Mailbag

‘Friends of Ted’

April 16 | It seems to me Ted Cruz has plenty of friends: those he has befriended to encourage their ideals, and those who see in him worth to be encouraged. Best of all, his friendship with Jesus seems strong.

—Mary Glaesman / Fallon, Nev.

You failed to mention that from 2006 to 2010, the Cruzes made millions yet gave far less than 1 percent to charity. Cruz refused to release his charitable giving for years 2011 to 2014. I don’t trust him.

—Roger Minassian / Fresno, Calif.

Friends, what is it with the “anybody but Trump” theme? Give it a rest.

—John Snively / Eustis, Fla.

‘Underdog moment’

April 16 | You referred to Gov. John Kasich as pro-life, yet he has stated he is pro-abortion in cases of rape and incest. The answer to these rare pregnancies is counseling and grace, not murder.

—Matt Ekmanc / Hartland, Mich.

You mentioned Kasich’s support for Common Core and his lack of support for protecting religious liberty, but it seemed treated too briskly. Kasich may be a Christian, but he is betraying Christians with such positions.

—Bruce Henne / Salem, Wis.

Notable Books

April 16 | Thank you for your book reviews. I often recommend to my library books that WORLD has recommended. One librarian encouraged me to continue, saying, “We get enough requests from the other side.”

—Patty Nevins / Sacramento, Calif.

‘Society of stakeholders’

April 16 | Joel Belz rightly calls American healthcare financing “a mess.” In a better system, everybody would have coverage, and everybody would pay a percentage of the actual cost. Actual costs would be transparent, and the financing would be disconnected from employment.

—Ian H. Cook / Madison, Wis.

‘Buffet of belief’

April 16 | Joel Belz awakened me to the brutal fact that we live in a “once-great country,” a truth I have tried to ignore. I then read the sections on presidential candidates and National Geographic Channel’s failed attempt to find the only true God, finally arriving at Marvin Olasky’s column (“Halls of power”) that concluded, “Christ is our only hope.” This issue was great.

—Jim Schultz / Decatur, Ill.

The “buffet line” approach to faith is nothing new; the Bible calls it idolatry to determine for ourselves what our god will be like, and then worshipping it. Our culture appears to be running headlong with its fingers in its collective ears, into a new age of Judges, a time when everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

—Bob Renckly on wng.org

‘A massive and immoral scheme’

April 16 | The premiums (that is, taxes) for Social Security are too low, the income from investments is too small, and the benefits are too generous for it to stay solvent. It probably would not pass the fiduciary standards most states set for annuities.

—Heinrich Erbes / McLean, Va.

So far, Washington’s “answer” is to hike workers’ FICA contributions every so often and claim that it has “saved” Social Security. The government has reached the limit on that ploy, however; a Ponzi scheme is still a Ponzi scheme.

—Rich Asper / Menomonie, Wis.

‘God’s Not Dead 2’

April 16 | This movie will harden the hearts of nonbelievers while making a quick buck off religious conservatives.

—Ethan Hanson on Facebook

We recommend highly this movie to any who need encouragement to stand for their Christian beliefs whatever the cost. Both films in this series are excellent.

—Ruth Waggener on wng.org

‘Not yet missed’

April 16 | Mindy Belz was far too charitable toward the 44th president. Barack Obama has been an unapologetic defender of Planned Parenthood, the Walmart of the abortion industry and a provider of baby parts. He has also supported homosexuality and homosexual marriage. We have reached the stage where “evil is called good and good evil.”

—Jim Irish / Bastrop, Texas

‘Work and family time’

April 16 | To your enjoyable article I would add that Adam LaRoche recently cited a trip with The Exodus Road, which helps rescue sex slaves, as a major part of his decision to retire. He weighed playing baseball against what he hoped he might accomplish by a return visit to Asia. What a delight to hear the rest of the story.

—Bill Doerfel / Norman, Okla.

‘Way out there’

April 16 | I wonder if those at the Southwest Research Institute, who wouldn’t have thought that tiny Pluto could “hold on to an atmosphere over the age of the solar system,” had considered whether the universe is much younger than they thought possible.

—Frank Brown / Port Republic, N.J.

‘Reinventing the wheel’

April 16 | The task for self-driving vehicles is not to come up with a computer and operating system that do not crash, but one that crashes less often than people. In a few years, I imagine people will consider manual driving to be an unnecessarily dangerous activity.

—Dana Davis on wng.org

‘Redeeming the time’

April 16 | I hope that Marco Rubio’s religious freedom bill passes, and that the Bodnariu family in Norway (‘Support swells for Christian family in Norway after authorities seize children,’ Jan. 21) is reunited. Religious freedom is not just an issue in the Middle East.

—Dale Murrish on wng.org

‘Waiting till the wedding’

April 16 | I am so disappointed with unmarried Christian couples who think nothing of staying in each other’s apartment or sharing a motel room. This moral laxity starts way before cohabiting; we must set the right standards when they’re in high school.

—Karen LaBarr / Cumming, Ga.

I am a member of the church where Mike Mobley works; he is a true servant of Christ. Truly, grace cannot be grace when it condones sin. I don’t claim to know the answer but I’d like to ask which is better: to refuse to marry a cohabiting couple if they will not first separate as a sign of repentance, or to take the desire to marry as a sign of God’s work in their lives and marry them so that they can get back on a Christian track as soon as possible?

—Chris Smith on wng.org

‘Preschooler’s companion’

April 16 | Interesting idea with the robots. As artificial intelligence gets better at creating the illusion of personality, though, we'll have to think seriously about how much emotional bonding with such machines is healthy for kids. Kids could easily get frustrated when the real people in their lives aren't as attentive or encouraging as their robot “friends.”

—Laura Weieneth on wng.org

‘Forgotten men’

April 2 | In my ministry among the rural poor of the Midwest, I have seen this spike of young men, mostly white and from small towns, caught in the horror, waste, and heartbreak of drug addiction, along with middle-aged white men who are alone, directionless, and empty. They're not innocent victims, but neither are we in our own sins. Here are the forgotten, quietly self-imploding and profoundly needing the grace, hope, and healing of Christ.

—A. Perdicaris on wng.org