i’m usually not a sucker for chain mail (and i don’t know if this is chain mail or not but someone decided to forward it to me), but i found myself reading this and being pretty moved by it…
sorry to all of those who think this stuff is lame, but here it is:
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 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
edit:
here are some sites that i’ve found that add validity to stein’s thoughts in the preceding letter.
here – here – here – here & Ben Stein’s Homepage
Posted by Tim Kurek on October 8, 2007 at 2:52 am
Wish he had really said all of that. Would have been great!
tim
http://UriahMinistries.wordpress.com
Posted by ramblingsofpassion on October 8, 2007 at 3:14 am
can anyone confirm or deny that ben stein said any of these things?
Posted by Joey on October 13, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Ben Stein’s official website is http://www.benstein.com/writing.html
What he did write is on 12/18/05 Christmas. Only 25% is Ben Stein’s writings. Not that there isn’t merit to some of the mystery writer’s ideas, but it shouldn’t be stated that the entire writing is Ben Stein’s. There is something definitely wrong in society and we need to consider everything.
Posted by JE Morales on October 16, 2007 at 9:07 pm
I had the pleasure of working with Ben Stein many years ago. He’s an extraordinarily intelligent and charismatic man. (In front of my face, he charmed my girlfriend at the time – though in his defense, he didn’t know she and I were seeing each other). I respect him as a person and I enjoy his entertainment. But that’s a story for another day. Personally, I don’t think that the presence or lack of presence of God (or Bibles, Torahs, Menorahs, Christmas trees, Mangers, Korans, etc) in the public sphere has anything to do with any of this. We have done this too ourselves. But worse: we continue to allow it.
Things will change when we take responsibility for our actions, both on an individual AND cultural level. We are the freest country in the world (so we are taught and told) yet we have used our freedoms to perpetuate the dissolution of our families (how many American children have TVs in their bedrooms?), perpetuate a sentiment of personal entitlement, allow profiteering from the rape of the earth of its precious and limited resources, assert our personal wants over the real needs of others, allow our government to bully other nations and to reject immigrants (if you’re not 100% Native American then someone in your family was an immigrant – seems too many of us have forgotten this).
When we hold our elected and non-elected leaders responsible for their actions, when we use our democratic voice to demand the will of the people be done, and when we hold ourselves responsible for the way we act and replace our craving for material gain with a thirst for honest and real connections to people and the earth THEN we might be on the road to change. But that will be awhile yet, I believe, because we are too beholden to our Starbucks, our SUVs, our WalMarts, our debased broadcast entertainment, ourselves.
But wait, maybe God DOES have something to do with this. Consider that GW Bush said that God told him to invade Iraq, did God also tell him to torture people in secret prisons on the soil of our enemies so as not to stain our own? Did God tell hundreds of priests that it’s okay to sexually molest young people or for the Church to sweep it all under the carpet for decades? Did God tell Hitler to exterminate the Jews? Did God approve the public flaying (skinning alive) of dozens of peaceful, pro-democracy protesters in Myanmar seven years ago? (read that again, because it’s worth the extra thought: SKINNING ALIVE!) No, all of these are examples of small groups of individuals acting in an inhumane manner and the rest of us sheep standing by and watching, or ignoring the horror before our eyes. Have you ever witnessed a parent acting abusively to a child in the supermarket but have said nothing because it wasn’t your business? Maybe you were afraid to make a scene? Maybe you were afraid others in the area will think badly of YOU for putting your nose where it doesn’t belong?
One not need believe in God (or Jesus or Ah-la or Buddha, for that matter) to be thoughtful, considerate, kind, helpful, supportive, appreciative, disciplined, and forgiving. These, and others, are personal codes of belief and behavior available to EVERY half-way conscious person regardless of religious belief or affiliation. Yes, I say continue to keep God out of the public sphere and instead look inward for answers. When I was a child, I didn’t need a bible to tell me how to behave, I needed sound parenting – teaching be example – that actions speak louder than words. What are parents teaching their children today? – that making more money so as to buy more stuff than your neighbor is more important than fostering meaningful connections with their own children.
This has nothing to do with God. This has everything to do with you – and me – thinking that it’s someone else’s job to fix things because we are too busy with our own personal priorities. If one is dissatisfied with what’s going on – instead of sending some chain email, why not send five emails to five friends and convene at someone’s house to start building a coalition for change? That may seem ineffective, but at least it’s active and it’s not expecting someone else to fix things. How much change can anyone expect from simply griping (or sending chain mail) or a celebrity broadcasting a “thought-provoking” message? I say, not much.
Posted by harriet on November 22, 2007 at 2:02 pm
i tottally agree with everything. esp. the bit about blood
Posted by George DeGroot on December 1, 2007 at 6:13 pm
To Ben Stein and all those folks who have read Ben’s Stein’s much and wrongfully acclaimed letter titled MY CONFESSION.
I have seen Ben Stein’s Letter (whether actually his or a ghost writer) circulated for too long and treated as though it is a composition of such truth and wisdom. Enough of this harmful propaganda! Please give me a few moments of your time to explain.
I greatly disagree with Ben’s generalizing and concluding that our youth of today are incorrigible, shooting classmates, disrespecting laws and people, have no conscience, don’t know right from wrong, and don’t care about people being killed.
