Richard Land

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Dr. Richard Land
Born 1946
Occupation President, The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Religion Southern Baptist
Southern Baptists

Dr. Richard D. Land (born 1946) is the president of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina, a post he has held since July 2013. He was formerly the president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), the moral and ethics concern entity of the Southern Baptist Convention in the United States, a post he held from 1988 - 2013. He was host of the nationally syndicated radio program Richard Land Live! from 2002 to 2012 and is the executive editor of The Christian Post.

Land announced his intention to retire effective Oct. 23, 2013.[1]

Public Policy involvement

In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Land to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a federal agency, created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1988, for the purpose of monitoring the freedom of conscience, thought and religion or belief abroad.

Land was the primary author of the Land letter, an open letter sent to President George W. Bush by leaders of the religious right in October 2002 which outlined a "just war" argument in support of the subsequent military invasion of Iraq.

Bush reappointed Land for a second term in June 2004. He was subsequently appointed by then Majority Leader Bill Frist in July 2005. Land ended his term on the commission in 2011, after almost a decade of service.[2]

Bush appointed Land to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in May 2008.[3]

Land advocates for a fundamentalist biblical position on issues ranging from religious liberty to the economy when he appears on radio and television news programs. In 2005, Land was recognized as one of the "25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America" by Time Magazine.

Land has been appointed to a Board of Reference for the establishment of the Judge Paul Pressler School of Law in downtown Shreveport, Louisiana. The facility, which will stress the Creator God, inalienable rights, and original intent of the U.S. Constituiton, will be tied to Baptist-affiliated Louisiana College in Pineville.[4]

In July 2011, Land spoke about Muslims and Sharia. He said while using Islamic law in US courts was unconstitutional, Muslims had the right to abide by Islamic rules, so long as they weren't imposed on the government. He concluded that Muslims had the right to have a mosque near where they live, the right to use Islamic customs in their marriages, and the right to choose to veil.[5]

Gun Rights

In the aftermath of the horrible mass shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012, Land made the following comments in an NPR interview regarding the use of a weapon. "If I find that someone is trying to do harm to someone else, I believe that I have a moral and Christian obligation to do what ever I can - with the least amount of violence necessary - but if necessary, lethal violence to stop them from harming others. That's loving my neighbor as myself. That's doing unto others as I would have them do unto me."

Trayvon Martin remarks

On the March 31, 2012 edition of Richard Land Live!, Land accused the Obama administration and civil rights leaders of using the Trayvon Martin case to deliberately stir up racial tension and "gin up the black vote" for Obama in the 2012 election. His comments were criticized by several black Southern Baptist pastors, who felt they reversed a long effort by the SBC to distance itself from a past history of racism. One of those pastors, Dwight McKissic, even announced he would introduce a resolution repudiating Land's remarks.[6] However, Land refused to back down, saying that he would not "bow to the false god of political correctness."[7] However, he subsequently wrote an open letter of apology for "any hurt or misunderstanding" that his words might have caused.[8]

On April 14, Baptist blogger Aaron Weaver discovered that Land's commentary on the Martin case had been lifted almost verbatim and without attribution from a column written by Jeffrey Kuhner of the The Washington Times. According to Weaver, while Land included a link to the article in show notes that were posted online, he didn't disclose that his commentary was based almost entirely on that column.[9] Weaver subsequently discovered that Land had also lifted material in previous broadcasts from other sources as well and passed them off as his own words.[10]

In response, the ERLC's executive committee removed the entire archive of past broadcasts of Richard Land Live! and launched an internal investigation. It also expressed concern that Land's comments about the Martin shooting "opened wounds from the past."[11][12] The committee released the findings of its investigation on June 1. It reprimanded Land for using "hurtful, irresponsible, insensitive, and racially charged words" about the Martin case, and apologized to Martin's family. It also found that Land had used "carelessness and poor judgment" in lifting material from other sources without attribution, calling it a case of clear plagiarism. However, it found no evidence that Land had plagiarized any of his written work. The committee also announced that Richard Land Live! would be canceled as soon as its contract with distributor Salem Radio Network allowed it to do so, saying that the show was "not congruent with the mission of the ERLC."[13] The next day, Land announced on the weekly edition of Richard Land Live! that the show was leaving the air, effective immediately.[14]

Land was quick to praise the 2012 election of Fred Luter as the first African-American to preside over the Southern Baptist Convention.[15]

Appearance at American Enterprise Institute November 2012 Conference on Immigration Policy

Richard Land stated his "being ashamed" of the Republican party in the 2012 Presidential race.[16]

Radio

Land is the co-host of For Faith and Family, a nationally syndicated radio talk show. "For Faith & Family" has been on the air since 1998.

