Richard Land has published an open letter trying to convince Newt Gingrich to give a “Checkers speech” on his checkered marital history.
The Southern Baptist ethics czar urges Gingrich to:
… pick a pro-family venue and give a speech (not an interview) addressing your martial history once and for all. It should be clear that this speech will be “it” and will not be repeated, only referenced.
As you prepare that speech, you should picture in your mind a 40-something Evangelical married woman whose 40-something sister just had her heart broken by an Evangelical husband who has just filed for divorce, having previously promised in church, before God, his wife and “these assembled witnesses” to “love, honor and cherish until death us do part.”
Focus on her as if she were your only audience. You understand people vote for president differently than they do any other office. It is often more of a courtship than a job interview. I know something of your faith journey over the past 20 years. Do not hesitate to weave that into your speech to the degree that you are comfortable doing so. It will always resonate with Evangelical Christians.
You need to make it as clear as you possibly can that you deeply regret your past actions and that you do understand the anguish and suffering they caused others including your former spouses. Make it as clear as you can that you have apologized for the hurt your actions caused and that you have learned from your past misdeeds. Express your love for, and loyalty to, your wife and your commitment to your marriage. Promise your fellow Americans that if they are generous enough to trust you with the presidency, you will not let them down and that there will be no moral scandals in a Gingrich White House.
This is a baldly cynical piece of correspondence between two baldly cynical men. Throughout his letter, Land advises Gingrich to give this speech for one and only one reason: to win over evangelical voters.
Land doesn’t argue that Gingrich needs to apologize or to repent, only that if he wants to win the election, then he must be perceived as apologizing. Land appeals to Gingrich on the basis of their shared faith — a religion in which repentance doesn’t matter, but in which striking a public pose of contrition is sometimes necessary in order to consolidate power.
Land’s line of argument is truly disgusting. Gingrich will probably find it persuasive.
The Christian Post seems to have accidentally omitted the final three words of Richard Land’s letter:
Such a speech would not convince everyone to vote for you, but it might surprise you how many Evangelicals, immersed in a spiritual tradition of confession, redemption, forgiveness and second and third chances, might.
Your fellow American, Richard Land
Let me fix that:
Such a speech would not convince everyone to vote for you, but it might surprise you how many Evangelicals, immersed in a spiritual tradition of confession, redemption, forgiveness and second and third chances, might fall for it.
Your fellow American, Richard Land
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