LETTERS

DOES HEAVEN EXIST?

"Yes, there is a heaven. We create it every day when we protect a child, help an adult and revere our home, the earth." GEORGE A. ERICKSON New Brighton, Minnesota

I've come to accept heaven as an eternal gift for attempting to live my life with God, not man, as my mentor [RELIGION, March 24]. As with any gift, knowing what's under the wrappings before the designated time removes all the joy of the unwrapping intended by the giver. If heaven has no relationship to time, space or place, why waste human energy trying to put it in a box. Such are the matters of faith. ROBERT L. MINNER Broomfield, Colorado

Excellent topic! I truly enjoyed reading "Does Heaven Exist?" I am a devout Christian, and I don't give much thought to heaven. My spirituality isn't based on an anthropomorphic, kick-butt God who will throw four generations of children into eternal damnation because some distant forefather ticked him off. Heaven is the flip side of the absolutely barbaric notion of hell that evolved under that kick-butt mind-set.

Hell is just plain inconsistent with the tradition of mysticism that brought me into the faith in the first place. To me, God is a symbol for something unfathomable, an utter mystery that fills my heart with joy and my spirit with song. TRISH CARR Portland, Oregon

I find it comical that you chose to ask scholars about heaven when those truly educated on the subject are dead. CHRISTIN LEE, age 14 West Hills, California

Congratulations on your inspiring cover story. Yet nowhere did the story even hint at the millions of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, agnostics and atheists worldwide who may have had a glimpse of heaven--a near-death experience--and lived to tell about it if we had taken the time to listen. For thousands of years, these people have told us of meeting loved ones, of undergoing instantaneous, panoramic life reviews of every thought and deed, of the effects of such things on themselves and others, and encountering the Light, which has transformed their lives. BRUCE J. HORACEK Omaha, Nebraska

Surveys show Americans at times envision heaven as a place like home and, surprisingly often, as a place where baseball is played (even prior to the 1989 release of Field of Dreams). This U.S. concept brings us closer to the views of Polynesians and the Balinese, who envision a heaven much like their islands but without illness. JEANNETTE BELLIVEAU Baltimore, Maryland

HEAVEN IN SURVEYSPEAK

David Van Biema did a wonderful job of writing "Does Heaven Exist?" [RELIGION, March 24]. Yet the impact is lost when you include a chart of a telephone poll that purports to tell readers what America thinks. This is surveyspeak, polltalk at its most ridiculous. If there are 250 million people in the U.S., your polltakers reached 0.000407% of the population. To permit such balderdash when dealing with heaven and hell, you risk a lot. JOHN VAN DOORN New York City

So 43% expect to find harps when they arrive in heaven, while only 6% believe good deeds alone will get them there. Welcome to the new Dark Ages! MARC VISCHER Billings, Montana

PREACHING HEAVEN

With many of today's ministers earning in excess of $100,000, heaven doesn't preach [RELIGION, March 24]. Our churches now mirror society's American way with "Me first" and "What can I hoard for myself?" We go to church for confirmation of our life-style, not worship. Maybe with prodding like yours we will change. Maybe we can again find the pathway to heaven. Maybe we can join Christ on his way, with "God first" and sacrifice for others. JOHN MEACHAM, ELDER First Presbyterian Church Garner, North Carolina

Our church teaches that people who believe are already incorporated into the kingdom of God. That may explain why there is less focus on the hereafterness of heaven. (The Rev.) LAWRENCE R. CAMBERG Bethesda Lutheran Church Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania

Why don't you guys just change your name to Christianity Today? CHRIS WEIGANT Capitola, California

THE STRUGGLES IN ZAIRE

As an African, I found your story on Zaire [WORLD, March 24] to be insightful and revealing. A political and economic revolution is going on in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa, thanks to the brilliance and iron will of Uganda's Yoweri Museveni. He has turned Uganda around. He realizes that similar changes must go on in the other countries of the region if true economic growth is to occur. In the process, Museveni and his proteges have begun to challenge the paradigms that have existed for more than a century, principally the French claim to an African sphere of influence with Zaire as the crown jewel. We hope this is a true awakening of our giant continent, beloved Africa. DAVID KINTU Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The excesses of Mobutu's corruption might be comical were it not for the tragic consequences his despotism has wreaked upon his countrymen. While Mobutu lounged in his Belgian castle, a Peace Corps survey in 1980 revealed that in a nation that owns one-quarter of the world's diamonds, malnutrition was killing more than one-third of the Zairian population. The U.S. was a key player among the Western nations that helped line Mobutu's coffers. The current overtures of China to the Western marketplace confront the global community with a similar challenge. Let's hope that Washington does not undermine our nation's democratic ideals by failing to set an exemplary standard in the same way that we failed the people of Zaire. JOE MCELWEE Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania

