WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:05.320 Are you ready for a wild ride? In a bizarre mix of politics and 2 00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:10.519 religion, House speaker Mike Johnson has compared himself in his journey to the speakership 3 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:15.240 to Moses parting the Red Sea. Yeah you heard me right. In a 4 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:21.280 speech to the National Association of Christian Lawmakers, Johnson likened himself to the biblical 5 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:27.839 figure, leaving many justifiably scratching their heads. Now, can you also believe 6 00:00:27.960 --> 00:00:34.439 that a Jesuit priest actually read flag a warning about Johnson's remarks, Stick around 7 00:00:34.439 --> 00:00:39.719 as we unpack this curious intersection of faith in politics with the truthful story that 8 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:44.840 is nearly stranger than fiction. This story is from Newsweek, published February eighth, 9 00:00:44.920 --> 00:00:48.200 twenty twenty four. Helen, you want to start us out? Oh 10 00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:54.200 yeah, because you know what's great is when you have governmental power and the 11 00:00:54.280 --> 00:00:58.759 voices in your head tell you you're a prophet. I'm sorry, is this 12 00:00:58.840 --> 00:01:02.320 you here at the house? CAUs at this point I can't fucking tell anymore? 13 00:01:03.159 --> 00:01:07.599 Like I do? I do like that he was called called a megalomaniac. 14 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:12.799 I kind of like I like that idea that someone is like what that 15 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:17.359 believes in the same sky. Daddy is like, hey man, this is 16 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:23.439 a little much. It's a little much. So I guess, like I 17 00:01:23.480 --> 00:01:27.079 don't know what's going on the Republican Party. I keep I keep saying this, 18 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:34.400 and because it just seems they get like divine guidance and they get these 19 00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:38.480 callings the whole power and act like butt heeads. But they say like, 20 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:41.120 well, I'm God. You know, my sky Daddy really really likes me 21 00:01:41.480 --> 00:01:44.599 and he wants me to be a butt heead and I'm going to tell you 22 00:01:44.680 --> 00:01:49.840 why. And so you know, from my perspective, I just think he 23 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:56.159 is making excuses to say that he is the new Moses, which is not 24 00:01:56.200 --> 00:01:59.760 a good person to compare yourself to, by the way, not a good 25 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:04.560 person. I just find that very very amusing, and I definitely have more 26 00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:07.120 to say about this, but I'm going to shoot it over to Eli so 27 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:09.080 you can actually have a discussion about this, because I just find it really 28 00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:15.400 funny. So go ahead of Eli. I kind of have to agree with 29 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:21.000 the megalomania label. I think that's exactly what it is. And unlike James 30 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:23.080 Martin, I am willing to comment on Mike Johnson as a person. I'm 31 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:27.879 not convinced he's actually a believer, at least not in the way that he's 32 00:02:27.879 --> 00:02:30.319 talking, not as much. He may have grown up, you know, 33 00:02:30.520 --> 00:02:34.400 believing in God and Jesus, but I don't think he's this much into it. 34 00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:38.319 I think even before the end of the article, when Martin's thoughts were 35 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:42.080 revealed, it seemed a little bit self righteous, and I think Johnson wanted 36 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:45.680 to compare himself to Moses from the beginning and just thought it would be like 37 00:02:45.800 --> 00:02:50.560 received better or look less like megalomania if he started with, oh, well, 38 00:02:50.759 --> 00:02:53.479 I'm not Moses, like oh golly g it turns out I am. 39 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:58.120 I'm exactly like Moses. Look at how important I am to Christianity. And 40 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:00.360 he just wants to be lauded as like this hero of Christian nationalism and being 41 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:05.759 the top dog in the Republican lighthouse is not an ineffective way to achieve that 42 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:09.080 status. But all that aside, I kind of take a like, unrelated 43 00:03:09.080 --> 00:03:12.719 to the article. I take a huge issue with the idea of a national 44 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:19.039 association of Christian lawmakers. What a terrifying thing to exist. I think it's 45 00:03:19.159 --> 00:03:23.360 it's the people that are intentionally want to make Christianity into law in a country 46 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:28.680 that, contrary to the popular far right belief or far right opinion, was 47 00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:32.840 founded primarily and almost exclusively for the purpose of not having a state. Religion 48 00:03:34.919 --> 00:03:39.360 separatists, Separatist Protestants like in Holland, fleeing abuse from the and persecution from 49 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:44.520 the Catholic Church of England, Like does anybody remember that from history class anymore? 