Arab friends expressing condolences to her in the wake of that tragedy. I was most impacted by Bill Bangham's account of his friend Randy's statement that "There is a war in the heavenlies" and how the group they were with prayed the entire day in response. I would so like to have heard their prayers. Anne Kiren; Level Green, Pa.

"Islam vs. liberty"

(Sept. 10) Marvin Olasky's crash course in comparative religion regarding the stark differences between the basic tenets of Christianity and Islam was probably the best I've ever seen. He clearly distinguished between their ideas of freedom. Thank you for putting this all into perspective. And thank God that He freed us "from this wretched body of sin" to have life to the full. Raenel Mathews; Payson, Ariz.

The explanation of Islam's inability to recognize man's original sin and its position that Muslims can live a "moral life" based on Muhammad's plan was eye-opening for me. It was such a helpful explanation of why the Muslim heart is so difficult to reach with the gospel of Christ. F. Alston; Dallas, Texas

"Where is our treasure?"

(Sept. 10) While I greatly appreciate Marvin Olasky calling attention to worldly thinking about retirement, the incompatibility of Social Security with biblical teaching extends much further, as exemplified by its forced redistribution of wealth. It was and is a government-imposed ponzi scheme. Dennis E. Lebo; Carlisle, Pa.

I will try to remind myself tomorrow when my alarm goes off at 5:30 a.m. and I wake from a less-than-stellar slumber (seems to go with aging) that this is more to be desired than "the emptiness and uselessness of retirement" that I "crave." Perhaps if I could switch with John Piper, doing his ministry and writing while he works my 40 hours at a wastewater treatment plant, he might be a bit more sympathetic. Katy Landers; Wenatchee, Wash.

I have no quarrel with the article on retirement. However, taking early retirement has enabled many to be part of missionary endeavors such as building churches and the like. We were privileged to do the electrical work and assist in building cabins for a Bible camp for parts of 16 years. David Hoff; Barron, Wis.

Music

(Sept. 10) As the owner of an iPod that contains Newsboys, Nightnoise, Nightwish, and Novaspace, and where Madonna co-exists with Mozart, Moby, and Morning Musume, I want to say that I really enjoy Arsenio Orteza's music reviews. Clearly he loves many different kinds of music, and every one of his reviews is interesting to me. Charles A. Burge; Kaneohe, Hawaii

"The new greatest generation"

(Sept. 10) Great job by Mindy Belz. Something about that piece was just several notches up. I smiled, I teared up, and I prayed for our young people. Rich Loudon; Issaquah, Wash.

"Reclaiming an idea"

(Aug. 13) Going through my backlog of WORLDs, I ran across an earlier interview with Rick Santorum ("Don't forget Obamacare," Oct. 23, 2010). In that one piece he nailed so many things that happened in one year's time. Maybe it's time to move him into the main tier of candidates. Koby Padgett; Columbia, S.C.

Correction

The McGarrys are renovating a home in Wellston but have not yet moved in. Keith Dorsey works with them as an apprentice ("Spirit of St. Louis," Sept. 24).

WORLD around the world

Giza, Egypt Submitted by Shelly Gary

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