Ann Coulter, liar extraordinaire

One quote from Coulter’s appearance on Hannity & Colmes last night leaped out at me:

And if you’re going to go around citing all the people I have offended, Alan, I have a thousand Orthodox rabbis supporting me.

Name three. Name three Orthodox rabbis who will agree with you that Jews have to be “perfected” by becoming Christian. In fact, name one. Just one. Not even the odious Neturei Karta will go along with that.

I’m calling bullshit on Coulter. No, I’m outright calling her a liar.

Liar.

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10 Responses to Ann Coulter, liar extraordinaire

  1. Sabba Hillel says:

    Actually, I would have to see the context. I agree that Xians believe (though they are completely wrong) that turning traitor would perfect us. I also saw the transcript of the original quote in which the the incident occured. I find it hypocritical of antireligious “Jews” to pretend to get “offended”.

    Actually in the context of the original interview, it appeared that she was implying that it is better for a Jew to be true to his own religion than to make a religion out of a political belief.

    The fact that as a Xian, she would want everyone to acknowledge her version as correct does not bother me. Note that her idea of a “good” Democrat is Joe Lieberman, a religious Jew.

    For example, see what Rabbi Yaakov Menken said in Cross Currents.

    In reality, Coulter shows a pretty liberal Christian perspective. Deutsch says to her “So I should not be a Jew, I should be a Christian, and this would be a better place?” Her answer: “Well, you could be a practicing Jew, but you’re not.” Catch that? Her view is that a better America would be a more religious America.

    She also says, “We believe your religion, but you have to obey.” (emphasis mine – SabbaHillel) Judaism isn’t wrong according to her version of Christianity (as I said, she is pretty liberal). She doesn’t say Judaism is wrong. She says Christianity is “a lot easier. It’s kind of a fast track.” Guess what? Christianity is a lot easier than observing 613 Commandments. And she believes it works.

    Is this a surprise? In the words of Iago, the obviously, stereotypically Jewish-sounding parrot in Disney’s Alladin—the Jewish character is the one with the mile-long shnozolla, and no one gets upset at that—“I think I’m just going to die from that surprise!” [Yeah, he’s Jewish all right.]

    For this, Deutsch attempts to compare her with Iran, and wiping Israel off the map. She then clarifies that this isn’t what she said at all, but that, as Christians, “we just want Jews to be perfected.”

    It’s completely acceptable to think your politics are right and everyone else’s is wrong, but to think your religion has it right is evil and backwards—even if she acknowledges that practicing Judaism would contribute just as well to making America a better place. Again, the true target here isn’t Coulter, but religion, and the true intolerance here is coming not from Coulter, but from Deutsch.

    Read the transcript, watch the full video, and see for yourself.

    UPDATE: We all know that Coulter has said things which are outlandish, outrageous, and/or just plain dumb. Please don’t take us off topic by going there. The question was and remains if what she said in this instance was at all offensive.

  2. I think you’re taking this wrong and Sabba makes the point better than I could hope to. I find it hard to believe that Coulter would be looking for Rabbi support that Jews should convert to Christianity. Her comments at their base are that you have to believe that your religion is correct to really believe it. I don’t find that to be a very controversial view; it’s just been another soundbyte to latch onto. Colmes has been very bad about attempting to bait guests or cut into them hard lately, I think he’s feeling some extra-hot heat from his liberal friends or something.

  3. LynnB says:

    Wow (#1 & #2) — That’s not what Coulter said. She said (or, to be precise, responded “yeah” to Deutsch’s question) “we should just throw Judaism away and we should all be Christians.” She said that Jews need to become Christians in order to be “perfected.” And then she said, again, that Christians “consider themselves perfected Jews” (a statement with which a lot of Christians would take issue).

    No, she’s not being antisemitic. But she is being offensive. And, by the way, I’d be a little cautious about quoting Rabbi Yaakov Menken as support for anything.

  4. Alex Bensky says:

    I still can’t get too excited about this. Coulter has her view of Judaism’s essence; I think she’s entirely wrong but she has her view. She also takes a very strongly pro-Israel line in her writings, and that line is not based on her eschatology. So she thinks I should come to Jesus.

    I am a lot less concerned with someone who thinks I may be going to hell and would like to convince me, peaceably, of a way to avoid it as opposed to a lot of people who think I’m going to hell and would like to send me there right now.

  5. Jack says:

    Coulter is offensive, but I am less offended by her than many of her supporters.

  6. Robert says:

    “And if you’re going to go around citing all the people I have offended, Alan, I have a thousand Orthodox rabbis supporting me.”

    “”Name three. Name three Orthodox rabbis who will agree with you that Jews have to be “perfected” by becoming Christian. In fact, name one. Just one. Not even the odious Neturei Karta will go along with that.””

    That’s actually a straw man argument, she didn’t say that a thousand Rabbis would “agree” with her, merely that they would “support” her. Somehow, I think that offense has changed places in Politically Correct America. Am I offensive if I intend to offend, or simply if YOU are offended? See the difference in the direct object of the verbs “offend” (I offend you) and “offended” (You were offended by me)?

    In other words, if I intend to offend, it’s my bad. If you’re offended, that’s your problem. I can’t stop you from being offended, or not being offended.

    Robert

  7. LynnB says:

    Not a problem, Robert. Ann Coulter is a jerk but she’s not stupid. Yes, she definitely intended to offend. It’s how she makes her living.

  8. An orthodox jew says:

    Am I offended that every religion believes it’s the one true faith? Not at all.
    Am I offended by a believer expressing the opinion that the world would be better if everyone joined his/her version of the true faith? again, no. Who cares?
    Millions of christians/muslims/budhists etc. believe the same thing.
    As long as she believes in democracy and freedom of religion, she’s more than entitled to express her views.
    And yes, many orthodox rabbis will support her political positions while disagreeing with her religious beliefs.

  9. Rich T. says:

    I guess I don’t understand the vehemence against Ann Coulter. She is demonstrably pro-Israel and is only articulating what Christianity teaches in the New Testament. I understand that Jews do not believe the New Testament is true so they, of course, wouldn’t agree with her statement, but the statement itself is an articulation of a Christian belief.

    I am having a hard time thinking that you really think she said that a thousand rabbis would agree with her statement about being perfected. If they believed that, they would be Christians. She clearly meant that she had a thousand rabbis who supported her, Ann Coulter, not agreed with her statement. There is a major difference.

  10. If people close to the truth should be “perfected” … then maybe we should start a missionary effort aimed at converting Christians to Judaism.

    That’s not what Miss Coulter had in mind?

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