(Newser)
–
Southern Baptist Convention officials today reprimanded prominent Baptist preacher and ethicist Richard Land and canceled his radio show, over controversial comments he made in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting, the Baptist Press reports. "We reprimand Dr. Land for his hurtful, irresponsible, insensitive, and racially charged words," the Ethics & Religious Liberty Committee—which Land is president of—declared in a statement today. It said Land's show, Richard Land Live! was "nor congruent with the mission of the ERLC."
In his May 31 radio show, Land complained that President Obama had "poured gasoline on the racialist fires" in the Martin case. "This is being done to try to gin up the black vote for an African-American president who is in deep, deep, deep trouble for re-election." Land has had to apologize for the comments twice: first because they angered African-American leaders, and again when someone noticed they were taken verbatim, without credit, from a Washington Times column, notes USA Today.
