Relatively speaking

In "More politics, less reporting" (July 29), you pointed out that reporters for the major media often refer to the "far right" but never to the "far left." Perhaps those reporters are speaking in reference to their own position, and therefore should refer to extreme liberals as the "near left." - Barry Wills, Sunbury, Pa.

No fluke

Thank you so much for "Wedge issues" (July 29). As an enzymologist at Trevecca Nazarene University, I have spent several years trying to calculate the infinitesimally small possibility that any enzyme of the dozens needed to start life could have been created randomly, given the conditions postulated by Miller and Urey. Nancy Pearcey is right. There is a less than zero chance such information comes about by accident-4.1 billion years is not enough for the first cell to arrive on earth by chance. Rather, it is infinitely probable that the information in a cell is not the result of a random process. - Chris Farrell, Nashville, Tenn.

Some light

Thank you for the attention to Sudan ("Blue Nile Blackout II," July 29). My wife and I opened the Sudan Interior Mission work at Wadega in 1947, and were expelled with other missionaries in 1962 when the Islamic rulers began to try to blot out the Christian message from that vast land. Our hearts have ached for our suffering Sudanese friends through the years. But there is some light in all of that darkness. Thank God for the multitudes who have found Christ in the midst of unbearable suffering. May our western world awake to their desperate need. - Harvey Stranske, Denair, Calif.

Cover to cover

Here it is after midnight (again), and I'm not in bed, where I ought to be, because the new WORLD came today and I just finished reading it cover to cover. You are the only publication I consistently lose sleep over. - Lynn Sneed, Ft. Worth, Texas

Dropped

I will not renew my subscription. Your publication is too ultra-conservative, almost paranoid, for my taste. - Carol Bedrosion, Gloucester, Mass.

Picked up

I dropped WORLD about six months ago and have been lost without it. Please renew my subscription. - George H. Glenn, Gerry, N.Y.

Public avoidance

Thanks for putting things like what Ben Hamilton did in WORLD (Quotables, July 22). By not appearing in Playboy's college football special, Ben challenged me to "work for the food that endures and not the food that spoils." - Justin Childers, Huntsville, Texas

Cutting corners

I greatly enjoyed your "Politics 2000" special issue (July 29), especially the quotations on politics. Those were quite amusing, but I found a quote by Bill Clinton at the 1992 Democratic Convention in Atlanta to be the epitome of the ironic presidential quote: "We have seen the folks in Washington turn the American ethic on its head. For too long, those who play by the rules and keep the faith have gotten the shaft. And those who have cut corners and cut deals have been rewarded." From Monica to Whitewater to missing e-mails, it's all so disgustingly sad. - Beckie Gruen, Lindenhurst, Ill.

1800s voter backlash

I read "The Main Event" issue with great pleasure. "Going negative" (July 29), about the campaign between Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams, particularly caught my eye. One of my ancestors, John Nevin from near Shippensburg, was a federalist and one of the first in Pennsylvania to change parties and support Jackson as a result of the negative campaigning. In a letter to his wife's uncle he described his reaction to a Clay newspaper attack on federalists: "Before I laid the paper out of my hand, I determined to withdraw myself from a connection so humiliating. The nerves of the poor federalists are not made of horn, and I venture to predict that many in this state are now experiencing my feelings." In a later letter Mr. Nevin described a visit to Andrew Jackson's Hermitage prior to the inauguration: "[I] was much pleased with Gen. Jackson and his lady. He has a neat Brick Presbyterian Church on his Farm, at which he and Mrs. Jackson are regular attendants. I enquired at several gentlemen in the neighbourhood if there was any truth in the report that he was a reformed man. They say it is a fact. I only know that during our visit there was nothing in his conversation at all bordering on the profane, and he asked the blessing of the Almighty on us at our departure. 'May Heaven direct you,' said I." - Rick Petersen, Laurel, Md.

God is

Nancy Pearcey's interview with Phillip Johnson was interesting, but the problem is not the definition of knowledge. If you do not believe that God exists you will never know the truth, as Francis Schaeffer put it, about "Final Reality." - James H. Oliver, Upland, Ind.

Finding the good

Thank you for your reviews of books, movies, and music. Because of them my family has enjoyed numerous versions of Shakespeare on screen, Braveheart (which led to the purchase of many stories by Henty, starting with Wallace and Bruce) and Apollo 13, while avoiding Mission Impossible 2 and Titanic. We have also enjoyed Soulful Celebration (a version of Handel's Messiah) and the music of Jerry Reed Smith. - Rebecca Ifland, Poulsbo, Wash.

Neither wishy nor washy

Thank you very much for "Grail of fire" (July 22) concerning the latest Harry Potter novel. I have heard so many Christians give wishy-washy reviews that all but recommend these books. At last someone who stands up for truth. - Sara Shaffer, Union, Ore.