Along with letters we've received commenting on recent articles have been a substantial number reflecting readers' deep dismay over the shootings in Littleton, Colorado. While many words of self-examination and analysis have been written about this tragedy, Christians seem especially disturbed. For example, commenting on what he called "The Massacre of Values," Kansas pastor Frederick Kornis observed that "if we are at all sad or concerned about the outrageous behavior of the Trench Coat Mafia and the likes, we must individually confess our own outrageous idolatry of worshiping the secular over the spiritual." Don't miss our commentary in this issue's editorial ("The Long Road After Littleton," p. 32). And if you missed the CT article by Lt. Col. David Grossman (Aug. 8, 1998, p. 30) on how society is training our children to kill, you can find it on the Web (ChristianityToday.com/ct/8t9).

Good Grief! Funeral Directors Deserve Credit* With a broad brush dipped in tar, Lauren Winner takes a gleeful and slanderous swipe at the local mortician, painting the funeral industry in shades of deception and opportunistic greed ["Death, Inc.," April 26]. While I can respect Winner's preference for the do-it-yourself approach to funerals, most folks I deal with as a small-town pastor would rather eat chalk than prepare their dead mother for burial. They deeply appreciate the services offered by a skilled funeral director who is compassionate, honest, and extremely helpful at a time when most folks have all they can do simply to grieve. Funeral directors get called out at all hours of the night, often work around the clock, and are there to assist people in dealing with the most stressful experience in life, the death of a loved one. They ...