Misplaced Pages

Michael Coren: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 16:21, 30 January 2008 edit72.1.195.4 (talk) →Spirituality← Previous edit Latest revision as of 08:14, 27 November 2024 edit undoStarklinson (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users37,640 editsNo edit summaryTags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit Advanced mobile edit 
(559 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|British-Canadian writer and clergyman}}
{{Refimprove|date=July 2007}}
{{BLP primary sources|date=October 2021}}
'''Michael Coren''' (born ], ] in ], ]) is a ] ], ], public speaker, ] and television talk show host. He is the host of the television series '']''. He has also been a long-time radio personality, particularly on ] radio. He lives in Oshawa, outside Toronto, with his wife Bernadette, who is a professor of philosophy at Humber College. They have four children.
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = ]
| name = Michael Coren
| image = Michael Coren at SMC (cropped).jpg
| caption = Coren in 2010
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1959|01|15|df=y}}
| birth_place = ], ], England
| occupation = Author, columnist, talk show host
| nationality = British, Canadian
| alma_mater = ]<br />]<br />]
| notable_works = {{unbulleted list|''As I See It''|''C.S. Lewis: The Man Who Created Narnia''|''Why Catholics Are Right''|''J.R.R. Tolkien: The Man Who Created the Lord of the Rings''}}
| signature =
| website = {{URL|http://www.michaelcoren.com}}
|spouse={{marriage|Bernadette<ref>, '']'', 16 April 2011</ref>|1987}}
| children = 4
| relatives = ] (cousin)<br />]<br />(first cousin once removed)<br />]<br />(first cousin once removed)
}}
'''Michael Coren''' (born 15 January 1959) is a British-Canadian writer and clergyman. A long-time television personality, Coren hosted '']'' on the ] from 1999 to 2011 before moving to the ] to host ''The Arena with Michael Coren'',<ref>, ''Toronto Sun'', 28 June 2011</ref> from 2011 until the channel's demise in early 2015.<ref name=finalend>{{cite news|title=Sun News Network goes off the air|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/sun-news-network-going-off-the-air-on-friday-sources/article22978387/|access-date=13 February 2015|work=The Globe and Mail|date=13 February 2015}}</ref> He has also been a long-time radio personality, particularly on Toronto talk radio station ]. Coren is currently a columnist for the '']'' and '']''.


He has written more than ten books, including biographies of ], ], ], ] and ]. His latest books are ''Heresy: Ten Lies They Spread About Christianity'' (2012), ''The Future of Catholicism'' (2013), ''Hatred: Islam's War on Christianity'' (2014), ''Epiphany: A Christian's Change of Heart & Mind over Same-Sex Marriage'' (2016) and ''The Rebel Christ'' (2021).
== Career in Canadian media ==
Coren moved from the UK to Canada in ]. For several years, he was a columnist for '']'' and then '']'', before he began syndicated columns for the '']'' and ] in ]. Following his departure from ''Frank'', he became a favourite target of that publication, culminating in a spoof ad contest to "deflower" Michael Coren (a nod to ''Frank''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s notorious "Deflower ]" contest, and a satirical jab at Coren's conservative leanings.) Coren had also been a favorite target of ''Frank'' back in the days before he began writing for them.


==Life and career==
His career as a broadcaster began in the early 1990s when he co-hosted a political debate segment with ] on ]'s '']''. In ], he began an evening talk show on ]. In ], Coren briefly moved to ] for a short stint as its ]. He returned to CFRB, where he hosted a show from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. weekday nights, and regularly filled in for other hosts until November 2005. Coren was dismissed by CFRB as a result of complaints arising from comments ridiculing the weight of an apparent guest. In fact, the guest was an actor and the segment was scripted. According to CFRB's Operations Manager, Steve Kowch, "Pat Holiday, our general manager and myself went through the tape of Monday night's show and were shocked....it was totally out of bounds." Coren argues that it was a satire comparing in his mind public attitude to third world starvation with North America's obsession with slimming and self-indulgence. After moving to North America Coren gained one hundred pounds.<ref>Ovsenny, Christopher, Cloak and Dagger, Ryerson Review of Journalism Spring 1994 http://www.rrj.ca/issue/1994/spring/187/</ref>
Coren was born in ], ], England, of Jewish heritage, and raised secular.<ref>{{Cite Twitter profile|michaelcoren}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/criticizing-israel-not-automatically-anti-semitic-409962305.html|title=Jan 2017: Criticizing Israel not automatically anti-Semitic|first=Michael|last=Coren|newspaper=Winnipeg Free Press|date=7 January 2017|via=winnipegfreepress.com}}</ref><ref> Retrieved 2016-10-20.</ref> After obtaining a degree in politics from the ], he moved from Britain to Canada in 1987. For several years, he was a columnist for '']'' and then '']'', before he began syndicated columns for the '']'' and ] in 1995. Following his departure from ''Frank'', he became a favourite target of that publication, culminating in a spoof ad contest to "deflower" Michael Coren (a nod to ''Frank''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s notorious "Deflower Caroline Mulroney" contest, and a satirical jab at Coren's conservative leanings.) Coren had also been a favourite target of ''Frank'' back in the days before he began writing for them. Coren took exception to being labelled a "literary prostitute" during a 1994 interview.<ref name="Ovsenny">{{cite magazine |last=Ovsenny |first=Christopher |date=Spring 1994 |title=Cloak and Dagger |url=http://rrj.ca/cloak-and-dagger/ |magazine=Ryerson Review of Journalism |access-date=31 August 2016}}</ref>


