In the BP article, “ERLC’s Land: McCain’s attacks on Christian leaders ‘despicable,'” dated 3/1/00, please insert the following after the 22nd paragraph:
Bauer did just that March 1, with limited results. In a written statement, Bauer said he “must in the strongest possible terms repudiate Senator McCain’s unwarranted, ill-advised and divisive attacks” on Robertson and Falwell. He called on McCain to retract his statements and apologize to both men.
McCain’s comparison of Robertson and Falwell with Farrakhan and Sharpton “was unfounded and unwise,” Bauer said. “Such rhetoric serves only to divide the party and place into the hands of the liberal elite material to falsely depict Christian conservatives as intolerant extremists.”
On the same day, McCain apologized for describing Robertson and Falwell as evil, saying his comments were intended to be humorous, according to The New York Times. He refused, however, to retract his descriptions of the Christian leaders in the Feb. 28 speech.
“I do not consider them evil, and I regret that my flip remark may have mistakenly created that impression,” McCain said in a prepared statement, The Times reported.
Later he told reporters, according to The Times, “I’m not changing any of my speech. I’m sure that Gary and I will have an understanding about the speech and what was intended and what was intended by my remarks yesterday. It was a lighthearted attempt at humor, and sometimes it isn’t interpreted that way.”
In the BP story, “Baptists among those ministering after 6-year-old is killed in school,” dated 3/1/00, the following paragraph may be added as the last paragraph:
The alleged gunman, an unidentified 6-year-old boy, lived in a ramshackle one-story house, which is surrounded by mud-caked trash, the Associated Press reported. Investigators said the boy’s father is serving time in the county jail for a probation violation. Strangers reportedly came and went and weapons were often exchanged for drugs inside the house.
Thanks,
Baptist Press
