Dear Representative Pitts,
On September 18, the trustees of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) awarded you with the Richard D. Land Distinguished Service Award for 2009.
Eight days later, that same Richard Land, President of the ERLC, compared Obama's health care plan to the genocidal crimes of the Nazis. He also compared Obama's chief health advisor to Josef Mengele, a Nazi doctor notorious for his cruel experiments on human beings.
Land, speaking to the Christian Coalition on September 26, 2009, was quoted in the Florida Baptist Witness as saying:
"I want to put it to you bluntly. What they [Obama and the Democrats] are attempting to do in healthcare, particularly in treating the elderly, is not something like what the Nazis did. It is precisely what the Nazis did. Let’s remember, the first 10,000 victims of the Holocaust were not Jews, they were mentally handicapped German children who were gassed and burned in ovens because they were considered to have ... lives unworthy of life."
After being pressured by the Anti-Defamation League, Land later "clarified" his statements in a letter to ADL director Abraham Foxman on October 14. Foxman also asked that the "Nazis analogies cease." But in a later article in the Baptist Press, Land admitted he "has no plans to stop pointing out" parallels between health reform and "ideologies held by those in history." Land still believes there are "connections" between the anti-Semitic philosophy of the early 20th Century and "certain elements" of the current health care debate.
Ideological differences aside, this man's comments show a dangerous misunderstanding of European history and genocide. Healthy debate about legislation is essential to any working democracy. However, comparisons to the Holocaust have no place in a responsible debate about health care.
In light of Land's assertions, I sincerely hope you will return the award named for such an insensitive and ignorant individual and denounce his remarks.
Sincerely,
[Politicslovr]
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I'm posting this letter here for two reasons:
- Regardless of your opinion on the current healthcare debate or the ADL, I think you'll agree with Foxman on this one. Adding a public option is not the same as murdering 12 million people. Pitts has no business carrying around some plaque with Land's name on it.
- Pitts is a close associate of this man (Link to Newsmax - BEWARE!).
Land said the SBC has been fighting liberal social policies, and had played a leading role in getting anti-abortion proposals passed in the House under the Pitts-Stupak Amendment that banned federal funding in the new health care bill.
Land noted the role Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa., an evangelical who received the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission’s distinguished service award in the past year, played and important role in getting the amendment passed in conjunction with Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich.(emphasis mine)
In order for Land to lose power, we need to defeat his associates in Congress. Joe Pitts currently has a liberal progressive opponent named Lois Herr.
I could say a lot of good things about Lois. She's a true blue liberal (NOT A BLUE DOG) in a conservative district. She's a Kossack. She's pro-choice. She cares about her district (PA-16).
She will also never associate with right-wing fundamentalists who believe HCR is "precisely what the Nazis did."
Right now, her campaign is a mere $952 shy of raising $100,000. If you can chip in, now would be a great time to do it.