We needed that

I appreciated your review of important events over the last 1,000 years ("The millennium," July 31). So many Christians are unaware of their heritage-the God-ordained successes as well as the unbiblical follies of the church in its various forms. To know where we came from, what has worked, and what hasn't will help future congregations manage their churches and spread the message of Christ. I hope that the church of the 21st century will realize that cultural change alone and the religions of man won't save us, but that Jesus Christ can. Modern liberals have used the American public's ignorance of history to fool them in many ways. Thank you for reminding us of the events of the millennium so we can see how God has worked in our world. We needed that. - Andrew Hogue, Valley View, Texas

But

Your writing is excellent, your historical accounts insightful, your worldview God-honoring, but your math is wrong. This is not the "last year of the millennium"; the year 2000 is. Perhaps next year at this time I can expect another special millennial issue-I will devour it as I have this one. - Don Dumbacher, DeKalb, Ill.

Down with Dewey

I thoroughly enjoyed your special issue on the millennium. However, I found your mention of John Dewey in the education article to be neither pro nor con. I believe that he has done more harm to the public education system than any other men in the nation. Dewey was a socialist and an atheist who wrote that God was the greatest threat to education in the country. I believe that Dewey and his followers have dumbed down the curriculum and taught our nation's children to rely on government for answers. - Duane V. Grassell, Akron, Ohio

A keeper

Recapping 1,000 years of history is no easy task. However, your writers and editors did a phenomenal job. From beginning to end you were able to show us both good and bad alike. This issue is a keeper. - Kathy Lundgren, Rockton, Ill.

Objection

We love your magazine, but we take issue with one point in "No cure for the Fall," where Mr. Imbody lumped homeopathy in with the "stagnant pond of New Age quackery." We think Christians should research it for themselves before condemning it as a pseudo-science. - Rick & Sue Merriam, Marion, S.D.

Back to basics

Your July 31 issue was excellent. I especially appreciated the sections on the legal system ("Stop! In the name of the law") and education ("Dollars and sense") which were right on. There is no question that in both these areas we have lost our moorings. We must get back to the Christian worldview that is so crucial to both these disciplines. - David R. Christenson, Lynnwood, Wash.

WORLD in class

I plan to make your millennium issue required reading for the course I teach in Western Civilization for the College of Biblical Studies in Houston. Keep up the great work. - Keith Bower, Houston, Texas

No free cure

What a grand sweep of medical history by Jonathan Imbody in "No cure for the Fall" (July 31). But "expensive technology" did not lead directly to managed care. If market forces were truly harnessed to medicine, we could expect Moore's Law (computer speeds double and prices drop every 18 months) or some variant to be at work in medical technology. Imagine a home MRI unit, something hardly more outlandish than a laptop would have seemed in the days of Univac. Instead, market forces have been turned inside-out by the third-party payer. Not only is there no cure for the Fall, there is no free cure. Someone pays, and if it isn't the patient then prices soar and the patient loses control of his care. As long as we ignore this principle, health care will continue to unravel. - Nancy J. Rice, Hackettstown, N.J.

No mob rule

Professor Buzzard denounces the principle of "judicial review" as established in Marbury vs. Madison but fails to present a viable alternative. If it is not the judiciary's duty to "say what the law is," then whose is it? The Bill of Rights is far too important to be entrusted to the vagaries of mob rule. - Ken Smith, Golden, Colo.

Known by your enemies

As a new reader, I greatly enjoyed your special issue on the millennium, so I thought I'd check out your website. None was listed in that issue. A search of "worldmagazine.com" brought up a drawing of a satanic-looking alien next to a banner that said, "In the year 2018 the messiah returns." Hmm ... pretty heavy stuff for a Christian site, I thought. A search for "God's World Publications" brought me to a gay/lesbian page listing WORLD magazine as one of the enemies of the gay and lesbian community. Well, at least they linked me to your website-www.worldmag.com. - John Horton, Hendersonville, N.C.

A real threat

I object to the Pokémon phenomenon ("Poking into Pokémon," July 24), not just because it is void of anything of spiritual value but because it does indeed have elements that are morally and spiritually damaging. Several characters use hypnosis and psychic powers to battle other characters while others can evolve into other beings. The writer may blow it off as a "forgettable fad," but I think we need to see it as a real threat to our children. - Steve Hood, Birmingham, Ala.

On the air

I heard one of your reporters speaking on WMUZ, a Christian radio station in Detroit, speaking on a NOW conference she had attended ("Worse NOW than ever," July 24). I found her insights very interesting and looked up your website after the broadcast. I was so impressed with what I saw that I ordered a trial subscription. - Paul Nicosia, Warren, Mich.

Right-wing WORLD

We do not wish to receive this magazine any longer. The articles are too right wing. - Derek & Mar Cole, Santa Barbara, Calif.

Following Christ

I agree that the doorway which takes believers out of the church building should take them out to serve others in word and deed ("Full-strength church," July 17). This is what it means to follow Christ. As long as churches exclude service from the "marks" of the church (along with worship, witness, and fellowship) they reduce its importance for Christians. - David S. Apple, Philadelphia, Pa.

An oxymoron

Mr. Singer's appointment as Professor of bioethics at Princeton University's Center for Human Values ("Professor Death," July 17) is an oxymoron if I ever heard one. And, while I was not surprised by the Princeton appointment, I was shocked and amazed by your story on some of America's finest museums. Except for the Library of Congress's "Religion and the Founding of the American Republic," how have we arrived at this sorry state? - Lory Basham Jones, Tarzana, Calif.

What then?

I appreciated the letter "Missing in action" (July 17) but would add that the present shortage of young people after 25 years of abortion is nothing to the crunch that is coming when that abortion-decimated generation is the only one paying into Social Security while all the Baby Boomers are collecting. What will happen then? Euthanasia? If the present movement to legalize physician-assisted suicide state by state isn't stopped now, that next step could be easier then. - Ricki Degges, West Valley City, Utah

Free in America

Thank you for your review of Saving Private Ryan ("To see or not to see," June 19). I am 11 years old and read your review before seeing the movie. Although violent and upsetting in some scenes, it made me think about all those people who suffered and died at Omaha Beach so that I could be free in America. - Grey Winn, Raleigh, N.C.

Corrections and clarifications

Portuguese traders sailed to South Africa in 1487. Savanarola was burned at the stake in 1498. The Edict of Nantes was issued in 1598. Isaac Newton developed the binomial theorem in 1663. The Lewis and Clark expedition set out in 1804. Faraday discovered the fundamentals of electronics in 1821. The compression-ignition internal combustion engine (Diesel) was patented in 1892. Roentgen discovered X-rays in 1895. The World Council of Churches was formed in 1948. The Korean Armistice was signed in 1953. The U.S. Supreme Court Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka decision was in 1954. Fidel Castro became premier of Cuba in 1959. The U.S. Supreme Court banned school prayer in 1962. The March on Washington occurred in 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in 1968. The CT-scan was invented in 1972. - The Editors,