I haven't blogged about her previously, at least not that I can recall. So, let me lay my cards on the table and say that I am not a fan. It's not that I necessarily disagree with her points, because I generally don't, but in my mind, she is a bomb-thrower, no different on the right than the Ted Ralls and his ilk are on the left. I hate it when the debate is debased from either side, and I am especially uncomfortable when we on the right descend to the level of the George Soros-led crowd on the left. There's an old cliche which goes something along the lines of "Don't wrestle with a pig in the mud. You both get dirty and only the pig likes it". That's what it's like to me when Ann Coulter lobs one of her verbal grenades.
So, now Ms. Coulter has generated yet another controversy. Here latest involves an appearance on a CNBC show where she essentially said that Christians were perfected Jews. Rather than blather away about any more, I'll let you make the call as to whether her comments are offensive or not. I am attaching links to a transcript of her comments, the actual video, and a Debbie Schlussel (who is Jewish) column on the subject:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C301216%2C00.html
http://ianschwartz.com/2007/10/11/video-ann-coulter-says-jews-need-to-be-perfected-by-becoming-christians/
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2007/10/nice_try_media.html
3 comments:
I just left this comment on Trostskyite Popinjays but I think it fits here as well:
I can’t get too exercised over this kerfuffle. It is stupid, it is manufactured. Coulter’s type of antisemitism is of the kind that existed even before the term antisemitism was invented. A believing Christian believes that Jews made a mistake in rejecting Christ, that Christians know better. Attempts to convert the Jews ended up in the creation of the Inquisition which targeted everyone, not just the newly converted. And Christians realized that doing something about actually converting the Jews is a really bad idea. The conversion of the Jews has become a sort of a goal which is beyond the horizon, which is there, theoretically, but never reachable. It’s like waiting for the Messiah or the Second Coming. No one really thinks it is going to happen, but they still believe it. AS is evident in this poem which you all must know:
“Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, lady, were no crime.
We would sit down and think which way
To walk, and pass our long love’s day;
Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side
Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood;
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.”
Coulter does not scare me. What scared me in my own experience was how fast a devout born-Again Christian who had been a good friend of mine turned into “all Hizzbala” in the summer of 2006. But the seeds were there all the time, which I chose to ignore, for the sake of our friendship. Coulter and people who think or feel like her are in no imminent danger of getting into bed with Islamofascists in order to bring about the perfection of the Jews… She does not worry me… yet.
___________
(BTW, BHG, have you seen this?
http://contentious-centrist.blogspot.com/2007/10/who-are-five-authorsthinkers-who-most.html )
It's not that I necessarily disagree with her points, because I generally don't, but in my mind, she is a bomb-thrower, no different on the right than the Ted Ralls and his ilk are on the left.
I agree with you on this point. Last year I did a post about evolution after checking out her book from the library. I skimmed a few parts and decided that was enough for me. I'll probably pass on any of her other books.
If you truly believe in Judaism then of course you are going to disagree with Christians about the nature of Jesus and possibly other tenets. I am a Christian and believe Jesus was the Savior. Based on how awful our world seems today, I do expect the Second Coming to happen during this century and possibly during my lifetime. However, I do not know with absolute certainty that my beliefs are true (though I wish I did!). There are all kinds of beliefs around the world. I think if you are a good person and realize that not everyone is going to agree then you are doing the right thing. I think God will be forgiving and understanding about such a person if they didn't have the true beliefs.
I remember when there was some controvery involving Pat Robertson saying that the anti-Christ would be Jewish. Dennis Prager defended his belief and of course Jesus was a Jew, so it makes sense that the anti-Jesus might be also.
I really don't see anything offensive in the exchange between Coulter and Deutsch, and I have heard this kind of comment by observant Christians before. It has nothing to do with hatred for Jews; in fact, it is a common thread of thought among all people of strong religious persuasion. They believe that they have found an answer, through faith, to one of the great questions of life, and they would like others to agree with them. I am sure there are atheists who want everyone to become atheists; their desire for this does not offend me-- but when someone whips out a scimitar and starts chasing after me shreiking "Alluha Akhbar!! Die, Infidel!!", then I get offended.
Our culture is so conditioned, at this time in history, to take offense if a Christian or Catholic articulates a strong position on their faith-- the immediate assumption is that they are bigoted, intolerant and hateful of other faiths. It is AMAZING that no such assumption is ever, ever made about the "Religion of Peace" when one of its imams makes a statement about Jews (or any infidel, for that matter) which is far, far worse. No one blinks an eye when a leader of CAIR states that he wants sharia to be the law of the United States (with its mandated subjugation of women and non-muslims, and the killing of homosexuals), or if Ahmedinejad calls for the eradication of Israel. In fact, to even call attention to the treatment of women, the persecution of religious minorities and the encouragement of terror & mass murder in muslim majority countries is to invite arrest by the leftist thought police for "hate speech." Then again, any time a Christian or a conservative opens their mouth, the left considers it "hate speech." Incredible-- when we get real hate speech from muslims (a daily and routine occurrence) we're guilty of hate speech by noticing that it is hate speech. Watching the left pimp for islam and enable its terror impulses is truly sickening....
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