Thought provoking commentary by Ben Stein

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 church, 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 cyber space, 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