Would You Pass The Test?

Are you religious enough to be a politician? Well the Speaker of the House thinks politicians should take religious test to hold office!

SCOOP: Mike Johnson Urged a Religious Test for Politicians
House Speaker Mike Johnson addressing a meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition on October 28, 2023, in Las Vegas. David Becker/AP
The Rolling Stone
By David Corn
October 31, 2023

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.

[…]

The Johnsons are diehard fundamentalists who believe every religion other than their brand of Christianity is false and that whatever is written in the Bible should dictate all conduct, rules, policies, and laws. As I reported earlier, Mike Johnson in 2016 exclaimed, “We’re living in a completely amoral society.” The only way out, according to him and Kelly, is to abide by the Bible.

Now here comes the really scary part!

You better sit down any candidate who says they’re going to run for legislature and say, “I want to know what your worldview is. I want to know what, to know what you think about the Christian heritage of this country. I want to know what you think about God’s design for society. Have you even thought about that?” If they hadn’t thought about it, you need to move on and find somebody who has...We have too many people in government who don’t know any of this stuff. They haven’t even thought about it.

A religious test for politicians!

This is the goal of the Republicans, a Christian authoritarian nation with them running it!

Johnson was telling the folks in the pews that the only political candidates deserving support are those who share this worldview and who embrace the notion that the United States has been a Christian nation. This smacks of Christian nationalism and appears to be a religious test for politics.

He wants to impose his view on everybody! Jews… out! Muslims… out! Catholics… out! Episcopalian… out!
 

The Guardian reported,

Before entering elected office, Mike Johnson, the new Republican speaker of the US House, praised “18th-century values” and told an audience that Americans should live by them when it came to morality and religion.

[…]

n the aftermath of the mass shooting in Maine on Wednesday night, in which 18 people were killed and 13 wounded, a clip circulated of Johnson blaming mass shootings on 20th-century American reforms. Listing “no fault divorce laws”, “the sexual revolution”, “radical feminism” and “government-sanctioned killing of the unborn”, he said had liberals had created “a completely amoral society” in which young Americans were “taught there is no right and wrong”.

[…]

“Well, [the founders] told us that if we didn’t maintain those 18th-century values, that the republic would not stand, and this is the condition we find ourselves in today.”
Funny I never heard of that, have you?

This is the Speaker… two steps from the presidency.

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Holier Than Thou!

Religious superiority, they think that they can do anything they want in the name of religion, even out someone against their will.

Alabama Mayor, Pastor Dies by Suicide After Being Involuntarily Outed as Transgender
WomanSmiths Station Mayor F.L. ‘Bubba’ Copeland’s death shocks a heartbroken community after a local news blog exposed his transgender identity.

The Advocate

By Christopher Wiggins

November 4, 2023

An Alabama community is in shock after the tragic death of a local leader following their involuntary outing as a transgender woman when a local conservative news blog posted photos of them embracing their secret gender identity.

Smiths Station Mayor F.L. “Bubba” Copeland, who also served as the pastor of First Baptist Church in Phenix City, was found dead Friday evening, Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones confirmed to Columbus, Ga., CBS affiliate WRBL.

“I can confirm he took his own life,” Jones said.

Besides his political and religious affiliations, Copeland was known locally for owning a small grocery store in the Alabama backwaters. Recent scrutiny emerged when Alabama news blog 1819 News reported Wednesday that Copeland had been engaging in explicit online activities, allegedly posting pornography, memes, and photos of themself in women’s clothing online under the pseudonym “Brittini Blaire Summerlin.”

They call themselves Christians but they forget the teachings of Jesus they have twisted love into hate.

The Advocate honors people’s chosen names and pronouns. Because Copeland did not publicly come out before their death, The Advocate is referring to them as the person they presented publicly.

There is also a lesson here for us. Never, never out someone. When in doubt “DON’T” it is a simple as that. They maybe out to everyone in the trans community but not out to their family and friends.

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The Speaker once tried to block an adoption of a lesbian couple.

Speaker Mike Johnson Once Tried to Stop a Queer Woman From Adopting Her Wife's Child

Johnson worked on several cases opposing LGBTQ+ rights while he was a private attorney.

The Advocate

By Christopher Wiggins

November 3, 2023

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s conservative legal background before his congressional tenure is under scrutiny, along with positions he’s taken on critical issues before being under the spotlight. This includes the time he tried to stop a woman from adopting her wife's son.

According to a report by Accountable.US shared with USA Today, before his political ascent, the Republican, as a private attorney, represented Louisiana in several cases opposing LGBTQ+ rights expansion. Among these was a significant case where the state aimed to prevent a woman from adopting her wife’s biological son.

However, the case, along with others, became moot following the 2015 Supreme CourtObergefell verdict that implemented marriage equality nationwide.

The report also highlighted other instances where Johnson defended Louisiana’s ban on same-sex marriage and attempted to prevent same-sex couples from appearing together on a child’s birth certificate.