Richard Land

Last updated
Richard Land
USCIRFCommissionerRichardLand.jpg
7th President of the
Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
In office
1988–2013

Richard D. Land (born 1946) was the president of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina, a post he held from July 2013 until his retirement in 2021. [2]

Contents

Formerly he served as president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention in the United States, a post he held from 1988 to 2013, when he stepped down in the wake of his controversial comments about the Trayvon Martin case. He announced his intention to retire effective October 23, 2013, [3] and Russell D. Moore filled the post. [4]

Land hosted the nationally syndicated radio program Richard Land Live! from 2002 to 2012. He is the executive editor of The Christian Post .

Education

Land received his A.B. in history from Princeton University in 1969. He later received his Th.M. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and DPhil from Regent’s Park, [5] University of Oxford, where he did his doctorate research on the Puritan movement in 17th century England. [6]

Public policy positions

Religious issues

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 1998, for the purpose of monitoring the freedom of conscience, thought, and religion abroad.

Land was the primary author of the "Land letter", an open letter 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 2003 invasion of Iraq. [7]

Bush reappointed Land for a second term in June 2004, and was reappointed by Majority Leader Bill Frist in July 2005. Land ended his term on the commission in 2011, after almost a decade of service. [8] Bush appointed Land to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in May 2008. [9]

Land has been appointed to a Board of Reference for the establishment of the Judge Paul Pressler School of Law in Shreveport, Louisiana. [10]

Abortion and same-sex marriage

Land advocates for a literal interpretation of the bible on issues ranging from religious liberty to the economy. In 2005, Land was recognized as one of the "25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America" by Time magazine. In November 2009, Land signed an ecumenical statement known as the Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience , 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, D.C.

Sharia

In July 2011, Land spoke about Muslims and Sharia. He said while using Islamic law in U.S. 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. [11]

Gun rights

In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting 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." [12]

Immigration reform

At a November 19, 2012 American Enterprise Institute event on immigration reform, Land stated that he was "ashamed" of the Republican Party in the 2012 presidential election. [13]

Trayvon Martin remarks and ethics investigation

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 presidential 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. [14] Land refused to back down, saying that he would not "bow to the false god of political correctness". [15] Soon thereafter he wrote an open letter of apology for "any hurt or misunderstanding" that his words might have caused. [16]

On April 14, 2012, Baptist blogger Aaron Weaver discovered that Land's commentary on the Martin case had been lifted almost verbatim and without attribution from a column by Jeffrey Kuhner of The Washington Times . According to Weaver, while Land included a link to the article in show notes that were posted online, he did not disclose that his commentary was based almost entirely on that column. [17] Weaver also discovered that Land had also lifted material in previous broadcasts from other sources as well and passed them off as his own words. [18]

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". [19] [20] 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. 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". [21] The next day, Land announced on the weekly edition of Richard Land Live! that the show was leaving the air, effective immediately. [22]

Land was quick to praise the 2012 election of Fred Luter as the first African-American to preside over the Southern Baptist Convention. [23]

Land was one of 25 nominees to an “executive advisory board” of evangelical pastors proposed by then-candidate Donald Trump in the runup to the 2016 Presidential election. [24]

Selected publications

Books

Articles

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Baptist Convention</span> Christian denomination

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Baptist Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian body in the United States. The SBC is a cooperation of fully autonomous, independent churches with commonly held essential beliefs that pool some resources for missions.

Charles Jerry Vines is an American preacher and former pastor of what was then the nation's third largest Southern Baptist church, the First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida. Like his former co-pastor Homer G. Lindsay Jr., Vines is well known for his conservative and sometimes controversial public stances, as well as his wide-reaching influence in the Southern Baptist Convention and the local political arena. He retired from the First Baptist pulpit on February 7, 2006, and was succeeded by Mac Brunson. On February 4, 2007, Brunson named Vines Pastor Emeritus of the church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Warren</span> Christian religious leader

Richard Duane Warren is an American Baptist evangelical Christian pastor and author. He is the founder of Saddleback Church, an evangelical Baptist megachurch in Lake Forest, California. Since 2022, he is executive director of the Finishing the Task mission coalition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saddleback Church</span> Church in other locations across the world, United States

Saddleback Church is an evangelical, non-denominational Christian multi-site megachurch based in Lake Forest, California. It is the largest church in California, and one of the largest in the United States of America. The church has several campuses in California and around the world, as well as a number of extensions. Weekly church attendance was 30,000 people in 2023. Its senior pastor is Andy Wood, and his wife, Stacie Wood, is a teaching pastor. Saddleback was formerly associated with the Southern Baptist Convention, until 2023.

