Via Dan Gilgoff we see that Richard Land has now apologized for his recent statement comparing Democrats to Nazis and Ezekiel Emanuel to Josef Mengele in a letter to the ADL:
It was never my intention to equate the Obama administration’s healthcare reform proposals with anything related to the Holocaust. My concern, which is clear when the remarks are reviewed in context, was about the potential denial of healthcare to the elderly, the infirm, the disabled and the unborn.
You know of my longstanding love for the Jewish people and the state of Israel. I have recently returned from Washington where I shared with policymakers and elected officials my grave concerns about Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, the regime’s human rights abuses, and President Ahmadinejad’s denial of the Holocaust.
Now that I have had the opportunity to speak with you personally and reflect on my words, I deeply regret the reference to Dr. Josef Mengele. I was using hyperbole for effect and never intended to actually equate anyone in the Obama administration with Dr. Mengele. I will certainly refrain from making such references in the future. I apologize to everyone who found such references hurtful. Given the pain and suffering of so many Jewish and other victims of the Nazi regime, I will certainly seek to exercise far more care in my use of language in future discussions of the issues at stake in the healthcare debate.
Abe, I appreciate all you have done to combat anti-Semitism and bigotry in all its ugly forms. Please continue to count on me as a loyal ally in that struggle. It is my firm hope that our exchange on this topic will lead to greater cooperation between Jews and Christians on all matters of mutual concern, including opposing ethnic bigotry, Holocaust denial, and the extreme threat posed by the current Iranian regime.
It was never Land’s “intention to equate the Obama administration’s healthcare reform proposals with anything related to the Holocaust”? Really? Because in his statement he made it pretty clear that that was exactly his intention:
“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,” said Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
