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 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 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 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
I read this before and loved it. The only correction is that Dr. Spock's son did not commit suicide, it was his grandson who jumped off a childrens museum.
I hope everyone is having a good holiday/shopping season. It's really cold here - I hate the cold. I just want to stay in all the time when it's cold and gets so dark so early. It's depressing. I have absolutely no plans today except to go over Wed. night's children's Bible class I'm teaching. It's weird having a whole day with nothing much to do. James is back overseas, too. Maybe I'll hit Barnes and Noble and get myself a candycane cafe mocha and just browse. Hmmm...
Each year I put together a class Thanksgiving “Cookbook” where I ask the children, “What is your favorite thing to eat at Thanksgiving and how do you make it?” It is very fun to hear their responses and to see the seriousness on their faces as they shine their knowledge upon me! Enjoy!
Mallory – I like turkey the best. Mom makes salad with it. It has to be big. You put it in the oven for 20 minutes. Yellow juice goes on it.
Adam – Bean is my favorite. You cook it on the stove for about 5 minutes. It looks brown and you blow on it because it’s hot. You eat it with a fork with green beans, mashed potatoes and chicken.
James – I like turkey. Put it in the oven for 15 minutes. Sometimes you can put some hot dogs with it. I also like bread with jelly. You make the bread cold and put white kind of jelly on it.
Coen – Apple pie is my favorite. Cut the apples and mush them and then buy a crust and put the apples in it and then put it in the oven. And that’s an apple pie. We just buy it from the store.
Cornelia – I like salad with dressing and turkey. Let’s see here. Lettuce and red dressing goes on it. Put the turkey in the oven on a plate for 50 time minutes. You eat it with a fork.
Pyper – I like turkey the best. Put it in the microwave or the oven. Maybe for 24 hours. My cat loves turkey. He’s a boy, a really, really old cat. He’s had 13 birthdays pass by.
Cohl – I like pumpkin pie. You cook the pumpkin and mush it with your hand and roll it with a rolling pin. You put it in the oven. I like orange juice.
Matthew – Real chicken is my favorite. Well, first you put a tiny chicken in the oven. Like, for 5 minutes. My mom puts big chicken with it. Then she puts a head and two feet and two hands on and then we eat it with forks and spoons.
Sydney – Turkey. Put it in the oven for maybe a long time. It sits on a tray. You eat it with a fork. There’s a drink – water. I like fruit – oranges, with it.
Emily – I like turkey the best. Well, I think you get a real chicken and you cut it up and cook it with flour and sugar in the oven. It stays there for 45 minutes and then it’s a turkey. I also like pumpkin pie. You put sugar, pumpkin and flour in it and it goes in the oven for 45 minutes. Whipped cream goes on top and you drink it with milk, juice or water.
Jake – I like pumpkin seeds and pumpkin bread. For pumpkin seeds, you carve a pumpkin and you take the seeds out and then you put them in the microwave for 3 minutes. For pumpkin bread, I think there’s little gummy things, pretend pumpkins. It’s soft and you eat it with butter. There’s a lot of words going on right now (Jake says, as he sees me dictating what he says).
Elliott – Red strawberry. First you put some salt and strawberry inside. And then you put green on top. Then you put dots on and juice on. And more salt. Then we buy it.
Isabelle – I like turkey the best. You buy it at the store. You cook it for one day. You put it in the fridge because it’s hot and then you eat it. I eat chips and drink cream soda with it.
Nicholas – I like bread. Make it with sugar powder and rice and like mix. Put it in a bowl and cook it for 2 minutes in the oven. Then you put salt on it.
Lachlan – Turkey. Put it in the oven for 5 minutes. Apples with it. It’s hot and you cut it up with a knife. Apple juice is good with a turkey. I think I’m all done.
Heidi – Turkey is my favorite. Cook it for 20 seconds on the stove. It’s hot and I think you can cut it in square pieces or something. Drink water with turkey.
Mia – Bread. Butter, cheese, turkey, and ham goes in it. You make it like grilled cheese. It goes in the oven for 30 minutes. You eat it after it cools down.
Sophia – I like a turkey sandwich, chips and apple juice. For the sandwich, turkey, cheese, bread, bread. Two breads. You cut it in half. Not me. My daddy and mommy. I can’t cut because it hurts my little finger. I like Lays with chip dip. And apple juice. You pour it like this, watch.
Annalisa – Chips. Put milk in it and crunchy stuff – steak – and stir it up and then you turn it into chips. Apple juice. Cut a apple open and squeeze it out really tight.
Emma – Ham. Make some turkey and then you make ham. On the grill for maybe like 10 minutes. Then you pick it up and eat it. I like cornbread, too. You take some corn and take some bread and cook it in a pan for 20 minutes.
So James has seen some pretty neat things since being overseas. Yesterday and Fri. he had some down time, so he explored Bahrain. McDonald's was cheapter than the U.S. Traffic lights are longer - 8 minutes or so per red light / 20 seconds or so per green - ick. He saw a shepherd herding sheep in the dessert yesterday and took some pictures (he'll send me those soon, I hope!). They have a Hard Rock - somehow I'm not surprised. I had him pick me up a Hard Rock Bahrain shirt - too cool.
He had a 7 hour layover in Paris on Tuesday, so he took a train into the city and saw some cool things there too, like this:
Yeah, saying I'm jealous is an understatment! ;)
Only a week left and he'll be back home (I hope) unless this job takes longer. We'll see...
Where is that anyway? Ok, I know it's a little island in the middle east. And I know it is pretty westernized (sp?), but beyond that, I don't know much except that my hubby is there for two weeks for work. At least I have my huge black dog and my roomie, Sarah (when she's around) to keep me company. Oh, and there's work and the gym to keep me busy.
I had the girls over last night for some yummy fiesta white chili with the fixins and corn bread. Oh, and some great cheesecake for desert. And a chick flick. Good times. Tonight I had a friend over who just recently got baptized and we studied Genesis a little. We'll do more next week.
I'm getting the itch to put our x-mas tree up and all the other decorations around the house. I love the holidays (and its been feeing more like them every day - today was only 45 degrees!). Don't worry, I won't be one of those crazy people who put their decorations up before Thanksgiving (although I must confess, I have done it as early as 3 days before!) - I'll wait.
I have a coworker who decorates before Halloween. And she goes all out, she puts up several trees. Wow, that is dedication. We'll probably do it the weekend of Thanksgiving.
I love the holidays, too. I started unpacking the Christmas stuff to see what we had brought with us and I've gotten most of my Christmas shopping done already! I can't wait!
