House Speaker Mike Johnson with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in October 2023 (Creative Commons)
David Badashand
The New Civil Rights Movement
October 30, 2023
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA), who House Republicans unanimously voted for last week, has scrubbed his personal website, apparently deleting all 69 weekly podcasts he and his wife Kelly began recording last year.
Kelly Johnson’s business website, Onward Christian Counseling, has also been scrubbed. HuffPost reports she “runs a counseling business that advocates the belief that homosexuality is comparable to bestiality and incest, according to its operating documents.” Attempts to access both websites now result in an “Error” message, although those web addresses have been archived.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA), who House Republicans unanimously voted for last week, has scrubbed his personal website, apparently deleting all 69 weekly podcasts he and his wife Kelly began recording last year.
Kelly Johnson’s business website, Onward Christian Counseling, has also been scrubbed. HuffPost reports she “runs a counseling business that advocates the belief that homosexuality is comparable to bestiality and incest, according to its operating documents.” Attempts to access both websites now result in an “Error” message, although those web addresses have been archived.
Speaker Johnson has been described as a far-right Christian nationalist and Christian dominionist.
Last week, after Johnson was elected the third-most powerful official in America, Politico published a profile on “the Christian nationalist ideas that shaped House Speaker Mike Johnson.” The New York Times wrote, “The new House speaker has put his faith at the center of his political career, and aligned himself with a newer cohort of conservative Christianity that some describe as Christian nationalism.”
An MSNBC columnist last week wrote, “Mike Johnson’s Christian nationalist track record isn’t a mystery — it’s a tragedy,” and added, “The new speaker cut his teeth trying to erode the separation of church and state and abortion and LGBTQ rights as a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund.”
On Thursday, in a Daily Beast opinion piece, David Rothkopf wrote, “Here’s Why Mike Johnson Is More Dangerous Than Donald Trump.”
“In interviews he has spoken of the fact that ‘We don’t live in a democracy’ we live in a ‘Biblical republic,'” Rothkop said. “He asserts this was because the founders sought to follow a ‘biblical admonition’—which must be a reference to a different group of people than those I cited at the outset. In the same set of remarks he described democracy derisively as ‘two wolves and a lamb deciding what is for dinner.'”
READ MORE: Mike Johnson Once Agreed to Speak at ‘Kill the Gays’ Pastor’s Conference – Until an NCRM Report
A Louisiana-based weekly, reporting on Johnson’s podcasts says the episodes are “focused primarily on politely and genially supporting the anti-civil rights and anti-human rights agenda at the heart of evangelical-infused Republican politics.”
Speaker Johnson and his wife published the 69 podcasts, “Truth Be Told with Mike and Kelly Johnson,” with individual titles including, “Who We Are and How We Should Lead (in Washington and Around the World).” Or, “How to Stand for Religious Freedom & Address the ‘Separation of Church and State,'” which he calls, “one of the most important–and most misunderstood–principles in American society today.”
Another, “Responding Biblically to ‘Pride Month’ and the Culture Wars,” reads: “As truth is now openly challenged and a deluge of huge cultural issues are hitting close to home for every American, it’s becoming more important than ever for all people of good conscience, and certainly Christians, to be able to think through the issues and respond appropriately. In this episode, Mike and Kelly discuss the impact of the explosive documentary, ‘What is a Woman?,’ how conservatives and traditionalists are finally awakening from their slumber and fighting back, and what the Bible says about our specific approach to the culture wars. They also discuss the new initiative to recognize June as ‘Fidelity Month,’ to help restore Americans’ belief in the importance of values like patriotism, religion, family, and community.”
Huffpost’s report on Kelly Johnson’s business point to an operating agreement and adds, “Onward Christian Counseling Services is grounded in the belief that sex is offensive to God if it is not between a man and a woman married to each other. It puts being gay, bisexual or transgender in the same category as someone who has sex with animals or family members, calling all of these examples of ‘sexual immorality.'”
Huffpost’s report on Kelly Johnson’s business point to an operating agreement and adds, “Onward Christian Counseling Services is grounded in the belief that sex is offensive to God if it is not between a man and a woman married to each other. It puts being gay, bisexual or transgender in the same category as someone who has sex with animals or family members, calling all of these examples of ‘sexual immorality.'”
Meanwhile, notes for the couple’s podcast last year titled, “Biblical Responses to a Divided Nation (A Conversation with Ken Ham, CEO of Answers in Genesis),” read: “In this episode, Mike and Kelly have an important discussion with Ken Ham, the CEO and founder of the Answers in Genesis ministry, the highly-acclaimed Creation Museum, and the world-renowned Ark Encounter theme park in Kentucky. His books have sold more than 3 million copies, and his latest publication, Divided Nation: Cultures in Chaos & A Conflicted Church, explains what is happening in our society, why persecution is increasing and more and more people are rejecting the truth of Scripture, and what Christians ought to DO about it. As he reminds us, ‘it only takes one generation to lose a culture’–and we must act now before it’s too late.”
