Ann Coulter’s Message to Jews: Practice Makes Perfect
PJM Roundup: Appearing on Donny Deutsch's CNBC show, "The Big Idea," on Monday night, columnist/author Ann Coulter suggested that the U.S. would be a better place if there weren't any Jewish people and that they needed to "perfect" themselves into -- Christians. (Editor & Publisher) Bloggers found Ann's comments to be the "perfect" subject for commentary.
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Sigmund, Carl and Alfred: “The line to bash Coulter is now longer than the line of those who camped out to see the opening day screening of last Star Wars release. It is also evident that many of the same people who camped out for days in costume are the same people who are now bashing Coulter for her beliefs.”
Daily Kos: “The absurd part about all of this is not that a serial scenery-chewer like Coulter would say shocking things. The absurd part is that, in spite of all the things Coulter says all the time, she still gets invited by major news outlets to make those comments. Every. Damn. Time.”
Atrios: “If Ann Coulter has her way, one day Jews will all be perfect Christians like her.”
Matthew Yglesias: “For America to work as an enterprise you need people with deeply held but mutually inconsistent religious beliefs to all work and live together peacefully. Rubbing everyone’s noses in the precise implications of other people’s beliefs (Christians think Jews shouldn’t exist, Jews think Christians are worshipping a false messiah, Protestants think Catholics worship idols, etc.) isn’t really helpful. ”
Dolphin’s Dock: “The GOP is falling apart because the people who think this have gained too much power and are pushing sensible people away.”
Mind of Mog: “Ann does it to get a rise out of people. Cheap advertising for her book I imagine.”
The Plank: “Her whole life is like a kind of Freakonomics experiment in bigotry.”
Snarksmith: “She is rather like a Cabaret act gone awry.”
Thoughts by Seawitch:: “Everything she has said about Jews and how they need to become ‘perfected’ as Christians is offensive no matter how she tries to spin out of it in the end.”
Something… and Half of Something: “I am not going to toe the party line here. She was not just talking “shock” to sell her books or get attention and she was not misquoted or misunderstood. Ann said what she meant and she meant what she said.”
Andrew Sullivan: “She really does sum up what has happened to American conservatism, doesn’t she?”
John Podhoretz: “Speaking for all Jews, I would be delighted to be perfected, and I’m intrigued by the suggestion that it might be possible.”
Roger L. Simon: “It’s hard to know if Coulter believes what she’s saying, because the out-of-control narcissism of this woman rivals, maybe even out-strips, the egomaniacs on the Hollywood Left.”
Hot Air: “She’s not talking about forcible conversion; she’s saying Christians believe the Judeo-Christian tradition is The Way and those who don’t follow the path all the way to the end aren’t quite where they need to be.”
Little Green Footballs: “From my reading, Coulter was simply stating standard Christian doctrine-with a little extra edginess to get Deustch wound up. Looks like it worked, and now she’ll sell some more books as a result.”
Mere Rhetoric: “[This scandal] combines the best elements of liberal sophistication: the banality of multiculturalist tolerance, the humorlessness of scolding identity politics, and the blubbering of righteous indignation.”
The Anchoress: “If you read that transcript to the end, you can see where Coulter tries to clarify her meaning, but she can’t, partly because a sound-bite forum is NO PLACE for that sort of deep and too-easily-misunderstood discussion, and partly because her host is, from his perspective as a Jew, unsurprisingly appalled by what he is hearing, by what he thinks Coulter is saying.”
Robert J. Elisberg @ The Huffington Post: “Sometimes, in that sad effort to get attention, people reach a level that’s actually worth mentioning - not because it shows them in a bad light, but because it puts their supporters and defenders in a bad light.
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37 Comments
RE:Sounds like hypersensitivity looking for an excuse to me.
Of course a Christian will believe that Christianity is closer to the truth than another religion and that in being closer to the ‘truth’ one is closer to perfection.
I expect that to be implicitly true of any religion’s devout followers.
Oct 11, 2007 - 1:30 pm Linda Frank:Coulter is a net loser for he Republicans just like Moore is a not loser for the Democrats. They are both in it for themselves. Be outrageous, sell books, sell movies, the hell with everybody else.
