Mailbag

Playing to win

A very interesting and true article by Jill Nelson on Africa. Sept. 22 was Inde­pendence Day in Mali, and a friend there said people just stayed home—nothing to celebrate anymore. Very sad.
     Ghislain Sylvestre / Swannanoa, N.C.

Depraved hearts

Sadly, I’m not surprised by this article and the increase in homicides in our nation. When we decide a defenseless baby is not worthy of protection, why should any life be valued?
    Kimberly Chastain / Powdersville, S.C.

After reading Kim Hender­son’s article and the statement in “Backstory” about the “stories behind each tally,” I agree that getting personal drives home the reality of the tragedies and the suffering.
     Bill Miller / Winston-Salem, N.C.

Our Declaration of Indepe­ndence states that life is a natural right, yet that right has been attacked so much that people no longer recognize it. We need to educate and fight once again to make everyone acknowledge the natural right to life.
     Cindy Carter / Eastsound, Wash.

A chronicle of depravity

Kim Henderson was spot on: “Why didn’t they have something to wake up for the next day?” Young men with idle hands are hugely problematic. God proclaimed it is not good for man to be alone, and single men commit by far the majority of violent crimes.
     Jeb Rice / Fishers, Ind.

Gun battles

Your photo caption uses the term “assault rifles,” which are typically (though not universally) defined as select-fire rifles capable of fully automatic fire. Indeed, due to the politicization and confusion around these definitions, the Associated Press Stylebook discourages the use of “assault rifle” and the recently created term “assault weapon.”
     Rollin Bredenberg / Woodinville, Wash.

Killer robots

What a sobering picture your article paints. Notwith­standing the valid ethical objections to autonomous weaponry, how can we talk about restricting our development of “killer robots” when countries like China, Russia, Iran, and Turkey are charging full speed ahead? Do we really believe these countries will abide by treaties and operate with transparency? Unilateral weapons restrictions on the side of countries that still possess a moral conscience would be suicidal for democracy.
     Karen Davis / Exton, Pa.

Lord willing

Interestingly, the morning I read Andrée Seu Peterson’s column, in which she seemed to scoff at the idea of her and her husband buying an RV to visit national parks and tell people about Jesus, I had prayed that someone with an RV would visit national parks to tell a ­family member about Jesus.
     Kathleen Holt / North Scituate, R.I.

New and noteworthy

I was pleased to see a couple of music reviews for Phil Keaggy in your Oct. 7 issue. For his most dedicated (compulsive) fans, his website, philkeaggy.com, has around 300 downloadable recordings as well as a podcast.
     Bill Bader / Eden Prairie, Minn.

Corrections

Due to a file transfer error, “Mainline slide” in the Oct. 21 print edition contained outdated text on page 48, resulting in broken paragraphs about Alan Shlemon and Unconditional Conference attendee Dawn. Read the corrected text at wng.org/mainline-slide.

Brian Zahra is a Michigan Supreme Court Justice (U.S. Briefs, Oct. 21, p. 19).

Government data indicates that 4,752 children and teens (ages 0 to 19) died from gun-related injuries in 2021 (Quotables, Oct. 7, p. 21).