On Coulter, Christians, And Jews

American Thinker ^ | October 13, 2007 | Steven M. Warshawsky

[neverdem]

On Donny Deutch's television talk show earlier this week, Ann Coulter honestly answered "yes" when asked by Deutch if she believes that this country "would be better if we were all Christian."  She further stated that Christians "just want Jews to be perfected," i.e., to accept Jesus Christ as their lord and savior.  (The full transcript is here .)

Let the outrage begin!

Deutch, a liberal Jew, accused Coulter of making "hateful" and "anti-Semitic" remarks.

Michael Savage, host of one of the most popular conservative talk radio shows, and also a Jew, likewise accused Coulter of anti-Semitism, and called her a "deranged hag" for good measure.

I must say that Savage's comments surprised me, because he has been one of the strongest voices in recent years against the cult of "political correctness."  And what is Coulter's crime in this case?  Not that she is an anti-Semite.  This is absurd.  I seriously doubt that either Savage or Deutch truly believes that Coulter "hates" Jews.  Rather, Coulter's crime is that she violated one of PC's most sacred taboos:  Expressing belief in the correctness of one's religion.  The only thing worse than this in PC land is asserting the superiority of one's race. 

Well, at least when it comes to white Christians.  For the rules of PC do not apply equally to all.  They do not apply to Jews or blacks or women (except to the extent these groups express "conservative" points of view).  The strictures and penalties of PC only apply to the majority of the American people, as well as to the Founding Fathers who established this great country, and to the many generations of overwhelmingly white Christian Americans who built this nation into the freest, richest, and most powerful country on earth, and defended our country through several bloody wars against its enemies, foreign and domestic. 

The ideology of PC is anti-American to its core.  Its fundamental purpose is not to ensure that "minority" Americans share more fully in the American Dream.  Its goal is to tear apart this nation -- its people, its culture, its history -- root and branch, and replace it with a miasma of atheism, socialism, and multiculturalism.  To see Michael Savage acting the part of PC police is stunning.     

Moreover, for Jews of any political persuasion to take offense at Coulter's comments strikes me as deeply ignorant and immature.  Do Jews truly expect Christians to pretend that they do not believe in the teachings of their religion?  Why?  Because so many Jews have discarded the teachings of their own religion?  (I myself am a secular Jew.)  The "logic" at work here seems to be that, because so many Jews can imagine, along with John Lennon, a world in which "there's no heaven" and "no religion too," it is offensive and outrageous for other folks to disagree with this sanitized vision of the future.  Many Christians, however, still believe in their religion, still believe it is the path to eternal salvation, and fail to appreciate what is so wonderful about the fairy tale world invoked in Lennon's song.  From a PC perspective, this makes them "insensitive" and "bigoted" and "hateful."

I say, thank god that so many Christians in this country still believe in their religion!  That is the only thing that will prevent the violent and tyrannical expansion of the Muslim world.  And that is the only thing that will preserve the existence of the Jewish people.

As a Jew, I recognize, with painful humility, that the existence of my person, my people, lies at the mercy of the larger, stronger peoples in whose midst we live.  To deny this fact is to deny reality.  Not too long ago, the people of Nazi Germany, along with their allies and collaborators, attempted to eradicate the Jewish people once and for all.  The Final Solution they called it.  They nearly succeeded.  But while the Germans and Poles and Dutch and French and the many others who participated in this obscene massacre were Christians, it was not their Christianity that impelled them to these acts.  It was the vicious political ideology of the Nazis.  This is what triggered the Holocaust.

The truth is that the Jews of Europe could not have saved themselves from Hitler's rampage.  Practically every Jew alive today owes his or her existence to the fact that Hitler was defeated by the brave and virtuous troops of the Anglo-American alliance, practically all of whom were Christians too.  Could FDR and Churchill and the rest of the western leaders have done more to help the Jews, both before and during the war?  Perhaps.  (Forget what the Soviets could have done; their moral corruption ran almost as deep as the Nazis'.)  But I refuse to play that despicable blame game.  I simply am grateful for the good people of this country, who made for my grandparents and parents, and now for me, the best home on earth that Jews have ever enjoyed.      