50 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:49.240 And the number of people that seem not to or to have no idea 51 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:54.400 how Europeans landed on this continent is staggering, especially among politicians. I can't 52 00:03:54.439 --> 00:03:57.919 believe they wouldn't be fully aware of that. But at the same time, 53 00:03:57.960 --> 00:04:01.120 I'm not convinced that you know their memory is selective. They're likely well aware 54 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:04.520 of it, and I think they're just powerful enough to think that they can 55 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:10.479 do whatever they want. But this is somehow different from Sharia law. But 56 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:13.599 I think I can probably learn a lot from you, cross examiner, given 57 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:15.720 your background. So I want to hear what you have to say. Well, 58 00:04:16.279 --> 00:04:20.480 yeah, I think you're right on regarding the megalomania and the excuses that 59 00:04:20.519 --> 00:04:26.160 Helen was talking about. I think all of it adds up to the classic 60 00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:30.560 problem with religion. I can make any claim I want as to God talking 61 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:33.360 to me that nobody else can hear, and I can use that to justify 62 00:04:33.399 --> 00:04:36.639 anything. I can, you know, sell you holywater. I can do 63 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:43.040 spiritual healing. I can be elected to president even or vice president Mike pens 64 00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:48.839 et cetera, or speaker. Regarding the story, the story that reporter chose 65 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:56.680 to focus on was Catholic priest tells our jesuit slash Catholic priest tells says that 66 00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:00.000 Mike Johnson should basically chill. I'm not surprised that a Catholic priests would tell 67 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:03.920 tell Johnson to chill on the God spoke to me stuff. The Catholic Church 68 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:09.639 has never been big on supporting the common man's claims that God literally speaks to 69 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:13.399 people. They like to keep all that communication in house, so to speak. 70 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:17.040 That's why they made it illegal to print the Bible in anything but Latin 71 00:05:17.160 --> 00:05:21.279 for centuries, so that nobody could read it. Only priests could tell people 72 00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:27.360 what was actually in the Bible. They were the vendor of that information. 73 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:30.439 They were God's speakers on earth. So this is sort of a flavor of 74 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:34.000 that to me. The most outrageous part, however, for me, was 75 00:05:34.040 --> 00:05:39.199 the article was one sided, and I don't mean as between the priest and 76 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:43.399 Mike Johnson. I mean that the author assumes that those are the only two 77 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:46.959 relevant points of view. Mike Johnson an evangelical religious fanatic, and on the 78 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:51.360 other hand, James Martin, a Catholic religious moderate. Both of them agree 79 00:05:51.399 --> 00:05:55.800 that Jesus existed, that he was supernatural and divine, that there is a 80 00:05:55.839 --> 00:05:58.839 heaven, that following Jesus is the only way to heaven. That abortion should 81 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:00.720 be illegal, that gay shouldn't marry. All of this stuff they agree on. 82 00:06:00.920 --> 00:06:05.160 The only point they disagree on is whether or not Mike Johnson was contacted 83 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:09.480 directly by God. That's it. The author didn't seek any other opinions, 84 00:06:09.560 --> 00:06:13.879 like does God even exist? Are these people talking about imaginary friends? And 85 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:16.519 so this is a perfect example of poor journalism in the US when it comes 86 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:20.920 to religion. This whole article is literally just a recap of the story about 87 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:25.639 Mike Johnson, which was told months ago, and the only new info is 88 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:30.759 a quote from James Martin's tweet. He literally just tweeted A good spiritual director 89 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:33.360 will tell you that insights you feel are coming from God, which are usually 90 00:06:33.399 --> 00:06:39.240 subtle, those must carefully be carefully tested and weighed. One red flag for 91 00:06:39.319 --> 00:06:43.759 spiritual directors is and then God said, this not everything that pops up in 92 00:06:43.800 --> 00:06:46.639 your head during prairies from God. That was his whole tweet. And it 93 00:06:46.759 --> 00:06:50.279 was ten paragraphs of this story to talk about that one tweet, and the 94 00:06:50.360 --> 00:06:56.879 author utterly failed to question research or delve into any claims about God. In 95 00:06:57.160 --> 00:07:00.360 the end, those claims are kind of childish. It felt like two kids 96 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:05.040 fighting in the schoolyard about which imaginary friend was talking to whom? Uh you 97 00:07:05.079 --> 00:07:09.680 know I was as I was reading this story. I also had just finished 98 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:14.079 reading Doctor Seuss to my son, and that's why probably I imagined a couple 99 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:16.480 of kids fighting. But it did make me write a little Seuss style question 100 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:19.720 for the reporter, So I'll finish on that. Uh, where are the 101 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:24.720 atheists, Agnostics, the Hindus, Where are the Muslims, the Buddhists, 102 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:28.079 the Sikhs, and the Jews. You'll find not a one in this reporter's 103 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:31.519 report. He did not see fit to seek a secular retort. This outcome 104 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:36.279 repeats, it never abates, because religious reporting sucks in the States. So 105 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:43.720 that's how I view this story. That's a wonderful, very well done. 106 00:07:44.360 --> 00:07:53.000 I appreciate that doctor who. That's a different I was sinking who's in my 107 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:57.199 brain? So I appreciate the doctor Seu's poem. I totally did get Kelly. 108 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:01.199 I know you got pains because I read your notes. Yeah, I 109 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:05.759 got things. First off, I wanted to do the actual quote that Johnson 110 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:11.800 said, and he was talking about the race for the speakership. Now at 111 00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:15.079 the time, I assume the Lord is going to choose the Moses, and 112 00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:18.399 oh, thank you, Lord, You're going to allow me to be the 113 00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:22.079 Aron to that Moses. Ultimately, thirteen people ran for the post, and 114 00:08:22.120 --> 00:08:26.040 the Lord kept telling me to wait, wait, wait. So I waited, 115 00:08:26.279 --> 00:08:30.560 I waited, and when it came toward the end, the Lord said, 116 00:08:30.680 --> 00:08:35.240 now step forward me. I'm supposed to be Aaron. And the Lord 117 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:39.519 said step forward now. Seriously, being speaker is an amazing thing. I'll 118 00:08:39.519 --> 00:08:45.080 give you that. I'll fully agree to that, even but I wouldn't equate 119 00:08:45.159 --> 00:08:52.360 it to a supernatural miracle or Johnson to a biblical hero for becoming the speaker. 120 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:58.480 And the only thing that I can see that they might both have in 121 00:08:58.519 --> 00:09:03.639 common is I consider Moses to be a fictional character, and I'm seriously not 122 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:09.120 sure that Mike Johnson is a real person with that name. The way he 123 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:16.399 looks, I'm pretty convinced he's actually just someone's AI version of a revival tent 124 00:09:16.519 --> 00:09:28.879 minister Mike School of AI right, right, right, totally, you know. 125 00:09:28.440 --> 00:09:33.799 And what I find really interesting though about the whole thing is that it 126 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:37.799 was actually a real person, like you said, even though it was somebody 127 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:41.480 in the same religion, it was actually a person of face, a leader 128 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:46.879 of faith that was reprimanding the profit of the House Johnson for his language, 129 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:50.440 right, and it's it's actually a real priest that blew me away. And 130 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:56.480 I didn't expect to see that it's not a member of his particular brand of 131 00:09:56.559 --> 00:10:01.519 magic belief. And that's why I think it should be pointed out that, 132 00:10:01.639 --> 00:10:03.799 yeah, at least he's getting some blowback from his own side of the of 133 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:09.200 the religious aisle. I guess, Helen, Well, you bring up a 134 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:11.559 good point. But like the thing is that I was like, you know, 135 00:10:11.559 --> 00:10:15.480 there's always a debate, are like Havoc's real Christians? You know, 136 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:20.639 And that's a like I