一段文章 An excerpt

一篇冒名的文章，卻有著許多人尋找的答案。

今天收到了一封轉寄的郵件，内容稱是由Ben Stein所寫，但後來被發現其中只有小部份是引用他本人的文章，其它都是由別人修改加入的。可笑的是，與他本人發表的原文比起來，以下移花接木的這一段，由於一針見血地指出了我們今天的問題，卻是我認為最精彩的部份。冒名實在不是一件值得鼓勵的事，但我還是把它摘錄翻譯於下，供大家參考。

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我不知道「美國是一個無神論國家」這個觀念是哪裏來的，我在憲法裏找不到，也不喜歡被強迫吞下這樣的想法。也許我該換句話來説:「我們可以明星偶像崇拜卻不能因為我們認識神而敬拜祂，這個概念從何而來？」我猜這也是我開始老化的象徵吧。但是我們當中有許多人不由得要想，這些明星都是哪裏來的，而我們過去認識的美國又到哪裏去了？

在我們彼此互傳博君一燦的許多笑話中，這一個笑話有些許的不同：這原本並不是一個笑話；它並不好笑，它是為了要讓你思考。

葛理翰的女兒，安（Anne Graham），在Early Show專訪時被Jane Clayson問到:「神為何要讓這件事情（卡崔娜颶風）發生？」時，她給了一個極度深刻而且充滿洞察力的回答。她説:「我相信神和我們同樣為這件事情深深的感到悲哀。但是我們過去長時期地要求神退出我們的校園，離開我們的政府，甚至遠離我們的生命。正如一個很有風度的紳士一樣，我相信祂已經默默地退開了。在我們要求神離我們遠遠的同時，我們又如何能夠期望祂給我們祝福和保護呢？」

根據最近發生的一些事件，恐怖攻擊，學校槍殺案，等等，我想它始自Madeleine Murray O'Hare（此人後來被謀殺，她的屍體在幾年前被發現）抱怨她不要禱告出現在校園裏，我們同意了。然後有人接著説，你最好不要在學校裏讀聖經，聖經上説你不可殺人，不可偷竊，要愛人如己。而我們也同意了。

後來，Benjamin Spock博士説，當我們的小孩做錯事時我們不可以用杖管教他們，因為他們的人格會被扭曲，而且我們可能會傷害他們的自尊。我們想專家們應該知道他們在説些什麼，所以我們也同意了。

現在我們自問為什麼我們的孩子缺乏良知，為什麼他們無法分辨是非，為什麼他們可以輕易地謀殺陌生人、他們的同學、和他們自己？也許，如果我們花點時間用心的思考，我們會明白為什麼。 我想這跟「我們種什麼，就收什麼」大有關聯。

荒謬的是人們可以棄神如敝屣卻為這個世界一步步走向地獄感到驚訝；可笑的是我們相信報紙上的報導，卻對聖經的話存疑；滑稽的是我們可以如野火蔓延般地傳送笑話，但當我們開始寄送有關神的電子郵件時，大家開始三思而行；怪異的是網路上淫穢、殘忍、庸俗、猥亵的文章到處盛行，然而和神有關的公開討論卻在學校和工作場合被壓制。好笑的是，與神如何看自己比起來，我們更擔心人們對自己的觀點。

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 celebrities 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 these celebrities 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 a few years ago) 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. Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.