A Commentary by Ben Stein
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 do not feel threatened. I do not feel discriminated against. That is what they are, Christmas trees. It does not bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I do not 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 does not 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 is just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I do not like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I do not 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 not find it in the Constitution and I do not 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 are not allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that is a sign that I am 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 is not funny, it is intended to get you thinking. Billy Grahams 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 have 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 should not spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spocks son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he is talking about. And we said okay.
Now we are asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they do not know right from wrong, and why it does not 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 is going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send
'jokes' through email 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.
Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you are not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it. 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, do not sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.
My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,
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 do not feel threatened. I do not feel discriminated against. That is what they are, Christmas trees. It does not bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I do not 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 does not 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 is just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I do not like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I do not 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 not find it in the Constitution and I do not 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 are not allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that is a sign that I am 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 is not funny, it is intended to get you thinking. Billy Grahams 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 have 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 should not spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spocks son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he is talking about. And we said okay.
Now we are asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they do not know right from wrong, and why it does not 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 is going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send
'jokes' through email 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.
Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you are not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it. 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, do not sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.
My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,
Ben Stein
posted by Ann at
5:22 PM
2 Comments:
I totally agree. Way to go Ben!
What a lovely little sentiment. I hate when the older generation (and yes, I am almost fifty) gets all nostalgic for those good old days when God was everywhere...when bigotry ran rampant, when blacks sat in the back of buses, and lynchings were common...days of slavery and punishing children by whipping them with a cane. O yes, those wonderful times when Jews weren't allowed in your neighborhoods and those good Christian people ran around in white hooded robes burning crosses and hating anyone who wasn't like them, when woman were owned by their husbands and could not vote.
God is still here today. For it is God who inspires the terrorists to attack USA. Maybe not God as you see him but God as they see him. And they believe in him whole-heartedly. Does that make it right? Is their God the right God? And while I have no problem with anyone believing in God, there are many out there who have a problem with me not believing in their God. And I have a BIG problem with that.
Go away Ben Stein. I don't miss those days when gay men and women had to hide in the closets for fear of being beaten and/or arrested. Keep wearing those rose colored glasses when you look back at those "happy times." I read history books. I know better.
Post a Comment
<< Home