Aaron Douglas Weaver, the blogger who uncovered Richard Land’s on-air plagiarism, said that the Baptist ethicist got off easy with today’s reprimand…[He] said that trustees were wrong when they said the plagiarism was a result of “carelessness and poor judgment. He wasn’t being careless. This was intentional.”

For at least one more Saturday, the voice of Richard Land will be heard over the radio.

Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, has been under fire for racially charged comments he made about the shooting of Florida teen Trayvon Martin on his call-in radio show Richard Land Live!, and for plagiarizing what he said. [Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]

Those comments come at a time when Southern Baptists are reaching out to racial minorities and are preparing to elect their first African-American president. Some Baptist leaders say Land has damaged race relations in the convention and the nation.

The commission’s trustees on Friday reprimanded Land for those comments and said his show would be canceled. But because the show is under contract with the Salem Radio Network, it will be broadcast at least once more. [Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]

Land said in a prepared statement Friday that he hopes to continue his work as the chief ethicist for Southern Baptists. His critics say the trustees didn’t go far enough and that he should be suspended or told to step down. Some younger Southern Baptists wonder if it is time to shut down the Nashville-based commission.

Land’s woes began after a March 31 broadcast during which he accused President Barack Obama of exploiting the Martin shooting for political gain and called the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton “race hustlers.”

African-American pastors and other Baptists condemned Land’s remarks, with at least one pastor calling for Land to be fired for causing racial strife.

Then a blogger discovered that Land had lifted his remarks without attribution from a Washington Times column. The controversy led to investigation by Land’s trustees. On Friday the results of the investigation were announced.

“We reprimand Dr. Land for his hurtful, irresponsible, insensitive and racially charged words on March 31, 2012, regarding the Trayvon Martin tragedy,” said the Southern Baptists Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission in a statement Friday morning.

Trustees also said Land showed poor judgment and carelessness by plagiarizing from other media sources on his radio show.

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