He just couldn't help himself

Richard Land is the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention. He is regarded by some as the most powerful person in the Southern Baptist Church. He also can't keep his mouth shut.

Mr. Land has seen fit to criticize so-called "black leaders" for bringing the nation's attention to the killing of Trayvon Martin. In Mr. Land's eyes, President Obama was wrong to address the issue and that the president "poured gasoline on the racialist fires" in order to prop up his floundering campaign.

When asked if regretted his comments, Mr. Land stood by them and then turned around and defended George Zimmerman by stating that Mr. Zimmerman was right to be suspicious of a black youth. He added that black men are "statistically more likely to do harm" than white men.

This from a man who is still trying to remove the stench of slavery and racism from the Southern Baptist Church. He was the architect behind the church's apology for its support of slavery back in 1995.

"Part of racial reconciliation is being able to speak the truth in love without being called a racist and without having to bow down to the god of political correctness." -- Richard Land

We can all feel free to disagree about what happened that February night in Florida and about what the proper remedy is. But for the man behind the curtain to make the case that black men are more likely to be violent than whites is beyond incomprehensible.

Even worse, according to Aaron Weaver, a blogger at Baylor University, Mr. Land's comments weren't even his own. He lifted them, without attribution, from an article by Jeffrey Kuhner in the right wing Washington Times (I guess no one's told Mr. Land that the Times is the mouthpiece for the Moonies).

But Mr. Land has an excuse. It is a live radio show, after all. How can he be expected to tell the listeners that he's reading verbatim from an article written by someone else? And, according to Mr. Weaver, this isn't the first time Mr. Land has done it.

Hey, it's okay, Mr. Land. Hypocrisy and the Baptist church go together like Martin and Lewis, peanut butter and chocolate, and barbecue and beer. I understand that you want the government to get its nose out of the way businesses screw workers and corporations rape the environment. You'd much rather have the government impose your reactionary views on the populace.