Horrors!

What a surprise to find a review of the Dirty Vegas CD in your pages (Top Albums, Nov. 2). As we approach, no, embrace middle age, we are still driven to dance when the right beat passes our ears. This CD has done that for us from the get-go, yet you commented that this music style is "what Ecstasy addicts are said to enjoy dancing to all night." Non-drug-using people across the world continue to enjoy good dance music, especially grooves that have no "objectionable material." And maybe (horrors!) your child's Sunday school teacher just may like to get out every once in a while to dance the night away. - Greg Berzinsky, Philadelphia, Pa.

No smiling

Joel Belz wrote that "nobody's smiling" (Nov. 2) in the Family Research Council's portrait of the American family, and I'm not either. Given that 81 percent said that a good marriage is "absolutely necessary" for them to consider their life a success, but the percentage of two-parent homes has dropped from 88 percent in 1960 to 69 percent now, it seems to me that we cannot solve the problem of the American family when people say one thing yet do another. The will of the people, not their words, has prevailed in this matter. - Perry E. Wharton II, St. Petersburg, Fla.

Past due

It would, beyond any doubt, be a past-due conciliatory gesture if the town fathers of Scottsboro found a way to honor those who were treated with such dishonor in the past ("Unclaimed baggage," Nov. 2). Yet, I can't help but wonder when it's appropriate to stop calling the children to repent for the sins of the fathers. As a Southerner, it seems to me that only Southerners are publicly taken to task for injustices of the past. Scottsboro is already famous for this episode, and Birmingham is known for fire hoses and police dogs. On the other hand, there were race riots in Boston after Birmingham was integrated, but Boston is allowed to define itself by more positive points in its history. When is it time to forgive people and allow them to move on? How do we determine which sins should be memorialized? - Warren K. Rock, Alabaster, Ala.

Got milk?

Those schoolchildren in Scotland clearly sized up the implications of the animal-rights hate campaign against milk ("Scotland's brat pack," Nov. 2). To abolish milk would be to abolish delicious, delectable ice cream, not to mention yogurt, butter, cheese, and whipped cream. Perhaps it's what God had in mind--refreshment with a piece of real estate--when He spoke of a "land flowing with milk and honey" for the Israelites after 40 years of wandering in the barren, arid desert of Sinai. Let the animal-rights people have the desert; bring on the milk. - Elizabeth Krivak, Allentown, Pa.

Bad choice

I am an avid reader of WORLD but, as a retired rear admiral in the U.S. Navy, "Bad choices" (Oct. 26) did not sit well with my personal beliefs. To deal with Iraq and Hussein in a biblical sense is to do our duty to mankind and eliminate his kind from world influence. The loss of innocent lives will be a major consideration in the planning and execution of U.S. strategy, but not the primary one. The primary consideration is to win the war and stop the killing. The U.S. military will not make war against civilians, but will make war against the military might of Iraq. Christians should go into this conflict with much humility, praying that we are doing God's will. - Dick Myers, Bonsall, Calif.

Must-see TV

I totally agree with Cal Thomas in his review of "Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye" ("Up from victimhood," Oct. 19). As a parent of a hard-of-hearing child, I was thrilled to see a deaf woman playing the lead role. The program accurately and touchingly presents issues that people with a hearing loss deal with every day, but that the rest of us have never thought about. - Arlene Hardman, Mt. Prospect, Ill.

Too negative

I am disappointed by the Oct. 5 article "Fish & ships." I haven't seen the VeggieTales movie, but the negative points mentioned don't seem to warrant such a cautious subtitle. What is wrong with Jonah saying "Don't do drugs"? Since when does any VeggieTales production adhere strictly to any precise, historical accounts? It's certainly not wrong to mention these things, but the review seemed too negative considering how wonderful it is that Big Idea is bringing something so positive to the big screen. - Brian Schwartz, Nashville, Tenn.

Another view?

Your article on the recently discovered ossuary with the inscription "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus" notes two Catholic theories on James's identity ("James's box?" Nov. 2). What about the Protestant view that James was born to Joseph and Mary after the birth of Jesus? - William S. Barker, Webster Groves, Mo.

Now we know

I'm thankful for WORLD's reporting on political races that have been brewing this fall, and that your approach has been to discuss the issues at stake, not just the parties ("2002 Vote," Nov. 2). I'm also glad that WORLD didn't try to predict today's election results-a tide of close races that went to the Republicans-before election day. There's nothing wrong with a pleasant surprise. Please continue to keep your reporting zeal bridled by what we know. - Chuck Walton, Kanawha, Iowa

I like your magazine, and I am a conservative Republican, but you have been failing to cover President George Bush and the Republican Party with the same objectivity and well-deserved critical analysis and reporting that you directed at the Democrats and Bill and Hillary Clinton. We desperately need you to be something much greater than cheerleaders for the Bush team. - Barry D. Williams, Eugene, Ore.

Sniper's paradise

Thank you for printing this letter to the sniper and saying what needs to be said ("A letter to the sniper," Nov. 2). As a college student, I hear many views about the sniper but none expresses hope of seeing these men someday in paradise. It is time we stand up to the world and declare that it is not those who can fit in who deserve paradise, but no one. We all deserve an eternity in hell, but Christ Himself took the penalty and defeated the power sin holds over all of our lives. - Zebulun H. Lott, Greenville, S.C.

We are wondering what the difference is between the snipers and the doctors who perform abortions every day in our nation (as well as around the world), as both take the lives of innocent people ("Sniper suspects," Nov. 2). - James & Mildred Plumley, Denton, Md.