I got an email from my mum today sent on from a friend of her's
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 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.
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
There is so much wrong with this, I am aghast at the level of ignorance and blind faith this man has, this is so wrong and dangerous.
First and foremost
Ben, be a good chap and read Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli
"As the Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion"
Woooooaaah, what is that I see before me? Ben, I took a few seconds out of my day to look that one up so I could quote it, how difficult is it to read the damn thing? No, America is supposed to be a SECULAR country which means interfering arseholes such as yourself should shut the hell up when trying to influence policy or have your religion favoured over all the rest - that is the whole point you twit, it's called democracy!
Aww feeling discriminated against so you want to peddle more fear and misery and direct it elsewhere?
Funny you use Billy Graham's daughter as a source to quote from, what was it Billy was caught saying to Nixon...something about the Jews being from the "Synagogue of Satan"...
You could have used William Lane Craig as a safer bet but even then I am still going to rip this nonsense to shreds.
God is angry with us is he? Awww poor Yahweh! Not powerful enough to get his message across so he gets to kill innocent people to really drive it home?
Yes that's it, blame atheism for the troubles of this world, you forgot to insult the gays as well, you know, cos natural disasters are caused by their behaviour too, come on Ben, what kind of religious arsehole are you trying to be? You have to get it right and insult ALL the people who don't deserve it!
Sorry, where is this evidence that atheism is being shoved down kids throats?
You fucking liar!
You are hypocrite to boot as well, you moan about something being shoved down kids throats and then make the case that unless we shove your religion down kids throats God is going to be even more pissed off with the world.
Make your mind up, either shoving things down kid's throats is a bad thing or it isn't- trying to make your case by injecting fear and misery into it is a pathetic and dangerous ploy for which you should be ashamed of you miserable bastard.
This case you make, the celestial dictator MUST be appeased should he?
Where is your proof of this?
When the world was more heavily Christian or Jewish back in the day there were STILL natural disasters going on, they were more God fuelled than the world is today, what the fuck were they doing so wrong in their piety that caused those events then?
Am I laughing? No I am fucking not, you mendacious, good for nothing, bully for Yahweh, go ahead if you want to spread fear and misery on behalf of your Celestial Dictator's KGB or SS, but don't expect people to be nice to you after it.
If this message is in anyway too vulgar for you, think about what you have written and how vulgar that is, I personally do not think I used enough obscenities to describe what I think of your idea.
We must shove religion down kids throats in order to prevent disaster? How about teaching kids proper science, proper history, proper education in full whereby they can learn how to be doctors who can save people's lives after natural disasters or work for the countless emergency services who willingly risk their lives, regardless of religion or culture, to help complete strangers as best they can?
How about education to provide knowledge on how to prevent natural disasters - yes Ben, NATURAL, no evil bastard deity behind it - or how to build better housing and defences?
Anything but shove religion down people's throats - praying for this shit to stop is futile, above all peerlessly ignorant and dangerous.
Like hell your God has no choice but to commit mass genocide simply because people are ignoring him, loving God my arse, if God was a loving one he could make it known what he wants without resorting to killing people - but this is what Ben wants, he wants his God to be the vindictive, jealous, monster that he is in the Bible and if people do not find this worrying I worry for the human race. Worship that? I'd rather kiss Hitler!
You and your ilk make me sick, you should be so ashamed of yourselves but are too blinkered by the Stockholm Syndrome that is your relationship with religion.
