Thank you Ben Stein...

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 Hurricane 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 okay..

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.