Former Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, was recently ousted from his position after his bipartisan budget actions disappointed Republicans. The House was sent into a 21-day voting frenzy in an effort to replace McCarthy, resulting in the frantic election of Representative Mike Johnson.

The election of Mike Johnson to Speaker of the House threatens American democracy and individualism.

The government’s eagerness to address the Israel-Palestine conflict is likely what led Republicans to vote Johnson into the House. Unfortunately, the representatives granted a man whose entire agenda is based on forcing his beliefs upon others a terrifying amount of power over the legislation in this country.

Johnson is a fundamental evangelical Christian Baptist who openly admits that his faith informs his every governmental action. He sees his faith as the only valid worldview, therefore only other fundamentalists are worthy of holding office.

His entirely faith-based operational system completely ignores the American value of separation of church and state. It is disappointing that House representatives neglected to protect Constitutional values and American freedoms in the electoral process.

It is incredible that someone who is openly absorbed in representing only his interests was elected to the most powerful position in the entire House. His fundamentalist worldview means that he only operates in favor of the 15% Baptist population in America—forget everyone else!

He has compared environmentalists to devil-worshippers. He claims that they are defying what God intended for the planet, despite scientific evidence that unnatural practices such as fracking and the burning of man-made chemicals are killing the planet and its inhabitants.

He has partnered with anti-LGBTQ+ and pro-conversion therapy organizations, despite scientific evidence that homosexuality is natural and conversion therapy is torture-adjacent.

He believes that America is a “biblical” republic, and the only way to repair our “amoral society” would be to have everyone abide by the Bible, despite the fact that one of the founding principles of America is freedom of religion, protected by the establishment clause. 

His most notable actions in government include when he led a lawsuit initiative to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Insurrection-supporting, election-dismissing Representative Johnson does not represent the people. Otherwise, he would have respected their vote.

Johnson goes as far as to say that “we don’t live in a democracy.” He clearly has no allegiance to the founding principles of the United States that have placed the country among the best in the world.

The American government was originally built with many seats to prevent the erosion of the country’s values, yet it seems that this safeguard has failed. The election of a man who disregards the democracy and free will of the people shows citizens that Congress cannot be trusted.