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.
As a pastor's wife - I often wish to speak up about what is happening in our world. I believe this is important enough to pass along to all my readers.