Oct 11, 2007 - 1:47 pm mcnultylaw:It seems to me that Coulter only restated the traditional Christian position: everyone comes to God only through Christ. So, as the little brothers of the Jews (wild vines grafted onto the Jewish olive tree roots), we naturally hope for the eventual conversion of the Jews. No one is proposing forced conversion, but it is silly to pretend that we are indifferent to the fate of the Jews or anyone. Colter was obviously kidding and even offered to take Deutch to church. She also said that Deutch ought to be an observant Jew, when he said he was not. Her point, which she said, was that evangelical churches are tolerant, welcoming places, and would welcome him. Why is that offensive? I smell a whiff of political correctness here — the idea that we have the have respect even for religions with which we disagree. For example, that Columbus should not have Christianized Caribbean Indian tribes because they had a right to be pagans — it was part of their culture, after all.
Oct 11, 2007 - 2:05 pm Anthony (Los Angeles):With allies like Coulter, we Republicans don’t need any enemies.
Oct 11, 2007 - 2:26 pm Jim:The Internet and Mainstream Media are abuzz in their latest attack on Ann Coulter. This time, they’re claiming she’s an anti-Semite.
It all stems from an interview she did with CNBC’s horrid talk show host Donny Deutch. Apparently one of the two viewers watching this incredibly
Oct 11, 2007 - 2:48 pm Dark Helmet:boring show was a Media Matters monkey trained to tape Ann’s every word and
think of ways to twist it.
http://tinyurl.com/2px976
Ann is right, it would be a better world if everyone practiced the true meaning of Christianity…. just be nice to each other.
Oct 11, 2007 - 3:14 pm ThirstyJon:I read the article. Ann is not saying anything anti-Jew here. She is not making a racial statement at all. She is making a theological one.
I am no fan of Ann Coulter. I don’t track her at all, actually.
But she has merely stated in an un-apologetic way some pretty standard Christian Doctrine.
The first Christian’s were almost all Jews! She is referring to moving from “Judaism” into what Christians believe is the completion of God’s ancient plan for Israel, salvation by faith in Jesus and the inclusion of the gentiles.
I personally wish she was more careful to avoid offending someone with something they don’t understand, but there is nothing racist here.
ThirstyJon
Oct 11, 2007 - 3:16 pm Noga:freedomthirst.com
I’m not terribly impressed by Media pundits naming Coulter antisemitic. They do so because it helps undermine conservative ethos, not because they care that she may actually be an antisemite. The very same people will go out of their way to exonerate Mearsheimer&Walt or Jimmy Carter of being even slightly tainted by the virus,even though their positions are potentially much more harmful to Jewish well being than Coulter’s more straightforward antisemitic dogma. She is a safe lion, being so visible and voluble. The real danger of modern antisemitism is in the hungry lions which you don’t see because they are crouching, concealed in the tall grass of the language of human rights and universal justice.
Oct 11, 2007 - 3:20 pm Coreyk:I did not view this exchange, but it is important to note that most, if not all, sects of Judaism strongly frown on prosthelitization. We simply don’t do it, for fairly strong doctrinal reasons. So for Ann to do that wouldn’t have sat well with nearly any Jewish person.
Corey K
Oct 11, 2007 - 3:45 pm BMoon:Coulter saying what millions of Christians have said for…ohh..about 20 centuries, is not Anti-Semitic, not outrageous, not controversial, not inflammatory, heck, it’s not even news.
What a bunch of hot air blowing dry leaves about.
Oct 11, 2007 - 3:57 pm AJ:This was dumb, but she does a lot of this for effect. And Ann is only the face of the conservative movement in the eyes of lefties who think Rush, Ann and Hannity define modern conservatism. Ann is not a politician nor a brilliant blogger or historian like Sowell, VDH, Pipes, Steyn or even David Horowitz. I don’t even think she totally knows what she’s saying here. She’s surely proven herself, like many, to be a better writer than speaker.
Further, look at this:
COULTER: Well, you could be a practicing Jew, but you’re not.
