From Our Readers

Sugar’s Past

Your article “Sugar’s Past​—How Sweet Was It?” (November 22, 1982) left me puzzled. In the article the Africans were placed as inferior to the slave hunters. The article seems to imply that blacks were too ignorant to value human life. Beads and other commodities may have been primary to their way of living, but the implication is to me that they were dumb.

G. B., Louisiana

The thrust of the article was surely not to imply that Africans were inferior to the slave hunters, but it does show how the Africans were cruelly exploited by the white slave hunters. The article shows that greed and selfishness were not limited to one race of people, as can be seen from the fact that Africans were involved in dealing in slavery against their own race. In this magazine we have often published articles showing our respect for all races and have acknowledged that all stand as equals before God.​—ED.

Your article on “Sugar’s Past” was written very openheartedly with evident good knowledge of matters. I myself am black. Knowledge of God’s Word and of his purposes as to the future has helped me not to feel any hate toward my white fellowman. I am sure that I express the feelings of thousands of my race when I say, please continue to publish articles of this kind.

C. H., Netherlands

Evolution and Fossils

Your latest attack on evolution, this time regarding the fossil record (February 22, 1983), was another sad effort at rationalizing. If evolution is good enough for almost 100 percent of the scientific community, then it is good enough for open-minded Christians like me.

W. B., New York

It is true, a large section of the scientific community accepts the theory of evolution, but that in itself does not establish it as a fact. The weight of evidence for creation has moved many leading scientists to speak publicly of creation and a Creator. Among these have been William T. Kelvin, Dmitri Mendeleev, Robert A. Millikan, Arthur H. Compton, Paul Dirac, George Gamov, Warren Weaver and Wernher von Braun, to name some. Further, among all those accepting the theory as true there are many widely diversified and often conflicting theories as to how evolution has come about. So it would be good to examine the evidence with an open mind. We recommend reading our issue of September 22, 1981, on the subject of evolution and creation, as well as the article “Evolution, Creation, or Creationism​—Which Do You Believe?” appearing in our issue of March 22, 1983. The book “Did Man Get Here by Evolution or by Creation?” is also available from the publishers of this magazine.​—ED.

Love or Infatuation?

I greatly appreciate your “Young People Ask . . .?” series. I admire the interest you show in the problems of young people today. I have tried to apply what I learn from the articles and this has helped me greatly. Lately I became involved with a young man, and the article on “Love or Infatuation​—How Do I Know?” (April 8, 1982) helped me to avoid serious consequences.

J. S., Brazil