His career as a broadcaster began in the early 1990s when he co-hosted a political debate segment with ] on ]'s '']''. In 1995, he began an evening talk show on ]. In 1999, Coren briefly moved to ] for a short stint as its ]. He returned to CFRB, where he hosted a show from 6:30 to 8:00&nbsp;p.m. weekday nights, and regularly filled in for other hosts until November 2005. Coren was dismissed by CFRB as a result of complaints arising from comments ridiculing the weight of an apparent guest. In fact, the guest was an actor and the segment was scripted. According to CFRB's Operations Manager, Steve Kowch, "Pat Holiday, our general manager and myself went through the tape of Monday night's show and were shocked&nbsp;... it was totally out of bounds." Coren argues that it was a satire comparing in his mind public attitude to third world starvation with North America's obsession with slimming and self-indulgence.<ref name="Ovsenny" />
Despite this acrimonious termination, Coren made regular talk show appearances on CFRB in ] ], at the start of the ], as he happened to be in Israel at the time. After receiving 60% approval from CFRB listeners in an August 2006 poll, Coren returned to the CFRB airwaves in September 2006 with a Sunday evening show.<ref> The show began as a 1 hour program from 7 to 8pm but as of April 22 was expanded into a 2 hour show. Coren celebrated the occasion by giving out double the normal amount of prizes usually given on the show. , ], September 7, 2006.</ref> As of the 22nd of April 2007, the show expanded from its usual 1 hour 7-8pm to 7-9 pm.<ref>, CFRB website, accessed December 30, 2007</ref> Coren celebrated by giving away double the prizes usually given out. In the fall of ] he and former ] president ] launched a daily hour-long afternoon show on CFRB called ''Two Bald Guys With Strong Opinions'' in which the two argue about the issues of the day.<ref>, CFRB website, accessed December 30, 2007</ref>


Despite this acrimonious termination, Coren made regular talk show appearances on CFRB in July 2006, at the start of the ], as he happened to be in Israel at the time. As of 22 April 2007, the show expanded from its usual one-hour slot at 7–8 pm to 7–9 pm.<ref name=CFRBBio> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011094957/http://www.cfrb.com/shows/501333 |date=11 October 2007 }}, CFRB website, accessed 30 December 2007</ref> In the fall of 2007 he and former ] president ] launched a daily hour-long afternoon show on CFRB called ''Two Bald Guys With Strong Opinions'' in which the two argue about the issues of the day.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016051512/http://www.cfrb.com/shows/574885 |date=16 October 2007 }}, CFRB website, accessed 30 December 2007</ref> After the departure of LeDrew, Coren was joined by ] after several on air auditions by potential replacement co-hosts. Coren was again let go by CFRB along with 12 other staff of the Toronto radio station on 27 August 2009.<ref name="otoole">O'Toole, Megan. {{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, ''National Post'', Toronto, 27 August 2009. <!--accessed 23 January 2010--></ref>
On television, Coren hosts '']'' weeknights on ], and is published every Saturday in the Sun newspaper chain. He is also a columnist for the '']'', Catholic Insight and The Women's Post and writes regularly for the '']'', '']'' and several other publications. He is also a public speaker, particularly at religious gatherings.


On television, Coren hosted the ''Michael Coren Show'' on the ] until June 2011 when he left to join the ] where he hosted ''The Arena with Michael Coren'' weeknights beginning 30 August 2011. Coren also had a newspaper column published every Saturday in the Sun newspaper chain until February 2015. He has been a columnist for the '']'', ''Catholic Insight'' and ''The Women's Post'' and has contributed to '']'', '']'' and several other publications. A self-professed ] fan, he has appeared as a guest host on ]'s ''The Footy Show''.
== Political controversies ==


Following the demise of Sun News Network in February 2015, Coren briefly joined ], an online platform founded by ] originally known as The Rebel Media and since renamed to ], but left the venture after a week.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/ezra-levant-the-rebels-unrepentant-commander/|title=Ezra Levant: The Rebel's unrepentant commander|date=24 January 2017}}</ref>
Cohen drew some criticism from ] groups for an ], ] article in which he expressed displeasure with the decision to allow tax-funded ] ]s to work in Canadian ]s.<ref>Michael Coren: Witch Way to Prison? August 2, 2003 Sun Media http://www.geocites.com/melentha/News/aug2.html</ref>


