Mailbag

The long game

The headline on the cover should have read “The immoral revolution,” not “The moral revolution.”
     David Pollock / Westover, Md.

Rosaria Butterfield’s cover story and “Countercultural courage” by Sharon Dierberger were stellar examples of saints walking a road less trodden as they look to serve the Lord and speak the truth in the face of adversity. Your magazine informs me like no other publication and draws me back to Christ no matter the topic.
     Rebecca Orlowski / San Diego, Calif.

Chaos on campus

There were myriad details on this sweeping, emotional issue that Emma Freire and Elizabeth Russell could’ve included. But those they did include were tastefully succinct, credible, unbiased, and not overly dramatized. Thank you for having the courage to address potentially volatile subjects with ethical journalism.
     Karen Davis / Exton, Pa.

Imprecatory pop

My disbelief upon reading that reviewer Trevor Sides had been brought to tears by Taylor Swift’s latest album was only exceeded by my shock at the stunningly irresponsible way he portrayed it. Trevor completely ignored the sexual content of Swift’s music and went out of his way to describe songs as Biblical that are overtly blasphemous.

Trevor compared the angry tirades in Swift’s music to “an imprecatory psalm, with Swift naming and rebuking her enemies.” The imprecatory psalms do not compare to the bitter and resentful rants of a slighted ex. They call down judgment on the enemies of God and His saints. Swift’s songs show disgust for and call for revenge on the Church and Christians who helped raise her.
     Allie Trice / Charlotte, N.C.

Proverbs teaches us how to navigate a world that hates God and godly things. Solomon contrasts those instructions with the snares of ungodly women and the attractiveness of sin that leads only to death. The behavior Taylor Swift describes in the songs listed in this review is behavior Proverbs warns us against. She is influencing a generation away from God and godly desires. The lessons Swift teaches our kids through her songs are ones a magazine with a Biblical worldview should condemn, not celebrate or be objectively neutral toward.
     Philip Coyle / Boiling Springs, S.C.

Countercultural courage

What a wonderful story, a great message, and a beautiful family. Thank you for sharing such an encouraging word in discouraging times.
     Janice Tate / Westerville, Ohio

May 4, 2024

Telling true tales

Lynn Vincent did it again with Bach’s Toccata and Fugue drumroll! She is a model writer for the World Journalism Institute courses. Hey, students: Read Lynn! She knows how to do it. Go and do likewise.
Ellie Gustafson / Haverhill, Mass.

Out of darkness

Your cover story was informative, challenging, and prophetic. We are in a holy war: the gods of this world versus the God revealed in the Bible. The Church will turn the tide once Christians draw a line in the sand and share core beliefs with wisdom and agape love. We then must be willing to suffer the counterattacks: poverty, imprisonment, torture, and martyrdom.
Russell Carter Blaisdell / Black Mountain, N.C.

Eyes on the prize

I am happy to see athletes publicly sharing their faith. Seemingly, they are sincere and truly walking with the Lord, but often the way they live their lives doesn’t show it. The works of their faith should be shown by their actions.
Jim Bates / Marshall, Texas

Patrick Mahomes may (or may not) be a believer, but given his fathering a child out of wedlock and his public drunkenness at post–Super Bowl celebrations, WORLD should not laud him as a role model.
Stuart Smith / Salisbury, N.C.

Agree to disagree

Along with Cardinal Besungu and the African bishops, Patriarch Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church reject same-sex blessings. If only the Vatican understood the truth that good and evil morals are never based on a local cultural context at the time.
Eugene Pomiak / Hemet, Calif.

Different by design

Andrée Seu Peterson’s column was an excellent blend of clarity and humor for married couples. As a Biblical counselor, I use it with the couples I work with to help them under­stand that they make a huge error when they make little idols of one another, demanding from each other what only Christ can provide.
Dan Truitt / Wylie, Texas

I appreciate Francis Schaeffer’s point that “No love affair between a man and woman has ever been great enough to hang everything on” and realize Andrée’s column was meant to be light. But emotionally distant, oblivious husbands and fathers cause a great deal of harm and pain, which is not in the category of something to “have a good laugh” over. The comparison between one resenting a minimally communicative, insensitive husband and “a raccoon for being a raccoon” is a false equivalence, since a man can grow and learn how to connect emotionally with someone he values.
Elise Berger / Kimball, Neb.

Bridging the family gap

I don’t think a Christian couple should automatically view having a large family as God’s calling on their lives. Some couples may be called to give the extra time and energy that kids would have occupied serving Christ in other capacities. But, certainly, God does call many couples to raise godly children because that is one of the most impactful ways to glorify God and influence the world for righteousness.
Peter Habegger / Tucson, Ariz.

Going monthly

I am a high school literature teacher at a Christian school and use your magazine every week for “Front Page Friday.” In the first week, my students choose an article to annotate with highlights and margin notes. In the second week, they write a reflection on that article. This has been a great way for my students to read news from a Christian perspective.

I was sorry to see that there will not be any more biweekly print issues. As a school that does not use technology for our students unless necessary, the digital option is not feasible. For high school students, a thicker volume of longer stories will not be a good solution, either.
Brandi Pihl / Arlington Heights, Ill.

My wife and I struggle with accepting your reduction to a monthly magazine because of our need to keep up with “the news.” But we would subscribe to WORLD even if it was issued only every other month! What you cover and how you cover it, plus your skill at putting things in the context of faith in Jesus Christ, is such a rare occurrence in our society that we perceive supporting your magazine as a good in and of itself.
James Jablonski / River Falls, Wis.

I am not happy with your plan to reduce the number of issues of WORLD Magazine. Only getting God-centered reporting and encouraging stories once per month is difficult to imagine.
Laurie Connell / Montrose, Colo.

Clarification

The By the Numbers illustration depicts annual cicadas, not periodical cicadas (“Cicada clamor,” May 4, p. 15).

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WORLD Mailbag
PO Box 20002
Asheville, NC 28802

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