Claire Lorentzen’s article against the ROTC (“Studying War More?” September-October 2011) is intolerant. Not needing a military at all is a pipe dream. Nobody is forced to join ROTC. I have been in combat under various types of officers. Believe me, having a commanding officer that learned to think from a college like Stanford can make a world of difference to the troops versus an officer from an inferior, small-time, “good old boy” college.
John Rensen
Potter Valley, California
Re: “Men Behaving Badly” (by Jim Wallis, August 2011): I recall the story of King David and Bathsheba. David’s lust led to the murder of Bathsheba’s husband, yet David was described as “a man after God’s heart.” He did, of course, eventually repent after being confronted, and also suffered consequences. What he did was worse than what any of the men you mentioned did. In the case of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, it now appears that the accusations against him were false, but he was forced to resign anyway.
As a teacher for the Chicago Public Schools, I found your decision to run an advertisement from StudentsFirst.org (September-October 2011) troubling. The StudentsFirst mantra is “accountability,” and it locates the source of almost everything wrong with public education at the feet of unions who protect “incompetent” teachers. But for more than a year now, Michelle Rhee, the former chancellor of Washington, D.C.’s public schools who now runs StudentsFirst, has largely refused to address the cheating scandal that occurred on her watch.
Gene Luen Yang’s otherwise enjoyable “Telling the Old, Old Story” (September-October 2011) inaccurately states that Moses was set on a river in a reed basket “to escape a besieged city.” Exodus clearly indicates that Moses’ family was trying to save him from Pharaoh’s decree that all male Hebrew babies be cast into the river (without the benefit of a flotation device). There was no siege.
Regarding Elizabeth Palmberg's article on healthcare costs ("Sky High and Rising," June 2011): I've been under the impression that a lot of our high medical costs are related to the restricted number of doctors.
Re: Elizabeth Palmberg's "The Safety Net Frays" (July 2011): I don't believe that we, as citizens, have any voice in these issues any more. According to an article published last October, "more than half of the [Senate's] membership, 54 lawmakers, reported a minimum net worth of more than $1 million." I don't think a millionaire has any inkling of what happens on Main Street and those who live on it. With the Supreme Court decision allowing corporations to contribute to political parties without limit, it became apparent that they are setting the agenda.
"The Safety Net Frays" is a nice piece, but we've seen this movie before. The American chattering classes chatter marvelously, but stopped believing in anything of value some 40 years ago. This constant repetition of the same moral-budget complaints, while LGBT rights claimants are left out of our circle of protection, is just one more sign of this.
Jennifer A. Nolan
Newton, Massachusetts
Please continue to address the importance of promoting and building peace ("The Things that Make for Peace," by Jim Wallis, July 2011), whether in Afghanistan, Palestine-Israel, Libya, or right here at home, rather than simply opposing our nation's current wars.
In "The Gospel According to the Tea Party" (November 2010), Jim Wallis overlooked points.
David Cortright's "Finding the Way Out" (March 2011), about why it's time to end the war in Afghanistan, was excellent and timely with one exception -- his appeal to the just war doctrine.
Re: Carolyn McKinstry's "From Mourning to Gladness" (May 2011): Birmingham Sunday spurred many African Americans and European Americans to get involved in the civil rights movement.
<p>I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed Ed Spivey Jr.'s article in the March 2011 <i>Sojourners</i> ("Grandfathers Are Our Future") on being a grandfather
In Danny Duncan Collum's reflection on the attempted assassination of Rep.
Reading Joel Hunter's "Civility Is Only a Beginning" (March 2011), I was struck by the contrast between his beautifully stated intention -- "Let's listen so well that we can state others' cases in
Fracking ("Meet the Frackers," by Tyler Edgar, March 2011) is well-known to people in Colorado, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Texas, and other states for its disastrous use in natural gas extrac
"Taking the Bible Seriously" by Charles E. Gutenson (April 2011) was right on the mark. I often see issue groups take the word of God and twist it to serve their purposes.
The argument of "Taxes and the Common Good," by Chuck Collins (April 2011), is supported by none other than Adam Smith, the "father of capitalism." Like Collins, Smith criticizes extreme concentrat
Thank you for the excellent articles about Egypt's use of nonviolence in its successful liberation from the Mubarak regime ("The Surprising Power of Nonviolence," May 2011).
As an agrobiologist and faithful reader, I was disappointed that "For God So Loved the Dirt ... " by Norman Wirzba (April 2011) did not mention genetic engineering.