Mailbag

2022 News of the Year

The 2022 News of the Year issue was your best ever.
    —Norm Froiland / Clear Lake, Iowa

I was disappointed that WORLD didn’t include Aaron Judge’s breaking of Roger Maris’ single-season American League home run record, especially when your magazine tends to highlight values and integrity. Some consider it to be the major league record as well since Judge didn’t use performance-enhancing drugs.
    —Britt Tucker / Houston, Texas

2022 Departures

In mentioning the passing of Jerry Lee Lewis and Mickey Gilley, were you aware they were first ­cousins? Evangelist Jimmy Swaggart is also a cousin. Whatever one thinks about this trio, this is fascinating history. Imagine the family reunions!
    —Scott Taylor / Savannah, Ga.

Please make an effort to look a little more thoughtfully for your next list of Departures. We also need to hear about people who have impacted the world for Christ, not just those the secular world celebrates.
    —Sharon Mumper / Colorado Springs, Colo.

Life-saving treatments, blockbuster profits

I want to commend Sharon Dierberger for her out­standing feature on orphan drugs and the unfortunate evidence of greed in Big Pharma. My heart—and prayers—go out to the mothers of the children so affected.
    —Jeffrey C. Danco / Bridgewater, N.J.

If they ever give out a Pulitzer Prize for Christian journalism, Dierberger deserves one. Her article was better than anything I could have hoped to read elsewhere, and it named and defined an ­enormous problem.
    —Robert Osburn / Roseville, Minn.

Scripture roundly condemns taking what is owned or earned by the poor and powerless. But no one is “entitled” to life-saving drugs. They are the private property of the drug companies.
    —Michael Owens / Denver, Pa.

After reading this article, I was left with the idea that pharmaceutical companies are the villains. But are they raking in “obscene” profits? High revenues are still needed to cover expenses and achieve the companies’ mission to produce drugs for rare diseases. There is no easy answer.
    —Jeff Vredenbregt / Mequon, Wis.

A nation of Nevadas?

Your article mentioned that Americans gambled $69.5 billion on sports in 2022. Where did they come up with that kind of money? How much should have gone to put food on tables, a roof over heads, clothes on backs, education for children, transportation in driveways, and investments in marriages?
    —Steve Hansen / Pleasant Hill, Iowa

A reading resolution

Inspired to number the books I am currently ­reading—16!—I weighed the decision to either finish them one at a time or break open the compelling-­looking new book that just arrived in the mail. Lynn Vincent sold me on the ­former. I am eager to see if this year will top 2022’s total of 93 books read.
    —Wendy Weaver / Salem, Ohio

Don’t forever hold your peace

Andrée Seu Peterson had the guts to write about the silent treatment and use herself as a “cautionary tale.” It needed to be said. And thanks for the reminder that we can be transformed but not by our own power and only after we see that we are wrong.
    —Steve Bubna / Colony, Kan.