The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary in 2005. I found it on the Epilepsy Foundation website today.

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 neighbour 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 in.

My Best Regards . honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

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Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his
benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and
compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your
youth is renewed like the eagle’s.