Though she may have been wrong here, usually she’d be correct with a Hollywood “Jew.” They don’t understand much about religion, though perhaps Deutsch does, but I’m not sure.
As a religious Jew, I think “Hot Air” makes sense with her take on the matter.
As for Sullivan’s ridiculous “She really does sum up what has happened to American conservatism, doesn’t she?” I don’t know what to say. He sounds a lot like a liberal to me, and it makes no sense. See opening paragraph of my comment.
Either way, this will anger so-called “Jews” (ADL, Democrats, Reform Rabbis, etc) FAR MORE than Islamo-fascists actually KILLING Jews which is still a FAR bigger issue, don’t you think?
Oct 11, 2007 - 4:33 pm Andy Rigrod:Linda Frank above makes sense to me. Coulter is about self-promotion. Say something outrageous - about Edwards being gay, about Jews not being “perfected” (whatever that means),anything to call attention to herself. The great American middle - that decides elections - is repelled. Her books go up and her side loses. What a selfish person.
Oct 11, 2007 - 5:23 pm John Moore:Jews certainly have a right to be sensitive, but this is way over the line. How is this different from what I read in Commentary (a Jewish conservative pub) where the special place of Jews in the world (God’s chosen people) is talked about? Isn’t this characteristic of any major religion?
Come on… this reminds me of the over-sensitivities so common among the politically correct and multicultural.
Beyond that, why, Roger, would a serious person like you pay attention to what Ann Coulter has to say. You know her shtick is saying controversial things.
Oct 11, 2007 - 6:43 pm P. Ami:As a Jew practices some of the practices presented to us at Mount Sinai. I am not offended by Coulter’s comments. I understand that she thinks her Bible to be valid and G-d’s Laws impossible. We Jews disagree. Since Coulter, unlike the cursed leaders of Iran, al-Qaeda, and the like does not intend to force me to her church or offer me special taxes or other penalties for disagreeing with her views, since she does not intend to me murder me for disagreeing with her, I am not bothered by her antics.
I find Deutsch’s desire to confine Coulteer’s ideas to the ignorant, and comparing her comments to the actual plans made by various Islamo-Facists to be insensible and cantish. I stand with the Jewish way. While what is in your heart is important, this is between an individual and G-d. In this world, what is important are actions. Coulter thinks, writes and speaks. The real anti-Semites plan, build and detonate.
Oct 11, 2007 - 8:19 pm Tom Grey:The reactions of the Leftists above are indicative of their unthinking support for totalitarian control, perhaps even Roger Simon. For Leftist nanny-statists, to express that “one way of life” is better than “another way of life” means, automatically, support for gov’t forced conformity to the better way - for your own good.
When somebody says “smoking is bad”, the Leftists hear, in their inner voice, “it should be illegal”. When any believer speaks the truth about EVERY BELIEVER’s belief: “my belief is better than your different belief”, the Leftist hears, even if unspoken … “so the gov’t should force everybody to my better belief.”
Look at global warming or deep greens or racism or sexism — the Left is happy to use gov’t force to punish those who speak politically INcorrect.
Yglesias is close, and says how tough it is to allow individuals to have important disagreements on belief. Then he goes wrong: “Rubbing everyone’s noses in the precise implications of other people’s beliefs … isn’t really helpful”.
When you read the transcript you find out that it was not Ann, but rather Donny Deutsch who came back again and again, emphasizing and attacking the standard Christian position as if it was terrible.
At heart, the Leftists do not want to allow any believers to speak about their beliefs (except atheists, and Bush-haters). The incredulous offense is combined with the unwillingness to allow Ann to explain.
It is the Left that wants to ‘rub their noses in it’, in a sound bite, anti-Christian, anti-believer way.
Donny’s initial condemnation led him to censor Ann, and not allow any explanation. Kudos to Donny for backing down and allowing Ann to explain, but of course he claimed she was backing down when she didn’t at all.
Ann should have noted more strongly that a) she believes in freedom of religion, so that anybody can disagree, peacefully. while yet affirming b) she wants all Jews, and atheists, to become Christian because this would lead to a better world.
