Yeah but you expect that of Ann Coulter, right? I mean every time she's on TV she says something moronic, and yet people continue to book her, only to be SHOCKED at what comes out of her mouth.

The problem isn't really Ann Coulter as it is the TV show that continues to give her attention, money, and a soapbox, only to be stunned when she does what she always does.

What image would Ann conjure up, whilst striving for perfection?

Quoted from "swingsteve"
But Marcelo, she wouldn't be booked on these shows and sell so many books if there weren't people out there who feel and believe as she does. I mean she said it herself in that interview that she gives speeches to large church organizations all the time. So obviously there's a large segment of society here in the U.S. that feels as she does even though they might not admit it in public. So it's important to expose people like her, to not let them hover about in the shadows of society whispering in influential people's ears.

That is true. I don't have any problems with her publishing a book or anything. But why are folks so eager to give her a soapbox? She's not the head of state of a major nation like Iran, she's a pundit, for chrissakes. She gets a free pass the likes of which no one else gets. The last time a liberal said something mildly inflammatory in a newspaper ad there was legislation passed to condemn it.

I seriously doubt she pulls the kind of credibility she used to, even in conservative circles. Her last book has tanked in popularity, and I don't believe her claims of speaking to large churches across the country.

I won't condemn the networks who put her on TV, but I will say I wish those networks used a little more common sense.

That's "hatemonger." :wink:

Quoted from "Just Jesse"
Thanks, Ann, you scrawny loud-mouth sh!t-for-brains. My religion suits me just fine.

I wouldn't read too much into this. Jews excepted (they do not proselytize), it is normal and fine for anyone of religion X to believe that X is the one "true" faith, and to want everyone else to switch to religion X as well. Indeed, such statements declare your faith and can be taken as a statement of love towards those not of your faith.

Perhaps the analogy is imperfect, but think of a cat dragging in a dead roach or mouse for you to eat. Even if you are indeed repelled, does the cat really mean hatred when he offers you that?

Nor does it imply, as the interviewer was pathetically trying to do, that she feels that anyone who does not convert should be killed. The interviewer appeared to be trying to create problems by tieing her statements to the President of Iran, although Ann and the PoI have absolutely nothing in common.

As an apparently devout Christian, Ann will declare "yes" if you ask her if all non-Christians (not just Jews) should convert. That logically means that she feels there should be no other religion but Christianity. Muslims will say the same thing about their religion. Such comments should be considered fair game--otherwise, are we going to start hating nuns who feel everyone should be Catholic next?

Glen

Actually, I agree with Coulter when she said to Deutsch "I don't know if you've been paying attention." And honestly, I think he's the one carrying a chip on his shoulder and if we all step away from our "hate", "prejudice" or "pity" for Ms. Coulter, one might see where this argument is coming from.

I just want to go on record as saying I don't agree with this christians are perfected jews nonsense. Perhaps we (and protestants are big on this) attempt to better ourselves morally and spiritually, we understand that there was only one perfect man, and he died on the cross for our iniquities. Calling ourselves perfect anything is an error unless we are to say we are perfect sinners in which case it's probably true. WWJD? That's probably why we are called christians, to be more like him is the key to our faith. Would Jesus want the Jews to come to Him? Sure, would he call for the destruction of those who chose not too? Absolutely not, but that's for another discussion on what's the gift of free will is really about?

I think Deutsch's composure was lost when he made a comparison of Coulter to the Iranian president where she dead panned him with a truth, he's not a christian. He then continued with the destruction of Israel, which she never said and it became a christian vs. jew celebrity death match thereafter.

I'm speaking from the POV of a practicing christian who's far from perfect and lived more years as a non believer than one, and I say Mr. Deutsch, stop reading into it with with what is not there.

I do not agree with Coulter's religious views, but I understand she's a pundit and stirs up a lot of controversy. Making an opinion that we should all be christians is far from saying the destruction of Israel. If we keep what was said in and what we want to read of it out, it probably will still be an absurb thing to say, but definity nothing so explosive.

just my two cents.

Taking a step back - I can't think of a religion that says this is the way it is but it's OK for other people to think differently.

That said I remember one of the last people I met on match.com years ago and I were having a discussion a year after 9-11. I made a comment that the world needs to be more tolerant of other people and religion for there to be peace. She responded that there needed to be more charity. It seemed like an off comment until I really looked at the various definitions and through a bit more discussion I realized that she was talking about one of the least common forms of 'charity.' In effect converting everyone to Christianity which would eliminate any sort of wars or negative feelings towards one another.

In one sense - yes. If everyone on earth was converted to any one religion (pick yer poison) most probably there wouldn't be wars based on various religions.

However people would find other things to fight about. On top of that it's completely and utterly impracticable to conceive of converting everyone to one religion. It's been tried a few times with horrible consequences.

I understand why some people will look towards such simplistic and unrealistic solutions, but it makes me sad that they can't work towards inclusive solutions instead.

