sorry this is so long, i was a little upset and sent out an email to people i don't know
I have recently received an email which all of you have also received regarding Ben Stein and God in our schools. For those of you who have not received this message, Here is a a link to the original email sent out: http://forum2.breakthechain.org/viewtopic.php?p=4312&. This response is by no means to offend anyone, just some thoughts on the topic that I felt I needed to share.
Only the first few paragraphs, ending with "But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to" can be even marginally attributed to Ben Stein. That portion of this chain is an error-filled transcript of a commentary Mr. Stein made on the CBS Sunday Morning news program on December 18, 2005. The good folks at Snopes.com offer the full CBS transcript for comparison:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/benstein2.asp
The middle bit about Anne Graham dates back to early 2003 and is even more erroneous than the Stein quote.
http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/annegraham.html
Finally, the "Funny how" epilogue was written by an anonymous author and has been attached to many Christian-themed chain letters to encourage their spread - often blending with the other content in such a way to create false attributions. Here are just two other examples of chains with the "Funny how" harassment tacked on:
http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/atheistgirl.html
http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/shaya.html
If this article is still something you believe in, let's examine this for just one minute. As far as God being on our schools, don't worry, he's already there. I have never once been allowed to say "the pledge of alliegence" without mentioning HIM. Talking about God being in our schools and the Bible are two different things. "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." First of all, is the parenthesis supposed to infer that she was murdered because of what she said about prayer in schools and god punished her? If there is any connection between what she said and her being murdered, it is probably by the hand of an extremist who disagreed with her, not thst she was struck down by God himself.
Bringing the Bible into schools will not solve the issue of "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." That has to do with parenting. I never learned any of these values in school and I doubt that you did either. These ideals came from our parents and other people we looked up to, which may include teachers, but it wasn't from reading the bible. Do not kill, do not steal, do not rape. these are ideals that every person can embrace, no matter what form of god they believe in or if they don't believe at all.
"Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell." I believe this to be an ignorant, arrogant comment. Hurricane Katrina probably happened because of what we are doing to the ozone layer, not what God is doing. The terrorist attacks were not God's way of punishing us, they were other countries retailiating for our actions. No, I do not believe we deserved what happened on 9/11, but I definitly don't think it was God's doing for us taking the bible out of schools. We are the ones destroying our world and we need to stop thinking that God is punishing us and start trying to fix things ourselves.
"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." Let's examine this is seperate parts because there's already too much to say about these sentences seperately. I have never heard anyone say that America is an atheist country, and I believe that it is far from it. Our churches are being closed down, and that's a very sad fact. The new generations has a totally renewed sense of spirituality, yet things very often don't fit into the strict regulations of the church ideals. I have spoken with so many people who have felt that they can no longer attend the churches they grew up in. Personally, my church was formed 200 years ago. I feel so lucky to be a part of something like that. Yet 200 years ago, things were different. We are still a God believing country, yet we are believing in our own ways. Traditions and beliefs are great, but they need to updated to keep with new generations if you want to keep those generations church-going.
If you're really upset about things being shoved down your throat, maybe you should question your government who will send your child to die for oil companies instead of the schools which are trying to teach your children. There are things being shoved down your throat everyday, and those are the people who are also pushing for Bibles in schools.
So, if you forwarded that email to people on your address list, feel free to mail this one as well. It should not offend any more than the original one did. To quote the email one more time, "funny how you send 'jokes' through email and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing...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 what bad shape the world is in."
I think that puts it perfectly.
Katherine
Only the first few paragraphs, ending with "But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to" can be even marginally attributed to Ben Stein. That portion of this chain is an error-filled transcript of a commentary Mr. Stein made on the CBS Sunday Morning news program on December 18, 2005. The good folks at Snopes.com offer the full CBS transcript for comparison:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/benstein2.asp
The middle bit about Anne Graham dates back to early 2003 and is even more erroneous than the Stein quote.
http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/annegraham.html
Finally, the "Funny how" epilogue was written by an anonymous author and has been attached to many Christian-themed chain letters to encourage their spread - often blending with the other content in such a way to create false attributions. Here are just two other examples of chains with the "Funny how" harassment tacked on:
http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/atheistgirl.html
http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/shaya.html
If this article is still something you believe in, let's examine this for just one minute. As far as God being on our schools, don't worry, he's already there. I have never once been allowed to say "the pledge of alliegence" without mentioning HIM. Talking about God being in our schools and the Bible are two different things. "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." First of all, is the parenthesis supposed to infer that she was murdered because of what she said about prayer in schools and god punished her? If there is any connection between what she said and her being murdered, it is probably by the hand of an extremist who disagreed with her, not thst she was struck down by God himself.
Bringing the Bible into schools will not solve the issue of "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." That has to do with parenting. I never learned any of these values in school and I doubt that you did either. These ideals came from our parents and other people we looked up to, which may include teachers, but it wasn't from reading the bible. Do not kill, do not steal, do not rape. these are ideals that every person can embrace, no matter what form of god they believe in or if they don't believe at all.
"Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell." I believe this to be an ignorant, arrogant comment. Hurricane Katrina probably happened because of what we are doing to the ozone layer, not what God is doing. The terrorist attacks were not God's way of punishing us, they were other countries retailiating for our actions. No, I do not believe we deserved what happened on 9/11, but I definitly don't think it was God's doing for us taking the bible out of schools. We are the ones destroying our world and we need to stop thinking that God is punishing us and start trying to fix things ourselves.
"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." Let's examine this is seperate parts because there's already too much to say about these sentences seperately. I have never heard anyone say that America is an atheist country, and I believe that it is far from it. Our churches are being closed down, and that's a very sad fact. The new generations has a totally renewed sense of spirituality, yet things very often don't fit into the strict regulations of the church ideals. I have spoken with so many people who have felt that they can no longer attend the churches they grew up in. Personally, my church was formed 200 years ago. I feel so lucky to be a part of something like that. Yet 200 years ago, things were different. We are still a God believing country, yet we are believing in our own ways. Traditions and beliefs are great, but they need to updated to keep with new generations if you want to keep those generations church-going.
If you're really upset about things being shoved down your throat, maybe you should question your government who will send your child to die for oil companies instead of the schools which are trying to teach your children. There are things being shoved down your throat everyday, and those are the people who are also pushing for Bibles in schools.
So, if you forwarded that email to people on your address list, feel free to mail this one as well. It should not offend any more than the original one did. To quote the email one more time, "funny how you send 'jokes' through email and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing...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 what bad shape the world is in."
I think that puts it perfectly.
Katherine