Today, the leaders of Iran -- the most powerful Islamic nation, with aspirations of regional, indeed world, domination -- speak openly of eliminating the state of Israel, i.e., the largest concentration of Jews outside of the United States.  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed repeatedly to "wipe Israel off the map."  Just this week, the former president of Iran, Hashemi Rafsanjani (often referred to as a "moderate"), commented during a sermon (yes, during a religious service)  that the Nazis "saved" Europe from the evils of Zionism.  In other words, the Nazis did Europe a favor by murdering six million Jews.  Where was the outrage from western leftists?  Where were the screams of protest from liberal Jews?  What will these idiots say when the nuclear bombs start falling on Israel?  Probably that Israel caused it, or could have prevented it, or even deserved it.  The mere existence of the Jewish state will be deemed sufficient justification for its total destruction.  My stomach is sick with the thought of how easily Muslim genocide of Jews will be excused, even by Jews themselves.

Make no mistake, New York City -- i.e., "Jew York City" -- will be next.  Destroy Israel and New York City, and most of the world's remaining Jews will be dead.  When this day comes, a substantial part of the Muslim world will be cheering, just as they cheered the destruction of the World Trade Towers on 9/11.

But measured by the amount of heat and vitriol her comments generated, the real enemy apparently is Ann Coulter.  How dare she assert the truth of her religion?  True or not, I know that Christianity is far preferable to Islam.  Would Donny Deutch and Michael Savage and all of the other critics who are blasting Coulter rather live in a Muslim country?  One does not have to be a scholar of the world's religions (and I am not) to know the answer to that question. 

This is the real choice facing Jews in this country, and even in Israel.  John Lennon's fantasy of universal peace and love and brotherhood does not exist, and never will exist.  The fate of the world's Jews, and Christians for that matter, ultimately depends on the ability and willingness of the Christian West, especially the United States, to prevail in the steadily intensifying struggle we are witnessing across the globe between Islam and Christianity. 

What Deutch and Savage and the other critics fail to understand is that only a Christian people who truly believes in the correctness, indeed superiority, of their religion will be able to win this fight.  A secularized people who believes in nothing but watery principles of tolerance and democracy inevitably will succumb to the combination of violent Islamic intimidation and the "nondiscriminatory" imperatives of their own multicultural worldview.  If sharia ever does come to the United States, I am quite certain that its handmaidens will be atheists and liberals, not believing Christians.

As a Jew living in this great country, I have no doubt who my enemies are, and who are my allies.  And I know to which group Ann Coulter belongs.

Steven M. Warshawsky      

[familyop]

The words in those quotes cannot have a good context. No substitutions with other words, changes in topic, obfuscations, allegories or sanguineous metaphors will change my mind about such comments. Statements like that are recycled propaganda from the likes of Raban, Jerome and all who’ve used their tactics since. Here’s a link.

Columnist Ann Coulter Shocks Cable TV Show, Declaring ‘Jews Need to Be Perfected by Becoming Christians’
Fox News
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,301216,00.html

[Raycpa]

http://www.sdanet.org/atissue/books/ott/ottch7.htm

Perfect In Christ
Helmut Ott

Chapter VII
Two Groups of People in the Church (World):
Those Righteous in Christ by Faith and Those Unrighteous

Finally, we will consider some statements in Ellen White’s writings that indicate that the church contains only two kinds of people: (1) those who are righteous because they are covered in the merits of the Saviour (insert: "perfect in Christ"), and (2) those who are unrighteous because they attempt to meet God’s standard of perfect righteousness “independent of the atonement” and “without the virtue of divine mediation.” (insert: Everyone else including Jews)

According to Ellen White, the two classes have their first representatives in Cain and Abel, and will coexist in the church to the end of time:

The Pharisee and the publican represent two great classes into which those who come to worship God are divided. Their first two representatives are found in the first two children that were born into the world. Cain thought himself righteous, and he came to God with a thank offering only. He made no confession of sin, and acknowledged no need of mercy. But Abel came with the blood that pointed to the Lamb of God. He came as a sinner, confessing himself lost; his only hope was the unmerited love of God (Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 152).