Land hosted "Richard Land LIVE!" from 2002 to 2012, a live, 3 hour weekly broadcast.

Ecumenical activities

In November 2009, Land signed an ecumenical statement known as the Manhattan Declaration, a statement opposing abortion and same-sex marriage. It was originally signed by about 150 prominent Christian clergy, ministry leaders and scholars and was released at a press conference in Washington, DC.

Publications

Land's most recent book is The Divided States of America? What Liberals and Conservatives Get Wrong About Faith and Politics published by Thomas Nelson. Prior to that, he authored Imagine! A God-Blessed America (Broadman & Holman, 2005) and Real Homeland Security (Broadman & Holman, 2004). His other books include: For Faith & Family, The Earth Is The Lord's, Life At Risk, Citizen Christians, and Christians In The Public Square.

Ergun Caner

Ergun Caner rocketed to prominence in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks by claiming he had been a devout Muslim trained as a terrorist to do what the 9-11 terrorist had done until he converted to Christianity.[17] Land promoted Caner as one of his students. [18] After Caner's claims were proven false, Land still had Caner on the platform with him at Land's inauguration at Southern Evangelical Seminary. [19]. Land also allegedly used his position as the Executive Editor of The Christian Post to suppress news and commentary detrimental to Caner. [20]

Articles

  • "Americans Don't Want a 'Truce' on Social Issues." The Wall Street Journal guest columnist.
  • "The Consequential Election of 2010." The Hill guest columnist.
  • "God and Immigration Reform." USA Today guest columnist.
  • "The Unalienable, Universal Right to Religious Freedom." ERLC.com
  • "Biblical Marriage Under Assault." ERLC.com
  • "Starting Over on Health Care Reform." ERLC.com
  • More first-person articles by Land can be found here.

Education

See also

References

  1. ↑ Richard Land To Retire: Southern Baptist Leader Will Step Down Following Ethics Probe, 08/01/2012, Religion News Service, By Adelle M. Banks, accessed Sept 28, 2012
  2. ↑ http://www.bpnews.asp?id=36808
  3. ↑ http://www.nysun.com/foreign/bush-visit-may-boost-olmert/76303/
  4. ↑ "Judge Paul Pressler School of Law", Columns: The Magazine for Louisiana College Alumni and Friends Winter 2010, pp. 16-19
  5. ↑ Stephanie Samuel, Southern Baptist Leader Chides Cain for Mosque Ban Remarks, Jul. 18 2011.
  6. ↑ Loller, Travis. Southern Baptist Convention's leader criticizes Trayvon Martin support. Associated Press, 2012-04-14.
  7. ↑ Roach, Erin; Chandler, Dana. Land expresses concern about political element in Martin case. Baptist Press, 2012-04-10.
  8. ↑ Toalston, Art. Richard Land issues open letter of apology for controversial Trayvon Martin comments. Baptist Press, 2012-04-16.
  9. ↑ Weaver, Aaron. Richard Land, the plagiarist: top SBC ethicist stirs up controversy with someone else's rant.
  10. ↑ Smetana, Bob. Religious leader accused of plagiarizing Trayvon comments. The Tennessean, 2012-04-17.
  11. ↑ http://richardlandlive.com/archive/
  12. ↑ Toalston, Art. Land's comments on Trayvon Martin shooting meet with commission's regret, investigation. Baptist Press, 2012-04-19.
  13. ↑ Toalston, Art. Trustees reprimand Land, halt radio program over comments. Baptist Press, 2012-06-01.
  14. ↑ Allen, Bob. Richard Land signs off radio show. Associated Baptist Press, 2012-06-04.
  15. ↑ Land, Richard (2012-06-21). "Meaning of Fred Luter’s presidency to Southern Baptists". Washington Post. Retrieved 2012-06-24. 
  16. ↑ "American Enterprise Institue". 
  17. ↑ http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/mayweb-only/28-11.0.html
  18. ↑ "For Faith and Family" (2008) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lACTfx79ilQ
  19. ↑ "Richard Land Inauguration as Southern Evangelical Seminary President Includes Call to Excellence", The Christian Post, http://www.christianpost.com/news/richard-land-inauguration-as-southern-evangelical-seminary-president-includes-call-to-excellence-106410/
  20. ↑ http://www.aomin.org/aoblog/index.php/2014/01/02/mark-driscoll-ergun-caner-and-the-scandal-of-evangelical-integrity/

External links

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