House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) declared the political concept of “separation of church and state” to be a misunderstanding of the founding fathers’ intentions, while he shared his views on the proper role of religion in government in an interview on Tuesday.
Appearing on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday, the newly elected speaker of the House said America’s founders “wanted a vibrant expression of faith in the public square because they believed that a general moral consensus and virtue was necessary to maintain this grand experiment in self-governance.”
Mr. Johnson has been open about his Christian faith throughout his political career. This aspect of Mr. Johnson’s character has in turn become a point of heightened focus, and even criticism from some political commentators, amid his rise to House speaker.
As MSNBC’s sister channel hosted Mr. Johnson on Tuesday, “Squawk Box” co-host Aaron Ross Sorkin noted Mr. Johnson had prayed with some fellow lawmakers on the House floor following his election last month and asked for the lawmaker’s views on the idea of religion in government.
“There’s a question about the separation of church and state,” Mr. Sorkin said. “We often talk on this show about ... whether religion should play a role inside a company, whether people should be allowed to pray inside a company. There’s one thing to pray outside and to have your faith, and there’s a great importance in that, but how do you think about that and how do you think about the public perception of that?”
Mr. Johnson responded that “faith, our deep religious heritage and tradition, is a big part of what it means to be an American,” and suggested religion serves as an essential moral guide to government officials.
“We created a government of, by, and for the people. We don’t have a king in charge. We don’t have a middleman. So we’ve got to keep morality amongst us so that we have accountability. And so [the Founders] wanted faith to be a big part of that,” Mr. Johnson said.
The speaker of the House went on to say the concept of “separation of church and state,” often cited in American political discourse, is also often misunderstood.
“The separation of church and state is a misnomer, people misunderstand it,” Mr. Johnson said. “Of course, it comes from a phrase that was in a letter that [President Thomas] Jefferson wrote—it’s not in the Constitution—and what he was explaining is they did not want the government to encroach upon the church, not that they didn’t want principles of faith to have influence on our public life. It’s exactly the opposite.”
“I think we need more of that—not an establishment of any national religion, but we need everybody’s vibrant expression of faith because it’s such an important part of who we are as a nation,” Mr. Johnson added.
