Readers respond to 'Hostage: The Jill Carroll Story'

And you respectfully but firmly reminded us all of the responsibility we have to seek out knowledge to inform our decisions.

You have said that you are not a hero. Ms. Carroll, I most respectfully disagree. You are a shining example of the best aspects of the human spirit.
Hans Utz
San Francisco

War correspondents have taken risks and risked their lives for decades. Danger does go with the territory. That said, I think the current trend toward putting correspondents in harm's way, be it hurricanes or terrorists, is a bit overboard. We could manage with less coverage, or less in-depth coverage, and save a few lives.

News organizations that choose to do otherwise should be willing to pony up the dollars to hire security and be sure that their employees are safe.

Please inform Jill Carroll that my family and I prayed for her every day of her captivity, and I urged the group of senior citizens whom I pastor to do the same. She was never far from our thoughts during those weeks of captivity.
Michael Ross
Forest Grove, Ore.

While I can certainly see why the Monitor felt a news blackout would help ensure Jill Carroll's safety, and why other news agencies voluntarily went along with it for a time, I think it was wrong.

People must know the news that they are given is as complete, as accurate, and as objective as possible. Any reason for a weakening of that bond of trust, even a reason like this one, is not reason enough to break the faith journalists have with the public.

It's not an easy issue, and I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision. Nonetheless, I want my news untampered with; in fact, I depend on that.

Don't limit the facts I'm told for my own (or someone else's) good; that's not your decision to make.
Janet Margul
Plano, Texas

I'm glad the media did black out the news in the first hours. It is absolutely the right thing to do if it might save a life. I just wonder if the media would have been as cooperative if the hostage had not been a journalist, one of their own.
Jim Allison
Naperville, Ill.

I just read the first five parts of the Jill Carroll story and was prompted to offer my thanks and congratulations first and foremost for Jill's safe return, and, second, to all involved in this poignant and worthwhile read.

The juxtaposition of the brutality of the murder of Jill's translator with the sentiment one of the captives showed in trying to console her while she was crying illustrates something quite foreign to me as an American reader.

But it comes as no surprise that there is humanity in even the most ruthless of killers, and it is this appeal to a person's humanity that will eventually win the war on religious extremism at home and abroad.

This conflict that claimed the life of Alan – and nearly the life of Jill – cannot, will not be won through strength of arms, but by the soundness of our morality and our unwavering commitment to it.
Russell Claus
Lewisville, Ohio

To overcome religious extremism, religious leaders throughout the world need to promote the ideals of tolerance of other beliefs. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all branches of the same form of monotheism, and all follow the golden rule.

They need to promote the concept that religious beliefs are personal and are not something that becomes a divisive force in their relations with other human beings.
John Hodgkins
Boston

My unit was blessed to have Jill Carroll spend a number of weeks with us last fall. Her professionalism and dedication to her calling impressed not only this chaplain, but every member of 3rd battalion, 6th Marines.

I am so thankful for the successful end to her captivity and for this message she is now able to communicate to the world.

Praise the Lord for Jill, her family, and the Monitor family who stood by her. Thank God for His love and answered prayer.
Bryan Crittendon
Virginia Beach, Va.

• The Jill Carroll series ran Aug. 14-28.

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