American absolutely was not founded as a Christian nation, nor did the Founders intend church and state to be linked. That does not seem to be well understood by a large segment of the American population, including many Republican politicians. To the Founders the separation of church and state was very important. Many of the colonists had come to the American colonies specifically to get away from England where church and state were one. The monarch was also the head of the church as a result of Henry VIIIth splitting off the the Roman church. Roger Williams founded Rhode Island largely on the seperation of chruch and state issue. William Penn founded Pennsylvania to get the Quakers free of the Anglican church.
Now the evangelicals are trying to destroy that 200 year old firewall, and our new speaker, Mark Johnson, is leading the way.
House Speaker Mike Johnson addressing a meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition on October 28, 2023, in Las Vegas. Credit: David Becker / AP
The elevation of Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) to House speaker was a shocker. Not since John McCain picked Sarah Palin to be his running mate has a heretofore little-known politician been lifted so quickly to a position of prominence and importance. Though Johnson now is second in the line of presidential succession, we’re still finding out basic and important facts about him and how he sees the world. This includes his alarming record as a hardcore conservative cultural warrior, motivated by a Christian fundamentalist belief, who has fiercely opposed gay rights (comparing homosexuality to pedophilia), called for a total nationwide ban on abortion, proposed the end of no-fault divorce, and urged a return to “18th century values.” One more significant thing I’ve discovered is that Johnson appears to believe in a religious litmus test for politicians.
This weekend I broke the news that Johnson and his wife, Kelly Johnson, a self-described Christian […]
Terri Quint
on Wednesday, November 1, 2023 at 7:29 am
Extremists always harm whatever they touch! This guy is practically showing himself to be a religious nutcase and that’s certainly something this country doesn’t need. We have enough other nutcases.
What has happened in Florida and probably other states as well is that these religious nutcases are violating the Constitution by allowing private schools, no matter what religion, to receive public tax dollars for their funding! This is soooooo anti-Constitution and so far no challenge has been brought to the courts about this. And the problem may be that the ultra-conservatives on SCOTUS would probably find a reason to support this. This country then is kind of turning into a theocracy among the other “ocracies” that seem to have shown up. Terri Quiint
Wilma Bodrak
on Wednesday, November 1, 2023 at 8:01 am
How does he reconcile his belief in his bible with what learned scholars have found about timing and events of history and the many similarities of thè writings of other religions? I would to see these kinds of people before a panel of theologians and have them answer his comments! But I know in the real world this ain’t gonna happen…….
Extremists always harm whatever they touch! This guy is practically showing himself to be a religious nutcase and that’s certainly something this country doesn’t need. We have enough other nutcases.
What has happened in Florida and probably other states as well is that these religious nutcases are violating the Constitution by allowing private schools, no matter what religion, to receive public tax dollars for their funding! This is soooooo anti-Constitution and so far no challenge has been brought to the courts about this. And the problem may be that the ultra-conservatives on SCOTUS would probably find a reason to support this. This country then is kind of turning into a theocracy among the other “ocracies” that seem to have shown up. Terri Quiint
How does he reconcile his belief in his bible with what learned scholars have found about timing and events of history and the many similarities of thè writings of other religions? I would to see these kinds of people before a panel of theologians and have them answer his comments! But I know in the real world this ain’t gonna happen…….