Following his conversion to Anglicanism, Coren began to publicly embrace ] ideas such as support for ]. He stated that it negatively affected his career and that he became the target of personal attacks from former readers, observing that "there is none so angry as a fundamentalist scorned".<ref>{{cite news|title=Michael Coren's change of heart: from moral conservative to social liberal|url=http://www.cbc.ca/radio/tapestry/a-heart-transformed-1.3307674/michael-coren-s-change-of-heart-from-moral-conservative-to-social-liberal-1.3308474|access-date=4 September 2017|work=Tapestry with Mary Hynes|publisher=CBC Radio|date=3 July 2016|language=en}}</ref> In a 2015 interview Coren estimated that he lost $35,000 a year in income from lost speaking fees and his former recurring columns for ] newspapers, ] properties, '']'', and other conservative Christian publications.<ref name="UC Observer">{{cite news|last1=Mahoney|first1=Jeff|title=The conversion of Michael Coren|url=http://www.ucobserver.org/faith/2015/11/michael_coren/|access-date=4 September 2017|work=The United Church Observer|date=November 2015}}</ref> He also stated that contrition is a major aspect of his conversion and he regrets "so much of what said, especially the tone" in his earlier career.<ref name="UC Observer" /> Coren was ordained a ] in the ] on 20 October 2019.<ref>https://twitter.com/NiagaraAnglican/status/1186040284699910144 ] on ]</ref>
He is staunchly ] and has a reputation as a ] and ].. Unlike many of his conservative counterparts, he opposed the ] ]. {{Fact|date=December 2007}}After he supported the war, but changed his position later.<ref>Michael Coren: Iraq: Will they admit they were wrong? Toronto Sun Saturday Sept. 3, 2005 http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Coren_Michael/2005/09/03/1200397.html</ref>


Coren is also a public speaker, particularly at religious gatherings.
Coren has often written and said that he is the recipient of ] from various ], ] and ] individuals. As a result, he carefully guards his contact information in order to protect himself and his family.<ref>http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Coren_Michael/2006/07/21/4357089.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.cwfa.org/articles/4322/CFI/cfreport/index.htm</ref>


==Controversies==
In September 2006, Coren published an article in the Toronto Sun, supporting the use of nuclear strikes against Iran while acknowledging that this would cause the deaths of civilians.<ref>http://torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Coren_Michael/2006/09/02/1795183.html</ref> This position was later retracted.<ref>http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Coren_Michael/2007/10/20/4590877.php</ref>In an article in the Sun on May 22, 2007 Michael Coren equated homosexuality with necrophilia and bestiality.<ref>Debate over sexual orientation dividing Christians http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Features/2007/05/22/4199026-sun.html</ref>On the subject of AIDS Michael Coren has said that "the majority of sufferers in North America contracted the disease through perverse sex."<ref>Unborn: http://www.michaelcoren.com/columns_unborn.html</ref>In keeping with this theme he wrote a column in 2006 titled "Why is AIDS so special?" in which he said "At its most simple, stop fornicating." "AIDS in the West is still overwhelmingly a threat to male homosexuals and intravenous drug users."<ref>Michael Coren: Why is AIDS so special? The Toronto Sun, Saturday August 19, 2006 http://torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Coren_Michael/2006/08/19/1764549.html</ref>He frequently refers to "the gay issue", but it's unclear what this means. Michael Coren calls atheists "god-haters", or "liberal god-haters", and abortion clinics "abortuaries."<ref>Michael Coren: Their disbelief is my strength http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2007/12/24/michael-coren-their-disbelief-is-my-strength.aspx</ref><ref>Michael Coren: Brave new world coming soon Toronto Sun Saturday Nov. 18, 2006 http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Coren_Michael/2006/11/18/2404813.html</ref><ref>Unborn: http://www.michaelcoren.com/columns_unborn.html</ref>Michael Coren said that his father's family "escaped Poland shortly before the Holocaust."<ref>Concerned Women For America-Targeted for Hate: A Canadian Columnist Pays Price For Disagreeing with Homosexual Agenda http://www.cwfa.org/printerfriendly.asp?id=4322&department=cfi&categoryid=cfreport</ref>He has also said that his father's family emigrated from Poland in the 1890s.<ref>Michael Coren-Irving deserves contempt, not jail http://torontosun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Coren_Michael/2006/02/21/1453974.html</ref>Michael Coren wrote "The gene for Downs Syndrome was discovered by a man who thought it would help us prepare for Downs Syndrome babies and improve their lives."<ref>Michael Coren: Ignoring the most important right of all. Oct. 26, 2007 http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2007/10/26/michael-coren-ignoring-the-most-important-right-of-all.aspx</ref>There is no gene for ], or trisomy 21, and he mispelled Down's Syndrome. Michael Coren wrote: "In Norway 80% of first-born babies are born out of wedlock. Even those who campaigned for gay marriage in this region are rethinking their positions."<ref>Michael Coren: Society must defend traditional wedlock, The Toronto Sun, Saturday June 11, 2005 http://www.torsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Coren_Michael/2005/06/11/1081739.html</ref>Dr. ] of ] appears to be the source of this false statistic<ref>The Lies of James Dobson and Focus on the Family http://www.ralliance.org/Dobson.html</ref>, and it seems unlikely that Michael Coren did'nt know that Norway has never had gay marriage. Michael Coren wrote "A baby is a separate being, accepted by science as being unique at conception. It has it's own distinct DNA, it's own genomic character."<ref>Michael Coren: Ignoring the most important right National Post Oct. 26, 2007 http://network.nationalpost.com.np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2007/10/26/michael-coren-ignoring-the-most-important-right-of-all.aspx</ref>
===AIDS and sexuality===
In the 1990s and 2000s, Coren was alleged to have spoken objectionably about people with ]. In 1994, the '']'' reported Coren's response to an interview question about the disease:


<blockquote>"What I do is attack something like a double standard on AIDS. Sure, we must find a cure for AIDS, we must put enormous amounts of money into it...” he pauses. "Look, people are dying all over. When it was blacks in Africa dying of AIDS, no one gave a toss. Nobody gave a toss. Suddenly, it's middle-class men in California and everyone goes crazy about it. It's a double standard. I'm trying to provoke people into rethinking comfortable points of view".<ref name="Ovsenny" /></blockquote>
== Spirituality ==
His articles and speeches often include stories of his own personal spiritual journey. Coren's father was Jewish as was his maternal grandfather. His maternal grandmother was Welsh and converted to Judaism. His uncle was also Jewish, as is his sister and her family. Coren's father and uncle were cab drivers. Michael Coren was profiled on Credo, on Vision TV, and said that his father told him he could not attend his son's wedding in a Catholic Church without becoming "physically ill."


