I hate how talking heads syllabize words and sentences. I also hate Ann Coulter. And religion.

As always, it's great to have Mann Coulter give it's opinion for all to enjoy.

And, I do feel the need to give propper credit to the makeup and hair crew, you can hardly see those horns. Now, if they could only make a bit more progress on hiding that Adams apple....

http://boskolives.wordpress.com/

She is a master self promoter... No one denies her the exposure she seeks to sell books.

The infallible plan - She makes a jackass statement; every media org in the country shouts "hey look at this jackass statement"; she laughs all the way to the bank.

Her problem is each statement must be more outrageous than the last and age is make her into a disturbing Iggy Pop look-alike

My props to 'anonymous' (great name btw) That was exactly what I was thinking. But beyond that, every time I see her I wonder if she is a transvestite. Unlike some, I don't even mean it to be derogatory. I honestly wouldn't be surprised at all.

He's/She's good at what she does though. I give her credit. Because the only idiots are the people giving her the light of day. But she uses them to her advantage. For some reason she just doesn't bug me the way O'Reilly and Limbaugh do. I think it's because no one takes her seriously. I'm not sure. Or it's because she's straight with people, she just says what's on her mind. Anyone have the same problem?

I'm going to write in defense of Ann Coulter for the first time.

I actually don't see what she said as being shocking. That she said it is.

If you are of religion A, which holds the view that only religion A is correct, doesn't it follow that religion B is incorrect (in the eyes of someone who follows religion A)? That is, it is very much a part of Christianity that Christianity is right and all other religions are wrong. History (recent and ancient) is all the evidence anyone would need to make the case that religion is a divisive force, because it is inherent in many religions that "we're right and they're wrong."

While it is seems to be of good intentions that the religious now seem to be advocating "tolerance," it seems to go against the very nature of what religion is, at least that of the major 3 religions in the world today. What Ann Coulter is doing here is merely stating the obvious...she is saying out loud what any/every Christian person feels: that their religion is the right one and everyone else is wrong.

That being said, both religions are full of shit.

"That she said it is."

One ammendment to that. That a Christian would say that outloud is "shocking." Not that she, Ann Coulter, would say it. If it get her any more attention/book sales, I'm sure she'd say/do anything.

Donny Deutsch: We should just throw Judaism awa and we should all be Christian.

Ann Coulter: Yeah...

...

Terry Jeffrey: Ann Coulter's a friend of mine and she's a good person and she's certainly not anti-Semitic...

Really?

And BTW, Mr. Jeffrey Ann Coulter is not a candidate.

I really think that we need to call bullsh*t on the Republicans when they say there is no "religious test for office" in the constitution and that as such we shouldn't bring religion into the debate.

It's true that there is no test which prevents or enables one from filing to be a candidate. And that is a wonderful thing. However, this simple lack of a filing test doesn't prevent me from taking religion into account when I decide who will get my vote.

Why is religion such a taboo subject in a political campaign to these people? Is a reasonable discussion of a person's rationality not relevant to their ability to make decisions? Am I not free to use my knowledge of a person's logicality to determine whether or not I feel that that person is capable of intelligently making decisions which, inevitably, he or she will be required to make?

I know that any Joe Schmuck can be the "decider." What I want assurance of is that my leader's decisions will be rational, based on logic and reason! So then, it is absolutely justified for me to then take my understanding of Joe's perception of the world around him into my consideration, when I decide to whom will receive my vote.

In fact, I would argue that it is intellectually lazy and quite foolish to ignore any issue concerning one's sense of consciousness. I would be negligent in my duty as a voting citizen of the republic if I didn't explore every avenue of possibility in regards to the people who will represent me and the processes by which they draw conclusions.

Decisions mean the difference between peace and war; life and death!

These people do not want to discuss religion, because they know that they will lose any argument on the subject if they are competing with factual claims. Faith is not logical. Therefore, the best response one of these zealots can give is to offer his or her own editorial opinion in the name of the almighty and to try and skirt the issue, thus moving from the realm of fact to fantasy.