Johnson may have scrubbed his personal website, but the podcasts have not been removed from other sources including Apple Podcasts.
Johnson may have scrubbed his personal website, but the podcasts have not been removed from other sources including Apple Podcasts.
Inside Mike Johnson's close ties to 'extreme Christians' who cheered J6
October 30, 2023
After Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) was confirmed as House speaker, countless pundits noted that he has a much different temperament from Rep. Jim Jordan — the Ohio Republican, far-right firebrand and speaker nominee who had lost three votes in a row. Jordan is flamboyant, theatrical, performative and in-your-face; Johnson, in contrast, is much more reserved.
Yet from a policy standpoint, Jordan and Johnson aren't far apart. Johnson is a far-right Christian fundamentalist known for his-gay and anti-abortion views as well as his efforts to help former President Donald Trump stay in office despite losing the 2020 presidential election to now-President Joe Biden.
In an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on October 30, religious scholar Matthew D. Taylor emphasizes that Johnson's politeness doesn't make him any less extreme.
"Hot-off-the-presses profiles of Mike Johnson, the new speaker of the House, contain a seeming paradox," explains Taylor, a prominent figure at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies. "Some emphasize that he is a 'mild-mannered,' 'soft-spoken,' and temperamentally courteous individual. They similarly describe him as a 'Christian conservative' and a 'deeply evangelical Christian.' But many of the same profilers have also highlighted Johnson's troubling activity surrounding the 2020 election and Trump's attempt to overturn the American people's verdict. Johnson’s involvement was substantial enough that he has even been labeled the 'mastermind of the January 6 plot' and “a threat to democracy.'"
Taylor continues, "So, which is he: an anti-democratic politician and an insurrectionist, or a mild-mannered Christian? Part of the problem is that we have come to imagine that a person cannot be both at the same time. Mike Johnson shows that you can."
The religious scholar notes that he has "spent nearly three years researching the Christian theologies and Christian leaders that drove the January 6th insurrection," emphasizing that "many of them are mild-mannered, conservative, deeply evangelical."
"There are principled, conservative Christians with heartfelt moral views on abortion, LGBTQ-rights, and a host of other cultural issues who value democracy and pluralism and recognize their preferred policies won't always win the day," Taylor argues. "Think Russell Moore and David French. And there are politically extreme conservative Christians who might hold the exact same views on the same issues as Moore and French, but who are also willing to upend democracy to see their agendas realized, which Moore and French simply are not."
Taylor continues, "Politically extreme conservative Christians were some of the foremost leaders who bought into and bolstered Trump's 2020 election lies, who used theology to justify their own authoritarianism, and who have brought their extremist theologies into the heart of right-wing politics. Mike Johnson can be located in this group."
Taylor goes on to point out that the "key Christian instigators of January 6th" who he has "tracked" are "part of an amorphous, nondenominational network called the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR)."
"They believe and propagate extreme theologies that provide a mandate for Christians to take over society, and they have become increasingly influential in Republican politics in the past eight years," Taylor observes. "Several New Apostolic Reformation leaders — they usually call their leaders either apostles or prophets — were influential evangelical advisers to Donald Trump. Presumably, some of them still are."
The religious scholar adds, "While he is not formally attached to the NAR movement, Mike Johnson, a Southern Baptist, has spent years hanging around with NAR leaders, looking to them as mentors and friends, and pursuing their agenda."
READ MORE: GOP's Big Lie about 2020 is 'more about identity than evidence': expert
Read Matthew D. Taylor's full article for The Bulwark at this link.
After Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) was confirmed as House speaker, countless pundits noted that he has a much different temperament from Rep. Jim Jordan — the Ohio Republican, far-right firebrand and speaker nominee who had lost three votes in a row. Jordan is flamboyant, theatrical, performative and in-your-face; Johnson, in contrast, is much more reserved.
Yet from a policy standpoint, Jordan and Johnson aren't far apart. Johnson is a far-right Christian fundamentalist known for his-gay and anti-abortion views as well as his efforts to help former President Donald Trump stay in office despite losing the 2020 presidential election to now-President Joe Biden.
In an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on October 30, religious scholar Matthew D. Taylor emphasizes that Johnson's politeness doesn't make him any less extreme.
