Op-Ed: With Mike Johnson as a GOP Leader, Republicans have Fully Embraced the Christian Far Right

If there was any doubt of the Christian Right’s influence in the modern GOP, all of that has flown out the window. With the election of Rep. Mike Johnson to be Speaker of House, the House of Representatives is now being helmed by an evangelical radical. 

The Louisiana republican rose to prominence through an unusual set of circumstances, although circumstances I would argue that were by design of the furthest right elements of the republican caucus. After Rep. Matt Gaetz torpedoed former Speaker McCarthy, there was a historic power vacuum which resulted in three failed speakership bids by other more prominent members of Republican leadership. Johnson emerged as someone whom the Freedom Caucus would applaud, as Matt Gaetz pushed his name, and centrists could stomach him. Johnson is a true “compromise” candidate in that Republican centrists have compromised whatever principles compelled them to oppose Jim Jordan.

Although Johnson may not be as well-known, it doesn’t make him any less dangerous. A brief look at the bills he has introduced and his policy statements give you a clear idea of the man’s values Johnson was the architect of H.R. 9197, a national version of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which defines any discussion of gender identity or orientation as sexually oriented.

Johnson has advocated for conversion therapy and sponsored a bill to make it more difficult for people to cross state lines to access abortion services. He has called for Obergefell v. Hodges to be overturned and for the institution of nationwide abortion ban. In 2005, Johnson even wrote editorials where he lamented the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in anti-discrimination policy, calling homosexual behavior “destructive to individuals, families, and society at-large”.

To be clear, Johnson is emblematic of every point in cultural conservatism, from abortion to queer rights to marijuana legalization. Johnson falls lockstep with far-right mainstays like Focus on the Family and the Heritage Foundation on nearly every social issue. In fact, Johnson’s legal career is defined by his work with the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), an organization for which Johnson served as a spokesperson. ADF, as an organization, aims to curtail the rights LGBTQ+ people and expand Christian practices in public schools and government. The Southern Poverty Law Center designated the ADF as a hate group in 2017 for their fervent opposition to queer rights. In his work with the ADF, Johnson authored an amicus brief in support of maintaining criminalization of homosexuality.

While I hold no ill-will towards Christians, or even Evangelicals for that matter, I do find the institutionalization of religion in our government absolutely repugnant and antithetical to the founding principles of our nation. For a party that boasts its adherence to constitutional originalism, it sure seems that the GOP has taken a flexible stance when it comes to separation of church and state. Johnson’s entire career has been based on degrading this bedrock value of secularism of the state. Religious liberty is not the imposition of your personal religious beliefs into our government. Religious liberty is not the right to deny services to individuals you think God looks down upon. The bastardization of the idea of religious liberty by the Christian Right has done nothing but diminish true religious freedom in America. 

In our nation’s history, Johnson is uniquely unqualified for the role of speaker both in terms of his experience and his disregard for the very institutions of American democracy. Being elected to the House in 2016 and only holding elected office since 2015, Johnson has, in total, eight years of government experience. Johnson only recently became Vice Chair of the House Republican Committee. What’s more, Johnson was among the 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 election results and he opposed establishing a committee to investigate the January 6th storming of the capital. 

In the response to Johnson’s swift rise to power in the House, the Colorado Democratic Party Chair Shad Murib released a statement: “Mike Johnson will be the most extreme Speaker of the House in history, and his deeply unpopular MAGA agenda will be an absolute disaster for Colorado families. It’s even more shameful that Johnson received such enthusiastic support from local embarrassments Lauren Boebert, Ken Buck, and Doug Lamborn. Johnson won his party’s vote by passing every MAGA litmus test…” 

Evangelical christians have been an integral faction in the Republican Party dating back to Reagan’s election. Now Mike Johnson, who not only represents the Christian Right but has acted as an agent of it, spearheads not just the House Republican Caucus, but the very lower house itself. 

Johnson may be a new face in government, but his politics are the same far-right, Christian extremism that has threatened the functioning of our government in the first place. The GOP now, more than ever, has solidified its connection to anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry dressed up in Southern hospitality and a fancy tie.

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