You might expect the President of an agency entitled "The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission" to be scrupulous about speaking the truth and honoring promises. You should expect the same from the head of the ethical ageny of the largest Protestant denomination in America. Unfortunately, Richard Land, President of the Southern Baptist Convention's political arm and ethical agency, appears to have few scruples about mendacity and promise breaking.
On September 26th Land declared democratic proposals for healthcare reform to be "precisely what the Nazi's did." He bestowed on Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, President Obama's healthcare advisor, "The Dr. Jospeh Mengele Award." Mengele was a notorious Nazi death camp doctor.
When Abraham Foxman of the AntiDefamation League complained about his inappropriate use of Nazi analogies, Land denied he intended to say what he clearly said, apologized, and promised not to use such analogies in the future.
Land lied. As Brian Kaylor at Ethics Daily points out, Baptist Press, the propaganda arm for the Southern Baptist Convention, is still printing stories that indicate Land still stands by his Nazi analogies.
Richard Land's remarks prompted the Interfaith Alliance to write an open letter calling for civility and asking public speakers to refrain from holocaust comparisons.
1 comment:
Interesting that ethics and politics are headed by the same guy, if I understand it right.
I hear a lot of comparisions of Obama to Hitler this days. I think its obscene. I am not quiet about it any more among my acquaintances.
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