Religion, Nationalism, and Terror

Query for Rev. Coulter: Is the Pope Catholic?, Media Matters, June 7, 2006

In Ann Coulter’s world — as described in her new book Godless: The Church of Liberalism (Crown Forum) — Jews are Christians, but apparently Episcopalians are not.

A footnote on Page 3 of the book reads: “Throughout this book, I often refer to Christians and Christianity because I am a Christian and I have a fairly good idea of what they believe, but the term is intended to include anyone who subscribes to the Bible of the God of Abraham, including Jews and others.” [emphasis added]

Yes, you read that correctly. As far as Coulter is concerned, Jews are Christians. Mazel tov!

As for Episcopalians, they might be disheartened to learn that they will not be welcoming their newly Christian Jewish friends into the brotherhood of Christ, because they don’t quite measure up as a church. Coulter writes on Page 5, “Howard Dean left the Episcopal Church — which is barely even a church — because his church, in Montpelier, Vermont, would not cede land for a bike path.” [emphasis added]

On CNBC’s The Big Idea, Coulter said that “we” Christians “just want Jews to be perfected”, Media Matters, October 10, 2007

During the October 8 edition of CNBC’s The Big Idea, host Donny Deutsch asked right-wing pundit Ann Coulter: “If you had your way … and your dreams, which are genuine, came true … what would this country look like?” Coulter responded, “It would look like New York City during the [2004] Republican National Convention. In fact, that’s what I think heaven is going to look like.” She described the convention as follows: “People were happy. They’re Christian. They’re tolerant. They defend America.” Deutsch then asked, “It would be better if we were all Christian?” to which Coulter responded, “Yes.” Later in the discussion, Deutsch said to her: “[Y]ou said we should throw Judaism away and we should all be Christians,” and Coulter again replied, “Yes.” When pressed by Deutsch regarding whether she wanted to be like “the head of Iran” and “wipe Israel off the Earth,” Coulter stated: “No, we just want Jews to be perfected, as they say. … That’s what Christianity is.

Fatah uses ‘morality police’ to burnish image | csmonitor.com, October 11, 2007

Ramallah, West Bank - With a red armband identifying himself as “morality police,” Lt. Ameen Theeti describes his job of the past few weeks as combing the streets of central Ramallah to maintain both “public order” and “tradition.”

The new Palestinian Authority (PA) outfit’s mission has been to bust anyone caught violating the fast during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month ending this week. That means potential arrests and jail time for simply chewing gum.

Although the enforcement of Ramadan customs is common in the Arab world, this is the first time the PA has instructed police to look for offenders. It’s a move seen here as an effort by Fatah to compete with Hamas – seen by many Palestinians as the more pious and less corrupt Palestinian faction – for the hearts and minds of West Bankers.

“If we catch anyone eating or smoking in a public area, we take their identification and we bring them to an interrogation center,” says Lieutenant Theeti.

Karpel, Parallel lives, Haaretz, October 7, 2007

One of the study’s most shocking findings is that the soldiers enjoyed the intoxication of power no less than the kick they got from the violence. “At one point or another of their service, the majority of the interviewees enjoyed [inflicting] violence,” Yishai-Karin observes in the thesis. “They enjoyed the violence because it broke the routine and they liked the destruction and the chaos. They also enjoyed the feeling of power in the violence and the sense of danger.”

Testimony: “The truth? When there is chaos and like that, I like it. That’s when I enjoy it. It’s like a drug. If I don’t go into Rafah and if there isn’t some kind of riot once in some week, I go nuts.”

Another soldier: “The most important thing is that it removes the burden of the law from you. You feel that you are the law. You are the law. You are the one who decides … As though from the moment you leave the place that is called Eretz Yisrael [the Land of Israel] and go through the Erez checkpoint into the Gaza Strip, you are the law. You are God.”