Christmas from Ben Stein

This is the most eloquent piece of writing I have read
in years. It
encompasses what I feel are the major ills of this
country and it's
people (including myself). This is one email I will
ask that you be
sure to pass around to every one you know and maybe
the miracle we are
promised in all those other ridiculous emails will
finally happen.

Subject: An eloquent comment, from CBS Sun morning
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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
creche, 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
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?

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




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