September 2, 2008

Richard Land is dishonest

Hardly news, I understand. H/t to Bruce at Mainstream Baptists for this story from Christianity Today where Republican operative SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission director Land gave an interview glowing about the Palin pick:
My wife says to her Sarah Palin is what the feminists’ movement was all about. You can have a family and a husband and a career, that you can do it all. My wife has a Ph.D. in psychology, she’s in private practice as a psychotherapist.
I find these questions about ‘how can she take care of her children and be vice president’ sexist. Nobody asked that question to any of the male candidates. That’s a family decision. As long as she and her husband are comfortable with it and they seem to have done a wonderful job with the children they have, it’s nobody’s business.
I agree. I just don't remember such inclusive language about Hillary Clinton who, by all accounts, also did a fine job of raising Chelsea. I guess that just doesn't count.
Let me answer a question you haven’t asked me. I had two secular reporters ask me, ‘Dr. Land, you as a Southern Baptist believe that women are not to be pastors of churches and women are not to be head of the home. Wouldn’t it mean that if Sarah Palin were elected vice president, her husband would tell her what to do? And I said, ‘If you don’t mind my saying so, that’s an asinine question, but I’ll answer it.’ Mrs. Thatcher said that her husband was head of her home and she ran the country. Queen Elizabeth said that Prince Phillip was head of the home and she was head of the country. If Mrs. Thatcher had been an American, I would’ve enthusiastically supported her for president of the United States.
The only restrictions we find in Scripture are, that for whatever reason women are not to be in charge of a marriage and women are not to be in charge of a church. That has nothing to do with governor, or senator or the House of Representatives, or president, or vice president.
Ok. Got it. That seems like blockheaded theology, but whatever. Land is openly about electing Republicans, not about speaking truth to power. And that should be patently obvious with this response. What is more amazing, to me, is that Palin gets absolutely no criticism for exposing her teenage daughter, or infant son to national attention.

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