2025 House Speaker election

This is not true. I think Pope Francis is pretty damn sensible, for example. . Better by far than the president elect.

Pope Francis speaks with Catholic rhetoric, which is very different than eg Southern Baptist Convention rhetoric.

All Presidents except Trump have attended church with some regularity. Presumably all have prayed. But that’s different than the standard American evangelical fare about having a personal relationship with God, so much so that you imply that the Lord has sanctified one of your decisions that you made in your personal life. Even the Pope doesn’t talk that way…

In the end though, I mostly agree with DrDeth. While strange and to my way of thinking borderline heretical, Mike Johnson’s performance reported in the Slate article upthread is not at all unusual, and is familiar to millions of American fundamentalist Christians. I don’t think the harms of it have persuasively manifested yet in US public life, though I wouldn’t rule it out moving forwards.

Johnson has shown he can act with bipartisanship, if needed. He hasnt shown any signs of insanity. Of course, as a liberal- i do not care for his politics- or as a Doubter with his RW evangelical idea of Christianity.

Mind you a Dem majority in the House would make me very happy. Until then, Johnson seems the best of a bad lot.

Is there a joke in there about burning bushes?

The way I see it, he quiets his mind, goes into a mediative state and an answer comes to him. Due to his choice of religion and life path, he believes the voice of god is giving him the answer.

Others may take a walk, go for a run, do yoga, take a shower or bath, sleep on it; what ever works to get into a quiet state to allow an answer to come.

I await the day that “ the shower spoke to me”, is as valid as a religious based voice.

I have indeed, taken a break from the desk for a walk and the answer came “out of the blue” so to speak. If he wants to think that is God, well, I can’t say he is wrong. I dont like it much, but "out of the blue’ isnt a great answer either.

The difference of course is his “out of the blue” ideas carried connotations of perfection and near infallibility for about 100 million Americans. You? Not so much, not even for your spouse. :wink:

Except that if somebody disagrees with “out of the blue” ideas they are not committing blasphemy.

"Yeah this morning when I got up I just couldn’t stop scratching my balls."