Hello to my echurch family.  This is one forward I hope you will read.  
Virgie and Hoshi 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "linda paul" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "Tse Chat" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, January 14, 2007 8:53 AM
Subject: [TSE-Chat] Something NOT to laugh about


> Hi,
> I thought this was excellent.  I wanted to share.  A friend sent 
> it to me.
> Linda and Lilly
> 
> ---- Original Message ------
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Something NOT to laugh about
> Date: Sun, 14 Jan 2007 07:27:16 -0500
> 
> Something not to laugh about
> 
> 
> The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS 
> Sunday Morning Commentary:
>      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 cyberspace, 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.
>