Mailbag

Stay in the crucible

Although I sympathize with the author’s concern over excessive drug prescription and diagnoses in response to mental health issues, I found many of the points in her column deeply concerning.

Responding to someone who has suffered sexual abuse and has attempted to take her own life as a child with platitudes such as “life is hard,” “get a good night’s sleep,” and “sit quietly and think” is unhelpful. Good sleep is, of course, important for physical and mental health, but people who have suffered in this way may also suffer from insomnia, or horrifying nightmares. Sitting quietly and thinking may only bring more thoughts of despair and suicide—­something the Reformer Martin Luther knew all too well.

Calling chemical imbalances a “myth” is also troubling. Many (but not all) of the people who suffer from mental illness do so because their neurotransmitters are not producing sufficient dopamine, serotonin, and so forth. In other words, their bodies are not functioning properly—one of the marks of living in a fallen world.

And of course, preaching the gospel to people with mental illness is one of the most important things you can do, but insisting that’s the only thing you should do is wrong. God has given us doctors, counselors, and yes, medication to help us. Can those good gifts be abused? Of course! But that doesn’t mean you should refuse their help.

We are called to take up our crosses and follow Christ (Matthew 16:24), but we are also called to bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). The idea that we should all just pull ourselves up by our bootstraps—that we should “just try harder!”—is a very American idea but not a very Christian one.
     —Bethany Rochelle Palmer / Offerle, Kan.

Thanks to Andrée Seu Peterson for addressing the problem that “the normal human struggles of a thousand generations of young people are suddenly seen as a pathology to be labeled, treated, and numbed with meds.” This is a huge issue today. But your article seems to imply that no one should ever take any psychiatric medications.

During my college years in the late 1970s, I sank into a suicidal depression. As a Christian, I turned to God for help. My relationship with Him grew in incredible ways that couldn’t have happened without this experience, and He saw me through some very difficult times, but He didn’t heal me. It took an antidepressant to do that.

The problem isn’t that psychiatric medications are worthless. The problem is that, just like technology and the environment and sex, they’re a God-given blessing that’s being misused due to our fallen human nature.
     —Lydian Davis / Tempe, Ariz.

Had others in the church shown the courage of Andrée Seu Peterson over the past 40 years, surely fewer individuals would be “numbed with meds” today. However, I would urge caution regarding advice that mimics the therapy industry such as “trusting in the process … [as] His much-loved children, meant to thrive” and that God “proffers trustworthy rules for living.” Christians must neither offer techniques nor label struggles as normal or abnormal but rather “stay in the crucible,” described in Romans 5:1-5, waiting on Him as He fits us for glory. Thank you, WORLD and Andrée for reminding us of this.
     —Carol Almy / Long Grove, Ill.

ChatGPA

Your article on AI in the classroom should be a wake-up call to all parents. The primary purpose of education should be to teach a child how to think, be disciplined, and be creative and to instill virtue, things that were at the forefront of the minds of educators until the progressivism of John Dewey became widespread in the early years of the 20th century. Any vestige of these four worthy goals will be completely eradicated if AI is allowed to fester in our classrooms.
     —David DeBoor Canfield / Bloomington, Ind.

AI is a new tool just like a calculator or typewriters in their time. Invest the time to learn how to use it. Teachers need to adapt education to AI and encourage students to learn its use. Human creativity and technology are ever evolving to reduce drudgery work. AI is no different. Think of the release of human intellect that will occur because of this new tool. Start a conversation with ChatGPT by asking it what it can do for you to reduce drudgery in your work. Have fun, explore.
     —Bill Chambers / Corvallis, Ore.

Grace Snell’s article about AI forcing educators and students to redefine education is excellent. Detecting plagiarism is indeed a broad concern, but so is protecting students falsely accused of using AI. My son was an honors student at a local Christian university who, in his senior year, was accused of plagiarism by a tool even the developer said should not be used due to the high incidence of false positives it flagged. Despite my son showing them progressive drafts of his original work and his lifelong commitment to Biblical integrity, the university closed ranks and awarded him a “D.”
     —Travis L. Zimmerman / Hershey, Pa.

Is NATO going nuclear?

The title is slightly misleading. NATO currently may be considering force posture elements from a previous time (1960-1991), when thousands of U.K., French, and U.S. nuclear weapons were based on European soil to deter the Soviet Union. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1988 and later the dissolution of the Soviet Union prompted the removal of most U.S. ­theater nuclear weapons and all U.S. battlefield nuclear weapons from Europe by the early 1990s. In the decades since, the theater nuclear weapon stockpiles of the United Kingdom and France largely disappeared. While that may have been good policy 30 years ago, Russian aggression under Vladimir Putin now suggests a different approach for NATO.
     —Paul Berg / Bellevue, Neb.

Hang on tight

Abi Dunning did an excellent job writing about Lucas Divino and bull riding. I felt like I was riding the bull with him. Great article. It was like reading and riding at the same time—and fast! Good job!
     —Parker Benson / Tallassee, Tenn.

The story about a bull rider is a welcome addition to WORLD, but Abi does bull riders a disservice when she writes, “Last night, Divino fell off,” and again where she writes, “The rider gets on. The bull bucks. The rider falls off.” In the history of rodeo no professional rodeo cowboy has ever “fallen off.” They get “bucked off.” They get “thrown.” But they never fall off.
     —Reginald LeQuieu / Mount Vernon, Ore.

Emergency exit

There’s something parents should know regarding opt-out in public schools. Students who are in the hallway or the main office while offensive books or topics are being discussed in class usually end up finding out what was talked about afterward through other students. Those other students often say much worse things than what the teacher actually taught, or give inaccurate information. Talking with the teacher ahead of time about what is being taught and why can help parents make the best decision for their child. As a teacher, I value ­parent communication.
     —Lynn Rider / Cortland, Ohio

How to spot a Calvinist

I had tears running down my cheeks as I read Lynn Vincent’s comments about the Standard Evangelical Side Hug (SESH). I grew up in the Lutheran Church in Missouri, and I don’t remember anyone doing any hugging, even on the side! I arrived in Houston 30 years ago and quickly learned about full body hugs from my Southern Presbyterian friends. It took a while to get used to it, but now I am all in.
     —Beverly Uhlmer Roberts / Houston, Texas

Lynn made me laugh out loud. I don’t like the SESH, even though I am a staunch member of the Jesus People–founded Calvary Chapel. I don’t like hugging strangers or even acquaintances. Maybe it’s a holdover from my infant baptism in the Lutheran Church.
     —Ursula MacDougall / Modesto, Calif.

Corrections

Beth Novak is an associate professor at Ohio University (“Destination detour,” September, p. 40).

Kerrville, Texas, sits along the Guadalupe River, which flows directly into the gulf (“Troubled waters,” August, p. 17).

The Arlington Hotel is located in Hot Springs, Ark. (“Field of grace,” August, p. 94).