Ben Stein

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The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by

him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

>Herewith 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'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

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Only part of that is the actual commentary.....the rest is a conglomeration of bits other people put in to make their point (whatever it was at the moment) just that little bit clearer for all of the heathen scum who don't get it, to put them in their place using the assumed authority of Ben Stein.

Read the whole transcript here....gotta love snopes

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I think what he says makes a lot of sense and is an interesting POV.