Letters

Animals Aren’T Brothers

Your trilogy of articles, “Animal Lib” [June 18], lacks balance. While any Christian would abhor cruel treatment of animals, they are not, as Loren Wilkinson quotes Saint Francis, our brothers and sisters. Paul says the flesh of men and animals is not the same (1 Cor. 15). Christ gave his life for human beings, not animals. True, those for whom he died will have care and concern for the animal kingdom; but they may also eat the animals. Romans 14 gives us the freedom to choose what we eat. None of your writers mentioned the fact that Noah was instructed to take seven pairs of the clean beasts into the ark with him. Just for sacrifices? I think not.

Pat P. Darnell

Hot Springs, Ark.

Many Christians who profess a personal relationship with Jesus Christ are also against the idea of animal liberation. It has aroused my cynicism to realize that most Christians who get arrested for saving unborn fetuses care not a whit for living, breathing animals who are daily tortured, maimed, and killed to satisfy humankind’s lust for fashion, food, and amusement. It has always seemed to me a contradiction. Hats off to CT for providing a well-balanced, fair portrayal of animal rights.

Annette L. Ravinsky

Philadelphia, Pa.

I was surprised that Tim Stafford omitted a crucial statement by Jesus: “Ye are of more value than many sparrows.” For Christians, this should settle the question of whether man is simply another animal, with no greater planetary importance than any other species.

I’m strongly in favor of the animal-rights movement in general, but if animal welfare must sometimes give way to human needs, there is nothing illogical or unchristian about that.

Reo M. Christenson

W. Carrollton, Ohio

None of your articles addressed God’s use of animal skins in the Bible. I find it difficult to feel guilty when I follow the pattern established by Yahweh.

Rev. Timothy L. Munyon

First Assembly of God

North Platte, Neb.

As a logician, I must comment on Andrew Linzey’s erroneous interpretation of Genesis 1:29: “I have given you” is not equivalent to “I have given you nothing but.” The prohibition he finds is thus a product of eisegesis, not exegesis.

David F. Siemens, Jr.

Mesa, Ariz.

It’S Still “Demon Rum”

In response to Howard A. Snyder’s essay “Demon Rum on the Run” [June 18], I have a pessimist’s view of the new nonalcoholic malt beverages being produced. My first reaction to the billboard advertising “Sharps,” with the slogan “keep your edge,” was much to the contrary. This appears to be the legal avenue for adolescents to acquire a taste for beer. This way they still support the breweries, experience the adult party environment, and enjoy the taste of beer so that upon becoming of legal age they may step into the real alcohol scene without skipping a beat.

Jack Scott Stanley

Christian & Missionary Alliance Church

Clearfield, Pa.

I wonder how Snyder could have concluded his article against even the moderate consumption of alcohol with “Let the church be the church.” The head of the church, our Lord Jesus Christ, not only drank but even made wine and served it at a wedding! And he wants his church to continue to drink it in his Holy Supper.

Rev. Edward G. Olson

Olson & Goodman, Inc.

Stetsonville, Wis.

“Nonalcoholic” beer is not nonalcoholic. Regardless of how 1 percent [beer] may be rationalized—it is not alcohol free. And how many recovering alcoholics who have not tasted beer for some time will now relapse is anyone’s guess. I see no pure motives here by health-conscious brewers, but rather the morality mindset of businessmen who export cigarettes to Asia or a particular race or sex. This is not progress; it is the liquor/beer industry with their feet in other markets pushing their low-grade poison.

Rev. Ronald Buchinski

Rescue Mission

Utica, N.Y.

Time to Make a Decision

Should we or should we not invite unbelievers to “come forward”? That was the question that almost stumped us at last month’s elders’ meeting. Our pastor told us he was planning a series of evangelistic sermons and wanted the elders to assist with the altar call.

“The altar what?” Ralph Vedman asked. Ralph used to be an atheist but was led to Christ through an InterVarsity chapter at the university. Ralph knows discipling, but he has probably heard nary a verse of “Just as I Am.”

Undaunted, Pastor pressed on. “Sometimes I sense there are people in the congregation who are ready to make a commitment to Christ, but by the time I pronounce the benediction, they’re out the door.” He then explained how in the earlier years of his ministry he asked for heads to bow and eyes to close, and while the organist played softly (and tenderly, no doubt), he spent a few moments inviting sinners to come to the altar.

After hearing how it worked, one of the younger elders said she thought it made sense to nudge some of our unsaved attenders to invite Christ into their lives. But the older elders were against the idea and weren’t about to yield. They said it had always seemed a little spooky when they were kids, that they were pretty sure it was an unbiblical concept to begin with, and that even if it weren’t, it was the kind of thing evangelists resorted to at those big outdoor crusades. They were clearly unwilling to step forward on this one.

