'Isn’t quite what Jesus had in mind': Religious expert labels new speaker​ 'polite zealot'

"The Atlantic's" Peter Wehner, who also serves as a senior fellow at the faith-based Trinity Forum, is accusing the new Republican speaker of being a religious "zealot."

Writing Tuesday, Wehner wrote that, unlike many Republicans, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) appears "to be a true believer."

"A polite and mild-mannered zealot, to be sure, especially by MAGA standards, but a zealot nonetheless," Wehner said. "And what makes this doubly painful for many of us is that he uses his Christian faith to sacralize his fanaticism and assault on truth. I can’t help thinking this isn’t quite what Jesus had in mind."

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Wehner's Trinity Forum laments the "lack of spiritual and character formation in leaders." Writing about faith, including the Christian faith, he explained that there are many ways that it can manifest into "presuppositions and perspectives," some of which aren't consistent with the key tenets of the religion and its text.

He described Johnson as having "ties to the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination," which has experienced considerable fracturing over the years over women in the pulpit, LGBTQ+ equality and the coverup of preacher sexual abuse.

Johnson, Wehner said, "believes in a literal reading of the Bible, including the Book of Genesis," meaning he believes the Earth is only 6,000 years old, there was an actual garden of Eden and that all humankind spawned from Adam and Eve.

Johnson is "a close friend of Ken Ham, the CEO and founder of Answers in Genesis, and provided legal services to that ministry in 2015." He operates the "Ark Encounter" creationist museum, and Johnson once tried to secure taxpayer funding for it.

Among Johnson's controversial comments are a suggestion that school shootings come from teaching evolution in school. He also equated homosexuality with incest and bestiality. He went so far as to advocate for criminalizing gay sex.

Wehner went on to highlight Johnson's relationship with David Barton, another fringe evangelical who opposes the separation of church and state. Echoing the sentiment, Johnson claimed, “The Founders wanted to protect the church from an encroaching state, not the other way around." Wehner explained that comes directly from Barton's ideology.

Read more about the far-right beliefs the columnist finds concerning in "The Atlantic."