Ann Coulter Wants Jews to Become Christians

Media Matters has manufactured yet another Outrage of the Day: Ann Coulter, a self-professed Christian, wants everyone else to become a Christian, too!

During the October 8 edition of CNBC’s The Big Idea, host Donny Deutsch asked right-wing pundit Ann Coulter: “If you had your way … and your dreams, which are genuine, came true … what would this country look like?” Coulter responded, “It would look like New York City during the [2004] Republican National Convention. In fact, that’s what I think heaven is going to look like.” She described the convention as follows: “People were happy. They’re Christian. They’re tolerant. They defend America.” Deutsch then asked, “It would be better if we were all Christian?” to which Coulter responded, “Yes.” Later in the discussion, Deutsch said to her: “[Y]ou said we should throw Judaism away and we should all be Christians,” and Coulter again replied, “Yes.” When pressed by Deutsch regarding whether she wanted to be like “the head of Iran” and “wipe Israel off the Earth,” Coulter stated: “No, we just want Jews to be perfected, as they say. … That’s what Christianity is. We believe the Old Testament, but ours is more like Federal Express. You have to obey laws.”

Well, yeah.

I’m not a religious man. And, certainly, I’m no Ann Coulter fan. But don’t all religious people believe their faith is the One True Faith and that it would be preferable if others shared in it?

For that matter, don’t most people who believe in anything fervently feel that way? Don’t liberals and Democrats think the world would be a better place if conservatives and Republicans saw the light? And vice-versa?

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Triumph says:

    But don’t all religious people believe their faith is the One True Faith and that it would be preferable if others shared in it?

    No. Judaism rejects this notion.

  2. Dave Schuler says:

    Some religions e.g. Judaism, Hinduism, Yezidism, are tribal or national religions. Other e.g. Christianity, Islam, are universal religions.

  3. Some religions e.g. Judaism, Hinduism, Yezidism, are tribal or national religions. Other e.g. Christianity, Islam, are universal religions.

    Interesting distinction. But Judaism and Hinduism both have a view of the universe which holds that there is a “best way” to be, live, believe, etc. And both those religions tell you how to be that way.

    I’m confused as to how such a universal view can be called only “tribal” or “national.”

  4. Anderson says:

    I’m confused as to how such a universal view can be called only “tribal” or “national.”

    The distinction should probably be between evangelical and non-evangelical religions.

    Judaism isn’t evangelical; the Jews do not want you and me to become Jewish. In my case, indeed, they might prefer that I did not.

    As for Coulter, I wonder which the Israelis would prefer, if the choice had to be made: Israel being wiped off the map (whatever Ahmadinejad (sp) meant by that); or all Jews, worldwide, converting the Christianity.

    I would think they’d prefer the former.

    Ann Coulter — a greater enemy to the Jews than Ahmadinejad! Will she be invited to speak at Columbia?

  5. Big Daddy says:

    “No. Judaism rejects this notion”

    But not all Jews do.

    Besides, there are pockets of Judaism that ACTIVELY recruit converts.

    And when a Jewish guy marries a gentile girl the Jewish community is HIGHLY PARTIAL to the idea of the children being raised Jewish.

    That suggests a judgment right there.

    So, nice try, but as a Jew, I know you’re more than a little offbase.

  6. Gail says:

    “But don’t all religious people believe their faith is the One True Faith and that it would be preferable if others shared in it?”

    No. I agree with Triumph – Jews do not.

  7. Steve Plunk says:

    Since conversion to Christianity is voluntary I hardly see Coulter’s statement as anything worthy of comparison to Ahmademijad’s. Killing and wishing something better for others are two very different things.

  8. Anderson says:

    It’s a big world, Big Daddy — I’m sure there are Christians who don’t actively recruit. (Aren’t they called “Episcopalians”?)

    We’re talking about overall tendencies, of course.

  9. Cernig says:

    “But don’t all religious people believe their faith is the One True Faith and that it would be preferable if others shared in it?”

    Actually, Wiccans and Hindus, for instance, expressly say theirs isn’t the One True Faith. As the Hindu aphorism has it, “one light though the lamps be many”.

    Moreover, James – aren’t you ignoring the elephant in the room? The religious conservative fringe holds a fair few who believe that the Jews converting to Christianity is a prerequisite for the Second Coming. Shouldn’t someone ask Coulter if she’s an adherant to that view, given the circumstances?

