Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of
the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.
Remember Ann Coulter?
Thought so. You remember her, but when you hear the name perhaps you think, “Oh,
yeah. I used to really like her. She was very popular.”
Then maybe you scratch your head, squint your eyes, and
think back, “Didn’t she say something like “Jews need to be perfected?”
In fact, that is exactly what Ann Coulter said in 2007 to
CNN’s Donny Deutsch, who clearly identified himself as Jewish during the course
of their conversation on “The Big Idea.” Coulter said, just as clearly, that
all Jews should be Christian and that Christians are “perfected Jews.”
Here’s the transcript in full:
DEUTSCH: Let me ask you a question. We're going to get off strengths and weakness for a second. If you had your way, and all of your - forget that any of them -
COULTER: I like this.
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: UMMMMM (pause) ... 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…
Break
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…Break
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….
Break
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.
After a commercial break, the conversation continued.
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 (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.
Why bring up Ann Coulter’s perfected Jew comments now, 17 years on? For one thing, to gloat. She pretty much dropped off the radar after that. Her followers just fell off in droves. I can’t even remember the last time I saw a mention of her. What Coulter had said was just too gross and disrespectful; she had crossed all lines of decency and as a result, repelled her audience.
But there’s another reason for bringing up Ann Coulter’s “perfected
Jews” comment. Last week, some readers were disturbed by my suggestion that Mike
Huckabee, Trump’s choice as ambassador to Israel, and Pete Hegseth, slated to
become secretary of defense, avoid making public pronouncements comparing
Judaism to Christianity and just do their jobs.
By the same token, I had urged Israel to resist speaking of shared
or “Judeo-Christian”
values during official events or meetings with Huckabee or Hegseth. We don’t
need to bring these things in and they don’t belong. We should all of us stick
to policy and steer clear of discussing religion.
That is the polite and respectful thing to do.
Both men—Huckabee or Hegseth—appear to be sensitive to Jewish
sensibilities, beliefs, and rights. I have never heard either of them make a
peep about the things we supposedly “share.” They are careful never to cross
the line, no doubt more so than our Israeli leaders, who in their panting
desire to have someone, anyone, like us, do sometimes get carried away and wax
lyrical about what Jews and Christians share. But this kind of talk is inappropriate,
no matter who does it.
It’s as simple as this: We don’t need to talk about
everything. In matters of faith, people make a choice. Christianity and Judaism are diametrically opposed theologies. According to Jewish belief, God gave the
Torah to the Jews, who are very clearly told that the Torah is everything, and
that it is perfect and eternal. Christians, on the other hand, believe that the
Torah, in and of itself, is unfinished, imperfect, and so they added to it.
This, of course, is an oversimplification. But on the face
of it, it must be acknowledged that we obviously do not share anything. Jews
say the Torah is enough. Christians say it is not. It seems obvious that if Christians
adopted the Torah, it is already not the Torah, but something vastly different
because of the great yawning chasm between these two religions—viewed by one as
perfect, and by the other as imperfect. But that doesn’t mean we have to talk about
it. We don’t have to talk about it at all.
Ann Coulter, quite frankly, is an idiot, trying to be provocative.
Telling a Jew that Jews need perfecting got her canceled, as it should have
done. The things she said needn’t and shouldn’t have been said and aren’t by
people of good character. At the same time, we don’t have to pretend that our
religions are alike. We don’t have to say all this narishkeit* about the
things we supposedly “share.” It’s dishonest.
No. We can't share our faiths, but together we can engage in polite, productive discussion and do good things for the world. That much is plenty for me, and likely enough for Mike Huckabee and Pete Hegseth, as well. But it wasn't enough
for Ann Coulter the provocateur, who with her uncivil tongue, rendered herself utterly irrelevant.
*Foolishness
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