Letters to the Editor: Why Mike Johnson’s public displays of religious piety are a real problem
To the editor: Thanks for including the photo of eight members of Congress — including Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), who hadn’t yet become speaker — piously posing for a group prayer in the House Chamber. That photo speaks volumes about Johnson’s lame attempt to justify his disdain for constitutionally mandated separation of church and state. (“McCarthy and Johnson are both conservative Christians. Only one is on the ‘front lines of the culture war,’” Dec. 5)
While Johnson concedes that a “national religion” is forbidden, he calls for “everybody’s vibrant expression of faith.” Why? Public displays of piety serve to out nonbelievers, the better to marginalize and ostracize them — and thereby to diminish their political support, especially from the prized evangelical voting bloc.
Where the compulsion to join in such staged displays remains nominally covert, courts will remain reluctant to bar them. Never mind how those displays encourage diabolical group-think to further Christian nationalists’ political objectives — including the merging of church and state.
Dennis Alston, Atwater, Calif.
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To the editor: I find your article on Speaker Johnson’s faith rather confusing.
Is it a bad thing that members of Congress go to church and also pray at meetings? Where are we going with this? Do we prefer that they don’t do that?
Jerry Marcil, Palos Verdes Estates
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To the editor: Johnson’s statement that the “Bible is very clear that God is the one that raises up those in authority” is as horrifying as it is absurd.
By espousing the divine right of kings theory, he has clearly expressed his utter disdain for democracy, in which people are “raised up” by their fellow citizens or appointed by those who hold elected office.
People who have been “raised up” in the past have frequently, and to the detriment of their subjects, failed to adhere to a single virtue demanded by Jesus of his followers.
As a reminder to Johnson of those virtues, I suggest he consider humility, kindness, compassion, tolerance, respect and forgiveness. I submit that neither he nor his MAGA colleagues has ever proposed, let alone implemented, any policy based on these qualities.
Elliott Rothman, Santa Monica
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To the editor: Johnson says, “The Bible is very clear that God is the one that raises up those in authority.”
If that is true, Johnson should recognize that President Biden has been raised, presumably by God, even higher in authority. As a God-fearing man, Johnson should support everything the president does.
Gisela Meier, Orange
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To the editor: Johnson is defending traditional values as laid out in the Bible. He believes our country and our Constitution are based on these values.
Some of the most revered men in the Bible had more than one wife, often quite a few more. Shall we change laws to allow polygamy? Can we do away with spousal abuse laws, since in parts of the Bible women are regarded as property? Should we bring back slavery?
How about violating our own Constitution by having severe biblical punishments — even execution by stoning — for offenses such as being a rebellious child, cursing, working on the Sabbath, practicing a different religion, having adulterous affairs or having sex before marriage?
How many in Congress would be paying the ultimate price?
Cathy Goldberg, Seal Beach