Lifeway Christian Resources, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is the Christian media publishing and distribution division of the Southern Baptist Convention and provider of church business services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Mohler</span> American evangelical theologian (born 1959)

Richard Albert Mohler Jr. is an American evangelical theologian, the ninth president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and host of the podcast The Briefing, where he gives a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview.

L. Paige Patterson is an American Baptist former administrator. He served as president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, from 1992 to 2003, as president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) from 1998 to 2000, and as the eighth president of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, from 2003 until his firing in 2018 over mishandling of a rape allegation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell D. Moore</span> American evangelical theologian (born 1971)

Russell D. Moore is an American theologian, ethicist, and preacher. In June 2021, he became the director of the Public Theology Project at Christianity Today, and on August 4, 2022, was announced as the magazine's incoming Editor-in-Chief.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission</span> Southern Baptist advocacy group (1997-)

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) is the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, the second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. Brent Leatherwood has served as the ERLC president since September 13, 2022. The commission is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, with additional offices in Washington, D.C., and Cyprus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W. A. Criswell</span> American pastor and author (1909–2002)

Wallie Amos Criswell Jr., was an American Baptist pastor, author, and a two-term elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1968 to 1970. As senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas for five decades, he became widely known for expository biblical preaching at a popular level, and is regarded as a key figure in the late 1970s "Conservative Resurgence" within the Southern Baptist Convention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Baptist Theological Seminary</span> Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, USA

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The seminary was founded in 1859 in Greenville, South Carolina, where it was at first housed on the campus of Furman University. The seminary has been an innovator in theological education, establishing one of the first Ph.D. programs in religion in the year 1892. After being closed during the Civil War, it moved in 1877 to a newly built campus in downtown Louisville and moved to its current location in 1926 in the Crescent Hill neighborhood. In 1953, Southern became one of the few seminaries to offer a full, accredited degree course in church music. For more than fifty years Southern has been one of the world's largest theological seminaries, with an FTE enrollment of over 3,300 students in 2015.

Beginning in 1979, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) experienced an intense struggle for control of the organization. Its initiators called it the conservative resurgence while its detractors labeled it the fundamentalist takeover. It was launched with the charge that the seminaries and denominational agencies were dominated by liberals. The movement was primarily aimed at reorienting the denomination away from a liberal trajectory.

Thom S. Rainer is an American writer, researcher, speaker, and former president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. He is the author of several best selling books, including I Am a Church Member, named a CBA #1 Best Seller (2013–2014) and Monthly Best Seller (2013–2015). It was also recognized as a Monthly Best Seller (2013–2015), a Gold Medallion Award winner (2015), and a Platinum Book Award winner (2016) by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, and recognized by Leadership Journal as Best of the Best in the Leaders Outer Life category (2013); Autopsy of a Deceased Church, Christian Retailing's Best Book of the Year: Church and Culture (2015); and Simple Church, the 2007 Christianity Today Book Award winner in the Church/Pastoral Leadership category. After resigning as CEO, Rainer remained as the Chief Advisory Officer On September 29, 2020, it was announced that Lifeway filed a lawsuit against Rainer after he allegedly violated a non-compete agreement by publishing a book with Tyndale Press, but on September 30 it was announced they decided to seek a non-litigation resolution and October 5 it was announced that Rainer agreed to end his relationship with Tyndale and avoid litigation

C. Barry McCarty is an American preacher and educator who has been associated with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Christian churches and churches of Christ. McCarty is a former president of Cincinnati Christian University. From January 2010 to June 2015 he was the senior pastor of Peachtree Christian Church, a Disciples of Christ congregation, in Atlanta, Georgia. In August 2015, his 30-year relationship with the SBC culminated in changing his church affiliation to Southern Baptist and accepting a call to the faculty of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth as professor of preaching and rhetoric. Now he is a Professor of Rhetoric & Communications at Truett-McConnell University in Cleveland, Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronnie Floyd</span> American pastor (born 1955)

Ronald Wayne Floyd is an American Baptist pastor, and a former Southern Baptist executive. Ronnie was the Senior Pastor of Cross Church, a Southern Baptist megachurch located in Northwest Arkansas, and served as the 61st president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 2014-2016. He resigned his post as Senior Pastor in 2019 to become the full-time CEO of the Southern Baptist Executive Committee and run the day-to-day operations of the denomination. His resignation on October 14, 2021 coincided with mounting pressure in the wake of the SBC sexual abuse scandal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morris Chapman</span> American pastor (born 1940)

Morris H. Chapman was elected president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee on October 1, 1992. In September 2009 he announced that he would retire from this position effective September 30, 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Page (Southern Baptist)</span> American pastor (born 1952)

Frank S. Page was the president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) from 2006 to 2008, and the president of the denomination's Executive Committee from 2010 to 2018. Page announced his resignation on March 27, 2018, admitting to "a personal failing" that involved a "morally inappropriate relationship." Frank Page now pastors Pebble Creek Baptist Church in South Carolina.