In 2006, Coren wrote a franker newspaper piece in '']'', questioning "Why is AIDS so special?":
He converted to Roman Catholicism in his early twenties while still living in England, but that didn't last long. He eventually converted to ] Christianity in the 1990s, after a ] as an adult, greatly influenced by Canadian ] ].
<blockquote>At its most simple, stop fornicating. There, I've said it. One of the things that can end a career in North American media. Yet it's true. AIDS in the West is still overwhelmingly a threat to male homosexuals and intravenous drug users. It's now found in other groups, but it has taken years for that to happen and they still represent the minority of sufferers. More than this, the bulk of the newly infected tend to be people who have contracted the virus through permissive sexual practices.<ref>{{cite news|author = Michael Coren|title=Why is AIDS so special?|newspaper=]|date=19 August 2006|id=1764549}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thelocal.se/discuss/index.php?showtopic=4920?showtopic=4920|author=Roy E.|title=Reposting of "Why is AIDS so special?"}}</ref> </blockquote>


With reference to the ], Coren would compare homosexuality to illegal sexual practices. In 2007, Coren wrote an '']'' article, saying:
In early 2004, he embraced Catholicism again. This was his third and most recent conversion. He cites St. ], ], ] and his godfather Lord Longford as spiritual influences, but remains connected to the ecumenical scene in Canada and beyond. In 1991 Michael Coren described evangelical Christians as "intollerant, small minded, and repellent." In a 1993 book review he said "Can anyone imagine a detective priest? Regrettably, it is easier to conjure up the image of a priest being questioned by secular detectives over abuse charges." In 1993 Michael Coren had a falling out with the Catholic Church over an unflattering profile he wrote of Archbishop Aloysius Ambrozic for Toronto Life magazine. The Bishop, who had made Coren a "Knight of the Holy Sepulchre" in a ceremony in October of 1992, used words like "friggin" and "bitch", and said that ] was a "conservative Roman Catholic and not a bad fellow." They said that Coren had only been a Catholic for seven years and had been raised in a secular Jewish home. A year later he was still recieving hate mail about the article. Afterward Coren said that he did'nt consider himself a Roman Catholic anymore. He said "My wife is Catholic and the children will be raised Catholic, but that's it. It's just not there for me." Daniel Richler observed that Coren loves scandal, but hates when it comes his way. <ref>Ovsenny, Christopher, Cloak and Dagger, Ryerson Review of Journalism Spring 1994 http://www.rrj.ca/issue/1994/spring/187/</ref>
<blockquote>As for Jesus not condemning homosexuality, nor did He condemn bestiality and necrophilia... Christ did indeed condemn homosexuality, as does the Old Testament, St. Paul, the church fathers and all Christianity until a few liberal Protestants in the last decades of the 20th century who, frankly, are more concerned with ] than ].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Blizzard|first1=Christina|last2=Coren|first2=Michael|title=Debate over sexual orientation dividing Christians|newspaper=]|date = 22 May 2007|url = https://walkingwithintegrity.blogspot.com/2007/05/debate-over-sexual-orientation-dividing_23.html?m=0}}</ref></blockquote>


== Published Books == === International affairs ===

Coren is the author of eleven books including works of social criticism and biographies of famous writers. His biographies include the lives of ], ], ], ], and ]. His books have been translated into fourteen languages. He is currently writing a book entitled ''Socon, A Handbook for Moral Conservatives''.
In September 2006, Coren published an article in the '']'' supporting the use of tactical nuclear strikes against Iran.<ref>{{cite news|id=1795183|author=Michael Coren|title=We should nuke Iran|newspaper=Toronto Sun|date=2 September 2006}}</ref> This position was retracted the following year.<ref>{{cite news|id=4590877|date=20 October 2007|title=How wrong can I be?|newspaper=Toronto Sun|author=Michael Coren}}</ref>

==Religious views==
Coren's articles and speeches often include stories of his own personal spiritual journey. Coren's father was ] as was his maternal grandfather, while his maternal grandmother came from a family of Welsh coal miners and ]. Coren's father and uncle were cab drivers. Coren has said that his father's family left Poland in the 1890s, a few decades before ].<ref>Concerned Women For America-Targeted for Hate: A Canadian Columnist Pays Price For Disagreeing with Homosexual Agenda {{cite web |url=http://www.cwfa.org/printerfriendly.asp?id=4322&department=cfi&categoryid=cfreport |title=Concerned Women for America - Targeted for Hate: A Canadian Columnist Pays Price for Disagreeing with Homosexual Agenda |access-date=2008-01-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081027170030/http://www.cwfa.org/printerfriendly.asp?id=4322&department=cfi&categoryid=cfreport |archive-date=27 October 2008 }}</ref><ref>Michael Coren-Irving deserves contempt not jail </ref> He said "People have called me an ]. I thought it quite rich since my father's family was massacred in the Holocaust".<ref name="Ovsenny" /> Michael Coren was profiled on ''Credo'' on ], and said that his father told him he could not attend his son's wedding in a Catholic church without becoming "physically sick".

