Letter: Faith, Politics, And The Media
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Mike Johnson, a Republican Congressman who represents Louisiana, was elected Speaker of the House October 25. He has served the people of the 4th congressional district since 2017. Johnson is an evangelical Christian and a conservative politician whom the leftwing media establishment has branded a Christian Nationalist, i.e. a slur the Left uses to denigrate someone for his or her faith.
If Speaker Johnson can keep his colleagues together long enough to pass 12 bills to fund federal programs through the end of the fiscal year, September 30, 2024, then House Republicans have made a good choice. It’s a daunting challenge for anyone of any faith.
The Daily Signal, an online magazine of The Heritage Foundation, garnered an exclusive interview with Speaker Johnson they posted October 31, 2023. Mary Margaret Olohan asked Johnson specifically about his faith and politics. She wrote, “Speaker Mike Johnson discussed the Christian principles of America’s Founding Fathers, the greatest moral threat he perceives to society, double standards in the media when reporting on the religion of Republicans versus Democrats, support for Israel, and more.”
It’s nice to read someone’s views without someone else, particularly in the leftwing establishment, “interpreting” what a person’s beliefs really mean. For example, look at Catholics in politics. The Left touted President Joe Biden’s Catholic faith in regard to his progressive policies and personal devotion. On the other hand the same media criticized Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s Catholic faith for her following certain Catholic doctrines. The difference? Biden is a progressive Democrat. Barrett is a conservative Justice.
Right after he was elected House Speaker, Johnson remarked to Congress, “I don’t believe there are any coincidences.” This raised the ire of his critics. He continued, “I believe that the Bible is very clear that God has ordained and allowed each one us to be brought here for this specific moment and this time.”
Some of his media critics portrayed his opening statements as “self-aggrandizing.” Johnson explained in his interview, “It wasn’t that at all.” “It’s a central premise of the Bible that God invented civil government.” Of course, his explanation is just more gasoline on the fire of “wokeness.”
The Speaker not only used biblical language to explain his beliefs, but also quoted George Washington and John Adams. George Washington in his farewell address said, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.” Likewise, the second president John Adams said, “Our Constitution is made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for government of any other.”
Olohan asked Johnson “what he believes is the greatest of those societal ills facing the United States currently, specifically in a moral context.” He replied, “The lack of belief in absolute truths.” Then he explained, “We live in an age of moral relativism, which has become postmodernism, which is gradually becoming nihilism, the idea that if there is no truth, then you can believe anything or everything or nothing.” He continued, “I think that in a sense, it sort of unties us from the moorings that have kept us in safe harbor as a nation.”
Mike Johnson may be the right Speaker at the right time to restore old-time civility to Congress, and maybe even to the leftwing media establishment.
Daniel L. Gardner is a columnist who lives in Starkville, MS. You may contact him at PJandMe2@gmail.com.
