The Gospel of Ann Coulter

by Mark P. Shea

10/13/07

Display Full Article/Printer Friendly | Send to a Friend St. Paul tells us that it was Jesus who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, pastors, and teachers. So far as I can tell, however, there is no office in the Church of "Professional Bomb Thrower." That's just one of the reasons I don't turn to Ann Coulter as a source of Christian theology.   Some people do, though. And when that happens, the results can be most unfortunate. Recently, Donny Deutsch invited Coulter on his CNBC show The Big Idea for a segment called "Being Extreme Makes Millions." To no one's astonishment but Deutsch's, Coulter said some extreme things, which shows once again that many in the media seem to have the naïveté of children who poke sleeping dogs with sticks and are stunned to find they bite. What, after all, did he expect?   Coulter gave her vision of a Happy America: It would "look like New York City during the Republican National Convention" in 2004. "People were happy. They're Christian. They're tolerant. They defend America."   Here, Deutsch, who is Jewish, asked if she thought "we should all be Christian." Coulter said yes.   It is here that the extreme impoverishment of the media on such matters immediately began to be manifest on both sides of the conversation, but especially Coulter's. Deutsch is astonished, apparently unaware that it was Jesus, not Coulter, who said to make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Had Coulter simply pointed that out and moved on, what happened next could have been avoided. But Ann being Ann, that wasn't going to happen. So instead the train wreck begins: 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.   Here, the theologically educated Christian begins to feel his teeth hurt. Part of the problem, it seems to me, is that Coulter can't quite remember who she's talking to. Her shtick is bashing all those godless relativist liberals who just make up morality as they go along. Here, she seems to be reverting to that rhetoric and forgetting that she is talking to a Jewish person. That, at any rate, is all I can make of her mysterious observation, "You have to obey." She seems to be berating "the hell with rules" liberalism while forgetting that Judaism is, after all, rather notable for endorsing obedience to God and doesn't need Ann Coulter to point that out. But she was just getting started. During the break, she seems to have sensed things hadn't gone according to plan, so she asked for a chance to explain her comments to Deutsch, who asked if she didn't think her comment 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.   Ann, Ann, Ann. Stick to politics. Christians are not "perfected Jews." It is true that Christian teaching (I speak as a Catholic) says that the New Covenant in Christ Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Covenant vouchsafed to Israel, and that Jesus is the Messiah promised to the Jewish people. It is even true that Christians are, therefore, in the words of Pope Pius XI, "spiritual Semites." But the notion that Christians are "perfected" is cringe worthy. Christians are sinners, just as Jews, Englishmen, Hottentots, and Eskimos are. Only the saints in Heaven are "perfected." Prev - Next >> Page 1 2