He ] in 1984<ref name="benevolence">{{cite web |title=From bigotry to benevolence: The conversion of Michael Coren |url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/sunday/the-sunday-edition-for-february-3-2019-1.4997146/from-bigotry-to-benevolence-the-conversion-of-michael-coren-1.4998467 |website=CBC Radio |access-date=14 May 2022 |date=February 2, 2019}}</ref> while still living in England, later saying that he "converted to an institution."

He left ] for ] in the 1990s, after a ], greatly influenced by Canadian ] ].{{citation needed|date=April 2018}} In 1991, Coren said in a column for a humour magazine: "Evangelicals may be intolerant, small-minded, and repellent, but at least they hold a consistent set of beliefs".<ref name="Ovsenny" /> In a 1993 book review, he said "Can anyone imagine a detective priest? Regrettably, it is easier to conjure up the image of a priest being questioned by secular detectives over abuse charges." Also in 1993, he had a falling out with the Catholic Church over an unflattering profile he wrote of Archbishop ] for '']'' magazine.<ref name="Ovsenny" /> The bishop, who had made Coren a ] in October 1992, was quoted using words including "friggin" and "bitch", and said that the Spanish dictator ] was a "conservative Catholic and not a bad fellow". Coren defended himself, saying "He's an archbishop and he was vulgar&nbsp;... obviously what thousands of Catholics expected me to do was lie. I still get hate mail about the article."<ref name="Ovsenny" />

After this incident, Coren said that he didn't consider himself a Catholic anymore. He said, "My wife is Catholic and the children will be raised Catholic, but that's it. It's just not there for me."<ref name="Ovsenny" /> ] observed that Coren loves scandal, but hates having it come his way. In one of his columns for the satirical humour magazine '']'', Michael Coren depicted ] getting drunk in a bar.<ref name="Ovsenny" />

In early 2004, he embraced Catholicism again. He cites ], ], ] and his godfather ] as spiritual influences, and remains connected to the ] scene in Canada and beyond.

In 2014, Michael Coren once again left the Catholic Church and began worshipping with the ], being formally received into the communion the next year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.facebook.com/torontoanglican/photos/a.888594754515024.1073741863.115072368533937/895263353848164/?type=1&pnref=story |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/115072368533937/895263353848164 |archive-date=2022-02-26 |url-access=limited|date=23 April 2015 |title=Facebook post |publisher=Anglican Diocese of Toronto |access-date=19 August 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In an interview with the '']'' on 1 May 2015, he cited the Catholic Church's ] and ] as some of the reasons for his conversion to ].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://news.nationalpost.com/news/religion/i-felt-a-hypocrite-author-michael-coren-on-why-he-left-the-catholic-church-for-anglicanism | title = 'I felt a hypocrite': Author Michael Coren on why he left the Catholic Church for Anglicanism | first = Joseph | last = Brean | date = 2015-05-01 | work = National Post }}</ref>

In contrast to his previous views, Coren now identifies as a ].<ref name="Christian socialist tweet">{{cite tweet |last= Coren |first= Michael |user=michaelcoren |number=842106771552514048 |date= 15 March 2017 |title=Thanks. But I'm afraid I'm not a conservative. Christian socialist really. Sorry. |script-title= |trans-title= |link= |access-date=4 September 2017}}</ref> Coren supports infant ], which he calls a "tradition consider holy and essential, based not in abuse and cruelty, but in concern and love for their child", and has said that its opponents are "irreligious zealots".<ref> – '']''.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thebridgehead.ca/2015/06/01/the-curious-case-of-michael-coren/|title=The curious case of Michael Coren &#124; The Bridgehead|date=1 June 2015}}</ref>

Coren is a priest of the Anglican ].<ref name=burlington/> He was ordained deacon in October 2019, and ordained priest in September 2021.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://michaelcoren.com/bio/ |title = Biography - Education |publisher = Michael Coren |access-date = 27 September 2021 }}</ref> He serves as assistant curate of the parish of St Christopher, Burlington.<ref name=burlington>{{cite web |url = https://niagaraanglican.ca/parish/st-christopher-burlington/ministry-team |title = Our Ministry Team |publisher = Diocese of Niagara |access-date = 27 September 2021 }}</ref>

==Personal life==
Coren is a cousin of author and journalist ],<ref>"I seldom hear about her , but did when she wrote an obsessively fawning piece after the British author and journalist Alan Coren died. The reason was that the noted editor and TV personality was my cousin, and a dear man who helped me more than I can say and whom I miss very much." Opinion column by Michael Coren entitled '']'' 5 December 2013.</ref> and is thus related to Alan's children ] and ].

