Mailbag

Interpreting the Great Commission

I was disappointed not to see any mention of Wycliffe Bible Translators, which has been translating the Bible since 1936 using the same methods Brooks Buser uses.
    —Dorothy Bruner / Penney Farms, Fla.

It would have been good to have included comments from someone who had church-planting movement experience, a note about the baggage that well-meaning American missionaries can bring with them and mix with the gospel, and the need to equip missionaries for a spiritual battle.
    —Patrick Whipple / Elizabeth City, N.C.

Racism, Inc.

Thank you for pointing out what should seem obvious: Picking at wounds will delay healing. We should learn from the past, but incessant dwelling on past mistakes makes moving forward impossible. As always with Andrée Seu Peterson’s perspective, I heartily agree.
    —Jeb Rice / Fishers, Ind.

Like Aunt Alexandra’s ­missionary tea in To Kill a Mockingbird, Peterson reflects the very systemic racial blindness she insists has “shrank and shrank like the basement monster” in a children’s book. Her words are salt in the wounds of those who have lost beloved family members to police brutality or incarceration in the world’s most punitive democracy.
    —Rea Berg / San Luis Obispo, Calif.

I usually appreciate Peterson’s wisdom and insight but was shocked and saddened, even embarrassed, for her this time. This column is a perfect illustration of the phenomenon known as “white fragility,” which I guess she might take issue with as well.
    —Mike Westover / Austin, Texas

Breaking news

Local journalism ceased being objective a long time ago. As a result, polls show that readers no longer trust the news—local and national—and that is the biggest reason why legacy media like the local news­paper are rapidly shrinking before our eyes.
    —Thomas Hagedorn / Cincinnati, Ohio

I worked at a rural news­paper for almost 29 years. I can relate to feeling a thrill at “the sight of front pages that sing” when a pressman hands you first-run copies. A sense of accomplishment floods over you. Newsprint’s demise is troubling.
    —Mary Michol Oen / Celina, Ohio

Lessons from times gone by

I have concerns over your inclusion of The Animal Toolkit as a nonfiction ­runner-up for Children’s Books of the Year. Compared with the other candidates in the various categories, it appears to fall flat. I would recommend resources by Answers in Genesis for materials in the realms of the sciences.
    —Ethan Terry (age 17) / Trail Creek, Ind.

There’s no place like home

We purchased Farmhouse with high hopes but were heartbroken by its depressing ending and decided not to share it with our kids. As a family moving back to help revitalize our small town, we insist that children moving away and the decline of postindustrial rural America are not inevitable.
    —Seth & Jodie Hedman / Garwin, Iowa

Departures

I greatly appreciated Raquel Welch, not for her acting but for her work in the world of wigs. The year 2022 was a journey through the diagnosis of two cancers for me. The pain of looking like the character Gollum was greatly decreased when I put on a Raquel Welch wig.
    —Barbara Bowersox / Nichols Hills, Okla.