U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, a Democrat and co-founder of the Freethought Caucus, told RNS he did not believe Johnson “knowingly” misattributed the quote, but argued it was nonetheless a product of a larger “effort on the right wing” to attach modern conservative religious beliefs to the Founding Fathers.
“Our colleagues are constantly trying to enlist Thomas Jefferson to the party of theocracy,” said Raskin, who taught constitutional law before coming to Congress. “He, of course, was a champion of the Enlightenment who insisted upon the separation of church and state,” Raskin added, noting the phrase “separation of church and state” originated in a letter Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptists in 1802.
Jefferson and his protege James Madison “took the position that the merger of church and state corrupts and degrades religion and prostitutes government — and distorts its operation,” Raskin said.
While Johnson appears to have selected the prayer on his own, at least one of his claims about the orison may have had a more immediate source. In an email, the Rev. Margaret Kibben, the House chaplain and a Presbyterian Church (USA) minister, told RNS she takes “responsibility” for the description of the prayer that appeared in the service bulletin (the prayer itself did not appear in the bulletin), which described Jefferson reciting it daily. However, while she acknowledged there was a “question about provenance” regarding the prayer, she contended the wording in the bulletin — which begins “it is said” — leaves “room for both doubt and fact.”
Kibben, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral, had just begun work as House chaplain days before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol spurred by erroneous allegations of fraud surrounding the 2020 presidential election, and she offered pastoral care to lawmakers as they rushed to secure locations to escape rioters ransacking the building. That same day, Johnson was among the 147 members of Congress who objected to the 2020 election results.
Kibben has also garnered headlines for offering prayers critical of lawmakers, such as when, in 2021, she asked God to “forgive” for failing to unite around pandemic relief legislation.
Even so, Johnson and Kibben appear to have ultimately developed a cordial working relationship, as the chaplain has with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle: Johnson was spotted chatting with Kibben shortly before the vote to reelect him as speaker, and the two could be seen on live broadcast speaking again just before Johnson approached the podium to deliver his victory speech.
This article originally appeared here.
