TORONTO, Canada, November 15, 2002 — He writes, primarily, of secular issues to a secular audience. He uses secular words. He's not afraid of bucking trends, and you get the feeling he loves a good debate.
Michael Coren makes his living in the public eye; as a syndicated newspaper columnist (writing for the Sun chain of newspapers), author, broadcaster and speaker. He seldom advertises his Christian faith in the mainstream media, but Coren is most definitely a Christian, and his Christian perspective underlies everything he writes.
Mere Christian, by Michael Coren
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Now for the first time, Michael Coren has written a book specifically targeted to a Christian audience. Titled Mere Christian, Coren says in the introduction that he played with the phrase popularized by his personal hero C.S. Lewis (who wrote Mere Christianity), "not out of immodesty but out of reverence." Reading the collection of short essays, one can't help but imagine that Lewis would be delighted by the tribute.
The book presents Coren's astute views on social issues ranging from family to forgiveness and eugenics to sexuality. He knows how to use words to effect. And reading his words, the effect is often felt in tears that well in the eyes, or bumps that prickle the skin, hinting at truth recognized deep within the spirit. Sometimes, the effect on the reader is one of introspection; 'How do my attitudes compare? Am I on the right track? Is he?'
He appeals to and offends both Christian and secular audiences
A stand-alone thinker, Coren says he loves the fact that people (secularists and Christians alike) find it hard to figure him out or peg him down, though he admits he has little time for those of his faith who might be offended by the way he chooses to practice his craft.
During a recent telephone interview, he admitted, "I get a bit impatient with those Christians, (though) there aren't many, who will say, 'Oh, I don't like him. He's very controversial.' I tend to say, 'unlike Jesus?' What they often mean is, 'he disagrees'. They think that if you're a Christian, you don't disagree with anyone. And where that comes from, I'll never know, cause Paul spent his whole life disagreeing with people."
There's nothing bland about this guy
Read any one of Coren's essays or newspaper columns, listen to him on the radio (Toronto's CFRB 1010, Sundays from 8 - 11 p.m.), or watch him on television (CTS in Southern Ontario, weekdays at 10 p.m.) and you sense a difference in this man. For those grown accustomed to a standard diet served up by the secular media of bland acceptance for any opinion, attitude or lifestyle no matter how grotesque, and an almost equally banal portrayal of attitudes and values from the Christian sub-culture, Coren's work is refreshing in its honesty.
All Things Considered by Michael Coren
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Read an entire collection of his mainstream writings, as in the book, "All Things Considered - collected columns & essays", and the impression becomes more concentrated, lingering. His columns cover a broad range of topics, from "The Army's no Place for Gender Equality" to "Thank God I'm Not An Arab", and demonstrate he is not a person to mince words. He doesn't shy away from stating his opinion, no matter how politically incorrect it may be. And he isn't afraid to leave himself vulnerable; to have his readers know him, or to see his heart, even if that means criticism.
'I'm really quite thin skinned ...'
Coren said, "I'm really quite thin skinned in certain ways. There are some people who criticize - and you couldn't care less. But other people who ... those comments actually hurt. I know quite a few journalists who are incredibly private people. And that can bother me at times, because there are people who try to trade on exposing other people's privacy, but are very private themselves. I think you can achieve a great deal by talking about the personal."
His approach seems to be working. Ratings for his television show, Michael Coren Live, have in his words "skyrocketed" in the last year, and now average 150,000 viewers per night. He answers approximately 100 e-mails daily, from people impacted by his work. Some of his columns can generate 400 - 500 electronic mail messages.
'It's how I pay the bills'
Still, he remains grounded. "I don't self-analyze. But also, I think I've got a fairly healthy grasp of my own flawed and rather silly nature. I don't take myself that seriously. I've never actually learned to handle praise very well. People will say lovely things sometimes ... there are quite a lot really, particularly Christian people, but underneath ... well, it's hard to take myself too seriously. I do what I do, and if truth comes through, I think then it's almost really in spite of me.
"I don't have this great passion that 'I have to write'. I mean, I do have to write in a way, but I'm not going to be pretentious about it. It's not some muse settling on my shoulder. I have things to say, and I try to say them. I admire clear communication and logical thought. If I didn't have the opportunity to write columns, I would miss it terribly. I just get a bit tired of a lot of precious people who go on about it; 'I write this because I have to write ... I have to create.' It's also a living. It's what I do professionally. It's how I pay the bills."
The private life of Michael Coren
Coren is a committed husband and father of four children, who range in ages from four to 14. He makes no secret of the fact he is devoted to his family. That devotion alone may account for much of his pragmatism. He works from his home office in Toronto where, he insists, he doesn't really work very hard, and a typical day includes a breakfast of organic oatmeal, time for personal Bible study and prayer, reading, research and writing, but also doing the dishes and picking up the kids from school.
He tells of an unusual conversion to the Christian faith; one that seems somehow at odds with his rational nature. "It was about nine years ago now, I think," he reflected. "I was watching TV one night. I saw Terry Winter on television; he's an English Christian guy, and I fell asleep. (The next morning) I woke up, and felt very different, and denied this for days. I gradually realized I was different. I wanted to read the Bible. I wanted to pray. It was a miracle (that) had occurred in my life really. After about two weeks, I just knew. And I mean I did not want it to happen. I didn't want to be a Christian. It wasn't a conscious decision. It would have to be way more revolutionary for me than that, because the change was so deep. I don't feel I had the will to make a conscious decision."
'Maybe I brought some people closer to truth'
Coren said it wasn't long before friends and colleagues started to notice he was different. The reactions weren't all positive. "You become as a Christian a sort of mirror, and sometimes they see their reflection, and they don't like it. They feel they're being judged. You don't say anything about them or their behaviour, but they compare themselves, or they think you are putting them down, simply for having a certain belief."
He continued, "Because we live a certain way, they know we have a spark of God. We have conscience. And they probably know that life is meant to be this way.
"Plus, there's an incredible level of unhappiness out there. I meet very few happy people. I meet so many people who are doing incredibly well professionally and so on, but they're really unhappy. And they see someone who seems to be happy, and it can make them say, 'well this is good,' or, they can just become resentful."
His tone softened as he remembered. Perhaps some of the people attached to those memories are also at the root of what is obviously, for Michael Coren, a very personal drive that he expressed next.
"I try my best. I don't always get it right. But I try my best to be the real thing. I like to think ... one day I'm sure I'll find out ... that maybe I brought some people closer to truth."
Michael Coren's book, "Mere Christian", can be ordered through his Web site, www.michaelcoren.com
Source: Patricia L. Paddey, Bible Network News
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