Defenders of pundit Ann Coulter say her remarks characterizing Christians as "perfected Jews" are hardly anti-Semitic, but merely an honest annunciation of her own beliefs. Fine, we'll grant her that. Implied in each individual's religious faith is the sense that he or she has found the way, or the "fast track," as Coulter puts it. But as Alan Brill points out in his essay, while Coulter may be expressing her personal beliefs, she nonetheless distorts the wisdom of most Christian churches, which teach that Jews remain in a special relationship with God. That lesson is the fruit of Jewish-Christian dialogue that convinced church leaders that "supersessionist" theology was often at the root of the worst anti-Semitic abuses.

Beyond the anti-Semitism charge, however, is the disturbingly mono-cultural America Coulter aspires to, at least according to her remarks on Donny Deutsch's show. Coulter tells Deutsch her dream for America: "It would look like New York City during the Republican National Convention. In fact, that's what I think heaven is going to look like… Happy, joyful Republicans in the greatest city in the world." When Deutsch asks why this would be a better world, Coulter explains: "Well, OK, take the Republican National Convention. People were happy. They're Christian. They're tolerant. They defend America, they…" Deutsch interrupts to ask, "It would be better if we were all Christian?" Coulter replies, "Yes."

Anti-Semitism? It would be, if Coulter were not catholic (small c) in her disdain for all people — Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, secularists — who don't share her Christian beliefs. Coulter represents a strain of nativism that views diversity, multiculturalism, and the melting pot not as American ideals but as obstacles to America's greater glory.

Coulter is not an elected official, and more of an entertainer than she is a thinker of much consequence — although for years conservatives have been happy to let her play the role of their class clown. It's troubling, however, how similar intolerance for diversity has crept into the language of those who are elected officials and influential. John McCain told an interviewer, "I just have to say in all candor that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles, personally I prefer someone who I know has a solid grounding in my faith." The GOP presidential candidate added that the "Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation," a remark that led many of us on a fruitless search for just where the Constitution says anything of the sort.

Similarly, Idaho Rep. Bill Sali, another Republican, declared last summer that the recitation of a Hindu prayer in the Senate and the election of a Muslim to Congress "are not what was envisioned by the Founding Fathers. The principles that this country was built on, that have made it great over these centuries, were Christian principles derived from Scriptures."

Remarks like these do not make McCain or Sali anti-Semites, but they do make them sound like radical revisionists of America's founding principles. The Founding Fathers may not have imagined a Muslim congressman, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't be proud of a country that embraces their vision of pluralism and constitutional secularism.

The National Jewish Democratic Council is distributing a petition urging CNN, FOX News, and other networks to stop inviting Coulter on their shows. Rather than call on networks to bar Coulter, it might be wiser, and more revealing, to call on GOP presidential hopefuls and other party influentials and ask if they share her or McCain's notion of America as a "Christian nation." We can only hope they'll embrace the idea of an America where there are no religious tests for public office and no suggestion that our religious beliefs need be "perfected" in order for us to be considered full and worthy participants in American society.