The Anne Effect

Ah, Anne Coulter...

It's truly amazing how one woman managed to shake up Canada. I've been watching her journey unfold with something akin to bemusement. I barely even knew who she was before.

Some people seem to really admire her, other people seem to completely loath her. But love her or hate her, I think that she has done something good for this country.

Sure, she has a terrible mouth on her. I don't enjoy listening to her insults against people. Often she sounds like a single-minded playground bully rather than a reasonable adult. However, between the bouts of barking, one can hear the sound of something else. It's the sound of a silent group of people in Canada--the (ideological) conservatives.

In the states, conservatives are very vocal about what they think, sometimes to the point where they make me cringe. On the other hand, here in Canada, conservatives are much quieter. The Canadian way is to criticize internally but be NICE on the surface. Nice Canadians girls and boys do not cause altercations; they just make snarky passive aggressive comments later.

But maybe we need some altercation, and some debate. It often feels to our silent population that tolerance only goes so far, and it stops right at conservative Christianity. I'm talking about the group of people who believe in one triune God, the devil, sin and the fall, and salvation through Christ. Of course it's fine to believe it, just so long as one does not dare to suggest that it is TRUE.

Unfortunately, (whatever) G(g)od(s you believe in) forbid, Christianity logically excludes all other religions. This is a terrible (and perhaps the only) sin in our pluralistic, pick your own religion society. Christianity steps up and says that it is the only way, which means that if it is right, every other school of thought is wrong. If the God of Christianity truly exists, it means that some ways of living are WRONG. God is intolerant (yet forgiving with repentance) of sin.

Fed on the bread of "if it does not hurt anyone it's okay", no one really wants God to step in and tell them that they are not good and right. This is "intolerance" and therefore can not be abided in our lovely, tolerant society.

Then in steps Coulter like an obnoxious Joan of Ark wielding political incorrectness like a sword. Many people and groups are distressed. Other silent groups secretly cheer because someone is standing up on the public stage and defending conservative beliefs, even if, like me, they wish that she could cultivate some good old Canadian niceness.

If nothing else, Anne Coulter gets us talking, debating and thinking. And that is always a good thing.