Quoted from "Air"

Quoted from "Holiday"
I'm speaking from the POV of a practicing christian who's far from perfect and lived more years as a non believer than one <snip>

That and you think she's hot :lol: ducks

yes, I was being an ass, itwasn't the first time and it won't be the last. :spineyes:

Quoted from "Atalanta"

Quoted from "Air"
Taking a step back - I can't think of a religion that says this is the way it is but it's OK for other people to think differently.

Hinduism, as told me by a few Hindu priests. Tolerance/acceptance of others is essential. And it's monotheistic, contrary to popular (ie Western) belief. The icons reflect faces of a single God-idea, not different gods, as in the Greco-Roman pantheon.

Yep. An analogy is sort of: all roads lead to Rome, and as long as you're headed toward Rome, you'll get there.

I love Ann Coulter. She has a talent for making conservatives look bad. I know it is wicked of me, but that just makes me happy. :evil:

And, BTW, I was raised in a Christian family where we were taught to be tolerant of others, and not to assume other religions were wrong just because they didn't look like ours on the face of things. Most religions teach that it's impossible for imperfect humans to completely know God, so who are we to say that our view of religion is more right than someone else's?

Quoted from "mousethief"
Jesus, people listen to yourselves. She's a bigot, a hateful bigot. Stop parsing her words to justify her lunacy.

I think a sort of plausible denyability is the center to all of these inflamatory pundit's careers. Basically, you can say anything as hateful as you like as long as there is some angle through which the words could be viewed as harmless or as "just an opinion". So with something like this interview you are left with the question of whether she is like most mainline Christians where it would be preferred that everybody convert of their own free will but nobody's going to force an inquisition, or whether she's saying that people should either convert or be kicked out of the country or possibly even be eliminated.

If you carefully look at her words, there's enough day light to say the first, but if you look at the totality of everything she says, there's a subtext that indicates that she's probably more interested in the latter, she just won't come out and say it. Oh, she'll go right up to the line, but without the skill to keep the plausible denyability intact, she'd just be another skinhead blathering on some pirate radio station in Ohio or something.

So we're left here shocked wondering if she's just a "tellin' it straight" Christian or a cryptonazi. But, to be honest, she's the non-internet media equivalent of a troll. The best thing to do is just ignore the hell our of her. It might pay to be aware of her and those who might agree, but don't waste your outrage on a troll.

I don't see the point to even commenting about Coulter except to say that the fact that she's still given airtime proves that there's no news on TV anymore.

Also she's not hot. Seriously, what's with the monkey paw?

So on to the real stuff:

Quoted from "Air"
Taking a step back - I can't think of a religion that says this is the way it is but it's OK for other people to think differently.

First, you need to realize that the way basically every religion is written/intended, and the way they're practiced, often have little in common.

That being said, even "officially" (i.e. what the current followers say, not just what's found in the holy books themselves):

Judaism doesn't seek converts.

Islam is accepting of other religions, though it feels that peace and freedom of religion can only happen if the others are subservient to an Islamic state (at least that's what it says in the Hamas charter). Yeah, that's a bit of a contradiction, but like I said, this is the "official" stance of those that practice, not necessarily original intent.

Buddhism doesn't actually conflict directly with any religions and is really more of a practice, which can be blended with other religions.

And that's without even getting into the questions about what the teachers of these religions originally intended (like how it's pretty clear Jesus didn't intend killing, torture, and Pat Robertson).

Quoted from "Atalanta"
Hinduism, as told me by a few Hindu priests. Tolerance/acceptance of others is essential. And it's monotheistic, contrary to popular (ie Western) belief. The icons reflect faces of a single God-idea, not different gods, as in the Greco-Roman pantheon.

Actually there is an interpretation of Greek Mythology which talks about Zeus being the highest level of the universe, and all other gods/men/worlds being contained within him. Much like Hinduism. Unfortunately we don't really have Greek version of the Bhagavad Gita, which makes it really clear in Hinduism, however in some works of Plato, like The Republic, Socrates does often refer simply to "god", not "the gods".

Quoted from "Atalanta"

Quoted from "Air"
Taking a step back - I can't think of a religion that says this is the way it is but it's OK for other people to think differently.

Hinduism, as told me by a few Hindu priests. Tolerance/acceptance of others is essential. And it's monotheistic, contrary to popular (ie Western) belief. The icons reflect faces of a single God-idea, not different gods, as in the Greco-Roman pantheon.

Agreed.

Yes, that is the belief of the Upanishads; there is only a single supreme reality in existence and that is called Brahman. Brahman is the One that should be sought and the ultimate revelation of the Upanishad is that the self (atman) is Brahman. Therefore, life should be spent not on rituals and offerings to the gods, but on deep meditation on the self until the truth is revealed (most likely in death.)

Ann Coulter is disgusting. What a freaking moron.

Quoted from "Glen"
Just because she's a nasty person doesn't mean we should be allowed to smear her as a terrorist or a child molester, or that honest people should not come to her defense when that occurs.

Seriously? That's the angle you want to take here? That Ann Coulter of all people is being smeared? Wow.

Hell, even if it was technically true, if you're going to talk about people being smeared, there are a whoooole lot of other people more deserving of your outrage.