The following was
written by Ben Stein (see
Expelled! No Intelligence
Allowed )
and recited by him on
CBS one Sunday Morning
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
crèche, 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 Hurricane 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
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