Reagan's Choice

To the Editors:

Considering the qualifications of former Secretary of the Interior James Watt and the new designate, William Clark [Oct. 24], perhaps the name of the agency should be changed to Department of the Inferior.

Ann H. Hadfield Perkasie, Pa.

Re President Reagan's latest appointments: they are another example of government-by-crony.

Kenneth Kruger New York City

Like other environmentalists, I was happy to see Watt go. But the reason for his departure is very disturbing when you consider his performance as Interior Secretary. He was ousted for some ill-chosen words rather than his efforts to destroy the few areas of natural beauty left in the U.S.

Robert Howard St. Lucia, Australia

Why not Reagan for 1984? Because of his age, 72, which is the same as mine. Already I have noticed that the President often contradicts himself. I have also observed signs of age occurring over and over again in others of my years: poor memory, incessant talking, stubbornness, intolerance of young people's ideas, slowness, and the habit of comparing all events with what happened 50 years ago. I swore it would not happen to me and retired at 69. Reagan's age is a factor, and should not be ignored.

Hugo M. Walther Pentwater, Mich.

Unbiased Bible

I have just read your article "O God Our [Mother and] Father" [Oct. 24]. I am a liberated woman, yet I have never been offended by the sexism in the Bible or in any other literature from an earlier period. I question the rewriting of religious books to suit the ideas put forth by contemporary society. Future generations may find something just as distasteful in the new National Council of Churches edition and further revise it. Somewhere down the road the Bible may cease to be recognizable.

Karen A. Cole Chattanooga, Tenn.

I wonder what passed through the minds of the members of the rewriting committee as they came to the end of the Bible and saw: "I warn every one who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if any one adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if any one takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book" (Revelation 22:18-19).

(The Rev.) John A. Cunningham Cleveland

If the National Council of Churches considers the Bible's male orientation a problem, the group should provide the reader not with false translations but with short, historical introductions on the social and cultural milieu in which the biblical writings originated.

Hermann S. Schibli Ann Arbor, Mich.

How will the National Council of

Churches remove the male bias of Luke

1:59, which discusses Christ's circumcision?

Ronald Buchinski

Bradley, W. Va.

A nonsexist Bible is long overdue. When we are finished with the Bible, we should turn our efforts toward other literature, like Little People and Moby Dick and Jane.

Carl E. Baker Jr. Mission Viejo, Calif.

When I was a little girl, it was difficult for me to pray to Our Father because my own father was remote, stern and uncaring. My mother wisely posted on my bedroom wall a prayer referring to the "Father-Mother God." For a little girl whose emotional and religious sustenance came from her mother, the thought of a Father-Mother God was very reassuring. Why should we not accept the concept of a male-female God today?

Rosemary Templeman-Lincoln Eliot, Me.

The feminists have been successful in making revisions in the Scriptures, but they will never be able to change the image of God. He is God the Father forever. Mrs. Charles Reinmeyer Bowling Green, Ohio

The new unisex translation of the Bible would be screamingly funny if it was not such a literary atrocity. I am a liberal

Baptist, but I would walk out of any service that committed the crime against history and language of using the Bible rewritten by the National Council of Churches.

Mary Elizabeth Sergent Middletown, N. Y.

The National Council of Churches went too far in its decision to deviate from the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. I do not intend to use the N.C.C. version in worship because it overemphasizes problems in human relationships and distracts from the Bible's focus on God.

(The Rev.) Kate Penfield Providence

TV Armageddon

In your criticism of ABC's movie The Day After, you state that "there are no people here, only targets, stick figures on a Midwestern landscape waiting to be wasted" [Oct. 24]. I am afraid that it is this attitude, detached and impersonal, that makes it possible for the superpowers to continue to build their nuclear arsenals, without realizing that the "stick figures" involved are our families, our neighbors and ourselves.

Randall Cotton Morganton, N.C.

Pick up any copy of Pravda, and you will see photos of peace demonstrations in the West. Yet we never hear of similar demonstrations behind the Iron Curtain. Pacifists like those who produced The Day After do not realize how much they are fueling Soviet propaganda.

Peter B. Matiaszek Paterson, N.J.

I am surprised that advertisers are reluctant to buy time on ABC'S presentation of The Day After. Companies should realize that we the consumers would respect and support the show's advertisers for participating in the fight against the threat of nuclear destruction.

Laura J. DiPalma New York City

Modern Mendel

Nobel Prizewinner Barbara McClintock, the scientist whose time has finally come [Oct. 24], is an inspiration, especially to women. But the last sentence of your report, suggesting that McClintock might find it difficult "to buy a suitably fancy dress" for the awards ceremony, was a putdown to a woman who has given her entire life to genetics.

Clara R. Lawson White Plains, N. Y. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.