Let's Pick Out the Lies- Part 1

Personally I don't like to talk to friends and family about politics or religion. The older I get the more strongly I feel about certain issues. While I try to remain open to more information, and am willing to learn and grow and change my thinking, my tolerance for certain behaviors in those around me wanes.

Anyway, the other day I got an email from an acquaintance. She hasn't emailed me in about 2 years, but I guess this was so important to her that she just had to send it to her entire email list. Instead of deleting it, I thought I'd share it with you.

Here's the email in its entirety, with my commentary thrown in after each "quote".

Subject: is quite impressive , what do you think
Remarks from CBS Sunday Morning (everyone should read!)
I can only hope we find God again before it is too late!!

(oh lordy I'm so glad I got this email! Now I can see the light of god and I'm saved from hell! Oh wait, no. It was just a seizure.)

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 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.

What the email fails to tell you is that this was written and read by Ben Stein right before xmas of 2005. It was worded a bit differently, but that's basically it. There were a few extra paragraphs at the beginning. You can read a transcript at Snopes.

Ok, Ben, I hate to tell you, it's well documented that the Constitution is decidedly NON-religious. Not to mention the FIRST AMENDMENT. And, while we're at it, no one seriously pushes around Jews or christians in this country. Unless it's one church bashing another, this country is very much pro-god. No one is pushing you around. Yet here you are, crying "poor me", lying to everyone about the foundations of America, showing your ignorance, and people are eating it up because they're ignorant too. America isn't atheist, but it was founded on RELIGIOUS FREEDOM which INCLUDES FREEDOM FROM RELIGION. Read the Constitution. And here are the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment might prove interesting if you please. You might learn something about the Separation of Church and State.

Oh, and the beauty of the First Amendment is that you CAN worship your god. See how nice that is? But it also means that I can be god-free, too. Get it? Just don't try to mix your god in with our government. That's against the Constitution that you obviously haven't read. So if you want to worship your god at home or in your church or synagogue, that's totally cool. But public schools and courthouses are part of the government, and god needs to stay out. He's not invited. Don't blame me. Talk to Thomas Jefferson and his buddies. They specifically kept god out of the government just so you could worship him as you like, privately. We are a DEMOCRACY, not a THEOCRACY. See? The letters are different and everything.

OK! Well! I kind of ranted a bit there, but I feel very strongly about the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. So, instead of doing a 5 mile long post, I'm going to cut it off here where the real Ben Stein part ends, and I'll do the rest of it tomorrow in a fresh rant, err.. post. Part Two is here.