Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Plough Quarterly • Summer  Bringing Home the War On Michael Yandell’s “Hope in the Void,” Spring 2016: This very helpful article shows how simply calling our vet- erans heroes cuts short their experiences and keeps all of us from looking honestly at the impact of war. We absolve ourselves of our own responsibility for war by deeming all veterans heroes, which doesn’t capture everything that happened during war. I appreciate Yandell’s call for Americans to stop pretending that our lives are not interconnected with global violence. And I take to heart his appeal for us to be genuinely present with veterans. We aren’t doing a service by “unhappening what has really happened.” Instead, we must make space for people’s pain and suffering, to allow them to find the path to healing, hope, and honesty. Allison Lattin, Albany, NY For us military wives taking care of our hus- bands, it is no cakewalk–in fact, it’s like a war zone at times. Praying alone won’t help–when the soldiers come home, you have to get profes- sional help for the consequences of war. Yet how important it is to have a spouse that stays with you and understands what you are going through. Juliana Benoit, Easley, SC My father felt war guilt from World War II; as a bomber pilot he knew that innocent people are sometimes casualties of bombs. He had to come to terms with all that war entails–learn to live with his demons, so to speak. How are military chaplains helping here? Too often, their training is not Bible-based but rather Zen-like and universalist in its approach to the person in need. Yes, their task is to listen. But isn’t it also to give a witness to Jesus? Cathy Madden, Dallas, TX Views on Syria On Navid Kermani’s “Love in Syria: Learning from Jacques Mourad,” Spring 2016: As we absorb the powerful message of this article, we dare not ignore ironies, inconsistencies, and errors in his account. Kermani lumps the government’s expul- sion of Paolo Dall’Oglio together with acts of violence, even though the expulsion of such an outspoken supporter of insurrection was surely an act of mercy. He speaks not a word of criti- cism of the al-Qaeda-led insurgents who have constituted the heart of the violent opposition to the Syrian government. He ignores the fact that U.N. Secretary Kofi Annan nearly ended this terrible war in the spring of 2012, only to see his effort aborted by the Western demand that “Assad must go.” And he speaks not a word of how ISIS has been empowered by the actions of the US-led coalition and Western media. In short, Kermani rightfully denounces the cynicism of the West, but fails to plumb its depths. Remarkable, isn’t it, how his prayers for the people of Syria and Iraq were being answered as he spoke by Russia’s vigorous entry into the war in support of the Syrian government? Berry Friesen, Lancaster, PA I admire the efforts being made by Father Jacques Mourad and others to promote and maintain Christian–Muslim relations. While I can understand Fr. Jacques’s frustration when he says, “We have been abandoned by the Christian world–we mean nothing to them,” I would like to assure him that many ordinary Christians are actively working to alleviate Readers Respond L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R Lovis Corinth, Woman Reading, 1888 Image from WikiArt (public domain)