Incidentally, Terry from the clip, is a prime example of the kind of person whom I would judge to not have an adequate understanding of the world around him sufficient to warrant my vote. Misconstruing a basic concept in the constitution is too grave error an error to forgive.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of people like Terry out there on both sides of the narrow political spectrum in which we reside here in the States. Some even hold office! GASP

This conversation is great.

Brian Ward, great comment. To be honest, I could care less about Anne Coulter attacking Jews . . . in fact I'm surprised Norm uploaded this to make Coulter look bad. What she says is edgy, of course . . . but i think all religious people are full of crap. So what does that say about me? She's only attacking a single religion. I hate them all.

In my opinion, Ann Coulter is one more nail in the republicans' coffin. Let her talk herself horse. She's only making the party look worse. Why waste our time bringing them down, when she's there to do it for us?

I thought it was a little comedic at the end the 'faithful christian' after boasting about his glorious beliefs bowed his head after saying 'i dont think she said anything wrong' and after he was done looked down at the table with a look of 'oh shit what have i done....'

Well... there's 10 minutes of my life I'll never get back. Thanks for posting that? 'My god is better than your god. nya nya!' And 'god forbid' we critique the precious 'chosen people' because that is the worst evil one could ever perpetrate. As much as I despise Ann, the guy interviewing her was the one putting words in her mouth. She's merely speaking to her ignorant superstitious audience just like he is. Anyway I just wasted another five minutes on this drivel. G'night.

I'm going to write in defense of Ann Coulter for the first time.

Carlito, Of all the right wing media pus-bags, I think I loathe Ann Coulter the most - she's beats out Hannity and Limbaugh by a nose. But, you know, in some sense I agree with you - though I wouldn't exactly call it a "defense" of this horror-show of human being. She is saying what I think most Christians think - indeed what they almost have to think. If the adherents of any religion believe in the precepts of that religion, don't they more or less have to think that other faiths are "imperfect"?

As for myself, I think that Santa Claus has it all over the Easter Bunny.

Every time Ann Coulter says something about what we as Christians believe she shows that she doesn't know much about Christianity. "We have certain laws, and our is that Christ died for our sins"?! Yes, one thing you can say about her is that she is stupid. Successfully selling books by being disgusting is an incredibly low bar for not being stupid.

Obviously, she should be ignored and CNN should not be doing a story about her, even to provoke outrage. There are millions of people who are ignored by CNN every day, most of whom are more interesting or newsworthy than Coulter. It's a really easy way for news organizations to distinguish politics from sideshow.

What a waste of 7 mins. and 13 secs. that was.

How about that CNN? Did anyone else notice the news concerning Afghanistan? I know I felt a twinge of guilt seeing that scroll across the screen. I guess I could turn down the volume and read the scroll. Or better yet, stop bitching and go back to watching the BBC World if I want meat-and-potatoes news.

"I'm going to write in defense of Ann Coulter for the first time." -- Carlito.
"Every time Ann Coulter says something about what we as Christians believe she shows that she doesn't know much about Christianity." -- dende blogger.

Ann Coulter merely spoke the truth: Christianity is in essence completely intolerant of Jews. And Muslims. And of any other religions. And any other Christians, who hold different opinions than themselves. That is the nature of Christianity -- and the nature of religion.

Coulter is merely crazy enough to say it, that's all.

"..at least that of the major 3 religions in the world today. "

What ARE these 3 major religions, Carlito?

Try this, at least in terms of numbers, :

http://www.adherents.com/ReligionsByAdherents.html

"What ARE these 3 major religions, Carlito?"

Thanks for pointing that out. I meant to write something indicating that I was specifically referring to the abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity & Islam) but out came that. Says something about the influence of such a small group (Jews) though, that I could even make that slip up, no?

