Ben Stein on CBS MORNING SHOW

 The following was written by Ben Stein 

and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning

Commentary.
     

 My confession: 

  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.  

  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.  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 a bad shape the world is in.  

  My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully, Ben Stein