New respect for Ben Stein. I never knew he had this side to him.

Metamorpho1977

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Something not to laugh about


If they know of him at all, many folks think Ben Stein is just a quirky actor/comedian who talks in a monotone. He's also a very intelligent attorney who knows how to put ideas and words together in such a way as to sway juries and make people think clearly. The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning:


"Herewith, at this happy time of year, are a few confessions from my beating heart: I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important?


I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise's wife.


Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are.


If this is what it means to be no longer young. It's not so bad.


Next 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 cyber space, 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.
 
He brings up a lot of good points their. Especially for Christmas. I'm an athiest and I love the Christmas time of year and I find it stupid when you see groups trying to take down Christmas trees and fueling Bill O'Reilly's dumbass Culture War by proving him right.
 
Something not to laugh about


If they know of him at all, many folks think Ben Stein is just a quirky actor/comedian who talks in a monotone. He's also a very intelligent attorney who knows how to put ideas and words together in such a way as to sway juries and make people think clearly.

Stein was also a White House speechwriter under both Nixon and Ford.
 
Ben, you're getting old. It's that same old "this is the worst generation ever, look at how indecent they are". Do some comparisons, you'll find this generation is not nearly as over the top as previous ones.
 
I agree with everything Stein said.

I am a liberal, but I'm also a Catholic (though I'm somewhat moving into the arena where I worship God, Jesus and their teachings without the influence of religion), and I have strong faith. This whole Christmas thing is stupid. Christmas is a time of peace on Earth and good will towards men, regardless race, creed, sex or even beliefs (and yes, to me, that even includes nonbelievers). The atheists should realize that they have the right to believe what they want just as the believers have the right to believe what they want to believe. Whether you're a liberal or conservative, believer or atheist, you have to realize America gives you the right to believe in whatever you want, and at the same time we also have the right to not have others impose their views upon those who oppose their own. The atheists, therefore, have no right to complain about Christmas trees or decorations.

And for the record, as a believer, I am for religious teachings not being tought in non-religious schools, as we do have respect those of different viewpoints and beliefs (even if they don't always respect ours). But that doesn't mean The Bible can't be read in school. I have friends who bring The Bible to school, read it in free time, and discuss it amongst friends. It's not harming anyone. They're not imposing their beliefs on those of different beliefs. They're just reading a book. A book associated with a certain belief, and one whose many teachings I myself follow (with a few exceptions, such as the whole gay thing), but a book nonetheless.

Again, I'm a liberal. I don't like Bush. I'm for gay marriage. I'm pro-choice as far as abortion goes. But I also am a believer in God, Jesus and most of their teachings, and I also know when you get too liberal. When people begin to jeopardize basic freedoms promised by our founding fathers, I get a bit worried.
 
That's a tremendously well written article, but I still think religious extremism is ruining this country.
 
That's a tremendously well written article, but I still think religious extremism is ruining this country.

And so is anti-religious extremism.

Extremism in general is ruining the damned country.
 
People only want something when it's convenient for them, that's what it boils down to. And that goes for everything in life.
 
Wow, that was a wonderful article, or e-mail, or whatever it was. I'll have to show that to some friends. What a cool guy :)
 
I knew he was intelligent, but this article really surprised me. Well written and thought out.

I agree that we've replaced worship and just belief and faith in things we can't see with worship of stars in media.

We've become so consumed with banning something in schools because it could possibly offend the parents of one student. I can't remember the last time I said a simple pledge of alliegence to the flag in school, actually I think it was in 4th grade when my grade school stopped it.

We've become so convinced as a country that our children are fragile, and so mindless that we have to pump them full of drugs and monitor each and everything they hear or see. I personally am a Christian, but in no way to I get offended if someone else practices another faith in front of me, or has another religious holiday, or greets me to their religious beliefs custom. To me greeting, any greeting that's meant as a friendly one makes you feel good. Wishing someone happiness should never be a bad thing, and the further we convince ourselves that a skin color, nationality, or religion makes us different, longer it'll be til mankind can look towards eachother like brothers.

Anyway lol, glad you posted that, was worth the read.
 
I remember Ben Stein was on the radio quite a few years ago.

The jocks were doing a local commercial ad for something. And one of the jocks said something to the effect of "Chew down their prices". Mr. Stein thought they said "Jew down their prices". He then questioned them on what they said and even though they corrected him, he still proceeded to go on a tyraid on how they should be more careful on what they say, and hung up on them.

Intelligent man but still an ass.
 
^Most intelligent people are asses. How would you know they were smarter if they weren't?
 
The whole thing was not written by Ben Stein. This part of it was:

"Herewith, at this happy time of year, are a few confessions from my beating heart: I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important?


I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise's wife.


Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are.


If this is what it means to be no longer young. It's not so bad.


Next 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.

And this part of it was not

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 cyber space, 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.

I'm not sure who came up with the second part.

Details: http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/benstein2.asp
 
Ben, you're getting old. It's that same old "this is the worst generation ever, look at how indecent they are". Do some comparisons, you'll find this generation is not nearly as over the top as previous ones.

What he said.
 
LMAO...the internet...the corrupter and the bringiner of people all in one.
 
Ben, you're getting old. It's that same old "this is the worst generation ever, look at how indecent they are". Do some comparisons, you'll find this generation is not nearly as over the top as previous ones.
really? so why dont you give us some facts to back that claim up (which shouldnt be so hard, since you obviously have done so, otherwise you wouldnt be claiming this to be true)?
 

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