So... didn't she just spell out what a lot of republicans think? As she says.. there's "nothing outrageous about it".

pedantsareus,

Wow, I didn't know the "None" group was that large globally. I guess I'm used to looking at U.S. statistics. What a great day.

Carlito,

I agree with your defense of Ann Coulter and was thinking about this even before reading your post: Ann Coulter isn't outrageous; she's just telling it how it is from the perspective of her religion. While I tend to dislike people who get on television and spout uncorroborated tripe from thousands of years ago, she actually falls into the same group as Westboro Baptist Church members. Although WBC bashes homosexuality and so forth, so does the Bible, so what's the problem if religion, particularly Christianity and its values, is to be respected in the United States to the degree that the majority of Americans wish it to be?

The truth is, people believe whatever they want, even people within the same religion because their view of what "God" actually is differs due to the 99.999% fact that no one has ever sensed "God" in any way. It's just more proof that there are not objective morals and that [moral] nihilism is the only logical stance: anything else falls into the realm of subjectivity and/or faith.

I doubt Ann Coulter has been to church lately. Anyway, why did I even see the clip? Like other said, she is a self-promoter that says stuff to make herself "the news." Pathetic we are all for even commenting on this piece. Why can't I stop writing this? Why do I hate this woman so much? (note to self: no more Ann Coulter until someone throws a pie in her face).

Interesting post Norm. I think it's more of a comment about how flawed religion is rather than anything about A. Coult.

I think that this comment alone could lead to the loss of the presidency for the Republicans, if journalists do the same thing they did to the democratic/moveon (now republican/coulter) connection. Let me tell you why:

The separation of church and state was widely advocated by the Baptists in this country and they supported Jefferson in his crusade to keep church separate from state. This was because they knew that if a religion was tied to the state, then it wouldn't be their religion, and they knew it would lead to religious oppression (as it had back in jolly ol' England). If a statement like this can remind everyone of the virtues of separating church from state, and how scary it is to have a blantantly religious person saying such things, we could move back to the secular state we should be. Since all the republican candidates wear their religion on their sleeve (and Obama to some extend... sheesh) this could be something the American Public will shy away from.

One can only hope

What's shocking is that Ann Coulter considers herself to be a representative for Christ.

Oh my, there's a Google Ad on the sidebar for Ann Coulter's Column.

Ann's scathing commentary emailed directly to you each week - Free!

Ann Coulter is one of America's most controversial commentators. Revered or reviled, Ann's weekly columns are packed with her trademark wit and scathing sarcasm.

"..and scathing sarcasm".

Now that's offensive.

I do wonder what the buzz would be if a democratic jewish pundit made similar comments saying something along the lines of "well, yeah Christians would be great if they cut out all that Jesus stuff, they're just botched up jews."

and I really have to comment about her view of 'heaven'. New York during the RNC? gridlock, protests, and more or less a police state with overnight arrests with no filed charges? was she even there?

New York during the RNC? gridlock, protests, and more or less a police state with overnight arrests with no filed charges? was she even there?

The really scary thing, she was. Taking women's right to vote isn't too many steps away from "overnight arrests with no filed charges". And to republicans, Protests just mean you are doing something right.

Ms. Coulter's remarks are nothing new or shocking; I grew up with the same sentiment being hurled at me for years. "Accept Jesus or burn in hell. Personal savior blah blah eternal damnation blah." This is the essence of Christianity. That's why I could never understand why the neo-con Jews suddenly embraced the so-called "Christian Zionists". Morons. I guess they deserve each other.

Bill Moyers does a great piece on the Christian Zionists: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10052007/profile.html

Strange bedfellows...

Thanks for the link, Thaddeus :)

I loved the interview piece Moyers did on Christian Zionism (the one Norm posted a few days back)with Timothy Weber and Rabbi Lerner. They both did a very thorough job of explaining the falsities and ulterior motives behind the movement. I just wish more people had seen it. Far more worthwhile than the deluded rantings of Banshee Coulter...