find very silly because it's like you you all believe 137 00:10:20.759 --> 00:10:24.960 that a dead guy rose from the dead and did that to save you from 138 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:28.759 your sins because you like to masturbate. Like that's like, that's that's that's 139 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:31.960 where your brain is, man, And I'm like cool. And what I 140 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:39.960 find more distressing about this, and like Grandma pointed out, is that nobody's 141 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:43.440 asking what do secular people say, or people that don't even follow the same 142 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:48.159 religion, Like if you're a Jewish or Muslim or Pagan or Hindu living in 143 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:52.080 this country, nobody's asking them. Nobody's going like, hey, you're a 144 00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:58.039 represented you are part of the US population. What do you think about this? 145 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:03.080 Right? You have the speaker of the house saying Jesus spoke to me 146 00:11:03.159 --> 00:11:07.399 God, you know, the Christian God spoke to me. And that's the 147 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:11.200 person that's running a huge chunk of the government. Right. He gets to 148 00:11:11.240 --> 00:11:15.399 decide what bills come forward. He's he controls the purse strings. And and 149 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:20.480 if you're not a Christian, and maybe not even if you're not evangelical Christian, 150 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:24.679 you immediately are like, oh, this guy doesn't represent me and is 151 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:28.240 actively rooting against me. And that's that's what I got out when I read 152 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:31.039 this article as an atheist and a squeer person. I was like, this 153 00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:35.240 person doesn't represent me because I don't believe in you know, magical sky daddies 154 00:11:35.320 --> 00:11:37.840 and that you know, people you know talk to me in my brain. 155 00:11:37.879 --> 00:11:41.639 If that does happen, please tell me get the therapy. By the way, 156 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:46.039 we're just going to put just that out there right now. And also, 157 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:48.399 Kelly, I know you're going to get to this, but like this 158 00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:52.639 is a problem with the Christian nationalism in this happening in this country because because 159 00:11:52.679 --> 00:11:56.720 of this and like what you were saying, Graham, nobody's pushing back against 160 00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:58.159 this. Somebody's saying like, hey man, you know, like you can 161 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:03.960 have your belief but you can't say that you are divinely inspired by God to 162 00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:07.919 be a speaker of the house like that that's not a thing man, Like 163 00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:11.480 you got elective to this physician, Like like God didn't be like cool, 164 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:16.399 No, he didn't. God didn't tell anybody else in the constituents to make 165 00:12:16.519 --> 00:12:20.120 that guy. I think he honestly believes that though, I mean that's the 166 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:28.039 good believes that. The problem is the reporter isn't going okay, So you're 167 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:31.440 saying God said this stuff to you. Was it an audible sound like you 168 00:12:31.480 --> 00:12:33.679 were alone in a room, Like they're not really diving into that. They're 169 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:37.679 not doing what we would do if we were like hosting the Atheist Experience or 170 00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:41.519 something of like really trying to understand what the claim is. And and they 171 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:43.919 let politicians get away with that God told me this. God told me that. 172 00:12:45.080 --> 00:12:46.559 And they're like, well, okay, sounds good. Not like wait 173 00:12:46.600 --> 00:12:50.080 a second, are you literally hearing voices as the like why isn't the headline 174 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:54.799 Speaker of the House is hearing voices? That should be the headline, because 175 00:12:54.960 --> 00:13:00.200 because we usually save somebody hearing voices, it's like that's a farm, that's 176 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:03.799 a symptom of psychosis. You need to see a professional. But for some 177 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:07.480 reason, you know, if you're holding any sort of political position of power, 178 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:11.120 you get a pass. And it's like, but you're there's still a 179 00:13:11.320 --> 00:13:15.200 person. Just because they you know, rose in the rings of government doesn't 180 00:13:15.240 --> 00:13:18.480 mean that they might not have mental health issues or he's you know, a 