I saw an interesting article about Ann Coulter appearing on TV on the "Big Idea" recently. She created quite a controversy by telling the host, who is Jewish, that the world would be a better place if everyone in it was Christian. She even invited the host to come to church with her!
I couldn't help but laugh as I read the article just from all the fuss that she stirred up.
What I particularly enjoyed was the flustered reaction of the host. He went on and on about how he thought that she was an educated woman, that is, until hearing her say these things. He called Ann Coulter uneducated and hateful for saying that everyone in the world needed to be a Christian, including Jews like himself.
Now I'm not going to defend what Ms. Coulter had to say; nor am I going to disagree with her. I didn't see the interview and don't know where she stands on the issues. I really don't even know anything about Ms. Coulter herself. But I do find it interesting that a professing Christian who tries to take a stand on what the Bible says (regardless of whether or not we would agree with everything that Ann Coulter said) would be perceived as uneducated or hateful. Why would it be hateful to want the best thing for someone? Why would it be hateful not to let a person live a lifestyle that, though they prefer it, is actually not for their good? Love, by definition, means doing what is best for the beloved. If we use that definition, what Ann Coulter was doing was actually NOT hateful but the essence of love itself! Whether the host agrees with her or not, if she has his best interest in mind (and the best interest of the world in mind), which I have no way of knowing whether she does or not (but, my point is, neither does the TV host), then her sentiments are not hateful but are completely loving.
As far as the uneducated part goes, why does standing on Christian principles (as espoused in the Bible) automatically qualify one as uneducated? Such comments either stem from arrogance on the part of people like the host of that show or from their own utter ignorance, or both.
Perhaps one reason why people regard Christians as inherently "uneducated" is because we have abdicated the mind to the scientists or the thinkers of our world. Far too many of us have sought the "safe" ground of subjectivity and private feelings. If you ask such Christians why they know Jesus lives, perhaps looking for a reason for the hope that is in them (1 Pet. 3:15), they will say, in the words of the hymn, "You ask me how I know he lives, he lives within my heart." Christians have enabled non Christians to regard us as uneducated by privatizing our faith and by not being able to articulate the rational basis for it.
The Bible says that we ought to be able to give a REASON for the hope that is in us; it doesn't say anything about giving a personal FEELING. Giving a reason requires that we study and educate ourselves. If every Christian labored to be able to give a reason for the hope that is in them, my guess is that very few in the world would venture to call us uneducated.
What do you think?
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