How messed up is CNN that they invite a guy (Terry Jeffrey) who "had no idea what Ann said" and hasn't seen the show outside of "the videos" CNN cut, from which he supposedly "can't make any judgement" about. What the hell, shouldn't we be inviting people who know what the topic is, rather then 'Yea, so I didn't know this was controversial, wow!'

"Hey, do you absolutly know for certain that AC denigrated Judaism." Idiot.

Idiot.

Major Religions of the World Ranked by Number of Adherents

If this data is true, We atheistic/secular folks do stand a fighting chance of having our voices heard.

Cirano,

Your code for the link didn't work, but from what I've seen atheistic/secular folk stand a fighting chance in most Western countries except for the United States.

One thing I've noticed, though, is that there is a a greater divide between secularists and religious folk here in the U.S. than there is in Europe. This is no doubt because of the plethora of right-wing religious zealots here in the U.S.

Lately, however, I've been meeting more moderate, or even left-wing liberal Christians here in the U.S. whose views mirror mine in most aspects, save our religious views...

Jo Ann - Christianity was never what it has become in recent years thanks to the Religious Right.

My father (an aerospace/chemical engineer)and grandmother (an incredibly smart, well-read woman) were practicing Christians and church was a place where they went to meditate, try to become better people and find comfort. I loved going to church. The organist played a lot of Bach on an amazing organ, we sang a lot, the sermon was interesting (my father would change denominations if he didn't like the minister/pastor), and people generally came out quite happy and calm. The congregation helped their elderly and sick - what is so bad about that?

Oh - and my father, my grandmother - very liberal...I imagine they drew the line at abortion but that was not a discussion I was about to have with either (you weren't supposed to have sex 'til you were married - I don't know if that was Christianity or regular protectiveness) ...I don't know what they would've thought about gay marriage but they certainly were open to gays - we had a gay relative or two and neighbors and that was just how it was. My grandmother was nothing but kind to a Jewish daughter-in-law and I was told she said to someone making a rude comment about sticking to your own kind "We are so honored to have one of Jesus's people in the family." This is what I was raised with as everyday Christianity - I don't know what it's like anymore....

Every television clip, every blog post, and yes, every comment, only serves to feed this monster we have created.

Just. Don't. Look.

If we all just ignore her, she will go away, as well she should.

The weird thing is, I feel sorry for her. She reminds me of a deluded aunt ranting politics during Thanksgiving dinner, oblivious that everyone else would like her to leave, or the very least, be quiet. I get a sense that she has deep inner sadness, and uses this personality in order to shield herself from her own insecurity.

Argh! I try to get away but they keep pulling me back in.

Just for the record, there is nothing "conservative" about this viewpoint. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if we found out years from now that this entire administration, and all their media cronies, acted in concert in a vast and obscene conspiracy to destroy the GOP.

It is clear the have done this, but they have done it so quickly, with such precision, that I'm not sure I can believe it to be accidental.

If Ann Coulter isn't getting paid by them Dem front-runners, she ought to be. She is one of the best things the Dems have going for them right now.

ANN COULTER is an important reminder of how most Christians feel deep down. The media uses her to speak to those Christians who need someone else to take the wrap for their often true hidden, extreme beliefs in Christianity and in the end she gets rich doing this.

Making jokes about Coulter's unfeminine appearence is 100% HOMOPHOBIC. People who consider themselves progressive but continue to debase Coulter with insults based on her not looking heterosexually female enough is disrespectful for those who live outside the realm of stereotypical roles of gender. And it's cheap.

Norm and everybody else, Ignore Ann Coulter and she will go away. Republicans just love it when she gets under your skin. Ann is like that 12 year kid who never pays attention in class so bugs the hell out of others to get their immature jollies. You guys just feed into her. That is pretty sad you are falling in her trap.