181 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:24.159 met little narcissists, which is also issue. You can make it positive in 182 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:28.200 the headline, Speaker of the House actually hears the voice of God, right 183 00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:33.879 right, This is a breakthrough, And gentlemen, Eli we we're kind of 184 00:13:33.879 --> 00:13:35.440 going back and forth and this a lot, but I know, like, 185 00:13:35.720 --> 00:13:39.559 because we have a lot, we're very opinionated on the show. But I 186 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:43.840 would love to hear more of your thoughts on this whole people hearing voices in 187 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:50.320 their heads claiming like I got divining magic powers. I was with you. 188 00:13:50.440 --> 00:13:54.399 I I have a little bit. I've studied some psychology, and I don't 189 00:13:54.440 --> 00:14:00.759 remember there being a you know, typical neurological event that you know, ends 190 00:14:00.840 --> 00:14:05.279 up with hearing disembodied voices from sources that aren't physically there. So that's not 191 00:14:05.320 --> 00:14:11.519 a thing that I typically regard as a normal thing. You all seem to 192 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:13.320 be convinced that he you know, I disagreed earlier. I said that I 193 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:18.120 felt like he probably doesn't believe, you know, isn't as religious as he's 194 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:20.720 claiming that he is. But you all seem to think the opposite. And 195 00:14:20.039 --> 00:14:26.120 I'm not sure still, but I definitely love hearing your interpretations of it. 196 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:30.600 Well, my take on that question because I sort of you made me think 197 00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:31.559 when I'm like, okay, wait a second. You know, he is 198 00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:35.279 kind of extreme, He is sort of a caricature and all those sorts of 199 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:41.919 things. My take on it is. I want him to believe me when 200 00:14:41.960 --> 00:14:45.639 I say I don't believe in a god. Like you know, I'm going 201 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:48.399 to take I want people to take me at my claims unless they have evidence 202 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:50.159 that I'm deceiving them, right, So I'm going to give him the benefit 203 00:14:50.200 --> 00:14:54.840 of the doubt. He may not believe. And that's sort of the the 204 00:14:54.440 --> 00:14:58.559 I forget what it's called. It's kind of a flavor of pose law. 205 00:14:58.679 --> 00:15:01.840 Right. You know, any sort of extremism is indistinguishable at some point from 206 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:07.440 satire. You can't tell like is this real or is this satire? Or 207 00:15:07.480 --> 00:15:09.840 is it for nefarious purposes like I'm lying just to sell product or to get 208 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:16.519 elected or whatever. But my modus operandi is usually, Okay, you're going 209 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:18.559 to make a claim, I'm going to take you at your face value, 210 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:22.600 and I'm going to take it literally. You said you hear voices. Let's 211 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:24.159 talk about that. That should be the headline, and that's what the press 212 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:28.720 should do. You literally heard this, like, and I haven't heard anybody. 213 00:15:28.919 --> 00:15:31.320 And maybe he did it. He went, I'm guessing he goes. 214 00:15:31.480 --> 00:15:35.960 I think I've seen him go on friendly Christian podcasts where they'll just hm and 215 00:15:37.080 --> 00:15:39.720 nod and say how pressure it is. I'm sure they didn't like cross examine 216 00:15:39.799 --> 00:15:43.960 him, but somebody should in the press. That's what we want the press 217 00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:46.759 to do. And if he literally audibly heard a voice, we should be 218 00:15:46.759 --> 00:15:50.919 concerned about that. If he didn't, then he should clarify that and say, 219 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:52.559 well, no, I just had a feeling, and then I'm attributing 220 00:15:52.600 --> 00:15:56.440 that to the god I was raised with. That's what happened. That's a 221 00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:58.840 fair point. Yeah, I like what. I like what you're thinking there. 222 00:15:58.039 --> 00:16:00.600 And I just want to to say, like, this is something we 223 00:16:00.679 --> 00:16:06.639 always talking about on the show that whenever somebody makes these claims, it's always 224 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:11.480 like where does the sincerity and the satire end? And again it's the same 225 00:16:11.480 --> 00:16:15.440 thing over again, Like I'm like, do you really buy this or which 226 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:19.799 is concerning? Or you're a terrible liar and you're just trying to show some 227 00:16:19.879 --> 00:16:23.559 ship and I at this point, like I can't tell the difference anymore. 