As adoptive parents of two biracial American children adopted at birth, we are always rankled by the subject of international adoption. With all the children in this country who need homes, from babies on up, I will never understand why people go outside our borders to adopt.
KAREN MACDONALD
Santa Barbara, Calif.
When we adopted two of our kids, it took about nine months and about the same cost as a hospital birth to get beautiful babies without strings attached here in the United States. Today, all the red tape involved has caused domestic adoptions to be slow and expensive.
FRANK WATTS
Winter Park, Colo.
Augustine's Influence
I was interested to read that St. Augustine came up with his plan for infant baptism because so many parents at the time "demanded baptism for their infants" ["What He Did Not Confess," May 23]. If Augustine had just read Ezekiel 18:20 to the people, he could have stopped this practice before it got started! The passage says, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." To formulate a theory of "original sin" was unfounded and unnecessary.
MICHAEL GARRISON
Parrish, Ala.
St. Augustine's " Confessions" detail the development of his faith in a transcendental, loving God. Why is it that "observers might reasonably wonder . . . how a reform-minded adviser to Vatican II became a rigid defender of the church doctrine while through it all claiming a core consistency to his beliefs and teachings"? Progressive social reformers are understandably disappointed with Benedict XVI's election , but "a fresh, new look at St. Augustine and his legacy" contributes nothing to the understanding of Roman Catholic doctrine. Pope Benedict XVI is neither a contradiction nor a mystery. He is an Augustinian, influenced Pope John Paul II's encyclical on "Faith and Reason," and is the best thing that could happen to the Catholic Church today.
JOHN L. KNECHT
Belvidere, N.J.
Clarification: The website address for the military adventures for civilians in "Let's Play Soldier!" [June 6] should have included a hyphen: incredible-adventures.com.
[20050606049731]
Gambling Fever
I am stunned to discover that a high school encourages the students to play poker ["Against the Odds," May 23]. I am the mother of four children and a dealer at a casino. To use casino games to learn about statistics is one thing, but to have a poker study hall in a high school is unacceptable. Even if these kids are not playing with real money now, they will the first chance they get. Why don't we just give them cigarettes, or alcohol, or drugs? They can learn a lot about science, chemical reactions, and behavior that way, too.
TAMERA BUENO
Blue Springs, Mo.
"Against The Odds" gives new meaning to the phrase "virtual reality" by stating that "overseas casinos all too often take advantage of the lawlessness of cyberspace to hoodwink patrons." Like land-based casinos, many in cyberspace are audited, often by large accounting firms. Online casinos are tested by third parties for fairness and randomness. Blogs, bulletin boards, and websites rate online poker sites and expose problematic ones. Only the sites that pass muster continue to draw in customers.
NANCY TODD TYNER
Chairman
Internet Gaming Alliance
Las Vegas
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