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 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’Hare (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