Ann Coulter Thinks That Jews Need to be Perfected by Becoming Christians

Well then, I knew eventually that the parasites using my religion for cover in order to pursue their politics of hate would either finally expose themselves as the anti-Semites that they are or be run-out of town. I had hoped the latter would come first, frankly, because I thought us a reasonable people, a reasonable nation. Instead, we get Ann Coulter finally revealing what her views are on the topic of Judaism.

The below exchange (via Media Matters) is from her October 8 appearance on CNBC's The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch (emph, mine):

DEUTSCH: -- are calculated marketing teases, and your dreams, which are genuine, came true having to do with immigration, having to do with women's -- with abortion -- what would this country look like?

COULTER: It would look like New York City during the Republican National Convention. In fact, that's what I think heaven is going to look like.

DEUTSCH: And what did that look like?

COULTER: Happy, joyful Republicans in the greatest city in the world.

DEUTSCH: No, no, no, no, but I'm talking about this country. You don't want to make this country -- it's not about Republicans. I'm saying, what would the fabric of this country look like? Forget that the Republicans would be running the show.

COULTER: Well, everyone would root for America, the Democratic Party would look like [Sen.] Joe Lieberman [I-CT], the Republican Party would look like [Rep.] Duncan Hunter [R-CA] --

DEUTSCH: No, no, no, I don't want -- I'm not talking about politically the landscape. What would our -- would we be safer? Would people be happier? Would they be more --

COULTER: We would be a lot safer.

DEUTSCH: Would there be more tolerance? Would there be -- would women be happier, would the races get along better? The Ann Coulter subscription -- prescription. What -- tell me what would be different in our fabric of country, because --

COULTER: Well, all of those things.

DEUTSCH: -- I can give -- I can give you an argument there would be more divisiveness, that there would be more hate --

COULTER: Oh, no.

DEUTSCH: -- that there would be a bigger difference between the rich and the poor, a lot of other -- tell me what -- why this would be a better world? Let's give you -- I'm going to give you -- say this is your show.

COULTER: Well, OK, take the Republican National Convention. People were happy. They're Christian. They're tolerant. They defend America, they --

DEUTSCH: Christian -- so we should be Christian? It would be better if we were all Christian?

COULTER: Yes.

DEUTSCH: We should all be Christian?

COULTER: Yes. Would you like to come to church with me, Donny?

DEUTSCH: So I should not be a Jew, I should be a Christian, and this would be a better place?

COULTER: Well, you could be a practicing Jew, but you're not.

DEUTSCH: I actually am. That's not true. I really am. But -- so we would be better if we were - if people -- if there were no Jews, no Buddhists --

COULTER: Whenever I'm harangued by --

DEUTSCH: -- in this country? You can't believe that.

COULTER: -- you know, liberals on diversity --

DEUTSCH: Here you go again.

COULTER: No, it's true. I give all of these speeches at megachurches across America, and the one thing that's really striking about it is how utterly, completely diverse they are, and completely unself-consciously. You walk past a mixed-race couple in New York, and it's like they have a chip on their shoulder. They're just waiting for somebody to say something, as if anybody would. And --

DEUTSCH: I don't agree with that. I don't agree with that at all. Maybe you have the chip looking at them. I see a lot of interracial couples, and I don't see any more or less chips there either way. That's erroneous.

COULTER: No. In fact, there was an entire Seinfeld episode about Elaine and her boyfriend dating because they wanted to be a mixed-race couple, so you're lying.

DEUTSCH: Oh, because of some Seinfeld episode? OK.

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.

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 --

COULTER: Yeah.

DEUTSCH: Really?

COULTER: Well, it's a lot easier. It's kind of a fast track.

DEUTSCH: Really?

COULTER: Yeah. You have to obey.

DEUTSCH: You can't possibly believe that.

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.

DEUTSCH: No, no, no, but I mean --

COULTER: We have the fast-track program.

DEUTSCH: Why don't I put you with the head of Iran? I mean, come on. You can't believe that.

COULTER: The head of Iran is not a Christian.

DEUTSCH: No, but in fact, "Let's wipe Israel" --

COULTER: I don't know if you've been paying attention.

DEUTSCH: "Let's wipe Israel off the earth." I mean, what, no Jews?

COULTER: No, we think -- we just want Jews to be perfected, as they say.

DEUTSCH: Wow, you didn't really say that, did you?

COULTER: Yes. That is what Christianity is. We believe the Old Testament, but ours is more like Federal Express. You have to obey laws. We know we're all sinners --

DEUTSCH: In my old days, I would have argued -- when you say something absurd like that, there's no --

COULTER: What's absurd?

DEUTSCH: Jews are going to be perfected. I'm going to go off and try to perfect myself --

COULTER: Well, that's what the New Testament says.

DEUTSCH: Ann Coulter, author of If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans, and if Ann Coulter had any brains, she would not say Jews need to be perfected. I'm offended by that personally. And we'll have more Big Idea when we come back.

[...]

DEUTSCH: Welcome back to The Big Idea. During the break, Ann said she wanted to explain her last comment. So I'm going to give her a chance. So you don't think that was offensive?