Further more, Ben places the blame for this on misconstrued incidents such as no prayer in schools, a child rearing advice book by Dr. Spock, and not reading the Bible. Where does the real cause actually rest?
First the percentage of children in trouble is very small! Is he making assumptions about the few cases reported in the news? I find it despicable that a man of such wealth and claimed intelligence could jump to such false conclusions. I have been around children by the hundreds including some in other countries all my life due to the career I’m in. I have worked in the ghetto schools and the classy suburbia ones. I met a small ratio of real incorrigible youth. I have researched and studied for many years how children grow, learn, and develop values. The following statements represent some of my observations concerning the real issues contributing to the corruption of our youth of the world not only our nation.
Let’s face it! A big adult beats the child and what do they learn? They learn to hit others and to be violent. Scream at a child and what does the child learn? Children look for role models and those first models are the parents. Parents, coaches, and teachers, who yell, fight, use fowl language, cheat, lie spend little to no time with the child, break the rules when they drive the car or play a game, talk prejudice about other religions or races, or gender, show little or no concern for the feelings of the child, and show no respect for the child, do reap what they sow. Lets get the facts correct and place the blame where it belongs.
The problems we see with the small percentage of “incorrigible youth” are not caused or the result of lack of prayer in the schools, Spock’s book on raising the child (read the entire book and get his full meaning), and not pledging or respecting the flag,
Most prejudices I have witnessed have been promoted by some religions of various kinds. Also greed for money, power and control exhibited by some religions, adults and parents of our youth not conducive to good role models. Look around and open our eyes and see the real world and view the role models our youth are witnessing. Highly visible to them are the inappropriate actions of parents, adults, leaders of countries and religions, and the CEO’s of big corporations. Are you aware that the majority of wars have been brought forth on the earth by such leaders and religions?
Yep, it’s a fine example for our youth. I see few leaders and religions stepping forward and demanding a stop to all of the blood shed and the corruption and prejudice. The majority just sit by and let it continue. These people not only set a bad role model, they allow the earth’s youth to starve, die for lack of medical care, permit power craven leaders to train children to kill and even kill them. Why do some of our youth go astray? Guess!
Yes, Ben, it is always easier to blame the people who understand the youth and know how to relate to them rather than recognize the wonderful results when proper techniques are put into proper practice. Oh it does take more work and time do it the right way. To mention just a few like approaching youth with love, understanding, respect for their emotions and redirecting the anger into constructive channels. The adult has to take the time and energy to obtain the knowledge of how to do this. However, it’s so quick and easy to lash out at the youth and club them into submission. This is guaranteed to result in deep hidden anger that may explode later. Get real.
(Just to clarify the fact, I am not an atheist. Thought I’d mention that because I detected some prejudice in your treatise.) I hope you will feel moved to correct your assumptions and make them known to all who have read and heard your MY CONFESSION.
Respectfully,
George DeGroot
georgedegrootjr@gmail.com
Educator, Teacher Consultant,
Specialist in Teaching Methods and Communication
PS:
HOW ABOUT SENDING THIS LETTER TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS, RELATIVES, CO-WORKERS?
HOW ABOUT CBS AND OTHER NEWS MEDIA READING THIS LETTER TO THEIR LISTENERS?
Posted by Qdgnctxz on December 13, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Thanks!,
Posted by Sharon Hamrick on January 18, 2009 at 8:30 am
God will not take away our freewill. He will not intervene when we are down and out, nor will he punish us with distasters. I do believe He is there for us when we sincerely and humbly ask for His guidance. He will show us the way if we are sincere but we are responsible for our own actions. Whatever our need, God will lead us to water. He can’t make us drink.
Posted by Cynde McLaren on September 21, 2009 at 7:48 pm
I do believe we reap what we sow. One day, when I get to Heaven I will be accountable for everything I did on this earth God gave me. I beleive in God. I believe He is bigger than all of this. I agree with Sharon above, “He is there for us when we need Him”. We need to come to Him humbled and sincere.
Gods time is not our time. Who are we to think we are more knowlegable than our Lord! He left us the Bible as a Love letter to us. We learn about how to treat our children, our neighbors and those that hate us. We learn acceptable manners, guidelines for our behavior and that one day He will return.
I suggest if you want a book that talks about floods, has violence and wars, sex, lust, and blood….read the Bible. Study the scriptures, learn about the Christ that came to save us from our sinful self. How the prophets fortold of his coming and how He lived and died for us. Yes, our selfish, sinful entitled self.
I work for a high school and it saddens me at the lack of respect for teachers and school Admin. It breaks my heart when one of our students is killed by drunk driving. It burns my ears to hear the language that the students use. And it’s not just the boys, I have heard girls talk that would make you blush. Yes, you can find answers to all of this in the Bible. But, you have to train a child when they are small. (Proverbs 22 v.6). But, how can we today. Both parents work to have more toys than their neighbor. That leaves the babysitters and day care workers to raise our kids, Most families are almost bankrupt trying to keep up “with the Jones”. These are Christian families too! Not just seculure familes.
Sharon above is right….”Whatever our need, God will lead us to water. He gives us our free will to drink.” How are you using your free will that God gave you. To gloify Him or to spoil yourself!