Does Mike Johnson Read the Bible?

I just wrote about similar topics three months ago so it kind of pains me to do it again so soon. But that dullard Mike Johnson has made yet another attack against the Bible, against Christian faith and against our trans sisters and brothers. While making a victory lap after passing a bill banning transgender students from girls’ sports, he made these unschooled comments making me wonder if he’s ever actually read the Bible he talks about so much.

“We know from Scripture, and from nature, that men are men and women are women, and men cannot become women,” Johnson said. Calling the Bible, “pretty clear,” which no one who has actually read the Bible thinks for a single second, he went on to say, “it goes back to the first book — Genesis: male and female, he made them. I’m not sure there’s another interpretation, but everybody’s open to interpreting Scripture however they will.”

Indeed. If you would like my interpretation, you can find a fuller write up in my article, It’s Adam and Eve, Not Christopher and Olivia. Below, I intend to simply toss you the most obvious reasons that Mike Johnson is ignorant on these issues since I imagine — thanks to this bill, his statements and the coming four years of public Christian hypocrisy — you may need some retorts to bigotry in your back pocket.

So, then God ripped a rib out of Adam and made a female. The story sounds transgender to me if I’m being honest with you.

The most obvious problem with his statement comes from Genesis 2 which makes me think he either cannot read or reads so slowly that he stopped at Genesis 1. Or, hear me out, maybe he’s lying about the Bible to score points with bigoted voters. In Genesis 2 God did not in fact create male and female, He created only male. God thought that Adam would find a life partner amongst the animals. To his credit, Adam wasn’t into that scene. So, then God ripped a rib out of Adam and made a female. The story sounds transgender to me if I’m being honest with you.

The next obvious problem comes from logical consistency. If you are going to insist that we can only have two genders because the first chapter of Genesis only mentions two genders, then I think you are going to be limited in what you accept everywhere else. Did Adam and Eve have brown eyes? Then blue eyes are against God’s will. If Adam and Eve were black – which seems likely given the archeological record – then white people are an abomination using this logic. Mike Johnson supports the ban on TikTok undoubtedly because Adam and Eve never used TikTok. Genesis 1 also has God separating water and land, so if Johnson wants to be consistent, he should be against estuaries. Who am I kidding, the analphabetic Mike Johnson doesn’t know what an estuary is so they’re safe. Unless he thinks that estuary is another word for estrogen, then watch out.

Could it be that the use of opposites in Genesis (male/female, day/night, flying/swimming, water/land) is a literary device and not an injunction against diversity? It only takes the sophistication of an eighth-grade composition student to see this.

That’s just stuff right in the first two chapters of Genesis. But there are a lot of other reasons Mike Johnson is clearly uncultured in the ways of real Jesus followers. Videlicet:

• You cannot make laws based on any religion, let alone a minority opinion on particular verses interpreted through a particular view of Christianity. Adam and Eve are not real in the sense of an actual historical ancestry, they are real in the function of myth. if Mike Johnson is this unripened in his critical thinking, he can’t be trusted to order at a Starbucks, let along make laws.
• Life is incredibly diverse and continues to become more diverse. This is the nature of evolution that God has put in motion. Mike Johnson may think that transgendered people are against God’s will because of his reading of a single chapter in Genesis; however, I tell you that based on 15 billion years of natural history, ignoring God’s propensity for diversity is the real affront to our creator.
• Regardless of what Mike Johnson thinks — let’s be neighborly here and assume quite amicably that there are actual thoughts occurring in his Lego pop-on noggin — we are called by Jesus to live our lives through love, respect and acceptance. God’s love is unconditional, and we are all created in the image of God. How dare Mike Johnson take issue with what God has called GOOD?
• Theological contexts evolve. I’m assuming — but the way things are going in the country right now, perhaps it is one premise too far — that Johnson opposes slavery and the stoning of unruly daughters even though the Bible supports both. We must reexamine our scripture in terms of what we’ve learned through science and anthropology over the last 3,000 years. The authors and editors of Genesis knew nothing about sexual orientation or gender and so even if they intended Genesis to comment on these issues, which they certainly did not, they couldn’t possibly know what they were talking about anyway. I also wouldn’t trust their views on the curvature of Earth, penicillin nor fire retardants.
• Loving Christians should be concerned about the mental health and well-being of LGBTQ+ people. Discrimination leads to bad outcomes and even an increased risk of suicide. What is Johnson improving here? Even worse, what does he intend?
• Jesus never condemned homosexuality, transgender identity or a host of other hot-button issues in today’s GOP. But he spent a lot of time warning against the dangers of wealth, religious dogma, idolatry, injustice, exclusion and violence. Mike Johnson and the rest of the GOP should take notice and readjust their priorities if they want us to take them seriously when they call themselves Christians.

You may think I’m being too harsh here. Make no mistake — Mike Johnson, Donald Trump and many others are attacking Christianity. Anyone who wraps up evil and hatred in the guise of a biblical interpretation is denigrating the faith. These actions are complete blasphemy against our Lord. Mike Johnson is anti-Christian, misinterprets the Bible to score political points and is either lying about what he believes or is so careless about his own beliefs that he’s never thought to explore his philosophy. He is unfit to lead in any capacity. He is one of the many reasons Gen Z thinks Christians stand for hate, disrespect and in general, lack sophistication and nuance. He is a threat to the country and the faith. And otherwise, “boooooooooo…!”

Thank God we can be better Jesus followers than Mike Johnson. He needs to be called out when he is advocating against Jesus. I’m doing my part here. But our best defense is a good offense. Don’t be afraid to engage others in your life who are misinformed like Mike Johnson. We can’t stop Mike Johnson alone, but we might be able to stop the next one from radicalizing. Mike Johnson doesn’t read or think deeply and certainly doesn’t listen. But we can. We can listen and encourage dialog and critical thinking in our fellow believers. We can highlight loving leaders like Cory Booker, Tammy Baldwin, Stacy Abrams and Pete Buttigieg. While the GOP is fighting against LGBTQ+ rights, we can turn to community service and advocacy. Jesus wouldn’t spend two seconds fighting against trans rights, but he’d spend a lot of time advocating for the homeless, the disadvantaged, the sick, refugees and victims of violence.

If we want to protect our faith from the attacks of Mike Johnson and his ilk, we need to fearlessly challenge these simplistic narratives and interpretations. Call out injustice when we see it. Flood the zone with so much love and positivity about our LGBTQ+ sisters and brothers that there isn’t room for this anti-Christian hate. Inclusivity and respect can reshape the role of our faith in society, especially among the next generations.

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An important article crossed me feed the day I wrote this and I want to share it with you. In the article, Was Joseph Transgender?, Prophetic Imagination and Kalie May Hargrove explore a fascinating take on the biblical figure of Joseph. By examining historical context, cultural interpretations, and contemporary discussions around gender identity, the piece poses the intriguing question: Was Joseph transgender? They invite us to reconsider traditional narratives and engage with the complexities of identity in ancient texts. You may or may not agree, but I hope it can at least open your heart to the fact that these issues are much more complex over the course of 3,000 years than a simple-minded reading of Genesis 1 might warrant.

Also, because I write these sometimes a month or more in advance of publishing, there is often news that pops up in the meantime that underscores the urgency of Christian action. Unsurprisingly one of the new president’s first actions was to roll back trans rights. So just a reminder for anyone who needs it: fascists with pens don’t get to change the wonderful person God made you to be.