    Two birds with one stone in this link – an evangelist Jewish group complaining about those very fundamentalist Christians who believe they must convert the Jews.

    Regards, C

  10. Dave Schuler says:

    But Judaism and Hinduism both have a view of the universe which holds that there is a “best way” to be, live, believe, etc.

    Uh, no. That’s just not true. Judaism is the religion of the Jews. To convert to Judaism you, essentially, must be adopted into the Jewish nation. Generally speaking neither Judaism nor Hinduism proselytize (although both accept converts in varying degrees). Yezidism doesn’t even accept converts.

    Islam is unique. It is a universal religion in the sense that it seeks to convert everyone to it. But it’s also a tribal or national religion (for Arabs). My own, personal, distinctive to me belief is that these two themes are a cause of friction both within Islam and between Muslims and non-Muslims.

  11. Sam says:

    As a Jew, I don’t need Media Matters or anyone else for that matter looking out for the perservation of my faith. That’s up to me and my co-religionists to either accept and promote or, G-d forbid, throw away.

    For whatever reason, the idea of religion being mutually exclusive never bothered me terribly as long as it doesn’t lead to violence or forced conversion. Coulter is not in that camp, so I don’t really care. Radicial Islam on the other hand……

    I am, however, mildly offended by Media Matters attempting to use my faith as a club in their political battle.

  12. Triumph says:

    Big Daddy: Atah Lo Tzodek. Nod Nafuach!

  13. Bithead says:

    Apparently nobody at media matters has learned, much less taken to heart, the commandment of Christ himself to “go and make disciples of all nations”.

    Interesting, what they find “offensive”.

  14. floyd says:

    Donny Deutsch should have the job he deserves,as soon as he can be trained to articulate the phrase….. “Would you like fries with that?”

  15. Matt CC08 says:

    But don’t all religious people believe their faith is the One True Faith and that it would be preferable if others shared in it?

    Yes, that’s true for many religions, but most people aren’t blockheaded enough to say so on national television…

  16. Michael says:

    Since conversion to Christianity is voluntary

    Only relatively recently.

    Apparently nobody at media matters has learned, much less taken to heart, the commandment of Christ himself to “go and make disciples of all nations”.

    Mohammad said much the same thing, but around here we call that Islamofacism.

  17. Cernig says:

    A very clever old bird from Aberdeen once told me, in so many words, that “The Divine is too big for mortal mind to comprehend, it’s like being pressed nose-up against a mountain. But as you crawl over the mountain, take note of each bush, each rock, each pebble – each is a God or religion, each is an aspect of the Divine. If you study many of them, you can build up a mental map of the whole mountain which is the nearest mortal mind can ever get to the Truth.”

    Bithead, however, is just fine with pointing at one rock and saying “that’s the whole mountain, right there.”

    Regards,C

  18. JohnG says:

    I wonder what people think missionaries do.

  19. Bithead says:

    Mohammad said much the same thing, but around here we call that Islamofacism.

    Your attempt at moral equivalence doesn’t sell. When you see a bunch of Lutherans flying planes into buildings in the name of converting people Christianity, get back to me.

  20. Bithead says:

    each is a God or religion, each is an aspect of the Divine.

    But if it’s true that god is too big for men to comprehend, how can you say what God is NOT with any confidence?

  21. Michael says:

    When you see a bunch of Lutherans flying planes into buildings in the name of converting people Christianity, get back to me

    Do you think it would be difficult for me to find a historical example of Christians killing at least 3000 people? Or are Muslims morally worse for doing it with greater speed and efficiency?

    But if it’s true that god is too big for men to comprehend, how can you say what God is NOT with any confidence?

    If you accept the idea that God is too big for men to comprehend, then by definition anything man can comprehend is _not_ God.

  22. MikeT says:

    Mohammad said much the same thing, but around here we call that Islamofacism.

    Anton Lavey prohibited harming children in his principles of Satanism. Judaism prohibits the harming of children. Therefore Jews and Satanists believe the same thing (based on your argument).

  23. floyd says:

    Looking at some of the COMMENTS over the last three days[going from here and back as far as..”Cultural Relativism and Darfur”; I am reminded that Harry Truman was once credited with saying something to the effect that the only thing NEW in this world is what you haven’t learned about the past.
    WOW! What NEW and vast frontiers of knowledge present themselves !!

