W.J. Astore
There shall be no wall between the state and (my) church
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson made news again by claiming the idea of a wall between religion and state in America is a “misnomer.” Johnson blamed Thomas Jefferson for the misnomer, stating that there is no Constitutional injunction separating church and state.
Of course, by “church,” Speaker Johnson means his church, a Christian one that is evangelical and nationalist. He didn’t mention freedom of religion in America, or Muslims or Hindus or atheists or Wiccans. Johnson, who’s said that the Christian Bible is his operating manual and his belief system, has only one church in mind.
Johnson sees himself as a Christian preacher. He should resign his position, take up the Bible and cross, and preach. Because he totally misunderstands the intent of the founders.
From its earliest days, the colonies were a haven for Christian dissenters, meaning those who didn’t kowtow to the establishment Church of England, which indeed was and is a state church. Among the founders were deists like Thomas Jefferson and non-theists like Thomas Paine. Not surprisingly in the “rational” Age of Enlightenment, America was founded on the notion of freedom of belief and tolerance of others and their beliefs, however imperfectly that tolerance was often practiced. (Few Americans, even today, for example, cop to being atheists, especially if they’re in politics.)
The colonists recognized that the conjunction of state power with organized religion corrupted both. They knew history, including their own, hence that “wall” that Thomas Jefferson spoke of. That wall wasn’t anti-church or anti-religion. It was erected to protect religion and personal beliefs from being tainted by state interests and power.
Preacher Mike Johnson wants to tear down that wall—as long as the state embraces and advances his version of Christianity and not any other version, or for that matter any other religion.
It’s a sign of the times that when America most needs talented and skilled leaders, it gets instead a self-admitted Christian zealot who takes his guidance from his particular reading of the Bible.
Can someone please tell Mike Johnson he’s Speaker, not Preacher, of the House?
Bracing Views 
It just gets worse every year. If the Republicans would stop pushing Christianity and White Supremacy and actually do something to help the people of the country life here would again be good. The GOP has wasted so much time and money on chasing conspiracies and creating new ones I want them all to resign, en masse! Let someone who actually wants to do something for this country instead of pushing personal agendas take their place. Though judging from what I have read and seen about Millenials they are so badly informed on what is happening, the GOP will bring down the US and turn us into a “Christian” nation in another 20 years. Or sooner if they manage to elect trump again.
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