WORLD history

I so appreciate your March 18 issue looking back over 20 years of WORLD history ("Celebrating 20 years of WORLD"). We were one of those original 8,000 Eternity subscribers whose subscriptions you fulfilled. We have enjoyed seeing WORLD mature into adulthood, and have benefited from every week of it. It has been so good to have such an outstanding alternative to the major media. Thank you for being there, for your decidedly Christian worldview, and for your boldness in reporting.-Tom & Liz Dressel; Oregon City, Ore.

Congratulations on your 20th anniversary. I don't always agree with some of your points, but I always enjoy the level of reporting and the professionalism present in each issue.-R.A. Davis; Winston-Salem, N.C.

WORLD turned 20 less than two months after me. I grew up reading God's World News and then WORLD. I hope we can share 60 more years of news from a Christian perspective.-Timothy Hopper; Princeton, W.Va.

I really don't want to hurt your feelings, but I think that "anniversary issues" are a lot like home movies-fun for those who were involved but boring for the rest of us.-Linda Shaffer; Baltimore, Md.

WORLD is an essential part of my life. Your articles make me think about issues more deeply and challenge me to be more Christlike. I especially like your articles detailing the work of compassionate conservatives all over the world. It's easy to become self-involved in my busy life, and your articles bring the real world front and center, with all its hurting and neediness.

-Anita Saalfeld; Urbana, Ill.

I am saddened when an individual describes his cancellation in writing to you. No magazine is perfect, but I find WORLD an invaluable tool in my daily dialogue with a secular workplace. I and many others will be with you, God willing, for another 20 years.-Jeff Kammerud; St. Croix Falls, Wis.

Thanks for being a great voice in our time. We read the magazines and then leave them around as bait for our six children.-Paul Kessel; Dickinson, N.D.

I decided to subscribe to WORLD when I discovered a couple of boxes of them among the stacks of papers and magazines my late father had collected over the years. I soon decided that those particular magazines wouldn't be making their way out to the bonfire. I have been a voracious reader ever since. Thank you to Joel Belz for the vision he had those years ago, and may WORLD remain true to the vision.-Paul Kester; Kingsley, Pa.

Our anniversary

An anniversary is a celebration of relationship, and in that sense I readily can say, "Congratulations on our anniversary." My response to "The next 20 years" (March 18): I have never relied on WORLD for breaking news but have come to appreciate, trust, and refer others to your "thoughtful, biblical reflection on the news."-Thomas F. Kemner; Fort Worth, Texas

Joel Belz's three points on the potency of the internet only pose a latent threat to the future of the magazine: "immediacy" is damaging without accuracy; "economy" does not guarantee quality; and "accessibility" requires filtering to avoid pollution. So keep up WORLD's standards, and may the time remaining to us be blessed by your publishing prosperity.-Robert M. Farra; Lansdale, Pa.

Be salty

While listening to helicopters flying overhead and waiting for a few minutes before leaving for Bible study, I picked up the March 18 WORLD my wife shipped out. It was more than encouraging reading Marvin Olasky's philosophical perspective driving this periodical ("Salt, not sugar"). My team hires local Iraqi contractors to build schools, fire stations, clinics, roads, just about everything that U.S. suburbs have. As Mr. Olasky pointed out, there are many ways to see the same story, and we all have our own baggage and history that gives us each a unique spin on the news. Do stay faithful; we are here.-Joel McMillan, LT, CEC, USNR; USACE/Camp Cooke/APO AE

Joe speaks

Your excellent article, "Regular Joe" (March 11), accurately explains the 20-year-old NOW v. Scheidler federal RICO case and our recent 8-0 victory at the U.S. Supreme Court. It concludes with my statement: "Even though I've been exonerated of racketeering, I haven't been freed of this onus of being a violent person. I want my name cleared." I am working to make that happen. For instance, a misconception in the March 11 article is that once I helped vandalize equipment at a clinic in Pensacola, Fla. I did not vandalize anything. While I was at the site picketing and giving a talk, someone did vandalize it, but I had in no way encouraged them. I have always discouraged vandalism and the use of violence.-Joseph M. Scheidler, Chicago, Ill.

Trust busters

In my opinion, deceivers are now leading the Democratic Party's attempt to appeal to religious voters ("Talking about God, looking for votes," March 11). It is a phony move and does not reflect the true sentiments of the party.-Michael Martin; Montrose, Colo.

The cover art should have included an elephant. Both parties are demonstrating their adeptness at paying lip service to religious constituencies while drinking from the troughs of the gaming industry and the pharmaceutical industry, not to mention earmarking taxpayer dollars for personal political gain.-Hilber Nelson; Twin Falls, Idaho

Deeper

I love your magazine but was disappointed in the article on cutting ("Playing with knives," March 11). Real Christian compassion would address this issue as a sin problem. The solution is not provided through secular psychological techniques or "hands-on hugging" or "positive affirmation," but the life-transforming message of the gospel.-Kate Harmon; Long Grove, Ill.

More Morris

Dr. Henry Morris founded a creation science movement that neither believers nor unbelievers should ever underestimate (The Buzz, March 11). His transforming influence deserves far more recognition than a single paragraph.-Michael DuMez; Oostburg, Wis.

Fall already?

Thanks to Andrée Seu for her encouragement to bear fruit in the autumn of my life ("The older woman," Feb. 25). I just didn't know autumn would come so soon.-Hazel Farris; Little Rock, Ark.

Corrections

Jay Williams is president of the Stoneridge Group in Buford, Ga. ("Knee-deep in scandal?" March 26, p. 26).

John Green was found guilty on March 27 of throwing a punch at former Indiana Pacers guard Ron Artest (Around the Horn, April 8, p. 36).