  24. Christopher says:

    Andersen,

    LOL Wiccans aren’t a religion! LOL!

    You crazy liberals!

    But hey, it will be halloween pretty soon and you can all dress up and go outside.

  25. Bithead says:

    Do you think it would be difficult for me to find a historical example of Christians killing at least 3000 people?

    Not if you want to go back to the 14th century, no, I suppose not. Pre reformation, wasn’t it?

    Odd; Isn’t that where the Islamics want to take us?

    If you accept the idea that God is too big for men to comprehend, then by definition anything man can comprehend is _not_ God.

    The reference to Lutherans was not an idle one.

    I believe that I cannot of my own understanding and strength believe in or come to Jesus Christ my Lord, but that the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel and illuminated me with His gifts, and sanctified and preserved me in the true faith . .-Martin Luther

    In short, Luther’s argument is yours, at least in this; we can’t understand God on our own.

    However… the rest follows.

    Mind, I don’t intend to be draw further into a theological discussion. The only reason I bring the discussion of this far, is your insistence on speaking from Ignorance. I suggest you research further.

  26. Nikolay says:

    Your attempt at moral equivalence doesn’t sell. When you see a bunch of Lutherans flying planes into buildings in the name of converting people Christianity, get back to me.

    Well, throngs of Jews slaughtered by Christians are in the history books. And Luther’s “On the Jews and their Lies” was one of the main Hitler’s inspirations.
    Historically, Islamic literalistic Antisemitism pales when compared to Christianity’s literalistic Antisemitism.
    Given the fact the Coulter, evidently, promotes “bringing God back to school” etc., and given the fact that her God is a God of conversions, she, in the most literal sense, promotes institutionalized Antisemitism, using the same logic that was the source of the ideas behind the most shameful atrocities in the history of Western civilization.

  27. Nikolay says:

    Anton Lavey prohibited harming children in his principles of Satanism. Judaism prohibits the harming of children. Therefore Jews and Satanists believe the same thing (based on your argument).

    Would you say that Jews and Satanists have _different_ views on harming the children?

    The argument was not “Islamofascists and literalistic Christians have similar views on some things”, the argument was “the logic that makes Islamofascists what they are is the same logic that is used by the literalistic Christians”.

  28. Bruce Moomaw says:

    May I suggest that the really relevant point here is that Coulter’s actual behavior reveals her to be as Christian as the Marquis de Sade?

  29. MikeT says:

    The argument was not “Islamofascists and literalistic Christians have similar views on some things”, the argument was “the logic that makes Islamofascists what they are is the same logic that is used by the literalistic Christians”.

    Yours is a distinction without a difference. The commenter said that the teaching to go make disciples of all nations was what we around here call Islamofascism. Therefore, there was a direct equivocation between Jesus’ statements and Mohammed’s statements. It was just a weasely way of saying that Christianity and Islam are not very different from one another by joining them on an allegedly common theme.

    And you said there are throngs of Jews persecuted by Christians in the history books. The reverse is also true for the early Christians, who were treated every bit as badly by the Jews as Catholic leaders often later treated the Jews. In that one, if you want to get technical, the Jews set the tone for how the Catholics would later treat them.

  30. floyd says:

    Nicolay;
    Hitler being inspired by the works of Luther doesn’t make Hitler a Christian, nor does it put the two men on the same plane.

  31. G.A.Phillips says:

    ****Islam is unique. It is a universal religion in the sense that it seeks to convert everyone to it.****

    You left out, or put them to Death.

    ****Apparently nobody at media matters has learned, much less taken to heart, the commandment of Christ himself to “go and make disciples of all nations”.*****

    It’s more like take His Word to all the people of the Earth and if a group your talking to won’t listen dust off your feet and move on to the next.

    *****Historically, Islamic literalistic Antisemitism pales when compared to Christianity’s literalistic Antisemitism.*****

    Yes, as in the teachings of Christ has none, only evil men and thier unbiblical dogma! no Islam on the other hand, lol.

    *****If you accept the idea that God is too big for men to comprehend, then by definition anything man can comprehend is _not_ God.*******

    God wrote a book for you to be able to understand wants you to know, but unless you study it with the aid of the Holy spirit your not going to understand, and seeing that there is only one way to gain this help most of the proud are never going to know.