What Ann said: “we just want Jews to be perfected, as they say.”
Danny’s misquote: “your exact words were, “Jews need to be perfected.” Those are the words out of your mouth.”
To the Left, there is no difference between what we want for another person, and what NEEDs to be done, to be forced to happen.
Her friendly offer to take Donny to church, for a peaceful persuasion attempt, is unlikely to be met by any Muslims offering to take a Jew into Mecca for peaceful persuasion.
Oct 12, 2007 - 6:54 am The Sanity Inspector:I’ve long since stopped looking to Ann Coulter for anything other than smashingly witty zingers. A theological argument? From Coulter? She’s no Richard John Neuhaus, that’s for sure.
Probably her worst fault is the public speaker’s primary sin of tone-deafness. Of not knowing her audience. Seems like much of the time that she gets into trouble, it’s when she drops a blogosphere in-joke onto an unsuspecting “meatspace” audience, like that John Edwards crack earlier this year.
Oct 12, 2007 - 9:19 am Greg Allen:With a liberal media looking for red meat, Ann Coulter is the butcher that delivers…
Oct 12, 2007 - 9:42 am Emmanuel Betasso:Ann is obviously not a theologian (devoid of any pastoral application & tact) nor pretends to be a Christian authority but she’ll be crucified as if she were!
Ann, that clever mind is a gift, but for heaven’s sake, stick to political commentary.
Oct 12, 2007 - 9:55 am Michael B. Babbitt:Christianity has always seen itself as the fulfillment of God’s Plan, whose beginning was the Jewish Covenant. The reason they have any sympathy for the Jews is that their religious tradition grew out of Judaism. So Coulter’s remarks were not the offensive screed her detractors believe them to be. I grew up Jewish but do not practice any religion right now but I do have a Masters in Comparative Religion and Coulter, speaking as a Christian would be at odds with her faith if she had said otherwise. However, she probably could have said this more elegantly in a more academic forum. But people who don’t like her and know nothing about the Christian tradition will jump to silly conclusions. And they are.
Oct 12, 2007 - 1:33 pm DemocracyRules:HOLEY TAMOLIE what a lot of Sturm und Drang over nothing. Coulter is aggressively teasing Deutsch because she senses that he is taking an anti-Christian position that ‘the more devout the Christian, the less tolerant they are’. This an old Socialist saw, promulgated by Marx.
_______________
COULTER: But yeah, I think that’s reflective of what’s going on in the culture, but it is completely striking that at these huge megachurches - the idea that, you know, the more Christian you are, the less tolerant you would be is preposterous.
[My comment: THE idea that devout Christians are intolerant is not supported by research evidence, but Socialists love that idea. Coulter opts to TEASE HIM into submission. Deutsch is Jewish, so she does the unthinkable, she teases him about it. She plays him like an expert fisherman/woman]
DEUTSCH: That isn’t what I said, but you said I should not - we should just throw Judaism away and we should all be Christians, then, or -
[My comment: Deutsch took the bait!]
COULTER: Yeah.
DEUTSCH: Really?
COULTER: Well, it’s a lot easier. It’s kind of a fast track.
[My comment: Fishermen/women call this ’setting the hook’. You give the line a quick tug, to make sure the hook digs in, and won’t fall out.]
DEUTSCH: Really?
COULTER: Yeah. You have to obey.
DEUTSCH: You can’t possibly believe that.
[My comment: Now she’s got him hook, line, and sinker!]
COULTER: Yes.
DEUTSCH: You can’t possibly - you’re too educated, you can’t - you’re like my friend in -
COULTER: Do you know what Christianity is? We believe your religion, but you have to obey.
[My comment: She’s ‘playing him in’. Sport fishermen/women have weak fish line to prevent overfishing, so you have to play to the fishes’ weaknesses to get them into the boat. Deutches’ weakness is his socialistic refusal to consider the nuances of religious differences, the smug belief in owning the moral high-ground, and knee-jerk self-righteousness.]
DEUTSCH: No, no, no, but I mean -
[My comment: He backs away, trying to lose the hook.]