“By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain” (Heb. 11:4). Abel grasped the great principles of redemption. He saw himself a sinner. . . Through the shed blood [of a lamb] he looked to the future sacrifice, Christ dying on the cross of Calvary; and trusting in the atonement that was there to be made, he had the witness that he was righteous, and his offering accepted. . . . Cain and Abel represent two classes that will exist in the world till the close of time. One class avail themselves of the appointed sacrifice for sin; the other venture to depend upon their own merits; theirs is a sacrifice without the virtue of divine mediation, and thus it is not able to bring man into favor with God. . . .

Those who feel no need of the blood of Christ, who feel that without divine grace they can by their own works secure the approval of God, are making the same mistake as did Cain. If they do not accept the cleansing blood, they are under condemnation. There is no other provision made whereby they can be released from the thralldom of sin. . . . As Cain thought to secure the divine favor by an offering that lacked the blood of a sacrifice, so do these expect to exalt humanity to the divine standard, independent of the atonement (Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 72, 73).

[Elsie]

Ann Coulter honestly answered "yes" when asked by Deutch if she believes that this country "would be better if we were all Christian." She further stated that Christians "just want Jews to be perfected," i.e., to accept Jesus Christ as their lord and savior.

Well then; try THIS!

Ann Coulter honestly answered "yes" when asked by Deutch if she believes that this country "would be better if we were all Christian." She further stated that Christians "just want EVERYONE to be perfected," i.e., to accept Jesus Christ as their lord and savior.

Would THIS cause the REST of the unwashed to go ballistic???

[Edit35]

Just because someone would like to see someone else convert to Christianity does not mean they hate, despise, or discriminate against that same ‘someone else’.

Ann stated the obvious. The same thing BILLY GRAHAM says in every single sermon he ever gave the past 68 years.

Which is that he, as do most Christians, feel that God has a plan to save mankind from sin and depravity.

And that, yes, converting to Christianity would be a better thing than NOT converting.

By accepting/converting to the Christian faith, I indeed became “PERFECTED” -—

Or would you rather Christians just say, ‘aw, what the heck. who cares about Jews or anyone else. They don’t matter.’

Of course not. Anyone who truly believes in their faith would like to see others convert to that faith.

[shineon]

Replacement theology is insidious...

If Ann Coulter believes in replacement theology, she deserves all the verbal barbs and discontent.

If not, then she does not.

[shineon]

The truth of the matter, in my humble opinion, is that we all need to be perfected.

[shineon]

1. Romans 11:25
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Romans 11:24-26 (in Context) Romans 11 (Whole Chapter)

[familyop]

IMO, speech like the following is very repulsive to me, but contemporary renditions of the same are worse for their more slippery, insinuating style.

---

Thomas Aqinas' letter to Margaret of flanders
http://www.thomistica.net/margaret-of-flanders-online/

"Jerome: . . . This imprecation rests at the present day upon the Jews, the Lord's blood is not removed from them" (St Thomas Aquinas: Catena Aurea, Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 27.)
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/catena1.ii.xxvii.html

"Raban.: But as the guilt of His blood, which they imprecated upon themselves and their children, presses them down with a heavy weight of sin, so the purchase of the lie, by which they deny the truth of the Resurrection, charges this guilt upon them for ever; as it follows, 'And this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day'" (St Thomas Aquinas : Catena Aurea, Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 28.)
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/catena1.ii.xxviii.html

---

Information like the following is more educational,...

"Jewish History Sourcebook: Jews and the Later Roman Law 315-531 CE"
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/jews-romanlaw.html

[Marcus Introduction] The Middle Ages, for the Jew at least, begin with the advent to power of Constantine the Great (306-337). He was the first Roman emperor to issue laws which radically limited the rights of Jews as citizens of the Roman Empire, a privilege conferred upon them by Caracalla in 212. As Christianity grew in power in the Roman Empire it influenced the emperors to limit further the civil and political rights of the Jews. Most of the imperial laws that deal with the Jews since the days of Constantine are found in the Latin Codex Theodosianius (438) and in the Latin and Greek code of Justinian (534). Both of these monumental works are therefore very important, for they enable us to trace the history of the progressive deterioration of Jewish rights.

"What was the history of Palestine between Biblical times and the modern era" (PalestineFacts.org)?

