Liberal Christian minister says Mike Johnson is evil & is being controlled by the devil

A Christian minister has accused House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) of doing the work of the devil by “creating division through fear.”

In a scathing op-ed for Salon, Nathaniel Manderson said evangelical Christians have long “pointed to the devil outside in the world” but that “the devil is the one doing the pointing.”

Related:

Mike Johnson says God will punish “depraved” U.S. because more teens identify as LGBTQ+

“God is mocked openly in the public square,” he said this past Sunday.

Before turning to Johnson specifically, Manderson expounds on what he sees as the overall evil of the evangelical viewpoint. He also establishes his wholehearted belief (and fear of) the devil, while at the same time acknowledging that “it’s embarrassing” and that “I understand, intellectually, how stupid this fear is.”

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Manderson said he sees the devil “much more at home within the evangelical movement than in most liberal causes,” despite what Christian extremists would have their followers believe.

“It is well understood in Christian history that the best place to disrupt goodness is through the church itself,” he wrote. “Consider the Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades, the history of American slavery, the attempted genocide against Native Americans and the oppression of women. All these evils are or were firmly backed by biblical theology — at least, as many Christians understand it — and, in my opinion, are all fully endorsed by the devil himself.”

“This is now true of the evangelical political movement, which I believe is led by the devil and his followers.”

He explained that Johnson is advancing the “evangelical agenda,” which involves supporting Donald Trump and “ignoring the needs of the poor, the sick and immigrants from foreign lands.”

Manderson emphasized his belief that progressive causes are really not of concern to the devil: “If the devil is real I am pretty sure he doesn’t care about same-sex marriage, taxes on the wealthy, building a wall along the Mexican border, denying health insurance to poor and working-class people or even abortion. The devil isn’t about issues. He wants to control and mislead people and get them to do evil things.”

And in this case, Manderson believes the devil is controlling and misleading Johnson and the evangelicals. He even says Trump himself “should be enough evidence the devil is real.” He added that “people who loudly claim to be pure and good,” people like Johnson, are more likely to be evil.

“Jesus gave his sternest warnings against the religious hypocrites of his day — those who misuse the word of God to oppress or subjugate people and restrict their rights,” he continued. “Jesus knew, as we must know too, that the real evil, the genuine devil, is often found in the pulpit. The devil has many followers. He sells many books. He runs for president. He misleads God’s people.”

Johnson, who once worked for the anti-LGBTQ+ hate group Alliance Defending Freedom, has previously said that same-sex marriage will lead to “chaos and sexual anarchy” and “place our entire democratic system in jeopardy by eroding its foundation.”

He claimed legalizing same-sex marriage would lead to “pedophiles” seeking legal protections for having sex with kids and people trying to marry their pets. He has also said, “Homosexual relationships are inherently unnatural… ultimately harmful and costly for everyone.”

More recently, as a member of Congress, Johnson introduced a federal version of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, falsely accused President Joe Biden of breaking federal law by displaying the Progress Pride flag outside the White House, and claimed that parents do not have the right to provide their children with access to gender-affirming healthcare.

Johnson still sits on the board of a conservative Christian publishing company that says MPOX is the “appropriate penalty” for being gay. His wife, Kelly, runs a Christian counseling service that compared LGBTQ+ identities to bestiality on its website. In an October 3 call with the World Prayer Network, Johnson said that America is “dark and depraved” because there are too many LGBTQ+ people.