ben stein on being a Jew at Christmas
 
 
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 crche, 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. 


My Best Regards. 
 Honestly and respectfully, 

Ben Stein 
  Today was busy. We spent the day looking for a house to rent for Susan Kwamboka. She has 7 kids and is often sick, so people don’t want to rent to her that often. We think we found a house, finally - around 6 p.m. We also had the Legacy kids Bible Study for a couple hours this afternoon. The kids are so well-behaved. I just love them all to pieces. They are so sweet and have such tremendous potential that it makes me hope all the more each day that God will continue to use me somehow to be a blessing in their lives. I see it as nothing short of an honor and I hope the best for them. We also started running the electrical on Anne Omolo’s rental units today. They’re going to be so happy to finally get electricity. It’s weird but the electricity went out in the middle of the night last night at our house and it woke me up. I can never really sleep that well without electricity --- in the pitch dark. But then that’s how Scovia, Ashelee, Anne, Otiono, Auma and most of the kids and women I know live every day. I’m so thankful to the Mountain Chalet of Aspen and their foundation for providing the funds to run the electricity for Anne’s house and the rental units. I want to get them a TV once they have electricity. The thing about Africa is that you just get one TV for a group. Everyone is always hanging out together --- community style. I also bought a Video Ipod last month and will put the different Christian shows on them and then hook it to the TV. That will help keep yucky stuff off of the TV (since there isn’t any reception and I won’t be getting a DVD player) and the good stuff will be there to help teach the kids --- Christian shows and also learning shows like Sesame Street and Blue’s Clues.