228 00:16:23.639 --> 00:16:29.399 I'm so confused. Ahead I was going to say I was sincere when I 229 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:33.799 thought Mike Mike uh was ai. So I was definitely sincere in that opinion. 230 00:16:36.279 --> 00:16:40.519 Can I just give mad props to Kelly for calling him the profit of 231 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:48.440 the House slipped everybody, you get, you get those clever points this week. 232 00:16:51.320 --> 00:16:53.960 But somebody, somebody mentioned it, and I don't remember who, but 233 00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:59.879 about different different I think it was you cross Examiner, about the different brands 234 00:16:59.879 --> 00:17:03.160 of Christianity that are going on here, and I think a lot of these 235 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:07.680 people these and let's face it, Johnson's a Christian nationalist. We all know 236 00:17:07.799 --> 00:17:12.119 that he wants to He wants to turn our nation into a Christian nation. 237 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:17.640 And I think a lot of the people who are of his mindset think that 238 00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:22.960 everybody within the government has the same mindset. But they're not thinking that there 239 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:29.119 are differences and opinions of what that Christian mindset should be. And five of 240 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:33.079 the Supreme Court justices are Catholics, a six was a Catholic, was raised 241 00:17:33.079 --> 00:17:37.319 Catholic. He's a messive Methodist now and are they going to agree with all 242 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:41.279 the religious views of these Christian nationalists. I don't think they are. And 243 00:17:41.400 --> 00:17:48.440 that might create another clash within the party, within the within this whole conservative 244 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:51.559 movement, at least I hope it does when they start to realize that, 245 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:55.720 you know, the justices might not be on their side with all of their 246 00:17:55.880 --> 00:18:00.000 christ their far right Christian values, So I think you need to keep an 247 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.440 eye on I agree with you there the Catholic Church, Catholic faith has a 248 00:18:04.440 --> 00:18:08.759 great tradition of legal practice. There's a heritage there, and there's that that 249 00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:14.359 does explain why there are a lot of Catholics traditionally on the Supreme Court, 250 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:19.400 especially in more modern times. And I do agree that the interplay between the 251 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:26.799 Catholic priest and Mike Johnson was sort of a very core interesting concept. I 252 00:18:26.839 --> 00:18:29.759 did a little research on James Martin. He has a best selling book called 253 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:33.680 Jesus a Pilgrimage. He's one of these, you know, pop preachers, 254 00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:37.799 right that comes out and maybe the church supports him in doing this because he 255 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:41.559 became popular. But he writes, you know, kind of self helpy books, 256 00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:45.480 or let me explain Jesus from a lay person's type of perspective. His 257 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:48.559 big one is called Jesus a Pilgrimage. And I read the introduction after reading 258 00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:52.240 this story, and I found this this sort of core In the introduction, 259 00:18:52.359 --> 00:18:57.599 he said, quote, my starting point is a classic theological statement colon Jesus 260 00:18:57.720 --> 00:19:02.440 Christ is fully human and fully divine. This is one of the first things 261 00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:04.839 that Christians learned about their faith. So that's his starting point. That's not 262 00:19:04.920 --> 00:19:08.960 surprising it Like every other preacher we've seen these days, he just takes it 263 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:12.200 as a given that God exists and that it's Jesus. And then he just 264 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:18.200 has a whole book apparently about just so stories about how cool Jesus is, 265 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:22.880 and that's his book. And so if he can, he himself can yeah. 266 00:19:23.799 --> 00:19:27.839 Yeah, So if he could just start by saying, I'm going to 267 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:33.880 take it as given that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine, then 268 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:37.079 why can't Mike Johnson just say, well, the Bible has lots of people 269 00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:41.359 being spoken to by God. Why are you reprimanding me for hearing God? 270 00:19:41.480 --> 00:19:48.720 Like he subtly James Martin is playing favorites about how he interprets scripture. I 271 00:19:48.839 --> 00:19:52.759 can I can just say the Bible says Jesus is God. So I believe 272 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:56.480 that the Bible. Bible also depicts God speaking to a lot of people, 273 00:19:56.559 --> 00:20:00.759 but I don't believe that he spoke to Mike Johnson. That seems hypocritical. 