Merry Christmas and God Bless You
aerial
Posts: 2,319
Apparently the White House referred to Christmas Trees as “Holiday Trees” for the first time this year which prompted CBS presenter, Ben Stein, to present this piece which I would like to share with you. I think it applies just as much to many countries as it does to America . . .
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, bejewelled 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 crib, 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? 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 neighbour 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
I'd say this hits the nail on the head!
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, bejewelled 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 crib, 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? 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 neighbour 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
I'd say this hits the nail on the head!
“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” Abraham Lincoln
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Comments
If their cut, I call them "Dead Trees". If they're live- like mine- I call them "Future Shade".
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
thinly veiled racism/intolerance wrapped in a "good, patriotic" message.
my retort to those stupid emails? if we are to adhere to the "we were here first" mentality, then we should all be living in teepees with feathers in our hair eating bannock.
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/confessions.asp
BTW Christmas trees are still known as Christmas trees.
I thought everyone knew this one was fake.
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
My mom will probably email it to me next week.
that's the question...where is the tolerance?
Or to put it in politically correct terms...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st5oPeST_-k
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
Its actually a solstice tree
http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/ch ... nvironment
:nono:
your original post is the intolerance.
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
Also, the quote that was provided was only about a third "correctly attributed" to Ben Stein, which Snopes said was a quote from 2005, not this year.
At this point the actual Ben Stein quote ends.
The following was added by an unknown person and contains the false claim that Dr. Benjamin Spock's child committed suicide:
So,
since it's been established that the majority of the quote was actually by some unknown person and contains partially false information, perhaps the OP would like a chance to self-state their own nail head-hitting point? I mean, just because Ben Stein said a portion of it, and some unknown said the majority of it, and the white house non-christmas tree part wasn't correct, that doesn't mean that there still isn't something to say.
just saying...
Hold on a minute. OP, was it YOU that said this hits the nail on the head?
Because now I'm curious, what point or points you were referring to. Please,
Do you really believe that God hit us with Katrina because God was being a "gentleman" ("that he is") and "backing out" because the people have separated church & state?
or are you really saying that it is nail-hit head-on that there's killings because kids have "no conscience" JUST becuase prayrer was removed from school ?
thank you
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
My wife respectfully disagrees and is wrong until Friday
... I'm hosting my 4th annual Festivus party this year. Stoked!
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
"I need your strength for me to be strong...I need your love to feel loved"
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
I've abandoned the Christianity I was brought up to believe, but I continue to put up a tree in my living room every December and decorate it with lights and fun stuff. I still call it a Christmas tree, mainly out of habit, but I think of it as a fun tradition that predates Christianity. All of the good and fun traditions of what we now call Christmas are Pagan. If Christmas were only about Christ, let's be honest, it wouldn't be merry!
I would prefer that we call it Yule... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule
So basically, Christmas equals Christmas plus Yule Tide including the drinking, the ham, and the log, but less the loading up of sprinklers with blood and covering the walls. and maybe the absence of a beserker or two.
Got it. :P
Where's that pulling-the-hair-out-of-my-head emoticon?...
:wtf: :twisted:
...nope, not here.
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
you are phallus obsessed, CBG. I love it.
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
"Many Christmases ago I went to buy a doll for my son.
I reached for the last one they had, but so did another man...
As I rained blows upon him I realized there had to be another way".
It gets stranger by the moment...
as I stare into the candy apple swirl
of the lollipop avatar
and the metal pole
and the blank TV screen
and the black space that forms
my thoughts
and wish you
a happy holiday.
This is the poetry thread... right?
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
I'm not denying that :shifty: but you gotta blame Seinfeld for this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS7-jcsB_WQ
"I need your strength for me to be strong...I need your love to feel loved"
I like the message, I'll share it too ... how daring of me!
MERRY CHRISTMAS! GOD BLESS US ALL!
and thank you aerial
enjoy your holidays! it is a wonderful time of the year!