Exclusive Interview with Dr. Richard Land, President of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC)

 In an exclusive interview on The Hutchinson Report Newsmaker Hour with host Earl Ofari Hutchinson on KTYM 1460 AM Los Angeles on March 2, Dr. Richard Land, President of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) Transcription by Annette Lockett, 323-293-3244 * FAX 323-293-0404 * E-Mail ptnana@pacbell.net * http://McALTypingService.com

EOH: What are the 3 most important issues to Evangelicals in terms of political and moral emphasis? RL: First, the one most dangerous to our future. We are borrowing 41 cents of every dollar we spend. It’s a moral issue; a violation of thou shalt not steal. We’re stealing our children’s and grandchildren’s future by overspending at an unsustainable pace. It has accelerated dangerously in the last three years. From 1946 through 2008 our government has spent on average 20.6% of its GDP in government spending. When Mr. Bush left office it was 20.8%. It is now over 25%. That difference is bankrupting us. We are heading toward the kind of financial failure that hit Greece if we do not stop overspending quickly. Secondly, we need healthcare reform, but whatever the problem is, ObamaCare is not the answer. It will accelerate our bankruptcy if we do not rescind it and start over with sensible health care reforms that include protection for pro-life concerns. ObamaCare is essentially pro-death. Dr. Burwick is in charge of writing the Medicare and Social Security regulations. He states he has a love affair with the British system which rations health care to the elderly, the infirm and the terminally ill. I’m getting e-mails from people not able to get treatment for problems such as eye care because they are terminally ill. 99 out of 100 people listening to my voice, if ObamaCare is not rescinded, will live a shorter life, filled with more pain and suffering. I want fiscal responsibility, serious government tax cuts, and tax reform which will enable us to increase the output of our economy. We cannot cut our way out of this problem. We have to grow our way out. Third, re-establishing our government’s relationship with Israel and not putting distance between us and the Israelis’, as Mr. Obama said he has done. EOH: I didn’t hear what was on the morals front. RL: The pro-life is critical. ObamaCare is written and regulated by people who believe in the quality of life, not the sanctity of life. I’m talking about rescinding ObamaCare and replacing it as written from a pro-life perspective that will protect the sanctity of all human lives, from conception to natural death. We’re going bankrupt, ObamaCare is getting ready to go into place, and I’m fearful that Mr. Obama’s policies are going to lead us to a war in the Middle east. EOH: Will moral values have any resonance in the general public? RL: I think it does. Especially if it’s argued well. Certainly among Evangelicals. In the Michigan returns, Santorum lost the Catholic vote to Romney, but won the Evangelical vote 50% to 32%. Clearly among Evangelicals this is a huge issue. There is a political truth that is very real; when the economy is bad, it takes up all the oxygen in the room. Most people feel the economy is not doing well, more people are concerned that they may permanently drop out of the middle class, and there are long term structural issues in our economy that need to be fixed. Those are not going to be fixed without serious reduction in government spending. ObamaCare touches so many areas. Margaret Thatcher said she was not able to restore as much liberty to Britain as Ronald Reagan did to the United States because of the National Health Service. She said when the government controls health care, no one is ever truly free again. We have had an example of this with the mandate on contraception. The unelected bureaucrats have written regulations with no exceptions other than churches; not for Catholic or Baptist charitable organizations or religiously affiliated schools. They have said you will pay for and have insurance that covers reproductive services, including contraception, abortifacients, morning after pills and sterilization. Those who have conscience concerns about abortifacients and morning after pills have to pay for what we find unconscionable or pay a fine and not have health insurance for the family. A fine for religious beliefs is trampling the first amendment; it’s about conscience and coercion. We will see this again and again if ObamaCare goes into place. We will be faced with government bureaucrats writing regulations on who does and doesn’t get care and what we have to pay for with no recourse. EOH: It seems like you are asking for more government intervention, especially on the issue of abortion. RL: If we were trying to keep people from having sex on penalty of law, that would be true. But when there is another human being involved, and there is when an abortion takes place, we believe the government has a right to speak up and defend defenseless human beings. No one, even a mother, should have absolute right of life and death over another human being. By the time the mother knows she’s pregnant, that baby’s heart has already begun to beat. We are trying to save a life and keep the mother from imposing her morality on her unborn child. We believe society has an obligation and responsibility to defend the rights of our unborn citizens. EOH: Polls continually show women support President Obama on contraceptives. Your response to that? RL: Majorities don’t make right. I would challenge you to look more widely at the polls and you will find among people under 38 there are decidedly pro-life majorities among all groups and both genders. In fact, according to the Gallop Poll, a majority of Americans now call themselves pro-life, largely those who have been born since Roe v. Wade went into effect. The largest abortion clinic outside China is within the three poorest neighborhoods in Houston, which is where 78% of all the abortion clinics are. Disproportionately, it’s minority babies that are aborted. African American women make up 12% of the population and they have 36% of the abortions. Twice as many black babies were killed in New York City last year as were born. I would argue that planned parenthood is practicing genocide against African Americans in the United States. I encourage everyone to get a copy of and watch the DVD Maafa21, which documents how this has been going on for 60 years. You have to separate the issue of contraception from abortion. I don’t have a wish to restrict a woman’s right of access to contraception services, as long as they don’t include or produce abortion. By the way, that hospital’s 7th floor is totally for the abortion of late term babies who would otherwise be viable outside the womb. EOH: In the 2012 election will these issues touch a nerve within the general public? RL: I don’t know. They certainly will with the Evangelicals. Evangelicals voted 78% for George Bush in 2004 and 75% for John McCain in 2008, but not as enthusiastically. A majority of Catholics voted for Obama, and Barack Obama in 2008 was a national Rorschach Test. Everybody saw in him what they wanted to see. Obviously he couldn’t be everything everybody saw, and he has turned out to be, surprisingly, more hawkish on foreign policy and far more liberal on domestic policy than he campaigned he would be. This election will be a referendum on Barack Obama and his performance. Whoever the Republican nominee is, I think it would be a very serious mistake for anyone to underestimate President Obama’s ability to rally and enthuse those Americans around his opponent. As a matter of principal I don’t endorse candidates. I’m looking for candidates who endorse me. EOH: If there is a wide body of enthusiasm, will that poses a serious challenge to the Obama administration? RL: I think no one has ever been re-elected President with the economic performance that Mr. Obama has. George H.W. Bush being a good example. He had an 88% approval rating but by the time the election came around, the economy was in the tank and he lost to Bill Clinton. Evangelicals and Socially Conservative Catholics will be enthused, whoever the Republican nominee is. They are being enthused by their opposition to Mr. Obama and fear of what would happen in a second Obama term. I don’t think we have to worry about whether Evangelicals and Socially Conservative Catholics are going to be enthused. Mr. Obama has enthused them.