"Hot-off-the-presses profiles of Mike Johnson, the new speaker of the House, contain a seeming paradox," explains Taylor, a prominent figure at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies. "Some emphasize that he is a 'mild-mannered,' 'soft-spoken,' and temperamentally courteous individual. They similarly describe him as a 'Christian conservative' and a 'deeply evangelical Christian.' But many of the same profilers have also highlighted Johnson's troubling activity surrounding the 2020 election and Trump's attempt to overturn the American people's verdict. Johnson’s involvement was substantial enough that he has even been labeled the 'mastermind of the January 6 plot' and “a threat to democracy.'"
Taylor continues, "So, which is he: an anti-democratic politician and an insurrectionist, or a mild-mannered Christian? Part of the problem is that we have come to imagine that a person cannot be both at the same time. Mike Johnson shows that you can."
The religious scholar notes that he has "spent nearly three years researching the Christian theologies and Christian leaders that drove the January 6th insurrection," emphasizing that "many of them are mild-mannered, conservative, deeply evangelical."
"There are principled, conservative Christians with heartfelt moral views on abortion, LGBTQ-rights, and a host of other cultural issues who value democracy and pluralism and recognize their preferred policies won't always win the day," Taylor argues. "Think Russell Moore and David French. And there are politically extreme conservative Christians who might hold the exact same views on the same issues as Moore and French, but who are also willing to upend democracy to see their agendas realized, which Moore and French simply are not."
Taylor continues, "Politically extreme conservative Christians were some of the foremost leaders who bought into and bolstered Trump's 2020 election lies, who used theology to justify their own authoritarianism, and who have brought their extremist theologies into the heart of right-wing politics. Mike Johnson can be located in this group."
Taylor goes on to point out that the "key Christian instigators of January 6th" who he has "tracked" are "part of an amorphous, nondenominational network called the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR)."
"They believe and propagate extreme theologies that provide a mandate for Christians to take over society, and they have become increasingly influential in Republican politics in the past eight years," Taylor observes. "Several New Apostolic Reformation leaders — they usually call their leaders either apostles or prophets — were influential evangelical advisers to Donald Trump. Presumably, some of them still are."
The religious scholar adds, "While he is not formally attached to the NAR movement, Mike Johnson, a Southern Baptist, has spent years hanging around with NAR leaders, looking to them as mentors and friends, and pursuing their agenda."
READ MORE: GOP's Big Lie about 2020 is 'more about identity than evidence': expert
Read Matthew D. Taylor's full article for The Bulwark at this link.
John M. Crisp: The majority of Americans want their country back
2023/10/30
2023/10/30
Win McNamee/Getty Images North America/TNS
While I was familiarizing myself with Mike Johnson of Louisiana, our new speaker of the House, news arrived of a uniquely American event, another mass shooting, this time in a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston, Maine.
The details are characteristic: Kids were having a good time at youth night in the bowling alley when a white male opened fire with an assault-style, semiautomatic rifle with a high-capacity magazine. Despite Maine’s permissive gun laws—concealed carry is allowed without a permit—no good guy with a gun stepped up. At least 18 are reported killed and many more wounded.
Which made me wonder: Why can’t we Americans have a society that more closely resembles the one that most of us want?
The fact is, polling shows that most Americans favor stricter gun laws in general, and when specific elements of gun policy are assessed, the numbers are persuasive. For example, according to the Pew Research Center, 61% of Americans say that it is too easy to obtain a gun and 79% favor raising the minimum age to buy a gun to 21 years.
When it comes to the technologies that make mass murders possible—assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines—most Americans want them banned, at impressive rates: 66% (Pew); 55% (Gallup); 67% (Statista); 61% (PBS, NPR, Marist).
Even though most Americans want to eliminate or restrict these dangerous weapons, somehow we’re not able to do it. The mass shootings continue.
I wondered what our new House speaker thinks about this. Mike Johnson’s website isn’t enlightening. A tab labeled Issues links to bland boilerplate about Rule of Law and Human Dignity, which are “issues” that most Americans already support.
But since the statistics that indicate most citizens’ preference for stricter gun laws tend to reflect party affiliation, it’s a good bet that our new House speaker—a devoted right-winger—does not support the gun control measures that most of us do.
In fact, Johnson appears to hold minority views regarding other issues, as well. For example, he’s an outspoken opponent of abortion rights while 61% of Americans believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases (Pew). And while 71% of Americans support same-sex marriage (Gallup), in 2004 Johnson wrote in the Shreveport Times that homosexuality is “inherently unnatural” and that gay marriage would lead to similar rights for pedophiles.
But here’s something that should worry us all: The great majority of Americans believe that Joe Biden won the last election. Not only did Mike Johnson vote against certifying the election, he is credited with coming up with a legal theory to justify Trump’s fabricated objections to the election, and he supported a Texas lawsuit to overturn the results in four states clearly won by Biden.
