Ben Stein on G-d

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning

Confession by Ben Stein:

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 crèche, 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 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 shall not kill, thou shall 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

Holland House Candles Remind Me of Aunt Annie

This Christmas I am getting my Aunt Janice a Holland House Candle because her house is so classic in its decoration. I just love the way they look like a sculpture and are a great centerpiece for a formal dining room table.

I associate candles like that with Great Aunt Annie, who passed away many years ago, but used to keep me as child for the weekends sometimes. Her house was neat as a pin and she tried to keep explaining to me why I couldn't use the guest towels in the bathroom. She took such pride in her clean house and nice belongings, some of which are in my living room now.

She used Oil of Olay and to this day I love that smell.

I wonder if part of what we love about our holiday traditions has to do with our loved ones as a child. Would I still appreciate the same things if they didn't remind me of Aunt Annie? There's no way to tell.

What I can take away from this pondering is to practice putting love and fun into the lives of the children in my life now. That's what I can give for Christmas.

Broke for the Holidays

Yes, we're broke. I am turning my law practice into a full-time thing and letting go of the dog walking cash cow. So here we are in the middle for the holidays.

What we didn't do: use credit cards, borrow, give gifts to adults. The exception was my parents who got a nice German steak knife set I picked up at a yard sale in September at a reasonable price.

What we did do: start looking for holiday presents early and in our closets. That led to my 10 year old niece getting a mink stole I got on a whim from a thrift shop months earlier. Her brother got a large cache of comic books from my husband. We got small, old-fashioned toys at my synagogue for my other nephews at Hanukkah Mart day. And I got this all done and in the mail by Thanksgiving which did loads to reduce stress.

Our gift to each other was three events we did together. My husband got to pick one, I got to pick one, and we would both agree to the third one. It worked out all right, except my husband picked a play at Studio Theater called "Breathe, Boom" or something and we walked out at intermission. I chose "Charlie Wilson's War" which Justin would normally not go to see, but he liked it. Our third event is to take some friends out to dinner at a Mexican place in January. So it worked out pretty well.

We made a point of going to every party we were invited to, and have been very busy as a result.

I decorated with silver and blue gift bows from the store.

In the end, it was a lovely holiday season and I gave gifts that I would never have thought of before.

Talking to Jesus in my Backyard

Many times when I am troubled or confused, I find comfort sitting in my
backyard having a cold beer, along with a quiet conversation with
Jesus.

This happened to me recently after a particularly difficult day. I said
"Jesus, why do I work so hard?"

And I heard the reply: "Men find many ways to demonstrate the love they
have for their family. You work hard to have a peaceful and beautiful home
for your friends and family to gather."

I said, "I thought that money was the root of all evil."

His reply was, "No, the love of money is the root of all evil. Money is
a tool; it can be used for good or bad."

I was starting to feel better, but I still had that one burning
question, so I asked it. "Jesus," I said, "what is the meaning of life? Why am I
here?"

He replied: "That is a question many men ask. The answer is in your
heart and is different for everyone. I would love to chat with you some more,
but for now, Senor, I have to finish your lawn."

The War on Santa Claus

With cries of "I don't want to see a fat man dragging a bag behind him when I think of Christmas" there is a movement underfoot to ban images of Santa Claus in the Czech Republic. The goal of this Czech grass roots movement is to maintain the focus on the baby Jesus.

Odd that none of the Czech papers reported it though. Econo-Girl found it in a South African paper. To see the full article, click on the title to this post.