Free Republic

Thanks to our Friends at numberusa.com for the heads up on this: On June 15, a group of liberal Evangelical Christian and Catholic religious leaders met at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, D.C., to discuss one thing: how religious activism can achieve an amnesty for illegal aliens. This conference follows in the wake of a Capitol Hill forum where liberal Evangelical Christian and Catholic leaders met with Congressional leaders, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and urged them to push an amnesty through Congress this year. Unfortunately, leading Southern Baptist Dr. Richard Land was among the participants....

Leader of former President Jimmy Carter’s longtime denomination say his calls for the Democratic Party to adopt a less radical pro-choice platform is a political calculation to help the party in the South. “I never have believed that Jesus Christ would approve of abortions,” Carter told talk show host Laura Ingraham, while promoting his new study Bible. “I’ve signed a public letter calling for the Democratic Party at the next convention to espouse my position on abortion which is to minimize the need…and limit it only to women whose life are in danger or who are pregnant as a result...

On Faith asks: Dr. Richard Land recently suggested that “people who campaign as traditional moral individuals are asking to be judged by different standards. If you’re going to stand up, you have to walk the walk.” What kinds of ethics, values and morals should we expect from our candidates? A: From my perspective there are baseline non-negotiable qualities and characteristics that anyone must first embody in order to be considered worthy of holding a position of leadership – at any level. These same standards apply whether or not you’re leading a Boy Scout troop, a Fortune 500 company or serving...

FIRST-PERSON: Rick Perry is no George W. Bush By Richard Land Sep 14, 2011 Richard Land NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- Many people assume Texas Gov. Rick Perry is a carbon copy of George W. Bush. Well, he isn't. Those who either love or despise former President Bush need to understand that Perry should be neither accepted nor rejected based on their opinion of Bush. Indeed, as the nation heads with full force into the 2012 election cycle, many of Perry's opponents in and out of the news media will try to tear down the Texas governor as "Bush, continued."...

Southern Baptist leader Richard Land chided presidential candidate Herman Cain for disregarding the constitutional rights of U.S. Muslims during a Monday C-SPAN interview. He reminded Cain that as a Christian and an African American, he should have a special interest in the enforcement of the constitution in all communities, not just approving ones. Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, addressed the businessman turned presidential candidate in a Monday broadcast saying, "Don't throw out the baby with the bath, Mr. Cain." Last week, Cain told reporters that the plan to build the Islamic...

The White House invited four of the country’s top evangelical pastors to attend President Obama’s speech this morning calling for immigration reform. ... The Rev. Leith Anderson, President, National Association of Evangelicals. NAE is the nation’s largest evangelical group and has long sought to be a moderate evangelical alternative to the Christian Right. Dr. Richard Land, President, Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. ... worries that conservatives will burn bridges with the country’s fast-growing Hispanic bloc if they take a hard anti-immigrant line. Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, President, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Council. Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor of the...

One of the leaders of the nation’s influential Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) tells Newsmax that President Obama is “very dangerous” in his economic policies and his foreign policy is causing “severe damage” to U.S. standing in the world. Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and author of the book “The Divided State of America: What Liberals and Conservatives Are Missing In The God And Country Shouting Match”, told Newsmax.TV that the cultural war is heating up. Christians must remember that God is not partisan. “And on many of the most important issues...

New York, NY, October 15, 2009 … A prominent Christian religious leader has apologized to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for comparing proposed healthcare reform measures to "what the Nazis did" and for bestowing a Josef Mengele Award on the president's chief healthcare advisor. In a letter to ADL, Dr. Richard Land, President of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said he deeply regretted his remarks. "I was using hyperbole for effect and never intended to actually equate anyone in the Obama administration with Dr. Mengele," he wrote. "I apologize to everyone who found such references hurtful," Dr. Land...

I spoke today with Richard Land, public policy chief of the Southern Baptist Convention—the nation's largest evangelical denomination—and was struck by his praise of President Obama for living out "family values": Not enough religious conservatives are saying this: It's terribly important that [Obama] gives every indication of being a moral man who is demonstrably fond of his wife and children. I think that's important in a president, be it a Democrat or a Republican. That's why I said I couldn't vote for Giuliani or Gingrich. I think [Obama's] making a real difference in this country in his example as a...

More than 3,000 people, including longtime Mormon critic James Dobson of Focus on the Family, have signed an online petition thanking the LDS Church for its efforts on behalf of California's traditional marriage initiative known as Proposition 8. "Anyone who participated in this process has come to admire the competence, diligence and moral courage that so many members of your faith community displayed as part of this coalition effort -- as Catholics, Evangelicals, Mormons and people of other faith communities all came together to fight this great battle for marriage," says the petition, which is addressed to LDS President Thomas...

