Wise message from 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 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
theConstitution 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 andJane 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