What A Speaker May Say

Religion uplifts us. It teaches us. It provides a framework for our moral conduct. But those inspirational qualities work best when they are kept personal. They are so deeply held that the emotions they carry subsume any chance for objectivity. As such, religious ideas become perverted when they go where they do the most damage – when they infiltrate governance. Public policy must result from objective, sober analysis, not mythical Biblical prophecy. As recognized by the brilliance of our Founding Fathers, mixing the political with the pontifical results in a perilous muck (but they used better words).

The Republicans have chosen a man named Mike Johnson to be the Speaker of the House, the person third in line to the Presidency. Third in line, must we be reminded, behind an octogenarian and a Vice-President who is about as palatable to the public as a glass of cod liver oil. 

And to whom does Speaker Johnson give credit for the cause of his rise? According to award-winning journalist, Dahlia Lithwick, the new Speaker said, “I believe that Scripture, the Bible, is very clear that God is the one that raises up those in authority.” Similarly, Johnson explained that his wife was unable to be with him for his elevation because she was “worn out” from many weeks on her knees in prayer to the Lord. (I can understand Bill Clinton’s aides getting worn out from being on their knees, but this guy?). Johnson has also said that the governmental system set up by the Founders was inspired by “biblical admonition.”

If we have any chance of avoiding war, especially now when war can mean planetary destruction, countries need to act objectively, rationally. This is hard to do even when religion is not involved. But when it is, then there are no gray areas – the room for compromise becomes as narrow as the mindedness of THE DEFENDANT’S followers. Anger and desire for retribution are natural human instincts that are only enervated by religious fervor. We fell victim to that part of our nature after 9-11. And how did that work out? Tens of thousands killed and tens of billions wasted, and for nothing. And we aren’t even a religious state – yet.

We now have Speaker Johnson – a powerful American with religiously fundamentalist inclinations. Does that bother you? Frighten you? It should. Should a government be helmed by someone whose guidance comes from prayer books rather than statute books? We need not speculate on the answer for that question. We have that answer playing out right now in front of us. Turn on the TV, any TV, any time. Consider the war in the Middle East.

That part of the world is rife with religious states. They get along about as well as Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. Unlike Johnny and Amber, though, their animosity is not rooted in drugs and alcohol. It is rooted in their religious differences. They each want to rule by their own religious concepts. They kill each other over them. They represent the antithesis of the ideals that serve as the foundation for the way we are supposed to live.

So, what will our new religious zealot – our Speaker of the House – lead us into? Where will this man who can’t distinguish between his religion and his politics use his power to lead us? Need we expect to hear his plan to move our capital to Jerusalem? Of course, we can’t know. 

We can only look to other examples.

And they ain’t good.