SURGERY AS MUTILATION

The story "Boy Without a Penis" [BEHAVIOR, March 24] says this tragedy was due to a botched circumcision. What Americans need to know is that even a perfect circumcision causes harm. Medical studies report that circumcision removes a healthy, functioning part of the penis and causes overwhelming pain and trauma for the infant. There is no proven medical benefit from circumcision. Because of the lack of information, the U.S. is the only country that circumcises most of its male infants for nonreligious reasons. RONALD GOLDMAN, Executive Director Circumcision Resource Center Boston

Why are most American male infants circumcised in the first place? Circumcision is not necessary for "health" reasons. It is chic--like the clipped ears of a Doberman. ALAN K. HUTCHINSON West Hartford, Connecticut

As a former intersexed client of Johns Hopkins Hospital, I am pleased to see the true story and outcome of "John/Joan's" treatment. The erroneously published outcome of his case has stood for more than 20 years as "proof" that gender is acquired, that sex and gender--and by implication, sexuality--can be surgically imposed upon children who are genitally nonstandard, regardless of the cause. I assure readers that this surgical treatment modality was not confined to "the 1960s and early 1970s": it continues today for approximately five children per day of the perhaps 1 in 2,000 children born with some anomaly of biological sex differentiation. The ramification of this experiment is not that "dozens of other boys may have been needlessly castrated." It is that thousands of children had, and continue to have, their bodies and their lives mutilated and traumatized by unconsented surgical, hormonal and psychological medical interventions. KIRA TRIEA Intersex Society of North America Baltimore, Maryland

THE SKY'S THE LIMIT

Your story on the military's request for $415 billion worth of new planes [NATION, March 24] makes it evident that even if we gave the Pentagon an unlimited budget, the military would exceed it! HAROLD WILLENS, Senior Adviser Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities Los Angeles

The U.S. Air Force has never been beaten in the air for two reasons--training and equipment. It is the best-trained air force in the world, but that won't matter much if we end up flying against vastly superior aircraft. Today the average Air Force fighter is nearly 20 years old. Thirty-five years ago, vectored thrust and lasers were fantasies. Now they're realities for the U.S. and other countries. We can't just decide one day that this is the last fighter we'll ever need. DAVE KINCAID Captain, U.S.A.F. Abilene, Texas

The U.S. has routinely disarmed itself after every war, only to regret it when the next war comes along. War is expensive, and the best way to prevent it is to be strong. Having the best warplanes in the world is very cheap compared with the cost of going to war against an aggressor who thought we weren't ready. DOUGLAS STARK Homer, Alaska

READ MY BROOCH

I was dismayed to see the splashy photographic tour of U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's jewelry box [NOTEBOOK, March 24]. I don't recall ever seeing a similar survey of the tie tacks or pinkie rings preferred by Washington's most powerful men. Surely you can find some way to define this remarkable woman's intelligence without resorting to jewelry. I'm a lot more interested in her brains than in her baubles. JILL WARREN LUCAS Sanford, North Carolina

BRAIN STUDY VS. ALZHEIMER'S

My heart and gratitude are with the selfless School Sisters of Notre Dame in their dedication to fighting this insidious disease, which leaves no survivors and threatens us all [MEDICINE, March 24]. My husband died at the age of 67 of Alzheimer's, and within moments of his last breath, I was asked if I would donate his brain to science. My immediate reply, delivered with much anger in my grief, was an emphatic no. Many months later, I thought about what my husband's reply would have been. My hope in writing this letter is that other Alzheimer's families may learn from my experience. Don't act too hastily when faced with this question, which you will inevitably be asked. Think for a moment of what your loved one might have answered. NANCY LEE MARKELL Colorado Springs, Colorado