The Reasonable Richard Land Visits Colbert Report

The guy actually sounds reasonable.

First, Land declares that America is not a Christian Nation.

But check out this exchange between Stephen Colbert and Richard Land:

Stephen Colbert: You said our country is not as divided as it appears in the media. What do you base that on?

Richard Land: Well, I'll give you an example. I was being interviewed for a national talk show and they said to me, "Dr. Land what do you think of Pope John Paul II",and I said, well I think he's one of the transcendent moral and historical figures of the 20th century. And they said, "well that's not quite what we're looking for."

Well, what are you looking for? And they said "well we're looking for someone who'll go on the air and say he's the head of a false religion." And I said, well you got the wrong guy. But they found someone who did. And so millions of Catholics got the idea that evangelicals have a different view of the Pope and their faith than they actually have. And it was that night that I decided to write this book. I said, I've had it.

Land's comment comes on the heels of an interesting discussion between fundamentalist bloggers who deemed the Roman Catholic Church to be a "cult." David Rogers, son of the late Adrian Rogers, was among this group.

Land's voice of reason on this subject is at odds with the loud voice of many Southern Baptist fundamentalists. Coupled with his support of the Bush immigration policy, his recent coalition work with liberal organizations and Senator Ted Kennedy, it seems Richard Land may be "ahead" of the Southern Baptist consensus.

Unfortunately, in the blogosphere we rarely (if ever) have the chance to read SBCers thoughts on Richard Land and his work with the ERLC. Do bloggers support Land and his endeavors? As much talk and bickering about how SWBTS and the SBC as a whole spends cooperative dollars, it's amazing that bloggers seem unconcerned about the millions and millions that have been poured into the work of Land's ERLC.

To Land's credit, at least he gives a rats rump about social issues.

Moderates support the Baptist Joint Committee. The BJC's Religious Liberty Council luncheon sells out each summer at the CBF's General Assembly.

But do Southern Baptists support their own Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission as strongly as moderates support the BJC?

Maybe they do - but the ERLC definitely doesn't get much support (or opposition) from Southern Baptists in the blogosphere...

Enough Ramblings...