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Thursday, October 18, 2012

Bueller, Bueller?

No this isn't a political blog or a religious one. We do try and make sense though.
I am neither Christian not Jew, but I have many friends that are both and this email that was forwarded to me struck a nerve.
It was written by Ben Stein, you know him from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"


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 crèche, 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.
  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..
Not this one you dope!

  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