From Our Readers

UNFAIR CRITICISM OR HONEST EXPOSÉ

I have to agree with one of your English readers concerning your unfair criticism of the Catholic Church. It seems that you say something bad about Catholicism with every issue of “Awake!” In past issues you have: ridiculed devotion to Mary; devoted much space to harping on internal disagreements in the Church and the declining number of religious vocations; accused the Vatican of collaborating with the Nazi engineers of the holocaust (May 8, 1981); referred to an agreement between the Catholic archdiocese of Philadelphia and the United Way as an “unholy alliance” (June 8, 1980); and implied that Catholics on their way to hear the pope cheat the Italian bus system (March 8, 1981). But the worst example of anti-Catholicism appears in your issue of May 22, 1981, where you claim “that there are serious conflicts between [the] Church and God’s own Word, the Bible.” This is outright slander. Surely you are aware that Jesus Christ and his apostles were Catholic, as were the men who wrote down God’s Word in the New Testament. If you cannot treat the Church fairly in your articles, do not write about it at all, or let Catholics write your articles for you.

C. K., North Carolina

We have a kindly interest in helping Catholics as well as others who read “Awake!” to see things as they really are. In every article referred to above valid evidence was presented to prove all statements made. It is a well-known fact that Jesus and his apostles, as well as their associates who shared in writing the Christian Greek Scriptures, were Jews. The Catholic Church was not founded until more than two hundred years later.​—ED.

Just by chance I found, abandoned in a corner of the classroom for technical studies, a copy of “Awake!” It has had a strong impact on me. Some of its articles, like the one about Mariolatry, have been developed with pleasing equanimity that exclude, fortunately, a position of aggressive fanaticism.

M. D., Colombia

Thank you for the renewal notice. May I take the opportunity to thank you for your excellent publication. I have read it for three years and I am always finding something exciting and interesting. It is good, in fact, rare, to find publications that are as unbiased as yours are. May you continue for a long time yet.

E. K., Australia

I would like to mention that I personally find your magazines helpful and interesting. Recently I lent them to a colleague at work, a highly qualified electronics engineer. He was not only interested in the contents but was highly impressed by the technical and factual accuracy of the articles. This corresponds to my own views and I would add that although there are points on which I am not yet fully convinced myself, I particularly respect your presentation of your views, your plain straightforward arguments, your not “smudging” issues, avoiding unpalatable facts or argumentative points, i.e., in general your scrupulous honesty.

J. P., England