Against the grain

[ March 2 ] The Children’s Books of the Year issue is definitely my favorite. As a youth librarian, I take seriously my role in guiding our patrons to excellent literature. This issue and the children’s books column in every issue are a lifeline in a world overflowing with attractively packaged books filled with untruth. —Darla Dykstra / Kansas City, Mo.

My 10-year-old daughter was asking for more books like the young adult version of The Boys in the Boat. Then your Children’s Books of the Year issue arrived, and now at least four books my children will enjoy are ready to pick up at the library. Thank you! —Abby Brandenberger / Fort Wayne, Ind.

Books of the resistance

[ March 2 ] As an aspiring author, I have read hundreds of children’s books recently. Many new books and award winners strike me as leftist propaganda and moralizing, so I appreciate your careful reviews. —Robin Newman / West Bloomfield, Mich.

Parents should skip the propaganda and let little ones read the beloved old books that have built generations of strong Americans. —Darlene Pajo on Facebook

Janie B. Cheaney writes that Christian parents should evaluate with their teens whether the logic of these books holds up. That assumes Christian parents have been taught logic. —Janet Bell on wng.org

A flawed design

[ March 2 ] Socialism is becoming attractive because we have allowed those who control large corporations to escape their civic responsibilities and enrich themselves at the expense of workers. Executives who cut underfunded pensions while earning huge bonuses and stock options are just one example. —Philip Taylor on Facebook

Winston Churchill said it the best: “The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” —Randy Crews / Spokane, Wash.

Socialism is far worse than a practical failure. It is by nature anti-freedom, always requiring a dictator to enforce it. It also violates the Eighth and Tenth Commandments, which command us to keep our hands off our neighbor’s chickens and keep our minds from desiring them for ourselves. —Bob Grossmann / Vero Beach, Fla.

As Margaret Thatcher observed, the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money. —Rogene Hingston / Mount Vernon, Wash.

Death of a poet

[ March 2 ] Andrée Seu Peterson helped me sort through conflicting emotions surrounding the loss of Mary Oliver’s creative voice. The message came through loud and clear: Beware the road “soft underfoot,” no matter how beautifully it has been described. —Michele Morin / Warren, Maine

Creative unbelievers will always be among us, much like the poor. Peterson shows we must be circumspect when the words of man collide with the words of God. —Brian Cage / Shawnee, Kan.

I am disappointed. It is not compromise to recognize Mary Oliver’s accomplishments and skill as a poet. We who celebrate God as the true Creator should be the first to celebrate what is truly beautiful even if the artist is ensnared in sin, as we all have been. —Anthony Rodriguez / Swannanoa, N.C.

Bravo to Peterson for her column on living art and honoring truth. She consistently grapples with issues thoughtful Christians face and gives WORLD a distinctive edge. —Joe Martin / Montreat, N.C.

Rise of the ‘YIMBYs’

[ March 2 ] The biggest issue with trying to increase housing units in major California cities is that the infrastructure is built-out. Traffic is already insane, and they can’t put in more roads to support the extra traffic that would result from more housing. And not providing adequate parking will create other problems. —Gary Candinale / Torrance, Calif.

If working-class people in California such as firefighters and teachers continue in their jobs although they are basically homeless or live under insane conditions, why would their communities change? Real change will come when enough of those people have had enough and move. Then the law of supply and demand will work it out. —Phillip Woeckener on wng.org

Necessary trips?

[ March 2 ] I am thankful for brave scientists who dare to voice their honest criticism of Darwinism. This issue is crucial, for if evolution is true, then death did not come into the world as a result of the Fall, as the Bible states, but was merely God’s tool for creating higher forms of life. —Catherine Boehme / College Park, Md.

Darwin’s theory of evolution is a dangerous, largely discredited fairy tale that scientists should have discarded long ago. —Jerry Doyle / Sheboygan, Wis.

Something cannot come from nothing, no matter how many billion years you throw into the equation. Some men will just not have God rule over them. —Henry Schnabel / Bristol, Colo.

Inside the Iglesia family

[ March 2 ] The Iglesia ni Cristo’s influence in politics is real. I was in Manila in 2014, and all elected officials, right down to barangay district captains, erected signs and posters offering their congratulations for the church’s 100th anniversary. —Matthew Tubbs on wng.org

Constricted by ‘constructs’

[ March 2 ] Excellent column. It made me wonder if the American Psychological Association’s attacks on masculinity contribute to the declining number of men on college campuses. Given the APA’s influence in education, is it any wonder that men are taking themselves elsewhere than to university? —Jason Leininger / Strafford, Mo.

Corrections

Shane Anderson formerly ran the blog The Daily Genevan (“A matter of attribution,” March 30, p. 55).

Eight species, two genera, and one family of organisms are named after Günter Bechly. Dragonfly adults possess helicopterlike flight. Sugar code on the cell membrane is necessary to produce a viable fetus. Michael Behe used empirical data from drug resistance in malaria to calculate the waiting time for genetic changes (“If rocks could talk,” March 2, pp. 28-29).

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

Death of a poet

[ March 2 ] Thank you for the Biblical principles related to free-market economics and the church’s failure to be salt and light. —Karyn Pritchett / Toano, Va.

New Amsterdam

[ March 2 ] I watch this show now, but if it gives more time to the homosexual doctor’s lifestyle I will scratch it from my watch list. I’m waiting to see how they handle the Bible-believing Christian faith. —Terrance Mason on Facebook

The best thing about this show is that it affirms the value of every life, regardless of faith, age, nationality, income level, or sexual orientation. —Jennifer Heffernan on Facebook

Transgender roundup

[ March 2 ] You noted Martina Navratilova promised to “educate” herself after receiving pushback against her charge that transgender males competing against women were cheating. She did, indeed, educate herself, and then said that her views had strengthened on this issue. —Ree Mehta / Sunnyvale, Calif.

Wolves and lambs

[ March 2 ] Let us pray that God will give boldness to believers to speak and vote the truth instead of staying mute and allowing evil to prevail. —Rose Gringgu Nieman on Facebook

The Kid Who Would Be King

[ Feb. 16 ] Regarding this film, isn’t it clear enough that “misuses of God’s name, frightening images, practice of magic, and Morgana’s sensual garb” should prevent WORLD from recommending it? —Brian Demars / Fresno, Calif.

Tax time interrogation

[ Feb. 16 ] This column is a sweet reminder as we prepare all those odious papers for our accountants at this time of year. —Claire Kimmel / Banner Elk, N.C.

Past its prime

[ Feb. 2 ] I teach in the arts at the college level. In my own discipline too many students want an app to make the subject easy, rather than putting in the sweat equity to own a subject thoroughly. Our own desire for comfort and gratification is undermining the things necessary to build us up. —Larry Panella on wng.org