...the Jewish state was ruled by puppet kings of the Romans, the Herods. When the Jews revolted in 66 AD, the Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem (70 AD). The Bar Kokba revolt between 132 and 135 AD was also suppressed, Jericho and Bethlehem were destroyed, and the Jews were barred from Jerusalem. The Roman Emperor Hadrian determined to wipe out the identity of Israel-Judah-Judea. Therefore, he took the name Palastina and imposed it on all the Land of Israel. At the same time, he changed the name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina. The Romans killed many Jews and sold many more in slavery. Some of those who survived left the devastated country (and established Jewish communities throughout the Middle East) but there was never a complete abandonment of the Land of Israel. That is, there were always Jews and Jewish communities in Palestine, though the size and conditions of those communities fluctuated greatly.

When Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity (312), he took steps to elevate the status of Jerusalem and the city became a center of Christian pilgrimage. Constantine relaxed some restrictions on Jews, but renewed the prohibition on the residence of Jews in Jerusalem, permitting them to mourn for its destruction once a year, on the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av.

[See Book XVIII, Antiquities, and Book II, War of the Jews, behind the following link. "Pilate" is a good keyword to search the page, if you're in a hurry. ...best to read the whole thing, though.]
The Works of Flavius Josephus
Translated by William Whiston
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/josephus/josephus.htm

if you'd like to go there.

Eusebius wrote, in his Ecclesiastical History (History of the Christian Church), Book II, CHAPTER XVII of Philo's Account of the Ascetics of Egypt (from New Advent)

But it is highly probable that the works of the ancients, which he says they [the Ascetics of Egypt] had, were the Gospels and the writings of the apostles, and probably some expositions of the ancient prophets, such as are contained in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and in many others of Paul's Epistles.

[Louis Foxwell]

Thanks for your appreciation. Coulter is rarely wrong. She made clear in that same interview that speaking the truth as she earnestly believes without apology is what drives Marxists insane. Her interviewer demonstrated the point vividly by taking offense at her clearly stated and completely appropriate expression of her faith.

[Louis Foxwell]

Clearly you were never washed in the blood of Christ. A Christian you might have been, in name, but not in fact.

[dellbabe68]

Ann is pretty abrasive most days but I think she’s mostly funny (and on point). In this event she went way overboard. I don’t care if people here don’t like hearing it, but Jews do not need to become Christians; they are quite fine on their own. There are too many self righteous finger pointers and frankly they are a bore.

And don’t give me any crappola about how this means I am willing to tolerate anything from anyone, or go into how I really don’t support the war, or haven’t noticed the abandonment of values in this country, or don’t understand what Christian values have done for us, etcetera. Save it. I didn’t tolerate uniformity of thought from the left; I’m not taking it from the right. And I’m not getting into a flame war with scripture to support what I feel about this. She was an idiot when she said what she did.

[Louis Foxwell]

If Deutsch and the ADL get their way, Christians lose their way, that is, their path to God. Nearly as bad, they would make it illegitimate to practice Christianity. They would make us choose between our doctrine and a new kind of political correctness which says that you must forsake your faith rather than offend.

That is why what Deutsch did was reprehensible.

Excellent analysis. Ann did not bring up the subject. It was forced upon her time and again. She answered in the sweetest and least belligerent manner possible. There was no malice on her part and no attempt to be judgmental. Rather, she portrayed the very point she had been making throughout the interview: Marxists are offended when she speaks truth as she knows it.

Deutsch tried again and again to portray her as an inflammatory publicist. She countered again and again that truth is the enemy of the PC crowd.

Deutsch was most offensive when he read the line from his notes declaring his offense at Ann expressing her faith. By his transparent malice, once again the enemies of truth and decency have been defeated.

[El Gato]

Coulter's crime is that she violated one of PC's most sacred taboos: Expressing belief in the correctness of one's religion.

Pretty much only applies if one's religion is Christianity or Judaism, and maybe Shintoism. If it's Buddhism, especially the more mystic varieties and definitely if it's Islam, it's pretty much mandatory and is definitely considered PC.

[dougd]

In this event she went way overboard ... Jews do not need to become Christians

I find it extremely discouraging that so many on this thread are following in the footsteps of the democrats - i.e. deliberately twisting words and extrapolating beyond all recognition in order to smear someone.

Ann never said "need to become Christians."

Her words were: " ... just want Jews to be perfected" which is entirely different.