Coren married his wife, Bernadette, in 1987. They have four children.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McLaren |first=Leah |date=2002-01-12 |title='I'm completely different now' |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/im-completely-different-now/article752487/ |access-date=2024-11-01 |work=] |language=en-CA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mahoney |first=Jeff |date=2015-11-02 |title=The conversion of Michael Coren |url=https://broadview.org/the-conversion-of-michael-coren/ |access-date=2024-11-01 |website=] |language=en}}</ref>

==Published books==
*''Theatre Royal: 100 Years of Stratford East'' (1985) {{ISBN|0-7043-2474-1}}
*''Gilbert: The Man Who Was G. K. Chesterton'' (1990) {{ISBN|1-55778-256-3}}
*''The Invisible Man: The Life and Liberties of H. G. Wells'' (1993) {{ISBN|0-689-12119-9}}
*''The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle'' (1993) {{ISBN|0-7475-1229-9}}
*''The Man Who Created Narnia: The Story of C. S. Lewis'' (1994) {{ISBN|1-895555-78-7}}
*''Setting It Right'' (1996) {{ISBN|0-7737-2940-2}}
*''J. R. R.Tolkien: The Man who Created ]'' (2001) {{ISBN|0-7522-6156-8}}
*''As I See It'' (2009) {{ISBN|0-9812767-0-9}}
*''Why Catholics Are Right'' (2011) {{ISBN|0-7710-2321-9}}
*''Heresy: Ten Lies They Spread About Christianity'' (2012) {{ISBN|978-0771023156}}
* ''The Future of Catholicism'' (2013) {{ISBN|0771023510}}
*''Hatred: Islam's War on Christianity'' (2014) {{ISBN|0771023847}}
*''Epiphany: A Christian's Change of Heart & Mind over Same-Sex Marriage'' (2016) {{ISBN|0771024118}}
*''The Rebel Christ'' (2021) {{ISBN|978-1459748514}}


==References== ==References==
{{reflist}} {{Reflist}}


==External links== ==External links==
* *
* *{{usurped|1=}}
* Coren's column in the '']''

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Coren, Michael}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Coren, Michael}}
]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
]
]
]
]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]

Latest revision as of 08:14, 27 November 2024

British-Canadian writer and clergyman
This biography of a living person relies too much on references to primary sources. Please help by adding secondary or tertiary sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful.
Find sources: "Michael Coren" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The ReverendMichael Coren
Coren in 2010
Born (1959-01-15) 15 January 1959 (age 65)
Walthamstow, Essex, England
NationalityBritish, Canadian
Alma materUniversity of Nottingham
City University, London
Trinity College, Toronto
Occupation(s)Author, columnist, talk show host
Notable work
  • As I See It
  • C.S. Lewis: The Man Who Created Narnia
  • Why Catholics Are Right
  • J.R.R. Tolkien: The Man Who Created the Lord of the Rings
Spouse Bernadette ​ ​(m. 1987)​
Children4
RelativesAlan Coren (cousin)
Giles Coren
(first cousin once removed)
Victoria Coren Mitchell
(first cousin once removed)
Websitewww.michaelcoren.com

Michael Coren (born 15 January 1959) is a British-Canadian writer and clergyman. A long-time television personality, Coren hosted The Michael Coren Show on the Crossroads Television System from 1999 to 2011 before moving to the Sun News Network to host The Arena with Michael Coren, from 2011 until the channel's demise in early 2015. He has also been a long-time radio personality, particularly on Toronto talk radio station CFRB. Coren is currently a columnist for the Toronto Star and iPolitics.

He has written more than ten books, including biographies of G. K. Chesterton, H. G. Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. His latest books are Heresy: Ten Lies They Spread About Christianity (2012), The Future of Catholicism (2013), Hatred: Islam's War on Christianity (2014), Epiphany: A Christian's Change of Heart & Mind over Same-Sex Marriage (2016) and The Rebel Christ (2021).

Life and career

Coren was born in Walthamstow, Essex, England, of Jewish heritage, and raised secular. After obtaining a degree in politics from the University of Nottingham, he moved from Britain to Canada in 1987. For several years, he was a columnist for Frank and then The Globe and Mail, before he began syndicated columns for the Financial Post and Sun Media in 1995. Following his departure from Frank, he became a favourite target of that publication, culminating in a spoof ad contest to "deflower" Michael Coren (a nod to Frank's notorious "Deflower Caroline Mulroney" contest, and a satirical jab at Coren's conservative leanings.) Coren had also been a favourite target of Frank back in the days before he began writing for them. Coren took exception to being labelled a "literary prostitute" during a 1994 interview.

His career as a broadcaster began in the early 1990s when he co-hosted a political debate segment with Irshad Manji on TVOntario's Studio 2. In 1995, he began an evening talk show on CFRB. In 1999, Coren briefly moved to Talk 640 for a short stint as its morning man. He returned to CFRB, where he hosted a show from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. weekday nights, and regularly filled in for other hosts until November 2005. Coren was dismissed by CFRB as a result of complaints arising from comments ridiculing the weight of an apparent guest. In fact, the guest was an actor and the segment was scripted. According to CFRB's Operations Manager, Steve Kowch, "Pat Holiday, our general manager and myself went through the tape of Monday night's show and were shocked ... it was totally out of bounds." Coren argues that it was a satire comparing in his mind public attitude to third world starvation with North America's obsession with slimming and self-indulgence.

