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The current Ann Coulter controversy stems from unscripted and clumsy responses to obnoxious questioning by CNBC host Donny Deutsch. When discussing her vision for a better America, she described a country where everyone would be patriotic and “Christian.” When the host bristled (inevitably and appropriately) at that ill-considered, off-hand remark, she allowed that, like other Christians, she wanted Jews someday “to be perfected.” Under subsequent attack she refused (in the best Coulter tradition) to back down. This exchange drew condemnation from nearly all of the leading Jewish organizations in the United States, but the outrage provoked by her remarks – one typical columnist, Florie Brizel called her “a poison-filled hate monger” – seems utterly inappropriate for two reasons.
First, any American Jew who doesn’t already understand that sincere Christians want the whole world ultimately to come to Christ – including us – is an ignorant fool. Yes, Christianity believes in converting people: and most of us received that memo about 2000 years ago. The proper response to the declaration that Christians want all of humanity to become Christian shouldn't be outrage or indignation; it ought to be, "Duh!" If your friends or neighbors seek to share with you the greatest gift they've ever received, it's not usually a sign that they hate you; in fact, it's very likely an indication that they love you.
Second, the Jewish people face far more serious enemies today than those who seek to share the joy and fulfilment of their faith. Millions of Muslims want to kill us, Jimmy Carter wants to smear Israel as an “apartheid state,” and Professors Walt and Mearsheimer claim that a Jewish conspiracy dominates American policy. In this context, the rage against a pro-Israel, pro-American, anti-Jihad commentator like Coulter is wildly misguided. After all, in the same conversation on CNBC she allowed that in her view of "heaven" all Democrats would be "like Joe Lieberman" (the most famous religious Jew in America) and affirmed that she believes, with the late Jerry Falwell, that Jews certainly have our own place in heaven.
Actually, I don't worry about Ann Coulter making the final determination about my entry into the afterlife: even though I've always considered her an ally, a kindred spirit and a personal friend. But I do worry, intensely, about the suicidal tendency of some leaders in our community to try to make enemies out of sympathetic commentators like Ann Coulter, who supports policies and values that will help to ensure Jewish survival, while giving a "pass" to open anti-Israel fanatics on the left like Michael Moore, Cindy Sheehan, Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader, as well as senior Democrats in Congress like John Conyers, John Dingell ("there's no difference between Israel and Hezbollah"), David Obey, Nick Rahall and many more.
Actually, I dearly wish I could agree with some of the hysterical over-reaction and say that Ann Coulter reprsented the "world's most dangerous anti-Semite" -- because if that were true, it would be an indication that we are safer, more secure and with fewer enemies than at any time in our long history. Unfortunately, we have many adversaries who menace our present and future far more substantially than Christian conservatives who help to lead the ideological fight against Islamo-Nazis and anti-religious bigots.
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