    *****Nicolay;
    Hitler being inspired by the works of Luther doesn’t make Hitler a Christian, nor does it put the two men on the same plane.*****

    Hitler was evolutionist, and a socialist,i.e. a liberal.

    liberals being inspired by the works of other liberals, have put to death 45million+ babies in this country alone with just one of their final salutions.

  32. Michael says:

    Not if you want to go back to the 14th century, no, I suppose not. Pre reformation, wasn’t it?

    I’m sorry, were we arguing about Islam being inherently more violent than Christianity, or just recently more violent that Christianity?

    Odd; Isn’t that where the Islamics want to take us?

    And modern evangelical Christians want to take us back to the 16th century, so if you are ok with that, but not ok with the 14th century, perhaps you could tell us exactly when the “old ways” stop being good, and start being bad.

  33. Billy says:

    I am now dumber for having viewed this thread. Thanks Bithead, G.A.

  34. floyd says:

    “”And modern evangelical Christians want to take us back to the 16th century””
    ‘””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””
    Slanderous, paranoid, nonsense!

  35. CARLOS says:

    WHAT IS IT ABOUT FREE SPEECH THAT HAS YOU ALL POOPING IN YOUR PANTS?

  36. Nikolay says:

    The reverse is also true for the early Christians, who were treated every bit as badly by the Jews as Catholic leaders often later treated the Jews. In that one, if you want to get technical, the Jews set the tone for how the Catholics would later treat them.

    Not to mention them killing Christ.
    So, your point is, “it was the Jews’ fault”. This in the context of defending someone from charges of the Antisemitism.

    Hitler being inspired by the works of Luther doesn’t make Hitler a Christian, nor does it put the two men on the same plane.

    This doesn’t change anything about the fact that the most vile Antisemitic text ever (certainly one of the most vile ones) was written by a founder of the modern Christianity. The question of Hitler’s religion is complicated, but he certainly didn’t try to convert every German into a pagan. When he wanted to rally good Christian Germans about “let’s slaughter the Jews” idea, he used the text of Luther, who, in the vileness of his writings against the Jews, was unmatched by anyone.

  37. floyd says:

    Nicolay;
    Everyday we read about people who have used the bill of rights to justify every perversion including murder. Would you then say that the constitution is an abhorrent document ,because it has been misused?Were the authors perverse murderers?

  38. Nikolay says:

    Everyday we read about people who have used the bill of rights to justify every perversion including murder. Would you then say that the constitution is an abhorrent document ,because it has been misused?Were the authors perverse murderers?

    What is your point? That “On the Jews and their Lies” is not a horrible Antisemitic text? Would you defend “Protocols of the Elders of the Zion” on the same grounds (they are much less Antisemitic in themselves).

    Which of those Luther’s ideas are noble and enlightened and were only used by bad people to justify their evil?

    1) “First to set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them. …”

    2) “Second, I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed. …”

    4) “Fourth, I advise that their rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb. …”

    5) “Fifth, I advise that safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews. …”

    8) “If we wish to wash our hands of the Jews’ blasphemy and not share in their guilt, we have to part company with them. They must be driven from our country” and “we must drive them out like mad dogs.”

    Now go on, defend this, prove to me that Hitler was only perverting noble Luther’s ideas.

    My point is simple: there is a horrible history of Christian Antisemitism which, for example, Islamic Antisemitism simply doesn’t match, and to unreflexively say “it’s alright because it’s just our dogma” means to ignore some of the worst things that Western civilization ever did.

  39. floyd says:

    Nicolay; Although I am surely as widely read as most, I have not read either of the works that you quote. Hence, I was not defending an individual but rather pointing out the folly of, and bigotry inherent in, painting with a broad brush, an act which I infer from your writing.

    As a Christian I take no responsibility for any “so called” leaders; past, present,secular,political,or spiritual.I am responsible only to principle and of course to only one Principal. I prefer to be judged in the light of this fact rather than by any ill-conceived affilliation perceived through biased eyes.

    I apologize for any apparent obfuscation. I will hereafter endeavor to be more direct and succinct leaving less doubt as to my point.

    Unadulerated factual text is commonly the tool of intentional prevarication,and so your point is made, and understood.