WASHINGTON (RNS) — As House Speaker Mike Johnson stood before a crowd of thousands on the National Mall on Sunday (May 17), he did something not altogether unusual for the outspoken Southern Baptist: He closed his eyes, bowed his head and prayed.
But as Johnson began speaking, his frame dwarfed by enormous screens featuring patriotic and religious imagery, he made clear this particular prayer was meant to hold more weight than usual.
“Just as we in the beginning dedicated this land to your most holy name, today, here, Lord, in this 250th year of American independence, we hereby rededicate the United States of America as one nation under God,” said Johnson, a Republican, to cheers.
It was one of many such moments at the daylong event, titled “Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving.” The effort was one of several projects overseen by Freedom 250, an organization partnering with the White House and other branches of the federal government to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Like Johnson, the speakers largely advanced the ideas that the U.S. has a religious — and particularly Christian — founding and that its future success depends on prayer.
The event featured a video of Presi …