Media

WASHINGTON (RNS) — Amanda Tyler, lead organizer of Christians Against Christian Nationalism, will attend the State of the Union address Thursday (March 7) as a guest of U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, co-founder of the Congressional Freethought Caucus.

A petition that condemns Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) for collaborating with a Christian nationalist pastor — who pushed false election fraud claims in support of former President Donald Trump — has amassed thousands of signatures.

More than two dozen House Democrats in a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and the Office of the Chaplain are demanding answers as to why the Speaker was permitted to sponsor a guest chaplain known for his anti-LGBTQ views and inflammatory rhetoric late last month.

Lawmakers are asking for answers after a guest chaplain known for his incendiary preaching was sponsored by Speaker Mike Johnson to give the House’s daily opening prayer last month, according to a letter sent to the speaker and the Office of the Chaplain signed by 26 Democratic House members. 

Last week, a group of congressional representatives released a white paper and held a briefing on Capitol Hill to document the Christian Nationalism of Speaker Mike Johnson. The report from the Congressional Freethought Caucus documents several areas where they are concerned about Johnson’s record on religious freedom — and the report cites two articles from A Public Witness.

Members of the Congressional Freethought Caucus (CFC), a collection of 20 lawmakers in Congress who seek to “protect the secular character of our government by adhering to the strict Constitutional principle of the separation of church and state,” released a white paper report on Wednesday showcasing Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s (R-Louisiana) disturbing Christian nationalist views.