Brandan Robertson is a gay writer, activist, minister, and TikTok religious influencer. He has written on the subjects of millennials, social justice, and Progressive Christianity, and he is an LGBTQ activist. Robertson serves as the Pastor of Sunnyside Reformed Church in Queens, New York.

Harry Edward (Ed) Litton Jr. is an American evangelical pastor who was the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, elected in June 2021. He also serves as the senior pastor of Redemption Church in Saraland, Alabama.

References

  1. ↑ Blount, D. K., & Wooddell, J. D. (2007). Page 156. In The Baptist faith and message 2000: Critical issues in America's largest Protestant denomination (p. 156). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
  2. ↑ "The History of SES".
  3. ↑ Adelle M. Banks, "Richard Land To Retire: Southern Baptist Leader Will Step Down Following Ethics Probe", Huffington Post, 1 August 2012, Religion News Service
  4. ↑ Allen, Bob. "SBC leader says evangelicals paying price for ‘narrow vision’ of religious freedom", Associated Baptist Press, 2014-04-11.
  5. ↑ Land, Richard D. Doctrinal Controversies of the English Particular Baptists (1644–1691) as Illustrated by the Career and Writings of Thomas Collier (Unpublished master's thesis). Regents Park College, Oxford. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:a34fe37a-ce09-4f31-b2d1-a2fc571f626f/download_file?file_format=pdf&safe_filename=602324959.pdf&type_of_work=Thesis
  6. ↑ "Princeton Alumni Weekly: PawPlus". www.princeton.edu. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  7. ↑ Strode, Tom (2002-10-03). "Attack on Iraq justified, Land, others tell Bush | Baptist Press". Baptist Press. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  8. ↑ "USCIRF reauthorized, but 7 must leave panel". Baptist Press. Archived from the original on 2012-07-19.
  9. ↑ Eli Lake, "Bush Visit May Boost Olmert", New York Sun , 13 May 2008.
  10. ↑ "Judge Paul Pressler School of Law", Columns: The Magazine for Louisiana College Alumni and Friends Winter 2010, pp. 16-19
  11. ↑ Stephanie Samuel, "Southern Baptist Leader Chides Cain for Mosque Ban Remarks", Christian Post, July 18, 2011.
  12. ↑ Siegel, Robert (19 December 2012). "Southern Baptist Leader: 'Gun-Free Zones Are A Fantasy'". NPR .
  13. ↑ "Conservatives and immigration reform: Now what?". American Enterprise Institute . November 19, 2012.
  14. ↑ Loller, Travis. Southern Baptist Convention's leader criticizes Trayvon Martin support Archived 2012-05-21 at the Wayback Machine . Associated Press, 2012-04-14.
  15. ↑ Roach, Erin; Chandler, Dana. "Land expresses concern about political element in Martin case" Archived 2012-05-03 at the Wayback Machine , Baptist Press , 2012-04-10.
  16. ↑ Toalston, Art, "Richard Land issues open letter of apology for controversial Trayvon Martin comments" Archived 2012-06-18 at the Wayback Machine , Baptist Press , 2012-04-16.
  17. ↑ Weaver, Aaron, "Richard Land The Plagiarist: Top SBC Ethicist Stirs Up Controversy With Someone Else’s Rant", The Big Daddy Weave, 14 April 2012.
  18. ↑ Smetana, Bob, "Religious leader accused of plagiarizing Trayvon comments", The Tennessean , 17 April 2012.
  19. ↑ "Welcome richardlandlive.com - BlueHost.com". richardlandlive.com.
  20. ↑ Toalston, Art, "Land's comments on Trayvon Martin shooting meet with commission's regret, investigation" Archived 2012-04-27 at the Wayback Machine , Baptist Press , 19 April 2012
  21. ↑ Toalston, Art. "Trustees reprimand Land, halt radio program over comments" Archived 2012-06-03 at the Wayback Machine , Baptist Press , 2012-06-01.
  22. ↑ Allen, Bob. "Richard Land signs off radio show", Associated Baptist Press, 2012-06-04.
  23. ↑ Land, Richard (21 June 2012). "Meaning of Fred Luter's presidency to Southern Baptists". Washington Post . Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
  24. ↑ Green, Emma (June 21, 2016). "Trump Is Surrounding Himself With Evangelical Pastors". The Atlantic . Retrieved May 1, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.