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* I had just returned home from visiting two teenagers recently sentenced to life in prison for murder when I found my issue of CT with the cover story "Trained to Kill" [Aug. 10]. It was a wise choice to include this informative article. I have often cautioned our church families to employ discretion in what they allow their children to watch on television, and I found this article by David Grossman to supply additional and factual evidence for what many of us have suspected for a long time.

Though the most productive role of the church in influencing culture lies in the proclamation of the gospel, the church should be proactive in directly confronting the negative influences in our society. I concur with the opening comments stating "that parents, the church, scholars, and the government must come together" to address this issue. As a result of reading this article, not only do I intend to share this information with our church families, but I have scheduled an appointment with our state senator to discuss how we can encourage limits to the "probing lenses" of the network news media. Thank you!

Pastor Jack W. Bruce, Jr.
Elizabethton Alliance Church
Elizabethton, Tenn.

* Though I have spent many hours thinking about and discussing this issue with my friends and family, Lt. Col. Grossman shed new light on it. I have a much greater understanding of how violence specifically affects children (and the rest of us) and numbs them (and us).

Alison Rhodes
Tinker AFB, Okla.

* Grossman loses focus when it comes to charting a response to the problem raised. Curiously, after describing the dangers of extensive exposure to violence on TV, he minimizes the impact of an individual's decision to "just turn it off." If we agree that exposure to TV violence is a causal factor contributing to violent crime, it is obvious that if fewer people were exposed to TV violence, we would experience somewhat less violence at large. Although the remaining victims would still be real people with real hurting loved ones, it is fallacious to say that "it wouldn't have done a bit of good."

I applaud Grossman for gathering and summarizing research and raising awareness on this issue. However, considerable work must be done towards charting a comprehensive and effective response to the problem.

Wayne Iba
Redwood City, Calif.

Grossman says, "But it [killing] does not come naturally, you have to be taught to kill." Sounds good. Who taught Cain to kill?

Jack Knaur
Larue, Ohio

Seldom do I reread articles. This one I have read three times. Thanks to David Grossman for boldly speaking out to the TV networks, calling for them to assume responsibility for the evident impact that violent programming has on the lives of our children and to "have the moral courage to censure people who think that violence is legitimate entertainment." This is an article that every parent should read and apply in ways that change the destructive trends in our culture. This is an article that calls for reprints for distribution to families in our churches and to the media that want to ignore the evidence of the effect of violent programing.

Pastor Richard Gerbrandt
Mennonite Brethren Church
Reedley, Calif.

* I think it's time to quit arguing and address the real issue. It isn't gun control or TV violence or violent computer games. They simply represent the serious and tragic consequences of the sin and godlessness that pervades our society worldwide. Whether we agree or disagree with some of Grossman's findings, it is clear our generation is becoming more and more violent. I've turned off my TV in the evenings simply because of the violence and sexual situations. My Bible tells me to think on those things that are lovely, pure, wholesome, etc. Where is the insatiable hunger for God today?

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October 5 1998, Vol. 42, No. 11