You can want something to happen without in any way disparaging or implying something is wrong that it has not yet happened - let alone that you "hate" the object of your wishes for not fulfilling your wishes.

One would think those here at FR would be more atuned to the distortions libs apply in an attempt to divide us. It was Deutch who lied when he accused Ann of using the word "need" and far too many here bought the lie without reflecting on what the truth might be.

[El Gato]

The truth is that the Jews of Europe could not have saved themselves from Hitler's rampage

That might or might not be true. Once it was in full rampage, it's true. However if every time they came for the Jews, several fine young Aryans got shot, and one or more shot dead, it might have discouraged people from taking part in such pogroms. Even if it has escalated the "program" more quickly, the Jews would have been no worse off, and the fuss might have caught the attention of the world sooner, and thus saved more Jews in the long run.

[El Gato]

Make no mistake, New York City -- i.e., "Jew York City" -- will be next. Destroy Israel and New York City, and most of the world's remaining Jews will be dead.

Take out Miami and Los Angeles and they'll get a substantial portion of the rest. They'll do it too, given half a chance. (Which IMHO, they will NOT get).

25 years ago, I had Jews living on both sides of me, in a unnamed North Texas location, (don't want to make it target). On one side we had a couple from Missouri. His grandparents had immigrated from Russia (as children) through the port of Galveston. Her parents were German survivors of Hitler's "Final Solution". On the other side were another couple, with 3 boys. She was adopted, and I don't know the background of her adoptive parents. He is a Tennessee Hillbilly engineer... what you never heard of a Jewish Hillbilly? :) Well he's proof they exist.

[Clintonfatigued]

Ann Coulter was simply stating her personal belief based on her religious background. Everybody has some kind of religious belief that won’t please everyone all the time, and she isn’t calling on the government (of the Netherlands or the U.S.) to discriminate or persecute non-Christians.

Political correctness is out of control.

[SirLinksalot]

The problem with a lot of Jews ( especially secular ones ), of course aided and abetted by the left-wing media, is they are looking at Coulter’s statement through the prism of the secular mind, not through the religious or theological mind.

Coulter is making a RELIGIOUS statement, not a secular statement.

If you view the word “perfection” through the secular prism, then of course you are going to treat the word in this way -— Jews are somehow sub-human and need to be “perfected” ( via some genetic manipulation ). If you look at it this way, then you can understand why Jews will be outraged. It reminds them of the Nazi experiments (e.g. Mengele) on Jews during the Second World War.

However, if you look at it through Coulter’s Christian (i.e. RELIGIOUS ) point of view, the statement isn’t controversial at all. She is simply saying that she wants Jews to have the BEST the spiritual world has to offer. It would be akin to a teacher saying to a student -— Yes, you’re getting B’s and B+’s in your grades today, but if you study the material even better, you can be PERFECTED (i.e. get A’s ). To the Christian, the Jewish law is good, but it takes YHWH in the flesh to make people perfect in the eyes of God through His righteousness. And I am sure Coulter believes that needing to be perfected applies to EVERYONE (Jew and gentile alike ). Heck, I’ll be the first to say that before I became a Christian, I needed to be perfected in God’s eyes through Christ.

Only a fool who refuses to think clearly would call this attitude on the teacher’s part bigoted, but alas, this is what secular people want to believe no matter how crooked the reasoning is.

I’m quite certain that after Michael Savage calms down and someone explains this difference to him, he will get it. He ( although a Jew ), isn’t entirely closed-minded against Christians.

[El Gato]

She needs to educate herself a bit before she passes judgement on Jews.

That's where you and the other critics of what Ann actually said go wrong. She was not "passing judgment", but rather wishing for a great boon for other people, in this case Jews. Whether one believes as she does or not, one must at least try to understand that when Christians wish for others to "Be Saved" it's an expression of love, not hate. It not equivalent to "My Way or the Highway", as its often interpreted.

It can get rather irritating of course, but so can having the other parent of one's children telling one to stop drinking, lose weight, get more sleep, etc. That's generally done out of love too.

[El Gato]

She wasn’t trying to share. She’s not a pastor. She’s a political pundit.

One need not be a pastor, priest, reverand,etc. to share. Any more than one need be a Rabbi.