274 00:20:00.920 --> 00:20:03.359 Also, I do want to point out in the church, like any claims 275 00:20:03.400 --> 00:20:07.079 that God is talking to anybody is taking with a grain of salt, like 276 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:12.279 there there is an investigation again, I'm giving, like you know, the 277 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:17.880 cath Church, like I have a credit like but at least but there's a 278 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:21.119 little bit of skepticism there, like and I think it was good. Then 279 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:22.680 you called him out, like, hey, man, I don't think you're 280 00:20:22.680 --> 00:20:26.079 really talking. I don't think you're a prophet. I don't think you're in 281 00:20:26.119 --> 00:20:30.519 the next Moses. You know, that's a that's a problem. But I 282 00:20:30.599 --> 00:20:33.839 but I do think the point we're talking about, like we should be asking, 283 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:38.000 you know, man, are you really talking to God? Because if 284 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:44.079 you are, we have to verify it or be you're lying or see that 285 00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:52.079 you you need a therapist. It's one of those three things. So it's 286 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:55.960 true, and we have some questions. We want you to ask God and 287 00:20:56.039 --> 00:21:00.240 we can test and see if God, Hey God, what's the cure for 288 00:21:00.279 --> 00:21:04.680 cancer? Like why doesn't Mike Johnson get that information from God? Are you 289 00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:10.039 so upsetsive? Fortune is God? Like I have to now if he's got 290 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:11.720 a direct line to God, he should figure out how to solve the Middle 291 00:21:11.759 --> 00:21:15.720 East crisis, right, Okay, Like, please give us some final lots 292 00:21:15.799 --> 00:21:19.559 because we're very opinioning on this show, and I would love to hear some 293 00:21:19.640 --> 00:21:23.039 final thous before you wrap up. Well, you know, across the Zamurai 294 00:21:23.079 --> 00:21:26.200 I said earlier, I like kind of what you said there. I'll go 295 00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:30.720 ahead and rescind my statement from before. I'll believe to interrupt you. You 296 00:21:30.839 --> 00:21:36.480 actually persuaded me a little bit because when we started talking about his goal of 297 00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:40.400 Christian nationalism, that's where I agree with you. I think he's probably a 298 00:21:40.440 --> 00:21:42.519 believer. I'll take him in face value. I'm not sure he really wants 299 00:21:42.519 --> 00:21:47.000 the country to become a true Christian nation. So you have won me over 300 00:21:47.000 --> 00:21:48.359 on that point. Like a lot of these people, I think like Trump, 301 00:21:48.359 --> 00:21:51.480 and those people are like, yeah, I'm a Christian nationalists, I 302 00:21:51.559 --> 00:21:52.680 want to be a Christian and they're like, holy shit, if that ever 303 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:56.880 really happened, we screwed. So I don't want that, but it keeps 304 00:21:56.880 --> 00:22:00.880 me in power. So yeah, yeah, and that's kind of where I 305 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:03.160 was going with it. I reminded me of the Trump, uh you know 306 00:22:03.400 --> 00:22:07.440 talking about I think he called like he said like two Corinthians or something when 307 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:12.519 you was talking about I know that he thought that that had anything to do 308 00:22:12.599 --> 00:22:15.359 with how familiar he was with the Bible, and then it just kind of 309 00:22:15.400 --> 00:22:19.200 reminded me of that a little bit, and I that's why I was like, 310 00:22:19.279 --> 00:22:22.920 no, I'm not convinced. I don't. I don't quite buy it 311 00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:26.279 because just like it's almost to a point where you can be so extreme that 312 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:30.119 you can't tell if it's satire or not. Because I'm like, what, 313 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:34.240 does somebody actually believe that? I think my I think Mike Johnson does. 314 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:38.000 Unfortunately. I mean there's a few of them out there, and I really 315 00:22:38.039 --> 00:22:41.200 think he is one of the ones that really really does. But you're right, 316 00:22:41.240 --> 00:22:45.359 I think there's other people like Trump that are just using it to as 317 00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:48.119 a way to get elected. I really believe that too as well. So 318 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:52.279 I think Ted Cruz is another one that really believes it with his annointing of 319 00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:56.759 the oils every time, you know, having his minister, you know, 320 00:22:56.920 --> 00:23:00.039 Ted Creuz is you know, a whole diff in bad. We could do 321 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:03.279 several different talking voice about him.