Is Mike Johnson the Christian Nationalist Boogeyman?
A New Christian Speaker of the House
The election of Michael Johnson as speaker of the US Congress ended the - let’s call it - clown show of US Republicans trying to elect a speaker.
Johnson is of course a conservative Christian, a Southern Baptist, who takes the Bible very seriously. He professes adherence to a biblical worldview, holds to a literal six-day creation, and affirms a traditional view of marriage and family.
Accordingly, there’s been a lot of concern about Mike Johnson as the epitome of Christian Nationalism a view which might now be second in line to the US presidency.
The NYT goes so far as to say: “Mike Johnson is the first person to become speaker of the House who can be fairly described as a Christian nationalist, a major development in American history in and of itself.”
But is Johnson really a Christian Nationalist. Simply being a conservative Christian and a Trump supporter does not a Christian Nationalist make. I think it’s a little more ambiguous.
Mike Johnson the Theocratic Christian Nationalist?
I can imagine that Johnson is not everyone’s idea of the ideal congressman.
However, I think I need to point out that many conservative Christians have held office in the United States. I don’t see how Johnson is all that much different to a George W. Bush or a Mike Pence when it comes to living faith out as a political figure. Mike Johnson strikes me as closer to a Wayne Grudem than to a Doug Wilson or Stephen Wolfe - note, I’m not a fan of Grudem’s God and Politics, but Grudem is not a theocrat for my mind, he’s more “theocrat adjacent.”
The fact that Mike Johnson wants to live out and enact a biblical worldview is not unusual or even a bad thing. Democrat Senator Raphael Gamaliel Warnock is an African-American Baptist Pastor and he presumably thinks he’s serving out of a biblical worldview in his work as a Senator. For what it’s worth, I’d claim the same if I was ever elected to political office.
On the other hand, Prof Kristin du Mez, in an interview with Politico, points to David Barton’s influence on Johnson, and David Barton is a pseudo-historian who has a crazy-revisionist understanding of America founded as a Christian nation under God. So yeah, maybe, if you are committed to the idea that God has a covenant with America, and the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution are inspired covenantal documents, then that could be indicative of Christian Nationalism built on a theo-political mythology. But again, I know of others who hold to that view, without being a Christian Nationalist (see Peter Lillback’s biography of George Washington).
Prof. du Mez also points to Johnson’s view of America as not a democracy but a “biblical republic.” But here I think Johson is right. America is not a direct democracy, the founders were terrified of a direct democracy and majority rule. The constitutional amendments and Bill of Rights were created to protect minorities from the majority. The Electoral College was created as a buffer and safeguard between presidential power and the citizenry because citizens were easily aggrieved and deceived. The American founders were shaped by Old Testament historical books, Roman republican history, and British Parliamentarianism as their primary inspiration for what a democracy should be. See the helpful discussion at the Holy Post Podcast on this topic.
Now, what I think might be the smoking gun displaying Johnson’s Christian Nationalism is his willingness to use anti-democratic means to overturn the 2020 election. As du Mez points out, Johnson “spearheaded the congressional efforts to overturn the election. He is on the record as an election denier. Some have suggested that’s why he got the votes to be elected speaker. He’s a Trump supporter and Trump supporter in this regard, specifically: election denial.”
This is what I think should be scrutinized. If Johnson was willing to deny the validity of the election and overturn the result, for the purpose of maintaining Christian hegemony, to the detriment of a constitutional democracy, then that would be indicative of Christian Nationalism. When you seek power and intend to circumvent due process in the name of advancing your religious objectives, yeah, that’s Christian Nationalism.
Better Examples of Faith in Political Office
The bigger question is: How does Johnson’s private faith negotiate the duties of his public office to seek the common good of a pluralistic society?
I don’t know Johnson’s answer, but I was impressed with former Illinois Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger’s approach to this topic when he was interviewed by Stephen Colbert a few nights back (watch from 5:02).
I think Kinzinger does Christianity and politics far better than Johnson because Kinzinger grasps that America is a pluralistic republic, not a backslidden Christian nation that needs a blessed coup d’etat to make Christianity hegemonic again.
To read further, consider taking out a paid subscription, only $7 per month or $75 per year, supports me in my ministry and scholarship, and gets you 3-4 posts per week on biblical studies, Christianity and gender relationships, cultural commentary, previews of my books, and some cool videos.