When the pastor asked for a show of hands from those in favor of altar calls, Ralph jumped to his feet: “That’s it! Why don’t you go ahead and ask everyone to close their eyes, but then just ask those who think they’re close to making a decision to raise their hands so you can pray for them?” Everyone thought it was a splendid idea, so we’ll try it next month. But something tells me it won’t be long before we have an altar call.

EUTYCHUS

Alka Seltzer To The Rescue?

Bravo: to Sen. Mark Hatfield for stirring some down-to-earth, but savory ingredients of reconciliation into the foreign-policy stew; to George Weigel for prescribing a stern recipe of realism; to Professor Lawyer for a balanced diet of carrots and sticks, and to CT for serving up a platter of morsels tickling to the palate in its June 18 issue [CT Institute, “An Agenda for Global Reconciliation”].

Alas, the senator’s serving of Special Forces cum Peace Corps as reconcilers needs more time in the oven; Weigel’s course of preemptive strikes against terrorists, promotion of SDI, and developing the Third World on the cheap all taste more like yesterday’s soup du jour than today’s; Lawyer’s reference to “musty-smelling Third Worldism” is as welcome as a garnish of red herring; and CT’s invitation to endless questions makes the dinner guests wonder if it’s time to go home and grab the Alka-Seltzer. But if invited to dinner again, I’d send in my acceptance by return mail.

Harold Bratt

Bethesda, Md.

I strongly suggest Senator Hatfield spend more time in Washington and less in Fantasyland! His proposals are sheer folly: (1) The so-called uprisings in Soviet-bloc countries were orchestrated, staged, and initiated by Moscow. They are not as we’ve been led to believe. (2) Moscow is now in the process of improving its relations with its Arab neighbors—as it desperately needs oil. (3) The USSR needs its Cuban ally to “export” revolution to Central and South America. (4) The Israeli incursion into Lebanon, 1982–83, uncovered numerous amounts of Soviet weapons and materiel, and enough arms to equip a standing army of over one million.

No, Senator, the Cold War is not over. Far from it!

Yishael Allon

Ogden, Utah

The Wrong Questions?

You asked National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) chairman John Frohnmayer the wrong questions [News, “Taking Aim at Art,” June 18]. You should have asked whether the NEA was wrong to spend tax dollars on the Mapplethorpe exhibit, the Serrano “body fluids” works, or any of the several other NEA-sponsored projects that have included graphic depictions of homosexual sex acts, child pornography, and blasphemy. You would have learned that he refuses to condemn the NEA’s approval of any of these, and refuses to say he will not approve such grants in the future. Many who have tried to work with Frohnmayer now realize to their dismay that he not only won’t solve the problem, he is making it worse.

Richard T. Dykema

Assistant to U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher

Washington, D.C.

A Horrible Fellow!

Horrors! What a horrible fellow C. S. Lewis turns out to be [Books, June 18]. First he refused to pen a seamy, kiss-and-tell account of his B.C. relationship with Mrs. Moore (assuming the rumors are true), dragging Mrs. Moore and her family through the mud, thus depriving us of a lot of gratuitous titillation. And he actually performed mundane tasks without complaint to help someone—a sure sign of a twisted personality. Then we find he wrote some foolish things during adolescence, not too surprising for those of us who have experienced this phenomenon ourselves. I have but one question for Virginia Stem Owens: Why does she think this book “had to be written”?

Roy L. Landreth

Southwest Christian Studies Center

Prescott, Ariz.

In her review of this titillating psychobiography, Owens warns readers that “logical inconsistencies appear often in Wilson’s interpretation of facts.” But Wilson’s facts are wrong. I counted over 50 errors, distortions, and outright falsehoods. Evidently Wilson meant what he said on page 236: “In books it does not really matter where fantasy ends and reality begins.…”

Kathryn Lindskoog

Orange, Calif.

Lewis—in my opinion the greatest Christian writer of our century—was brutally honest with his assessment of others and himself. He was only a human being, like all of us, but he was chosen by God to influence the lives of millions through his writings. I wonder how many lives A. N. Wilson has influenced?

S. Craig Bogard

Aslan Youth Ministries

Red Bank, N.J.

A book with serious errors and a bad interpretation should not, in fact, be written. Wilson’s is such a book.

Wayne Martindale

Wheaton College

Wheaton, Ill.

Right Book, Wrong Title

Thank you for the article on the Lamb’s Players [Arts, May 14] and the mention of one of the books we did with Lamb’s. However, the “how-to” book referred to is totally separate from the 15 Surefire Scripts. Titled Developing a Drama Group, the 265-page cloth-bound book covers all aspects of drama production. The people at Lamb’s did a superb job in putting this book together, and I want to be sure it gets the recognition it deserves.

DeWayne Herbrandson

World Wide Publications

Minneapolis, Minn.

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