Minister unloads on MAGA Mike Johnson and claims Republicans are on the side of the devil

A Christian minister blasted the House Republicans amid the holidays, pointing to them as carrying the water for evil.

Writing for Salon, Nathaniel Manderson, ordained through the American Baptist Churches USA, said that he sees evil in the Republican Party and the devil is among them.

"In the case of the current evangelical political machine, the devil is all too often wearing pastoral robes and expensive tailored suits. For many years, the evangelical church has pointed to the devil outside in the world, but the devil is the one doing the pointing. Secondly, the devil is always up to the same thing: creating division through fear," Manderson wrote.

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He explained that as a man of faith, he believed in the devil and the Almighty. Using the metaphor of his fear of his dark basement, the pastor said that rushing back upstairs into the light always makes him feel better because the devil can't survive the light.

The fear of evil comes from the early days of his youth when he was told that the devil wanted to hurt him and keep him from God.

"In the minds of too many American evangelicals, those who don't hold to your faith are not simply against your ideas," Manderson wrote. "They're being manipulated by the devil himself to destroy everything you love."

He blamed the devil for causing the political divide taking hold in American culture. Evangelicals, he explains, are lashing out at those who don't hold their faith and ideals because the devil is manipulating them. They see those who haven't accepted Jesus Christ as their savior as the "enemy."

Citing "90 Day Fiancé," which he believes is "an amazing source of human understanding and wisdom," he noted that a mega-Christian couple was making certain that they didn't have to have sex before marriage. They're talking about the ethics of visits and the temptation of sex.

"We can't do that," said the man, "because the devil hates us and I hate that devil."

It prompted Manderson to question the devil spending its time not causing war or famine, but trying to convince a non-married couple to have sex? "That's how he plans to destroy mankind?"

That's where Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), the new Speaker of the House, comes into play. He, too, an evangelical, believes the devil is at work among us trying to bring down the family, democracy and Christian liberty.

Manderson wrote that history is hung on a timeline of cruelty in the name of religion, perverting the purity of goodness from God and the teachings of Christ. Johnson, is the perfect manifestation of "cruel conservatism."

"Now, to be clear, as a minister who believes in God, I am compelled to believe in the devil," Manderson explained. "But I see him much more at home within the evangelical movement than in most liberal causes. It is well understood in Christian history that the best place to disrupt goodness is through the church itself. 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 argued that Satan doesn't care about same-sex marriage or taxing billionaires, even building a wall along the Mexican border, much less providing health insurance for poor people.

"The devil isn't about issues," Manderson said. "He wants to control and mislead people and get them to do evil things. Currently, the evangelical agenda advanced by people like Mike Johnson involves ignoring the needs of the poor, the sick and immigrants from foreign lands. They support Donald Trump — which should be enough evidence that the devil is real, by the way — and believe that our planet's population of 8 billion people started with a man and a woman in a garden. Yikes!"

He sees evil when watching those loudly proclaiming to be good and pure. And while that exists on the left, it's more common among evangelicals, he said.

"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," continued Manderson. "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."

Read the full column at Salon.com.