COULTER: No. I'm sorry. It is not intended to be. I don't think you should take it that way, but that is what Christians consider themselves: perfected Jews. We believe the Old Testament. As you know from the Old Testament, God was constantly getting fed up with humans for not being able to, you know, live up to all the laws. What Christians believe -- this is just a statement of what the New Testament is -- is that that's why Christ came and died for our sins. Christians believe the Old Testament. You don't believe our testament.

DEUTSCH: You said -- your exact words were, "Jews need to be perfected." Those are the words out of your mouth.

COULTER: No, I'm saying that's what a Christian is.

DEUTSCH: But that's what you said -- don't you see how hateful, how anti-Semitic --

COULTER: No!

DEUTSCH: How do you not see? You're an educated woman. How do you not see that?

COULTER: That isn't hateful at all.

DEUTSCH: But that's even a scarier thought. OK --

COULTER: No, no, no, no, no. I don't want you being offended by this. This is what Christians consider themselves, because our testament is the continuation of your testament. You know that. So we think Jews go to heaven. I mean, [Rev. Jerry] Falwell himself said that, but you have to follow laws. Ours is "Christ died for our sins." We consider ourselves perfected Christians. For me to say that for you to become a Christian is to become a perfected Christian is not offensive at all.

DEUTSCH: We will let the audience decide then, won't we? Ann Coulter. New book. More Big Idea straight ahead.

Follow Larisa Alexandrovna on Twitter: www.twitter.com/larisa_a

Comments

[moderationsmuse]

Coulter is taking the idea right out of the New Testament indeed, but it is amazing the difference that "spin" makes. The argument that you see in the transcript is even parallel to certain ideas one finds in the NT about whether Jewish Christians were to abandon elements of their Jewishness after their conversion. In that regard it demonstrates "plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose."
I think if Coulter were less outspoken (and she's said some rather mean-spirited, rather unChristian things at times) this conversation between her and Deutsch would sound somewhat different. Though it's still true that whenever Christians state their faith in plain spoken terms, they offend. Jesus was offensive. The cross came from his offensiveness.
So, Christianity is different things -- is about a whole life as much -- probably much more -- than about ideology.
I'm not very familiar with Coulter, really, having seen her only a couple times. She's a "lightening rod." I wonder that more people don't realize that being controversial is her "job."
A lot of the tv partisanship is info-tainment. If people just nodded calmly and said, "yes, how true, nice girl," -- or the contrary, "no, not at all, poor muddled-headed girl," then Ms. Coulter and her colleagues (of either political stripe) would soon be

Unemployed.

Well, talking heads want to thrive, have cars, houses, vacations. Be less easy to be stirred up, oh audience. Long for and spend your television time listening to calm voices of moderation, and I guarantee you'll see all the tv talking heads convert to

Calm moderation.

Well, maybe in five hundred years or so. On some other less passionate planet.
Or in the next world.

Larisa, we were butting heads ourselves very briefly in another post. But you really were very gracious in your response. And I would just like to say so. That I noticed. Thanks.

[psmarc93]

Ann Coulter is mostly right, here.
Many, most, fundamentalist christian sects take this "perfection" idea right out of the letters of St. Paul. It is from the King James version and in Elizabethan English, "perfect" also ment to "complete" -- so they believe Christ's sacrifice "completed, made whole" the jewish religion. The contract between Yahweh and his people was fulfilled through the sacrifice of His son, and now all mankind had a route to salvation.
Sure, Ann has no ability or credibility in questions of theology -- even her own -- but the idea she espoused is plainly in the the King James bible and was used for hundreds of years to justify pogroms, torture and genocide of the Jews.
Which also points out that most religions, Chrisitanity, Judiasm, Islam, ALL have their fascism built right into them -- We're right, everyone else is wrong.

[GenericBlogger]

Unfortunately many Christians, especially the Fundamentalists place more merit on the Bible, scriptures, etc. than the hypocrisy and impact of some religious concepts.

[PhilBest]

I'm a Christian "fundamentalist" and unlike the secular liberal and wishy-washy meaningless "Christians" who are slamming Ann Coulter over this, I do understand what she means, even if the terminology isn't quite what I'd use. I assure you that expressing a desire for Jews to become "perfected" via Christianity is certainly NOT "hate" or "bigotry".

Why do many people insist that we bend bend over backwards to "understand" and accomodate other faiths,particularly those that are the most vigorously defensive and offensive concerning THEIR beliefs, but when a Christian like Ann Coulter says something which is a sincerely held belief and is actually an expression of some of the most beautiful truths of her faith, she has vitriol poured upon her by people who only want to impute the worst interpretation that their tiny secular minds can conjure up?

Here's my comment for Ann, that she'll understand, but that I expect I'd also be pilloried for by secular "liberals": "Cast not your pearls before swine, lest they trample them with their feet, and turning round, rend you". (Quote from memory, sorry if I've got it slightly wrong).