COULTER: We have the fast-track program.
[My comment: She jerks the hook back in tight, and starts to reel him in.]
DEUTSCH: Why don’t I put you with the head of Iran? I mean, come on. You can’t believe that.
[My comment: He thrashes with righteous indignation, she keeps reeling]
COULTER: The head of Iran is not a Christian.
DEUTSCH: No, but in fact, “Let’s wipe Israel” -
[My comment: He lunges forward, trying to loosen the line to gain advantage.]
COULTER: I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention.
[My comment: She reels in like crazy to pick up the slack.]
DEUTSCH: “Let’s wipe Israel off the earth.” I mean, what, no Jews?
[My comment: Delirious, he struggles beside the boat.]
COULTER: No, we think - we just want Jews to be perfected, as they say.
[My comment: Boom, he’s in the boat. He has nothing to fight back with. The statement, “we just want religion X to be perfected” could be used, and is used by every religious group about every other religious group. It is the cornerstone of Ecumenicism, which believes that the other religions aren’t perfect, but they do have at least some good ideas, so let’s talk to them.]
_________________________
SO THAT’S IT, ANN’S fishing expedition, teasing Deutsch half to death, leaving him exhausted and flopping around in the boat, complaining that he was ‘played unfairly’.
In my view, Deutsch should not cast aspersions on Christian ‘intolerance’ unless he is willing to endure criticisms of his own socialistic beliefs. Given how exposed he was to a broadside from Ann, he was lucky. She just teased the heck out of him, and threw him back in the water.
Oct 12, 2007 - 2:49 pm Sandra:Oh please!
Ann Coulter and Bill Buckley are two brilliant and witty writers whose IQ drops like a stone when it comes to religion which is based on faith.
I ignore their religiosity as I ignore Christopher Hitchen’s anti-religious diatribes.
I remember a Jewish Hollywoodian during the PASSION brouhaha stating that the New Testament was anti-semitic. All this nonsense is why I am spiritual but not religious.
In a brilliant essay, Rabbi Daniel Lapin (the only cleric I like) rightly chastised his fellow jews for hypersensitivity to dumb things said about them and their total insensitivity to Christian sensitivities (the dung Madonna, the Piss Christ and the Weinstein anti-Christian films.
Oct 12, 2007 - 4:18 pm Franni:As a liberal lefty all I can say is THANK GOD for Ann Coulter. She has done more for us than anyone on our side every has. I have a $5 wager that she actually IS liberal and says all these things to make the right look back. She will reveal her true self on her last days.
Don’t get too up in arms about it, right wing nutballs. I am pretty sure San Francisco Sup. CHris Daly is on your payroll.
Oct 12, 2007 - 7:05 pm michaelJ:I luv Ann Coulter…
She represents precisely why there is a growing mens’ Marriage Strike in America.
Why would any intelligent man want to have to listen to this silly misandrist shrew blather on and on about her vapid opinions?
Shut up! Shut up! Shut the f&%k up!
Girl. Get over yourself.
Oct 12, 2007 - 8:44 pm TomK:Who cares…
Oct 12, 2007 - 8:52 pm peterj:alot more important items out there to worry about instead of what this twit speaks…
water is going away, the world is polluted up to your neck, our leaders are taking every liberty away that they can get their hands on, etc.etc…
I cannot believe she would say anything that is anti-jewish. Does she not know that it against the law.
Oct 12, 2007 - 11:00 pm talkstocoyotes:Both the GOP and organized Christianity are welcome to Ann Coulter. They richly deserve her.
Oct 13, 2007 - 12:32 pm judy key:If one is truly a Christian then it is our hope and duty to teach the Jews that the Messiah is Jesus Christ and hope they will be “perfected” unto salvation. Good for you Ann.
Oct 13, 2007 - 12:45 pm Pixelkiller:I saw the interview live. Deutsch kept baiting her, (and looking at her legs). Her comment regarding Jews becoming “perfect” by becoming Catholic was not meant to hurt or insult, but to clarify a common religious belief. Deutsch was just looking to diminish her and her political beliefs. Her comment was for him an excuse to be “hurt” or “insulted”. He positively began to salavate….Clanked with indignation. My thought then was, and still is, “Way to go Ann!”
