RICHARD Land, that is, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, in a story in the January 2005 Atlantic Monthly. Land is the appointed mouthpiece for the public media of the Southern Baptist Convention.

He had commented, probably in response to a question about why Southern Baptists tend to be so “anti-Catholic”, “I’ve got more in common with Pope John Paul II than I do with Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton,”

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Further, he adds these insightful gems:

“Together we believe in the virgin-born son, who died on the cross and was resurrected on Easter Sunday—really resurrected, like The Washington Post could have reported it,” Land said. “We both say all human life is sacred, that marriage is between a man and a woman, that homosexual behavior is contrary to God’s will.”

Yeah, human life is sacred. So how come you are so quick, quicker than many “secular humanists” in our country to “exempt” Iraqi civilians frrom that category? This is what Jesus calls a “Blind Guide”.

Another area where Land and the pope disagree is the war in Iraq. The pontiff has criticized both the U.S.-led war and President Bush’s policy on preventive war. On Monday he blasted the “arrogance of power” that he said should be countered with reason and dialogue.

Land, a former Bush appointee to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, meanwhile, defends action in Iraq as meeting “just war” criteria used for centuries to frame issues concerning war and peace.

No, he cannot use the “centuries old” just war criteria, for if he did, he would know that war that affects “non-combatants” does NOT qualify. Period. If he wishes to REDEFINE it, then he must cease calling it a just war, and appealing to the “centuries old just war theory”, for he knows nothing of it, apparently.

Like I was saying earlier this week, Country obviously comes before Christ. They would argue, obviously, but actions speak louder than words.