Ann Coulter and “Perfected Jews”

Unless you’ve been under a political rock for the past few years, you’d know that Ann Coulter is no stranger to controversy. Some of the things she says are completely outrageous, if not humorous from a conservative perspective. Personally I think she’s extremely intelligent and well-read, but certainly there are times when she can flirt with the line between hardline conservative and brashly extreme.

But yesterday, I came across an exchange between her and Donnie Deutsch, host of CNBC’s “The Big Idea.” In it, she expressed that America would be better off if we were all Christians. At this point, let me just say most religions think that if their beliefs dominated the world, the earth would be a better place. That’s not to say that as Christians, we would force our beliefs on everyone (although in times past, some so-called Christians felt like that was a good idea). And of course, Coulter was speaking in the context of an “ideal society,” not some twisted, forced reality.

However, the controversial part of the interview did not end there. Further on, Coulter says that, and this is a direct quote, “we (Christians) just want Jews to be perfected, as they say.” Now most news networks, even Fox News, are saying she said “Jews need to be perfected.” This is simply misleading. She said that Christians want Jews to be perfected. Donnie Deutsch was the one that quoted her as saying that Jews need to be perfected.

She went further to simply explain what Christianity is in the context of Judaism. She says that Christianity is a continuation of the Old Testament, which it is. She said that Christians believe that Christ died for our sins so that we could have the New Testament, which is also true. These statements are not controversial, they simply tell what Christianity is about.

Not one time in the course of the interview did Ann Coulter express the need to convert Jews to Christianity by force. Nor did she express anything anti-Semitic or hateful against Jews. She simply expressed the way Christians see Judaism. Christians, especially evangelicals, generally love Jews. Sure, ideally, we’d like to convert Jews to Christianity, but we would never force them to do so.

Obviously, Donnie Deutsch did not see it that way. He even compared Coulter to the head of Iran, who claims that Israel should be wiped off the face of the earth. Not only did he take her comments out of context, it was as if he felt he was talking to Hitler!

Frankly, I don’t see Ann Coulter in this interview as being anti-Semitic as much as Deutsch being anti-Christian.

Now, here’s what I think is ironic. Last night, I read an article about Iran’s former President Hashemi Rafsanjani saying that Hitler persecuted Jews because they were a “pain in the neck.” Now I’d love to believe that Fox News was taking him out of context as well, but I somehow doubt that. He also said that Nazis actually “saved” Europe from the “evil of Zionism.” Yet for some reason, he’s playing second fiddle to Ann Coulter in the news today.

Given Ann Coulter’s previous controversial statements, I wasn’t surprised to see that she made headlines with something she said. But when I looked at the interview, it was clear to me that she was not trying to be controversial or provocative. She was only explaining her beliefs on Christianity.

Is it now “anti-Semitic” to tell people what you believe if you’re a Christian? I would hardly think so. I think it’s time for the news media to realize that this country is full of people that believe the same things that Ann Coulter believes in regards to Christianity. And these beliefs are not anti-Semitic, hateful, or even absurd.

And personally, I think the Donnie Deutschs of America should realize that.