Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread: Ben Stein Jewish Commentary about Christmas Trees

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 1992
    Location
    National Office
    Posts
    2,569

    Arrow Ben Stein Jewish Commentary about Christmas Trees

    From CBS Sunday Morning:

    QUOTE:

    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. inline imageIt 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 w ondering 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 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 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 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



    End Quote

  2. #2
    William J Withers's Avatar
    William J Withers is offline Private Investigator Forum Member
    Former Law Enforcement Officer

    Member of the International Private Investigators Union (IPIU)
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Pennsylvania
    Posts
    36

    Re: Ben Stein Jewish Commentary about Christmas Trees

    I have always liked Ben Stein's style. Now, I am a straight on, practicing Catholic... I had to be with my line of work. I was never offended by Menorah's around the holidays, there are several townships around here that even have them as their holiday centerpiece instead of a Christmas tree. To each their own, and never believe you are better than any other person based on religion. All religions are basically the same, and there are no 2 distict religions that are closer than Judiasm and Christianity (though I am sure you'll never catch either admit to such). It's tme to start treating eachother like equals, not having one person 1 step below you because they don't read the same version of the Bible you do. This is true, in case you're not particularly religious. Catholics think themselves above all others, that they are the 1 true religion. Now I am fairly religious, but I never subscribed to that theory, in the US, they go so far as to say, UNLESS you read the "New American" version of the bible, you're wrong. There are a multitude of bible "versions" out there.... all of them are the same people, no matter what one person might say. They all tell the same story, they all tell it the same way. Some books might use different spelling, some might omit some more obscure books, some might have some of the phrases different, but it's all the same. I think everyone needs to learn that bit or religion.


    On the subject of "Why Katrina Happened" nobody understands this feeling more than I. I was a police officer, working on the streets in my city on September 11th 2001. I remember hearing on the radio (stereo) that a plane had struck. I drove into the District to see what happened on TV and was there just in time to see the second plane hit. Jesus, everyone thought, this is not an accident or a cooincidence. Within minutes of the second plane, our lieutenant called each car and wagon in to give them specific orders. Solo units were teamed up, plainclothes units were told to get into uniform, everyone had to get their riot gear, and those of us trained had to get their survival suits (I happened to be trained in NBC prior to 9/11 for the RNC).... it was a surreal day, a citywide broadcast told us to make sure our cars were fully gased up constantly, and that we were on duty until further notice, in our District we monitored police and fire radio from NYC, and for those of you who don't know what it's like, be thankful that you probably never will, I can STILL hear the voices screaming. Tower One fell, then Tower Two.... all the while, not only greiving for what HAS happened, but standing there, wondering, what is next? When will it happen to us.

    Thankfully it never did happen to us, but nothing will ever erase the memories of that day. Watching the horror, feeling the pain as thousands of civilians, and hundreds of brothers and sister's lives were extinguished.

    Everyone was at a loss for an answer, why had God turned away from us? The answer I got was very similar. I was told that some things are meant to happen for a reason, that possibly it was a reminder that we're all human, we're not immortal gods, we're not all powerful. I asked (rather selfishly at the time), why so many police and fireman had to die, the Father I talked to answered me matter of factly in saying "could you think of a better example?"

    I was plenty outraged, there is no doubt about it, and it was a long time before I returned to the church, but in a way, the Father was right, it took the sacrifice of a number of police and firemen, for America to see what it had become, for the longest time, you saw EVERYONE, men, women, childred, white, black, whatever, wearing American flags, supporting one another and generally respecting not only eachother, but ourselves.

    I fear we are at that crossroads again, in this age of political correctness, and our former "spend freely" attitude. I wasn't an Obama supporter, but now that he is in, I hope he turns out to be our savior, not the one that lead to the end of our way of life.

    Just my little more than 2c (probably more like a dime) on the subject

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •