Very Interesting and Something to Think About...

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 th at 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 Nick and Jessica 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 Nick and Jessica 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 recently) 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 both er 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?

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
Amen

Re: Very Interesting and Something to Think About...

AMEN!!!!!!

Re: Very Interesting and Something to Think About...

Hmmmm. Interesting.

Personally, I am atheist, and I don't think that means that, because I don't believe in religion in our schools and government, I don't have morals or ethics. I really don't believe that bringing "god" back into our schools will make much of a difference here - ethics and morals can be taught to an individual through religion or not - it's not necessarily intertwined.

Re: Very Interesting and Something to Think About...

thank you for posting this

ETA: i guess i should add that i don't necessarily agree or disagree with the second part of the letter, but i do agree with the first part - i am jewish and i HATE when people of various religions think that i am going to be offended if my office decides to put up a christmas tree but forgets the menorah. if i want one, i'll go get one - or ask HR to give me one. i'm sure they would have no problem with it! it's the HOLIDAYS - why should they be generic?

Message edited 11/13/2007 11:56:40 AM.

Re: Very Interesting and Something to Think About...

interesting theory, I will leave it at that

Re: Very Interesting and Something to Think About...

Very interesting. Thanks for posting

Re: Very Interesting and Something to Think About...

actually- i think only 1/ 2 of that was written by ben stein- on his official page, he has a list of what he wrote and he didn't exactly write that all.

Comments: The first half of this text was indeed written by commentator Ben Stein and delivered by him on the CBS Sunday Morning program on December 18, 2005. You can read the original on his Web site.

The rest of the text, beginning with the sentence "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," was cobbled together from anonymous messages circulating on the Internet since late 2001.

The quote attributed to Billy Graham's daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, is actually a paraphrase of statements she made on September 13, 2001 in an interview with Jane Clayson of the CBS Early Show. The subject matter of the interview was not, as alleged in the email, Hurricane Katrina, but the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001.

see urbanlegends.about.com

Message edited 11/13/2007 12:06:48 PM.