This past spring I watched with troubled fascination an appearance by Ann Coulter on The 700 Club. Her segment was hosted by Pat Robertson’s son, Gordon, who basically gave her a soapbox to espouse her views without being challenged in any way. Based upon some of her very un-Christian utterances over the years, I was hoping that Robertson would bring up a few of her comments and ask her how she could reconcile her Christian faith with some of the nastier comments she’d made. Unfortunately, this moment never materialized.Ms. Coulter, as many know, is famous for such controversial comments as:
"The ethic of conservation is the explicit abnegation of man's dominion over the Earth. The lower species are here for our use. God said so: Go forth, be fruitful, multiply, and rape the planet—it's yours. That's our job: drilling, mining and stripping. Sweaters are the anti-Biblical view. Big gas-guzzling cars with phones and CD players and wet bars—that's the Biblical view."
This next comment, made on September 12, 2001 and referring to the terrorists' act of the previous day, sounds like something an Islamic extremist would say, simply by changing 'Christianity' to 'Islam':
"We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity."
"My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times building."
"If you don't hate Clinton and the people who labored to keep him in office, you don't love your country."
And here’s an odd thing for her to say, since she doesn’t seem to operate by this "incidental tenet":
"Being nice to people is, in fact, one of the incidental tenets of Christianity—as opposed to other religions whose tenets are more along the lines of 'kill everyone who doesn't smell bad and doesn't answer to the name Mohammed'."
And of course, as an Episcopalian, my personal favorite:
“The Episcopals don't demand much in the way of actual religious belief. They have girl priests, gay priests, gay bishops, gay marriages—it's much like The New York Times editorial board. They acknowledge the Ten Commandments—or "Moses' talking points"—but hasten to add that they're not exactly "carved in stone."
I can only suppose that Robertson’s reluctance to question her inflammatory comments stems from the fact that his own father once made a similar comment about Episcopalians, stating: "You say you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist." (Pat Robertson, The 700 Club, January 14, 1991).
So why is Ann Coulter, who claims to be a Christian, so militant in her beliefs? And yes, militant is the right word here. The dictionary defines the adjective militant as "combative and aggressive in support of a political or social cause." This description clearly fits Ms. Coulter’s modus operandi. Before I go much farther, I should point out that on the whole, Ann Coulter is very bright, well-educated and articulate. When you read what she has to say, quite a bit of it is based upon a sound core idea. It’s just that she feels compelled to surround these good ideas with cheap shots and nastiness that go far beyond the point she’s trying to make. Does she just do it to sell books? I’m sure that’s a huge part of it, but she’s also stated for the record that she firmly believes everything she says, and that’s what should concern people who call themselves Christian yet enjoy the commentary of Ann Coulter.
Let’s look at her comment about being nice to people, which she calls "one of the incidental tenets of Christianity." Incidental? Last time I checked, that was the primary message, and it entails much more than just "being nice." In fact, Christ calls it part of the two most important commandments in Matthew 22:37-40, when He tells the Pharisees: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Nowhere in that statement can I find anything that suggests Christ’s words are to be regarded as an "incidental" tenet of the faith. In fact, what He has done is to take the Old Testament Law of Moses, and refined it into two commandments that, if followed truthfully, can help us to live up to the commandments and laws of the Old Testament, laws that only He is capable of fulfilling. To say that being nice to people is an "incidental tenet” of Christianity is to ignore the importance of Christ’s statement, which makes it crystal clear that all the Old Testament laws are refined and superseded by these two new commandments. And that brings me to her derogatory and untrue comments about Episcopalians.
I happen to be an Episcopalian, and I know firsthand from practicing my faith that it’s very Christ-centered and focuses heavily on the Gospels for a very important reason: the Gospels, which quote Christ extensively, are the Word of God made flesh in the person of Christ. Here we have God walking among us, assuming our nature, and telling us that the Mosaic Laws can only be fulfilled in Him, and that when we measure ourselves by these laws, we’re often prone to judging others for not getting them right. Therefore, we receive salvation through grace alone, and not through works or any attempts to strictly follow the O.T. Laws.
Has Ms. Coulter lived up to all 613 of the Old Testament Laws, or “Moses’s talking points,” as she sarcastically calls them? I’m certain she hasn’t. I doubt that she’s even been able to keep many of the Ten Commandments. Has she ever worked on a Sunday? If she has, she’s broken a major commandment. Has she ever borne false witness? Just read her comments above, and decide for yourself. Has she always treated her parents with utmost respect? If she hasn’t, she’s broken another major commandment. Has she ever just had to have something, like a new pair of shoes, a car, a dress...and then went out and bought it even though she didn’t need it? If she has, she’s coveted, and she’s broken another major commandment. Has she ever been involved in a physical relationship outside of marriage? If she has, then she’s broken another major commandment, because any physical relationship outside of the bonds of marriage is considered adultery. Has she ever enjoyed lobster or shrimp? If she has, she’s committed an “abomination” in the eyes of God, and broken another Old Testament law.
I could go on, but you get the point. And that’s the problem with so much of some Christians’ militant mixing of faith and politics. It’s hypocritical to adopt a political stance against anything on the basis of religious laws while ignoring your own infractions of them. In essence, quite a few prominent and public Christians have become somewhat like the Pharisees. Remember them? They received Christ’s scorn for holding themselves up as righteous examples while looking down their noses at those who didn't live up to the Law, those who couldn't seem to "get it right." The fact of the matter is that we all get it wrong (myself included), so much of the time. It doesn’t matter whether you’re liberal or conservative, we’re all sinners and we need to humbly concede this critical point. Because of it, we're denied the right to judge others. Ms. Coulter seems to believe she’s above this distinction, and lives a very public and professional life that strongly conflicts with her personal claim to be a devout follower of Christ.
And as for her comments about Episcopalians, they certainly don’t apply to the large majority of Episcopalians, who are devout and take their faith quite seriously. In fact, I doubt she could site any sources for her comments as I've never heard of any prominent Episcopalian commenting that the Ten Commandments were merely suggestions. It’s uninformed and unfounded comments like these, tinged with a very real nastiness, that have turned off many Christians to her books. I find it sad, however, that many are still so supportive of someone who publicly attacks others, treats them in a very un-Christlike manner while claiming to believe everything she says, and therefore feels not the slightest need to humble herself or ask forgiveness for her many public transgressions against other children of God, be they liberal, conservative...or heaven forbid, of a different faith than her own.
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