"I don't think you should take it that way, but that is what Christians consider themselves: perfected Jews...This is what Christians consider themselves, because our testament is the continuation of your testament…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”. – Ann Coulter, CNBC, 8 Oct 2007 interview.

Ann Coulter considers Christians to be “perfected Jews”. She made this statement in October 2007 during the course of an interview with Donny Deutsch during his CNBC show, where they were discussing her new book, “If Democrats Had Any Brains, They’d Be Republicans”. She also expressed a belief that America would be better off if everyone were Christian. This resulted in the host, who is Jewish, claiming to be “highly offended” at her “hateful, anti-Semitic” rhetoric. Since then she has been the focal point of article after article on the left, slamming her for anti-Semitism, hate-speech, and every other fill-in-the-blank liberal libel label you can imagine.

For Ann, this is nothing new of course. She has never been shy about tweaking liberals as the title of this latest book (or any of her other books) will attest. But anti-Semitic?

Antisemitism, as defined in Wikipedia, is “discrimination, hostility or prejudice directed at Jews. The instances of anti-Semitism range from individual hatred to institutionalized, violent persecutions.” There is quite a bit more; you can click the link and read about it if you like.

Now I can understand a bit of sensitivity on the part of Jews. It hasn’t been so long since the Holocaust, and throughout history that has hardly been an isolated incident, even if not quite as systematic and dehumanizing as the destruction wrought by the Third Reich. But there is a difference between believing that America (or the world) would be a better place if everyone were Christian and forcing everyone to be Christian. The one does not presuppose the other.

You would have to be in serious denial to believe that Christianity does not derive from Judaism. We share the Old Testament. Christ himself was a Jew, as were his Apostles. The Gospel was first preached to the Jews before it was brought to the Gentiles. The prophesies concerning the coming of the Messiah are found in the Old Testament. The main difference between Jews and Christians is that Christians know that the Messiah has already come for the first time and are awaiting His second coming; Jews are still waiting for Him to arrive the first time.

The Bible states that the Jews are God’s chosen people. Nowhere in the New Testament is this rescinded. Nevertheless, ultimately, the Jews will have to accept Christ, because only through him can they be saved. Christians believe that this will happen. Not by force, but because they will eventually come to know that he is indeed the Messiah. God has not and never will turn His back on His chosen people.

That is not to say there have not been Christians who are or were anti-Semitic. There are those who have accused Jews of being “Christ killers”, and who have used this as an excuse for persecution. This shows muddled thinking. Christ’s death on the cross was a temporary thing, necessary for Mankind to be saved. Had he not died, had the crowd instead chosen Barabbas to die instead, where then would be our salvation?

Besides, He is not dead, He is risen! That is the “good news for modern man”, isn’t it? Far from being “Christ killers” and condemned, the Jews should be celebrated as the enablers of our salvation. Perhaps that is part of their Chosen status; to be the people that enabled the atonement to take place; to usher in a new age of mankind. Who else would have done it? Certainly not Pontius Pilate; he sentenced Christ to the cross only after the crowd insisted he be crucified and then he washed his hands of everything. The Jews sentenced Christ to die, not Pilate, who would not have done so if he had perceived any other choice.

And yet, the sacrifice had to be made. Had Christ died from an accident, or from disease, or at home in bed of old age, there would have been no atonement; no salvation for mankind. He might be remembered as a wise teacher, or perhaps even as a prophet (if he was remembered at all), but he would not have been the Savior. What happened had to happen; it was foreordained from the creation of the world.

As Christians, Christ is our example; we are to strive to be like Him. At no time did Christ condemn the Jews. And if He did not, how can we?

If Christ had wanted to curse the Jews, he could easily have done so at any time before his death. But what did he say instead? “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

Make no mistake about it, the Jews have indeed been cursed. They have had their nation stripped from them. They have been broken up and sent hither and yon to the four corners of the Earth. They have been beaten and scourged as a people. They have been discriminated against, undergone pogroms, and have been murdered by the millions. And yet, they have remained. The curses they have undergone have not been curses by God, or his son Jesus Christ, but rather they have been cursed by men. And throughout all the abuse that man has heaped upon them, the Jews still remain. Their faith still remains. God’s promises to them still remain. The curses of men, terrible as they might have been throughout history and terrible as they still may be, are no match for the promises of God. The Jewish people remain.

To me they are an inspiration. A sign from God of his existence and the power of the covenants he has made with his people.

I agree with Ann. I think the world would be better off if we all were Christians. Being a Christian, how could I possibly think otherwise? If I thought the Buddhism the correct path to God, then I would think the world a better place if we were all Buddhist. Or likewise if I were Hindu, or Shinto, or Muslim, or Jewish.

If I say that I think you would be a better person if you were a Christian, that does not mean that I am going to force you to become Christian, or that if I had my way you would have to become Christian or else, or that you are a bad person or there is something wrong with you because you are not Christian. It does not mean that I am going to discriminate against you because you are not Christian.

Conservative Christians of America, wake up! This isn’t aimed just at Ann Coulter, this is aimed squarely at you! And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

What true Christian doesn’t believe that the path to heaven leads through Christ? If you don’t believe that, then why even be a Christian in the first place? The New Testament states:

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” - John 3:14-18, King James Version

It seems pretty plain to me.

And yet, according to the left, accepting this philosophy automatically means that you hate those who do not share your beliefs. It isn’t just Ann Coulter, it’s anyone who believes that people would be better off as Christians. Brit Hume recently made a similar comment regarding Tiger Woods, a Buddhist, and got a similar raking over the coals by the media. With regard to Tiger’s recent marital problems, Mr. Hume said

“The extent to which he can recover seems to me depends on his faith. He is said to be a Buddhist. I don’t think that faith offers the kind of redemption and forgiveness offered by the Christian faith. My message to Tiger is, Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.”

The media among other things, pointed to the “irony” of Hume’s statement, citing recent sex scandals encountered by an assortment of Christian politicians; as if individual Christians acting outside the bounds of their expressed faith had anything to do with the underlying philosophy expressed by Hume.

Talk about a firestorm. Brit Hume’s comments triggered one. As he put it, later on the O’Reilly show, “You speak the name Jesus Christ, and, I don’t mean to make a pun here, but all hell breaks loose.”

A quick Google of the phrase “tiger woods better off becoming Christian”, the phrase I used, resulted in 2,730,000,000 hits. Granted, many of these probably consisted of hits on any one or combinations of the phrase; some probably had to do with tigers and some probably had to do with trees, but still, many were on topic. I only looked at the first 30. The responses from the left were particularly strident, with Keith Olbermann, to no one’s surprise, accusing Hume of “trying to force Tiger Woods into becoming a Christian”. Really Keith? Are your hearing, reading, and reasoning skills really that poor? Once again, we see that theme, so common from the left, that if you disagree with my position you are “forcing” me to accept your position.

So the response is the same. Ann Coulter expresses her opinion that the world would be a better place if everyone were Christian, and her host happens to be Jewish. Ergo, Coulter is anti-Semitic. Brit Hume expresses his opinion that Tiger Wood might be better off converting to Christianity, and he is labeled as a holier than thou Christian bigot. The only thing that keeps him from getting the equivalent label with regard to Buddhism as the word “anti-Semite” is to Judaism is that no such word, at present, exists.

Why is it so surprising that Christians might think the world would be a better place if everyone were Christian? Why is there not a similar outcry when radical Muslims say that not only would the world be better off if everyone converted to Islam, but that ultimately every knee will bend to Islam, by force of death if necessary?

As for the Jews, they aren’t asking anyone to convert to Judaism. After thousands of years of persecution, they just want to be left alone.