The following was
written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning
Commentary.
My confession:
I am a Jew, and every
single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not
bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit
up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees.. I don't feel
threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what
they are: Christmas trees.
It doesn't bother me
a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't
think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a
ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it It shows that we
are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year.
It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on
display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu
.. If people want a crche, it's just as fine with me as is
the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I don't like getting
pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like
getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people
who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around,
period. I have no idea where the concept came from that
America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it
in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my
throat.
Or maybe I can put it
another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship
celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand
Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old,
too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering
where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew
went to.
In light of the many
jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little
different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's
not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
Billy Graham's
daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked
her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding
Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful
response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by
this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get
out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out
of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He
has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His
blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us
alone?'
In light of recent
events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think
it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her
body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in
our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better
not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not
kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as
yourself. And we said OK.
Then Dr. Benjamin
Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave
because their little personalities would be warped and we might
damage their self-esteem (Dr Spock's son committed
suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking
about. And we said OK.
Now we're asking
ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't
know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill
strangers, their classmates, and themselves.
Probably, if we think
about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I
think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE
SOW.'
Funny how simple it
is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going
to hell Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but
question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send
'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you
start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice
about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene
articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of
God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Are you laughing
yet?
Funny how when you
forward this message, you will not send it to many on
your address list
because you're not sure what they believe, or what they
will think of you for
sending it.
Funny how we can be
more worried about what other people think of us than what God
thinks of us.
Pass it on if you
think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one
will know you did. But, if you discard this thought
process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the
world is in.
My Best
Regards, Honestly and respectfully,
Ben Stein