[Iago]

I am a Christian and I would not presume to say Ms Coulter is not a Christian as she professes (even though I have a gut feeling, but I'll keep my gut's feelings to myself..that's called 'class').

What she is, though, is wrong. Christians ARE NOT "prefected Jews." Christians are people who made a choice to worship A Jew as divine.

The hope is that there are actions that go along with that choice, but sometimes that doesn't happen.

[gzuckier]

I'm afraid Ann doesn't seem to have been perfected. Well, no matter; I will be glad to join the true church of God, I merely await the decision as to whether we shall all be Lutheran, Baptist, Mennonite, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Pentacostal, Dutch Reform, Anglican, Coptic, Church of the Creator, Presbyterian......

[GenericBlogger]

The Commandments in the Old and New Testaments don't state to love thy neighbor. They state not to covet his house and his wife. Basically if neighbors are left alone, those Commandments are satisfied. But various books in the Bible including James, Leviticus, Luke, Mark, Matthew, Romans, etc. include the tenet of loving thy neighbor.

Loving thy neighbor is part of being a good Christian but many Fundies interpret that tenet as "Love thy Christian neighbor".

A minority of Christians sincerely practice Christianity with their good deeds. Most live a quiet life of their own practicing their faith on their own terms and not pushing it on others. The rest preach to others while living a life of bigotry.

Evaluating Coulter's contradiction with a logical mind isn't acceptable to Fundies. Religious zealots don't like religious topics tested with rigorous logic. They have their own logic based on emotion, theistic faith, and the belief that the Bible is true in a literal or figurative sense. Contradictions are meaningless because they are somehow rationalized.

Fundamental Christians don't fault Coulter because she is a child of God and reads the Good Book. She is Christian, a sinner therefore is forgiven. It's not so much what Coulter said but what she meant and she meant well therefore she is forgiven by her fundamentalist cronies. And so the cycle of sin and forgiveness continues, and so is the bigotry she inherited and perpetuates.

To some she is demonic not angelic. Coulter fancies herself as a polemic archangel in a little disco dress and high heels wielding a sharp tongue and poison pen instead of a sword. She is a theistic shock jock on a pulpit, a reincarnated Jerry Falwell will less discretion and more primal prejudice. She made her mark raising herself and inadvertently devaluing Christianity. She is a scandal waiting to happen. Eventually she will join that league comprised of Swaggart, Bakker, Haggart, and the army of lesser known fallen angels.

[somenyguy]

As long as Ann Coulter walks the earth, we have empirical proof that there is no God.

[KosmicKat]

"Perfection" sounds like Room 101 in 1984.

[KosmicKat]

Coulter says it all with her line "we obey." Christianity is all about blind obedience to an imaginary authority figure that rules by terror and the threat of agonizing punishment. That such a mentality is Medieval goes without saying. AC also shows clearly how the authoritarian mentality becomes entangled in its own contradictions and lies and false view of the world.

I hope Jews that have thrown in their lot with the right-wing fundamentalist KKKristians realize that when the fundiekritts are through with their allies of convienience (Jews), they, the fundiekritts, will toss the Jews off their wagon as useless.

[Edward]

Everyone needs to quit giving this gremlin a forum. However, I find it ridiculous that those of the Jewish faith act surprised that the christian fundamentalists they have aligned themselves with politically find them inferior. Christian fundamentaliss believe the only way to heaven is through Christ. No if and's or but's.

[SamThornton]

Although Ms. Coulter may not speak for all Christians, she certainly articulates here one of the core beliefs of most Christian literalists. She seems to have accepted this particular doctrine completely without reflection.

Her views seem to reflect the tenets of the Christian Identity Movement, from which arise many of the most extreme Christian Right views. Here's a link at WikiPedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Identity

[Twichell]

Larisa, thank you for (I trust) emboldening Mr.Deutsch to continue to have the courage to transcribe and publish words spoken and heard in such interviews. Transcribing also the pauses, the interruptions, the precise words and terms that are "exchanged" are very interesting to compare with what other people write and think about such "exchanges".

Our owners' "journalism" is moribund, defunct, or at least in remission. I would very much like to see more such exchanges transcribed in such a precise and measured form. (Watching cable makes me slightly naseuous at all times.)

[OrangeSam]

Only Ann could find diversity in a megachurch.

I'm sure she also appreciates the diversity of a loaf of white bread. Something like this: "You've got the two heels along with all these other nice, clean slices."

[darkwaters]

She has no idea what Christianity is, other than a club to which she belongs that makes her better than other people.

But then again, Christianity has been perverted to such an extreme degree by American demagogery that it's not surprising that this is what this is what she truly believes.

So...my question is this: why are Jews in America surprised by any of this? It's not news, it's what the Christian right has believed all along. The only reason Jews are in bed with the Christian right is that that convenient political alliance has kept anyone from criticizing American foreign policy--and out country's biggest hypocrisy--since 1948.

[RobertaInCT]

NEWS FLASH!
There is the real "Universe" between the left-wing and right-wing view the world, in which the vast majority of clear thinkers thoughtout the world functions. Ann Coulter is out to sell books, she is clueless .....