Richard Land declares himself ethical; critics of his Nazi-baiting 'delusional'

In a sly self-exculpation, reiterated by Baptist Press, Richard Land explained away his apology to the Anti-Defamation League and laid down the law:

He will continue to compare the Obama administration to the Nazis. He not only refuses be held accountable, having excused himself, he attacks his critics as "delusional."

Land's illogic is as shameless as it is unpersuasive, very much like his earlier pseudo-apology. BP reports:

"There were very lethal and deadly philosophies loose in 20th century Germany prior to the Nazis' ascendancy to power that called for devaluing some human beings as less worthy of life than other human beings," he said, recalling there were arguments for euthanizing those who were perceived to be "useless eaters" and those who had "lives unworthy of life," lebensunvertes Leben, in the 1930s and beyond.
"These poisonous philosophies became ever more deadly as the Nazis applied them to ever wider categories of people, such as Jews and Gypsies," he continued.
Land said there are some involved in the health care debate who appear to believe some lives are less valuable and less worthy of medical treatment than others.
In noting he had previously used "imprecise language," Land said he should have said some of the philosophies that are being espoused "bear a lethal similarity in their attitudes toward the elderly and the terminally ill and could ultimately lead to the kinds of things the Nazis did."
Land said there are some involved in the health care debate who appear to believe some lives are less valuable and less worthy of medical treatment than others.
In noting he had previously used “imprecise language,” Land said he should have said some of the philosophies that are being espoused “bear a lethal similarity in their attitudes toward the elderly and the terminally ill and could ultimately lead to the kinds of things the Nazis did.”
“To equate expressing concerns that such a mindset could be carried to such an extreme at some time in the future as the equivalent of saying the Obama administration is like the Nazis or that Barack Obama is Hitler is either delusional or deliberately misleading,” Land said.

He has not merely "expressed concerns." In his Sept. 26 speech to the Christian Coalition of Fla., Land made it clear that he does believe "the Obama administration is like the Nazis." Specifically, he said:

I want to put it to you bluntly. What they 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.

Having asserted he was merely "expressing concerns," Land proceeds with slippery dishonesty to attack his critics, in particular Indiana State University professor Richard Pierard. Land first says Pierard "attempts to remove the Third Reich as a subject of discussion when it comes to the healthcare debate." From there, establishing a patter for his other rebuttals, Land bridges to ad hominem, asserting:

The last time I checked, Dr. Pierard had not been made speech czar.

Although Land is correct in asserting that it is his First Amendment right to employ Third Reich imagery alongside the massive factual inaccuracies with which he assaults Democratic health reform efforts, there is nothing exhaustively ethical about his behavior. It does violence to the first half of the name of the Southern Baptist entity of which he is president: The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.