This
excerpt was taken from a commentary delivered by Ben Stein
about the
observance of Christmas, in an interview with Charles
Osgood on CBS Sunday Morning, December 18, 2005.
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.
