The Evangelicals

To the Editors:

Evangelical visibility [Dec. 26] is due in part to the failure of the liberal establishment to do anything except follow the line of retreat, retrenchment and unconcern for the true Gospel. But the Evangelicals have not arrived. The movement has only reached a point where, if it does not assault and change the sources of power in America, it will decline. I refer to the mainline denominations, the liberal theological seminaries, the large secularized universities, the business world, the media and other powerful organizations that still go their old ways without repentance or significant alteration.

Harold Lindsell, Editor

Christianity Today

Carol Stream, Ill.

The relationship between man and his Creator is a serious matter. Praise the Lord it's finally being treated as such.

Angela Cuppetelli St. Clair Shores, Mich.

The rampant spread of Christianity is the best news we've read in years, and it gives us renewed hope for the future of our great nation.

David Christensen

Kent R. Christensen

Mendham, N.J.

Your "New Empire of Faith" accurately reflects the religious fervor rejuvenating itself all over America, the exception being here in the Bible Belt. It's not new, 'cause it never left.

Bette J. Servos Shawnee, Kans.

Your article points out that while Evangelical Christianity claims 45 million adherents, the movement has had little positive impact or influence on the formative ideas of American culture, in our great universities, or in our communications media. This is not surprising, since this philosophy's public image is one of book bannings, Scopes monkey trials and Anita Bryant crusades. If such lunacy is supposed to "save" America, you'll forgive my stifled laughter.

Brian R. Alms Kankakee, Ill.

Evangelicals do harm in preaching in places like India.

If faith in and fear of God are what they think Christianity preaches, I hasten to remind them that so too do all other religions. If the Bible is divine, then so too are the Gita and the Koran; any other conclusion would imply that God discriminates. He doesn't.

Prabhat Acharya Chapel Hill, N.C.

Game Machines

Your article about electronic games [Dec. 26] provides a great basis for placing past, present and future in perspective. In the old days we played chess, backgammon and battleship together with friends and family. Today we can match wits with these ever willing, never complaining machines. Tomorrow we will become reacquainted with friends and family while the machines battle it out in the next room.

Alan J. Posnack Hooksett, N.H.

If games keep growing and becoming more realistic, we will no longer need technical schools. Just select an occupation, play the game for a couple of years and have the company send us a diploma.

Dan Mahoney Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.

Critic Simon

New York Magazine Critic John Simon [Dec. 26] (with whom I've had no contact, to my knowledge) cannot be a very happy man.

If he must dwell on the physical, he should notice that Liza Minnelli possesses the most beautiful eyes since Elizabeth Taylor first batted her baby violets. She has other very nice attributes, but they're merely happy accidents of nature.

Her talent, however, is no accident. Her ability to reach an audience, and touch the very core of so many people, is a result of hard work and professional dedication. But most of all, she has heart --that indefinable something that separates the ordinary from the extraordinary.

Could Mr. Simon be suffering from a simple case of heart envy?

Carol Burnett Beverly Hills, Calif.

John Simon is not appreciated by most writers of book, theater and movie chat because he is what they only pretend to be: a critic. Like earlier critics with a well-defined aesthetic point of view, Simon writes lucid and scholarly essays--works of art in themselves.

Frederic T. Wright Philadelphia

Ghetto School

Your article on Marva Collins' one-room school in Chicago [Dec. 26] was an exciting story about a simple approach. It confirms a basic truth that most educators have lost sight of: it is dedicated people and consistency, not fancy equipment and complicated systems of instruction, that make the difference in education. Small continues to be beautiful.

Edward B. Simmons, Headmaster

Dunn School

Los Olivos, Calif.

Having students repeat memorized passages or answers to questions suggests that Teacher Marva Collins had better re-study what Socrates was all about. Socratic questioning doesn't call for pat, memorized answers. Why do dedicated "back-to-basics" teachers feel that they must always swing to the opposite side of the current educational pendulum? Can't they combine the best of both worlds?

Frank Novella San Jose, Calif.

Poverty in the Army

I was pleased to see TIME highlight the distressing situation faced by many of our young married soldiers stationed in West Germany [Dec. 26]. I recently visited our troops in Europe and was shocked and ashamed at the conditions under which many are living.

The Secretary of Defense has approved the Army's request to extend transportation and other benefits currently denied soldiers in Grade E-4 and below to those ranks who are posted in Europe. I am confident that the Congress will approve and fund this extension of benefits during the coming year.

Robert L. Nelson

Assistant Secretary of the Army

Washington, D.C.

This former Marine Corps master sergeant, with voluntary service in two wars, felt nothing for the financial plight of our little vacationing soldier boys in Germany. The U.S. military is totally overpaid and pampered. I've had occasions to observe our soldiers' behavior in Germany, both married and unmarried; and in most cases, if not plain ignorant, it's shabby. Many Germans are totally fed up with the ill-disciplined, prideless people we call the military.

Joe Buffer Malibu, Calif.

As a former U.S. Army draftee dependent who lived in West Germany for 18 months, I can readily attest to the fact that it is difficult to live in the German economy on an enlisted man's pay. However, I'd like to point out that on the day following monthly payday, the majority of low-ranking enlisted men have blown their entire paychecks on new furniture, expensive household appliances, cars, liquor, evenings out on the town and even plane fare back and forth to the U.S. on military leave. With a little planning, my husband and I were able to get by and even travel in Europe.

Eleanora R. McClelland Sharon, Mass.

Steel and Japanese Ships

Your article "The Wreck of the Two Sisters" [Dec. 26] shocked me. The two sister ships, costing $28 million each, were built in Japan, by Japanese labor, and are owned by whom? Bethlehem Steel Corp.!

All we ever hear from our steel industry is, "Limit imports from Japan because we can't compete with Japanese steel." It doesn't sound to me as though they are even trying.

Richard Eggleston Hatboro, Pa. 3 Ds of Miami Beach

Your article about the sad condition of Miami Beach [Dec. 19] is 1000% true. It should have been entitled the 3 Ds of Miami Beach: Decaying, Decadent and Decrepit.

Warren P. Sherwood Miami Beach

I remember Miami Beach in her heyday: imperious desk clerks who treated guests like refugees, breathtaking prices, arrogant waiters and cold food a la "take it or leave it." I left it.

F.L. Guillamore Fort Kent, Me.

Not as a drumbeater but as a simple resident many years younger than the 68-year-olds you mention, I consider your story unfair.

Come and visit. You'll like it.

Edward Carrera Miami Beach

TIME describes the Fontainebleau as "a semicircular rococo monument . . . little esthetic sense." Fontainebleau was built by Ben Novack, a man of great vision who deliberately created a fantasy-land designed to lift the general public from its humdrum existence and provide a memorable two-week vacation. I sincerely believe the Fontainebleau to be as esthetic as Disney World.

Harold Gardner, Vice President

Marketing, Hotel Fontainebleau

Miami Beach

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