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Responding to Karla Faye Readers' response to CT's April 6 editorial has been been greater than for any other editorial. In the last issue, we published excerpts from the first wave of letters, letters that overwhelmingly opposed our belief that "the death penalty has outlived its usefulness." However, more recent letters show that over half (53 percent) of our readers agreed with CT's stance. This issue remains important to a large number of Christians.

God's Grace for Marriage
* I'm always amazed by God's grace when a marriage as broken as the McCartneys' experiences healing ["McCartney on the Rebound," May 18]. It's one of God's greatest miracles. However, when I read about their dating experiences in college, I was reminded of the urgency of communicating to my daughters how intelligent, capable, and valuable they are just by virtue of who God made them to be. God forbid they should ever feel compelled to date, let alone marry, a man who treated them so poorly.

Michelle Houston
Forsyth, Mont.

* McCartney's "God told me" this and "God told me" that is akin to spells of psychotic episodes that clearly say there are times when he is not in touch with reality. As an evangelical believer, I would be very cautious in setting him up as an example to follow.

Bill Simpson
San Antonio, Tex.

Gambling: A Form of Bondage
* I am grateful for Tim Stafford's article on our nation's gambling craze ["None Dare Call It Sin," May 18]. During the past eight months, I have been an intern chaplain at an inpatient treatment center for compulsive gamblers. It did not take me long to realize how naive I was about oppressive aspects of the industry. My experience has shown me that gambling is a very real form of bondage. Addictions often begin at a young age with games such as marbles and cards, or with innocent engagement in bingo, lotteries, or slot machines. Once the hook is set, destruction is fast, forceful, and often bears more collateral damage than other addictions.

Kristoffer Cox
Renville, Minn.

* I am deeply grieved over the gambling problem in Mississippi. I lived there in the '60s, and my life revolved around the church and Christ. I think the body of Christ there (as well as in my own state of Arizona) has compromised its values to the point of no longer being able to fight off moral evil. The pastors interviewed there seem to have no basis on which to oppose the sin of gambling. Who could possibly mistake the Satanic taunt in the remark, "We'll get the businessmen, and once we've got the businessmen, we'll silence the church"?

Ann Hughes
Phoenix, Ariz.

The Suffering Colombian Church
* Thank you for "Colombia's Bleeding Church," by David Miller, in your May 18 issue. While there is a growing awareness in the American church of Christian persecution worldwide, the suffering of the church in Colombia has not received sufficient exposure. Miller's article should help correct that.

Jeff Taylor
Santa Ana, Calif.

Where Is the Fiction?
* CT's '98 Book Awards [Apr. 27] reiterate the evangelical community's inability to write fiction. While we are amazingly prolific at turning out hordes of Bible dictionaries, commentaries, and ethical musings, we are hopeless with narrative. Perhaps we should consider placing a ban on narratives about the Antichrist and romances bearing titles like Softly Creeps the Spring. Where is the next Flannery O'Connor? Where is the next Walker Percy? Where is the next C. S. Lewis?

Christopher H. Bunn
Wheaton, Ill.

A Fine Writer
Oh blessed irony! Oh joyous and grateful reversal! I found Susan Wise Bauer's article on the struggles of prayer (expressed via the mountainous literature on the topic and our contemporary "how to" culture) excellent, refreshing, and helpful ["The Myth of a Better Prayer Life," Apr. 27]. Susan Wise Bauer is a fine writer and an honest, astute thinker. CT readers should be led to her recent novel, The Revolt.

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June 15 1998, Vol. 42, No. 7