The Florida Baptist Witness reports that Richard Land, President of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, recently made some extreme allegations about health care reform:

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.

This accusation is shocking enough, but Land doesn't stop there. He goes on to single out President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, the Democratic Party, and "the government," accusing them of supporting euthanasia-like policies and practicing a "biological bigotry that is feeding a euthanasia mentality."

Land's comments are troubling on a number of levels.

First, they are just flat-out wrong. Neutral sources FactCheck.org and Politifact.com have de-bunked claims that health care reform promotes euthanasia (via government rationing, "death counseling" or "death books") time and time and time again.

Second, while it is certainly possible, and valid, to have a civil debate regarding the net effects of health care reform, Land's assertions are in another realm entirely. He takes an extreme leap of bad faith in assigning health reform advocates (including many Jewish groups) the genocidal intent of Nazis. His assertion that those who call for reform actually want seniors and those with disabilities to die is not at all in line with available evidence, especially given that the government has traditionally stepped in to offer more access to health care, particularly for vulnerable populations. Medicare is a perfect example of this as immediately prior to its creation in 1965 over half of seniors were uninsured because they were unable to afford or access the private insurance market.

Third, what does this rhetoric mean for our public discourse and the future of politics in our country, and what does it say about faith in the public square?

I believe in (and the Constitution protects) free speech; Dr. Land should of course be legally permitted to say whatever he wants. I have to wonder though, is this a Christ-like way for a Christian leader to engage in a public debate? Dr. Land's polemical statements about the intentions of those who support reform do a disservice to the discussion, and I worry about where such incendiary and inaccurate speech takes us. Casting healthcare reform as some kind of proto-Holocaust can only serve to scare and inflame his audience, and the consequences could be severe.

UPDATE: Land has written a letter apologizing to the Anti-Defamation League stating, in part, "I was using hyperbole for effect and never intended to actually equate anyone in the Obama administration with Dr. Mengele."