Oct 13, 2007 - 6:50 pm Sir Paul:BTW, It is nice to see legs that go up that far, doncha think?
Ladies and Gentlemen:
With the greatest of respect to you all, if you don’t mind, I’d like to chime-in here. What is wrong with you folks? Just the other night I was watching one of the most successful films of all time: “Independence Day.”
In one particular scene when it appears humankind is doomed to extinction everyone huddles around, sits down, join hands, and begins to pray…Suddenly Albert Nimzicki, the Secretary of Defense, states, “Wait! I’m not Jewish…” Julius Levinson (played by Judd Hirsch, ahem…Jewish) replies: “Well nobody’s perfect!”
My take is very similar to DemocracyRules’ position insofar as Ms. Coulter is having her intellectual way with Mr. Deutsch; however, some people just can’t tell the jokes from the forest. Moreover, upon reading the transcript, it is really obvious that Deutsch is pushing; probing, just hoping he can pull the guilt trip on Ms. Coulter. People, ease up!
One more issue: The folks up at the top from the various blogs are so mainstream media in their comments it is borderline disgusting.
Oct 13, 2007 - 8:34 pm Jeefu:whadja expect? Coulter is an idiot.
Oct 13, 2007 - 10:54 pm ed:What’s the craziness about? The reason we have three distinct Western religions in Judaism, Christianity and Islam is that they are not complementary. She was simply repeating classical Christian dogma, as awkward, archane and difficult to swallow as they are to many. How charming that the usual nitwits at the Puffington Host and the Daily Kos took a day off from their usual anti-semitism to opine. Whatever Coulter’s motivations are, whether narcissism, publicity-seeking or just the sport of being in everyone’s face, she said nothing that is not steeped in Christian tradition.
Oct 14, 2007 - 6:39 pm Jack Hilift:Whats all the fuss? Christians like other religions are obligated to promote their religion. They believe you cant get to heaven without believing in Jesus Christ. Obviously, Jews don’t believe in Jesus. Why is it offensive for her to make what is in her opinion an honest statement?
Oct 14, 2007 - 6:43 pm jslenker:Seems Donny pulled a version of the “Race Card” on her.
“I am the perfect Lamb who comes to take away the sins of the world.”
In the Old Testament, animals were sacrificed as “scapegoats”, bearing the guilt of those sacrificing to God. Jesus claimed to be the ultimate scapegoat, satisfying God’s Justice once and for all for those who would believe in Him. That’s what Coulter meant about Christians being “perfected”, as badly as she stated it. The perfecting is actually God forgiving all of our sins because the Messiah, Jesus, paid the price for them. It’s not because we are somehow perfect people, looking down at others. Unfortunately, Ann’s manner does not allow for a thoughtful discussion of this. Too bad.
Oct 14, 2007 - 8:50 pm Rick Cooley:I have listened to what Ann actually said. She was not anti-Jew. But, Christian believe that God has set the Jews aside for a time. And, they believe that the Jews are God’s chosen people, but as a nation they are currently blinded to the truth. As a Christian, I can’t but hope that not only the Jews, but everyone come to the savings grace of Jesus the Christ.
Oct 15, 2007 - 1:55 pm LarryFarma:At least Ann Coulter believes that Jews can be saved. That is much better than the Nazis, who believed that once a Jew, always a Jew.
Oct 16, 2007 - 2:40 am Edwin Rowe:What Ann said is what a Christian might say to a Jew when she is being honest and direct, and somewhat playful and mischievous, which the transcript appears to show. I’m Jewish and was not offended. I like people to express their beliefs to me directly. It’s much healthier than all this walking-on-eggs fakery we’re always subjected to. Real exchanges between people should be robust, but always with goodwill.
Oct 17, 2007 - 2:40 am carlos:The only thing any of this proves is that Ann Coulter is the only white christian person left in the United States that still has her freedom of speech in tact.
Oct 17, 2007 - 9:56 pm