In short, Johnson is an election denier; most Americans are not.
It’s a puzzle: How did a man whose views are so out of line with most Americans’ achieve the powerful House speakership, a position that puts him second in line for the presidency?
Some of the answer involves the inherent advantages that the minority perspective enjoys in our system, the Electoral College, for example, and disproportionate representation in the Senate. Crafty gerrymandering has also boosted the power of the minority view.
But radical minority views such as Johnson’s get a lot of energy from the continuing hold that former President Donald Trump has on the Republican Party. In fact, it appears that no candidate could have become speaker without Trump’s imprimatur. That represents a lot of power for the minority and helps explain how the Election Denier in Chief managed to get an election denier into the speakership.
Therefore, we can probably expect to have more policies forced upon us that are the opposite of what most Americans want, which is a sorry situation in a democracy.
And, therefore, a prominent MAGA slogan has some resonance with Americans who wish that public policy would more closely reflect what the public actually desires: “We want our country back.”
———
ABOUT THE WRITER
John M. Crisp, an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service, lives in Texas and can be reached at jcrispcolumns@gmail.com
While I was familiarizing myself with Mike Johnson of Louisiana, our new speaker of the House, news arrived of a uniquely American event, another mass shooting, this time in a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston, Maine.
The details are characteristic: Kids were having a good time at youth night in the bowling alley when a white male opened fire with an assault-style, semiautomatic rifle with a high-capacity magazine. Despite Maine’s permissive gun laws—concealed carry is allowed without a permit—no good guy with a gun stepped up. At least 18 are reported killed and many more wounded.
Which made me wonder: Why can’t we Americans have a society that more closely resembles the one that most of us want?
The fact is, polling shows that most Americans favor stricter gun laws in general, and when specific elements of gun policy are assessed, the numbers are persuasive. For example, according to the Pew Research Center, 61% of Americans say that it is too easy to obtain a gun and 79% favor raising the minimum age to buy a gun to 21 years.
When it comes to the technologies that make mass murders possible—assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines—most Americans want them banned, at impressive rates: 66% (Pew); 55% (Gallup); 67% (Statista); 61% (PBS, NPR, Marist).
Even though most Americans want to eliminate or restrict these dangerous weapons, somehow we’re not able to do it. The mass shootings continue.
I wondered what our new House speaker thinks about this. Mike Johnson’s website isn’t enlightening. A tab labeled Issues links to bland boilerplate about Rule of Law and Human Dignity, which are “issues” that most Americans already support.
But since the statistics that indicate most citizens’ preference for stricter gun laws tend to reflect party affiliation, it’s a good bet that our new House speaker—a devoted right-winger—does not support the gun control measures that most of us do.
In fact, Johnson appears to hold minority views regarding other issues, as well. For example, he’s an outspoken opponent of abortion rights while 61% of Americans believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases (Pew). And while 71% of Americans support same-sex marriage (Gallup), in 2004 Johnson wrote in the Shreveport Times that homosexuality is “inherently unnatural” and that gay marriage would lead to similar rights for pedophiles.
But here’s something that should worry us all: The great majority of Americans believe that Joe Biden won the last election. Not only did Mike Johnson vote against certifying the election, he is credited with coming up with a legal theory to justify Trump’s fabricated objections to the election, and he supported a Texas lawsuit to overturn the results in four states clearly won by Biden.
In short, Johnson is an election denier; most Americans are not.
It’s a puzzle: How did a man whose views are so out of line with most Americans’ achieve the powerful House speakership, a position that puts him second in line for the presidency?
Some of the answer involves the inherent advantages that the minority perspective enjoys in our system, the Electoral College, for example, and disproportionate representation in the Senate. Crafty gerrymandering has also boosted the power of the minority view.
But radical minority views such as Johnson’s get a lot of energy from the continuing hold that former President Donald Trump has on the Republican Party. In fact, it appears that no candidate could have become speaker without Trump’s imprimatur. That represents a lot of power for the minority and helps explain how the Election Denier in Chief managed to get an election denier into the speakership.
Therefore, we can probably expect to have more policies forced upon us that are the opposite of what most Americans want, which is a sorry situation in a democracy.
And, therefore, a prominent MAGA slogan has some resonance with Americans who wish that public policy would more closely reflect what the public actually desires: “We want our country back.”
———
ABOUT THE WRITER
John M. Crisp, an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service, lives in Texas and can be reached at jcrispcolumns@gmail.com
GOP's speaker once filed lawsuit seeking public cash for Ken Ham's creationist Ark museum
