Dr. Richard Land plays Bush-style word games with "amnesty"

Dr. Richard Land - president of the Southern Baptist Convention - recently came out in support of some vague form of "comprehensive immigration reform". Now, he feels the need to clarify his remarks. Don't want anyone to get the wrongs ideas or anything:

News reports in both the national print and electronic media have unfortunately sown some confusion over where Southern Baptists, and I, stand on the question of immigration reform...

The term "comprehensive legislation" is not code for amnesty, no matter what my critics contend. Webster defines amnesty as the "act of an authority (as a government) by which pardon is granted to a large group of individuals." Amnesty is wiping a transgressor's record clean -- it is a free ride...

That's simply a restatement of the now-standard line from president Bush that only "automatic citizenship" is "amnesty". Both Bush and Land are simply playing cutesy little games. The bottom line is that what Land supports will be perceived as amnesty by millions of prospective illegal aliens around the world. They won't focus on the "difficult" provisions, they'll focus on the "come here illegally and wait for the next amnesty" side of things.

Land conducts a radio program on Saturdays (richardlandlive.com; 888-Faith 56/888-324-8456); please call in to the program and help his congregation understand how he's wrong.

Immigration2007a · Thu, 04/19/2007 - 11:41 · · Importance: 1