Missionary Zeal

To the Editors:

Your story on the new missionary [Dec. 27] alters the stereotype of the pith-helmeted, culturally insensitive missionary and captures the complexity and diversity of the Christian missions today. The missionary may have changed; God's message has not.

Alan B. MacDonald

Huntington Beach, Calif.

As the daughter of missionaries, I found your story neither rosy nor harsh. The threat of cultural destruction has always been a concern of informed and tolerant missionaries. Problems arise when the occasional incompetent is prone to ignorance, stubbornness and shortsightedness.

Vivian Beall

Houston

Thank you for emphasizing a powerful force for good. There is hope yet.

(Mrs.) Myrna M. Oliver

Alexandria, Va.

I find it disheartening that a religion such as Christianity believes it has a divine right to convert all peoples to its ways. A society's religion helps it adapt to the stresses of its environment. Once a culture is changed by outsiders, it begins to deteriorate.

Paul S. Sledzik

Narragansett, R.I.

Sister Emmanuelle's statement that "we don't talk about conversion any more, we talk about being friends" falls short of biblical Christianity. The Bible is clear: conversion is needed for salvation.

John E. Kyle

Director, Inter-Varsity Missions

Madison, Wis.

The story on missionaries is a perfect gift for overstuffed Americans who need to relearn the lessons of giving.

Mary Ellen Dyler

Conover, N.C.

Gentle Executions

Re your Essay "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" [Dec. 20], when will our society re-evaluate its use of capital punishment? We, who like to think of ourselves as responsible and humane, should outlaw this practice.

Anita M. Iribe

Highland, Md.

Those of us opposed to capital punishment must continue to rage against the loss of reason and social ethics among a people who see vengeance as a worthwhile goal.

Patricia A. Landreman

Jackson, Miss.

You ask if the nation "feels proud, patriotic, relieved or requited" by Charlie Brooks' execution. I feel none of the above. I believe that justice has been served.

Mike Sherrill

Kula, Maui, Hawaii

A fair execution will never make me feel guilty. People may wince at my use of the word fair to describe an execution, but anyone who wantonly takes the life of another has forfeited his own. Because society makes an effort to be civilized and even gentle in its vengeance, we should be commended. Our judicial system is as just as possible. When an individual is convicted for murder and executed according to the country's laws, I am satisfied that the decision is right.

Edina Kopits

Baltimore

Nixonian Advice

I applauded Richard Nixon's resignation in 1974. However, after reading "Hardheaded Detente" [Dec. 27], I would vote for him in 1984. He has no peer in his grasp of essential foreign policy issues.

Frank R. Nataro, M.D.

Westbury, N. Y.

Your interview with former President Nixon was full of common sense. We ought to give him another chance.

Milton Maidenberg

Marion, Ind.

Future Scientists

Your article "Low-Tech Teaching Blues" [Dec. 27] describes a problem that will plague our nation in the years ahead. We must realize that there is a vital connection between our national security, our world leadership in high technology, our life-style and the quality of education that we give our future leaders. While other nations increase their commitment to teaching, the U.S. debates about what programs to cut.

John Pawson

Huntington Beach, Calif.

We can hardly expect our children to learn how to operate, maintain and develop weapons systems for our security when we are drastically reducing the funds to teach them. Shifting money from defense to education should be seen as enhancing our national strength, not weakening it.

J. Russell Teagarden

Glenview, III.

Five Cents per Gallon

The gas tax [Dec. 27] appears to be a step in the right direction toward easing unemployment. It is too bad that so many are jobless, but Government should not create jobs simply to solve the problem. We must realize that the only way people can be re-employed without causing runaway inflation is for them to have a productive position in industry. Government should encourage an economic environment that fosters industrial growth.

Michael G. Youngblood

Baton Rouge, La.

Crusade Against Creches

Must the public exhibit of the Christmas creche be interpreted as an attempt by the Government to establish religion [Dec. 20]? If civil libertarians succeed in stripping all public displays of their religious connotation, they will have trivialized a once richly symbolic feast day.

Mary E. Billmire, M.D.

Cincinnati

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. The Nativity scenes that grace courthouse lawns have nothing to do with the religion Christ founded. They are portrayals of his birth based on a historic document, the Bible.

The Rev. Maximilian Korecki

Lansing, Mich.

A Christmas symbol so devoid of content that it could not possibly offend anyone is probably what is needed. But nobody would be interested in it.

Bill Simpson

Arvada, Colo.

Orphaning the MX

Your story "Dense Pack Gets Blasted" [Dec. 20] states that after more than eight years of study, the expenditure of $4.5 billion on the missile and consideration of some 30 options, the Pentagon lacks a politically acceptable and scientifically credible basing mode. Has it occurred to anyone that this may be the first clue that there is no credible plan for MX?

Mark Herzog

San Francisco This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.