Stay Faithful to Core Values By RICHARD LAND To regain a majority, Republicans must embrace core values with such conviction that Americans will welcome where Republicans will lead them in the future. The first core value must be a pro-life agenda. Republicans must advocate for all life from conception to natural death. This is the decent thing to do. And there were 70 million white Evangelical voters on Election Day, 74% of whom voted for John McCain. The vast majority voted pro-life, not Republican. If the GOP turns away from a pro-life agenda, they will turn away from the GOP....

First, congratulations on your successful campaign to become the 44th President of our beloved United States of America. This was a historic election in terms of the massive increase in voter participation as a percentage of the electorate. I hope you know that there are tens of millions of Americans who did not vote for you who are still very, very pleased that an African-American has been elected President of the United States. That fact that this could happen in a country with as tragic a racial past as America’s says something noble and fine about the American experiment and...

Much has been made of the Democratic Party’s new platform plank on abortion. Jim Wallis has hailed the new language as “an historic step forward.” Is it? Well, Sen. Obama says that “words matter,” so let’s examine the actual words. It is true that the Democrats did add language stating that the party “strongly supports a woman’s decision to have a child by ensuring access to and availability of programs for pre and post natal health care, parenting skills, income support, and caring adoption programs.” This is good to know and does provide a certain moral symmetry to their promotion...

CBSNews.com: So, Tom Ridge, who's been discussed. You think … Richard Land: That would be a catastrophe. CBSNews.com: Who’s on the list of people mentioned for VP that you think would most excite Southern Baptists and other members of the conservative faith community? Richard Land: Probably Governor Palin of Alaska, because she's a person of strong faith. She just had her fifth child, a Downs Syndrome child. And there's a wonderful quote that she gave about her baby, and the fact that she would never, ever consider having an abortion just because her child had Downs Syndrome. She's strongly pro-life....

While John McCain has risen to the top of the heap among contenders for the Republican presidential nomination, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson remains adamant that he will not support McCain’s bid for the White House. Dobson, one of the nation’s most influential evangelical Christians, declared more than a year ago that he wouldn't support McCain under any circumstances, saying McCain didn't support traditional marriage values. A Dobson spokesman told the New York Times’ David Kirkpatrick Wednesday that he stood by that position, and as a matter of conscience could never vote for the Arizona Senator. According to...

RUSH: First, Fred Thompson just got some encouraging news. Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, told the Brody File, which is a blog at the CBN.com website, the Christian Broadcast Network, "My assessment is that at this moment in time it is Fred Thompson's race to lose. It may be a convergence of the right man at the right place at the right time. I have never seen anything like this grassroots swell for Thompson. I'm not speaking for Southern Baptists, but I do believe I have my hand on the pulse of...

WHEN Mike Huckabee went to Houston Tuesday to raise funds for his fast-rising, money-starved candidacy, a luncheon for the ordained Baptist minister was arranged by evangelical Christians. On hand was Judge Paul Pressler, a hero to Southern Baptist Convention reformers. But he was a non-paying guest who supports Fred Thompson for president. Huckabee greeted Pressler warmly. That contrasted with Huckabee's anger two months ago when they saw each other in California. The Arkansas ex-governor took issue then with comments by Pressler that Huckabee had been a slacker in the war against secularists in the Baptist church. Warmth in Texas and...

Around 2 P.M., ET, I called Dr. Richard Land's radio show, and talked with his substitute guest host regarding Duncan Hunter. I didn't have to wait too long to get on the show at that time. Anyway, I told the host, as well as the audience, some of the things that Duncan Hunter stands for on both the social issues, and other issues. I also said so many people like Hunter, but need to have the courage to fight for him, and it's still early. The host said he thought Hunter was a great candidate, too. Right after my call,...

Here is an outstanding discussion about Fred Thompson between Radio Talk Show Host Phil Valentine and Dr. Richard Land, President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. Valentine asks Land about recent attacks on Fred by some Evangelicals, particularly that of Dr. James Dobson. This is a great interview!

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his rivals for the Republican nomination will face a tough crowd when they address the religious conservatives at the Values Voter Summit starting Friday. “I think what we can expect is a lot of folks talking about how dissatisfied they are with the choices they have,” former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) said. Giuliani’s positions on abortion and gay rights continue to dog him as he looks for support within the leadership of the religious conservative movement, and those leaders say they want to hear more from the former mayor this weekend than...