Ben Stein

[aSoldier]

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday

Morning Commentary, Sunday, 12/18/05.

 

Herewith at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating

heart: I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the

cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty

litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who

Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know

who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important?

 

I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is either, and I do not care at all about Tom

Cruise's wife.

 

Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a

subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are.

 

If this is what it means to be no longer young. It's not so bad.

 

Next 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 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'Hair (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

cyberspace, 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

[Takoush]

Seb jan; how good of you to put out this fine array of outbursts and words, and how true they are!!!!!!!!!!

 

In my last semester in my communication's class my very last assignment was about giving an informative speech and guess what I gave? You guessed it pal; I gave an informative speech about School Prayer's that was banned from schools since the 1960's. Certainly not all my classmates were Christians, but at the end of my speech I got around of applause from all my classmates and needless to say my professor gave me a perfect A for it.

 

Basically I don't care if Ben Stein is a Jew. I am not particularly crazy about certain Jews or how they conduct themselves sellfishly; yet I have known a few Jews in my life that were good, but Stein here is plainly telling the truth about matters as to "why God doesn't love us and he doesn't protect us when all these calamities are happening to us and all around us"? Well, a good many of them condemn us, that is you and me in particular, even right here in this Forum; because we simply talk about Christianity and how good God is and or the Bible.

Edited April 30, 2006 by Anahid Takouhi

[Takoush]

In reference to my above post, I would like to add that certainly what I uttered had absolutely no bearing on the fine people who created and who administer this Forum, nor the fine people who run this Forum; for it is certainly a Forum of esteem and of merit.

 

What I thrufthfully said was solely meant for the sake of some people in this Cyber community who have condemned Christianity, God and the Bible and all else who believed in Them.

Edited April 30, 2006 by Anahid Takouhi