Despite this acrimonious termination, Coren made regular talk show appearances on CFRB in July 2006, at the start of the 2006 Israel–Lebanon conflict, as he happened to be in Israel at the time. As of 22 April 2007, the show expanded from its usual one-hour slot at 7–8 pm to 7–9 pm. In the fall of 2007 he and former Liberal Party of Canada president Stephen LeDrew launched a daily hour-long afternoon show on CFRB called Two Bald Guys With Strong Opinions in which the two argue about the issues of the day. After the departure of LeDrew, Coren was joined by Tarek Fatah after several on air auditions by potential replacement co-hosts. Coren was again let go by CFRB along with 12 other staff of the Toronto radio station on 27 August 2009.

On television, Coren hosted the Michael Coren Show on the Crossroads Television System until June 2011 when he left to join the Sun News Network where he hosted The Arena with Michael Coren weeknights beginning 30 August 2011. Coren also had a newspaper column published every Saturday in the Sun newspaper chain until February 2015. He has been a columnist for the Western Standard, Catholic Insight and The Women's Post and has contributed to National Post, Reader's Digest and several other publications. A self-professed Tottenham Hotspur fan, he has appeared as a guest host on The Score's The Footy Show.

Following the demise of Sun News Network in February 2015, Coren briefly joined The Rebel Media, an online platform founded by Ezra Levant originally known as The Rebel Media and since renamed to Rebel News, but left the venture after a week.

Following his conversion to Anglicanism, Coren began to publicly embrace socially liberal ideas such as support for same-sex marriage. He stated that it negatively affected his career and that he became the target of personal attacks from former readers, observing that "there is none so angry as a fundamentalist scorned". In a 2015 interview Coren estimated that he lost $35,000 a year in income from lost speaking fees and his former recurring columns for Sun Media newspapers, Crossroads Christian Communications properties, The Catholic Register, and other conservative Christian publications. He also stated that contrition is a major aspect of his conversion and he regrets "so much of what said, especially the tone" in his earlier career. Coren was ordained a transitional deacon in the Anglican Diocese of Niagara on 20 October 2019.

Coren is also a public speaker, particularly at religious gatherings.

Controversies

AIDS and sexuality

In the 1990s and 2000s, Coren was alleged to have spoken objectionably about people with AIDS. In 1994, the Ryerson Review of Journalism reported Coren's response to an interview question about the disease:

"What I do is attack something like a double standard on AIDS. Sure, we must find a cure for AIDS, we must put enormous amounts of money into it...” he pauses. "Look, people are dying all over. When it was blacks in Africa dying of AIDS, no one gave a toss. Nobody gave a toss. Suddenly, it's middle-class men in California and everyone goes crazy about it. It's a double standard. I'm trying to provoke people into rethinking comfortable points of view".

In 2006, Coren wrote a franker newspaper piece in Toronto Sun, questioning "Why is AIDS so special?":

At its most simple, stop fornicating. There, I've said it. One of the things that can end a career in North American media. Yet it's true. AIDS in the West is still overwhelmingly a threat to male homosexuals and intravenous drug users. It's now found in other groups, but it has taken years for that to happen and they still represent the minority of sufferers. More than this, the bulk of the newly infected tend to be people who have contracted the virus through permissive sexual practices.

With reference to the Bible, Coren would compare homosexuality to illegal sexual practices. In 2007, Coren wrote an Edmonton Sun article, saying:

As for Jesus not condemning homosexuality, nor did He condemn bestiality and necrophilia... Christ did indeed condemn homosexuality, as does the Old Testament, St. Paul, the church fathers and all Christianity until a few liberal Protestants in the last decades of the 20th century who, frankly, are more concerned with political correctness than truth.

International affairs

In September 2006, Coren published an article in the Toronto Sun supporting the use of tactical nuclear strikes against Iran. This position was retracted the following year.

Religious views

Coren's articles and speeches often include stories of his own personal spiritual journey. Coren's father was Jewish as was his maternal grandfather, while his maternal grandmother came from a family of Welsh coal miners and converted to Judaism. Coren's father and uncle were cab drivers. Coren has said that his father's family left Poland in the 1890s, a few decades before The Holocaust. He said "People have called me an anti-Semite. I thought it quite rich since my father's family was massacred in the Holocaust". Michael Coren was profiled on Credo on Vision TV, and said that his father told him he could not attend his son's wedding in a Catholic church without becoming "physically sick".

He converted to Catholic Christianity in 1984 while still living in England, later saying that he "converted to an institution."

He left Catholicism for Evangelicalism in the 1990s, after a conversion experience, greatly influenced by Canadian televangelist Terry Winter. In 1991, Coren said in a column for a humour magazine: "Evangelicals may be intolerant, small-minded, and repellent, but at least they hold a consistent set of beliefs". In a 1993 book review, he said "Can anyone imagine a detective priest? Regrettably, it is easier to conjure up the image of a priest being questioned by secular detectives over abuse charges." Also in 1993, he had a falling out with the Catholic Church over an unflattering profile he wrote of Archbishop Aloysius Ambrozic for Toronto Life magazine. The bishop, who had made Coren a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre in October 1992, was quoted using words including "friggin" and "bitch", and said that the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco was a "conservative Catholic and not a bad fellow". Coren defended himself, saying "He's an archbishop and he was vulgar ... obviously what thousands of Catholics expected me to do was lie. I still get hate mail about the article."

