I
only hope we find GOD
again before it is too late!
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 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 okay.
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