Another way of looking at things

Grown men aren’t supposed to cry. We have all heard and seen that statement. It is not true. We all cry sometimes.

Events in Connecticut made me cry more than once this week. I may cry again if the aftermath is as predicted — anti-gun folks will want more gun control, and pro-gun folks will oppose them. The feds will appoint a blue-ribbon panel to make proposals. In the end there will probably be little change.

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS. Maybe it suggests a new path that might accomplish something.

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“I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. 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 or 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 like it.

“It shows we are all brothers and sisters. It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger scene near my house, or a menorah a few hundred yards away.

“I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians like being 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 atheist country. I can’t find it in the Constitution, and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat.

“In light of recent events — terrorist attacks, school shootings, etc. — somebody complained she didn’t want prayers 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. 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. 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, it’s because ‘we reap what we sow.’

“Funny how we believe what the newspapers say but question what the Bible says.

“Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely on the Internet but public discussion of God is suppressed in the schools.

“Funny how we worship celebrities but are not allowed to worship God as we understand him.”

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I don’t agree with it all, but I do agree with most of it. Maybe it’s a new say to look at what’s wrong in America. What do you think? Back to the North Fork next week.