Weeks before the election as chairman, Johnson lamented the “dark and depraved” culture

Three weeks before he was elected chairman, Mike Johnson joined a prayer call where he complained that American culture was “so dark and depraved as to seem almost irredeemable,” claiming as evidence that church attendance was at an all-time low and that 25 percent of high school students identified as “something other than straight.” .

In an interview with Jim Garlow, a former pastor and political activist who served on President Donald J. Trump’s faith advisory council, Mr. Johnson said that “faith in our institutions is the lowest it has ever been” and noted that church attendance had declined. “fell below 50 percent.”

As further evidence of America’s decline, he cited the statistic about the sexual orientation of high school students. He seemed to be quoting a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in which about a quarter of high school students in 2021 identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning, or other.

“We are losing the country,” Mr Johnson concluded.

Since Mr Johnson was elected speaker last month, his past comments and writings on issues such as homosexuality and same-sex marriage have attracted widespread attention. While many of these statements are years old, his comments to Mr. Garlow provide a current distillation of his views.

Mr Johnson’s comments on the call to prayer were previously reported by Rolling Stone. The call took place on October 3, hours before the House voted to impeach Speaker McCarthy, and was broadcast by Mr Garlow’s organization the next day. During the call, Mr. Johnson said that Congress was in uncharted territory, and that he seemed to have little inkling that he would ultimately become Mr. McCarthy’s successor.

“What we need is a supernatural intervention from the God of the universe,” he said of the chaos gripping the Republican conference in the House of Representatives.

Mr Johnson added that the country had reached a turning point. “The only question is: Will God allow our nation to enter a time of judgment for our collective sins?” he asked. “Or is he going to give us another chance to repair the foundations and return to him?” He added: “We must turn to him. We need a revival.”

Mr. Johnson, a fourth-term Republican from Louisiana, was a little-known conservative lawmaker until his surprise election as chairman. For decades, he has written and spoken publicly about his religious views, including his views on gay marriage and homosexuality, which he says are “inherently unnatural” and a “dangerous lifestyle.”

“Experts project that same-sex marriage is the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy that could bring down even the strongest republic,” he wrote. in a local newspaper in 2004.

Mr Johnson’s hardline views on such social issues, including abortion, are rooted in his Christian faith and are far out of step with mainstream public opinion. He has been described by some of his fellow Republicans in the House of Representatives as someone whose views on social issues are frozen where the Republican Party existed in the 1990s and where the country stood in the 1950s.

Aware of the political liability of these positions for someone who now represents the Republican conference of the House of Representatives as a whole, Mr Johnson has tried to distance himself from his previous comments, without repudiating them.

“Some of them I don’t even remember,” he said in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity when asked about his past statements about homosexuality. “I truly love all people, regardless of their lifestyle choices. It’s not about the people themselves.”

Mr. Johnson’s wife, Kelly, a certified pastoral counselor, has made similar comments about LGBTQ youth on a religious and political podcast the couple co-hosted until last month. In one episode, Ms. Johnson expressed deep concern about a “woke agenda” in schools across the country and the rising number of students who identify as LGBTQ. Citing a study that attributed this increase to “indoctrination in schools,” she concluded: “These are clearly unprecedented, uncertain and very dangerous times for our children.”

As a pastor in California, Mr. Garlow, who hosted the call to prayer, organized evangelical pastors in support of Proposition 8, a state ballot measure banning same-sex marriage that passed in 2008 but was later repealed.

He now leads an organization that describes its mission as “bringing biblical principles of government to government leaders and the people who elect them.” The organization broadcasts public “prayer calls” with guests, including elected officials like Mr. Johnson.

At the end of his performance, Mr Johnson choked up as he led the call to prayer. “We repent individually and collectively for our sins,” he said. “And we ask that you do not give us the judgment we clearly deserve.”

Ruth Graham reporting contributed.