After this incident, Coren said that he didn't consider himself a Catholic anymore. He said, "My wife is Catholic and the children will be raised Catholic, but that's it. It's just not there for me." Daniel Richler observed that Coren loves scandal, but hates having it come his way. In one of his columns for the satirical humour magazine Frank, Michael Coren depicted Mother Teresa getting drunk in a bar.

In early 2004, he embraced Catholicism again. He cites Thomas More, C. S. Lewis, Ronald Knox and his godfather Lord Longford as spiritual influences, and remains connected to the ecumenical scene in Canada and beyond.

In 2014, Michael Coren once again left the Catholic Church and began worshipping with the Anglican Church of Canada, being formally received into the communion the next year. In an interview with the National Post on 1 May 2015, he cited the Catholic Church's teachings on homosexuality and contraception as some of the reasons for his conversion to Anglicanism.

In contrast to his previous views, Coren now identifies as a Christian socialist. Coren supports infant circumcision, which he calls a "tradition consider holy and essential, based not in abuse and cruelty, but in concern and love for their child", and has said that its opponents are "irreligious zealots".

Coren is a priest of the Anglican Diocese of Niagara. He was ordained deacon in October 2019, and ordained priest in September 2021. He serves as assistant curate of the parish of St Christopher, Burlington.

Personal life

Coren is a cousin of author and journalist Alan Coren, and is thus related to Alan's children Victoria Coren Mitchell and Giles Coren.

Coren married his wife, Bernadette, in 1987. They have four children.

Published books

References

  1. In his new book, Michael Coren does battle with enemies of Catholicism, National Post, 16 April 2011
  2. "Michael Coren to deliver 'straight talk': Talk show star to join Sun News Network prime-time lineup", Toronto Sun, 28 June 2011
  3. "Sun News Network goes off the air". The Globe and Mail. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  4. "@michaelcoren" on Twitter
  5. Coren, Michael (7 January 2017). "Jan 2017: Criticizing Israel not automatically anti-Semitic". Winnipeg Free Press – via winnipegfreepress.com.
  6. Michael Coren - Oxford Reference Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  7. ^ Ovsenny, Christopher (Spring 1994). "Cloak and Dagger". Ryerson Review of Journalism. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  8. The Michael Coren Show Archived 11 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine, CFRB website, accessed 30 December 2007
  9. Two Bald Guys With Strong Opinions Archived 16 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine, CFRB website, accessed 30 December 2007
  10. O'Toole, Megan. "The Motts, Michael Coren out as CFRB retools" , National Post, Toronto, 27 August 2009.
  11. "Ezra Levant: The Rebel's unrepentant commander". 24 January 2017.
  12. "Michael Coren's change of heart: from moral conservative to social liberal". Tapestry with Mary Hynes. CBC Radio. 3 July 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  13. ^ Mahoney, Jeff (November 2015). "The conversion of Michael Coren". The United Church Observer. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  14. https://twitter.com/NiagaraAnglican/status/1186040284699910144 Anglican Diocese of Niagara on Twitter
  15. Michael Coren (19 August 2006). "Why is AIDS so special?". Toronto Sun. 1764549.
  16. Roy E. "Reposting of "Why is AIDS so special?"".
  17. Blizzard, Christina; Coren, Michael (22 May 2007). "Debate over sexual orientation dividing Christians". Edmonton Sun.
  18. Michael Coren (2 September 2006). "We should nuke Iran". Toronto Sun. 1795183.
  19. Michael Coren (20 October 2007). "How wrong can I be?". Toronto Sun. 4590877.
  20. Concerned Women For America-Targeted for Hate: A Canadian Columnist Pays Price For Disagreeing with Homosexual Agenda "Concerned Women for America - Targeted for Hate: A Canadian Columnist Pays Price for Disagreeing with Homosexual Agenda". Archived from the original on 27 October 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2008.
  21. Michael Coren-Irving deserves contempt not jail
  22. "From bigotry to benevolence: The conversion of Michael Coren". CBC Radio. 2 February 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
  23. "Facebook post". Anglican Diocese of Toronto. 23 April 2015. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  24. Brean, Joseph (1 May 2015). "'I felt a hypocrite': Author Michael Coren on why he left the Catholic Church for Anglicanism". National Post.
  25. Coren, Michael (15 March 2017). "Thanks. But I'm afraid I'm not a conservative. Christian socialist really. Sorry" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 September 2017 – via Twitter.
  26. Michael Coren: Iceland’s proposed circumcision ban sparks a bigger fight over rights – Maclean's.
  27. "The curious case of Michael Coren | The Bridgehead". 1 June 2015.
  28. ^ "Our Ministry Team". Diocese of Niagara. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  29. "Biography - Education". Michael Coren. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  30. "I seldom hear about her , but did when she wrote an obsessively fawning piece after the British author and journalist Alan Coren died. The reason was that the noted editor and TV personality was my cousin, and a dear man who helped me more than I can say and whom I miss very much." Opinion column by Michael Coren entitled "Canada: A rogue state?" Hardly Ottawa Sun 5 December 2013.
  31. McLaren, Leah (12 January 2002). "'I'm completely different now'". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  32. Mahoney, Jeff (2 November 2015). "The conversion of Michael Coren". Broadview Magazine. Retrieved 1 November 2024.

External links

Categories: