Speaking to the Christian Broadcasting Network, House Speaker Mike Johnson stood up staunchly for his Christian faith and the idea that the U.S. is spiritually in a “battle of worldviews.”
Johnson noted the sometimes fractious nature of the Republican Party, pointing out, “Democrats typically tend to think more kind of like a union, they sort of stick together, they’re more monolithic. They move as a herd. They’re more kind of social animals.”
“Republicans, by contrast, are rugged individualists,” he offered. “You know, we care deeply about our core principles and our philosophy, and we’re not easily moved. And that’s a great blessing usually, but when you’re trying to keep all those cats together and move in the same direction with a one-vote majority, it sometimes presents challenges.”
Johnson spoke of the challenge of facing a monolithic Democrat Party that controls the White House and Senate while Republicans cling precariously to a one-vote majority in the House, saying, “What some of my colleagues will privately admit, but not always publicly, is they understand that we have the biggest challenge that’s ever been presented to the Congress. … I have virtually zero leverage to be able to negotiate and get a better package. We’ve got to demonstrate to the American people that we can keep the train on the tracks, and so pulling a motion to vacate or removing a Speaker right now is exactly the opposite of what we need to show the country.”
Speaking of the harsh criticism he has received in the media for his devout Christian faith, he said, “I try to follow all the biblical admonitions as I do every day. One of them says you ‘bless those who persecute you.’ I’m getting a lot of practice in that right now and that is, ‘A soft word turns away wrath.’”
“We’ve been mocked and I mean mercilessly in the press,” he asserted. “They’ve tried to attack me and my family – my wife and children. And look, we’re undaunted by it. I mean that is going to happen if you stand for truth.”
CBN asked Johnson if he viewed America in “spiritual warfare terms.”
“I do,” he answered bluntly. “I mean, if you’re a Christian, that’s how you understand these things. We’re really in a battle of worldviews right now. It’s not even a battle between Republicans and Democrats anymore. It’s two competing visions over what kind of nation we are, who we are as a people… remember Marxism, communism, socialism are grounded in the belief that there is no Creator, there is no God. And that’s the essence. That’s the foundation of their belief.”
“That is not who we are.”