American culture is so \u201cdepraved\u201d the nation may be punished for \u201cour collective sins,\u201d a fundraising email reportedly warned<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fundraising email reportedly sent by US House Speaker Mike Johnson to supporters has cited a growing number of LGBTQ school students as symptomatic of the \u201cdepraved culture\u201d of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The message distributed on Sunday and first reported by Punchbowl News said Johnson feared that \u201cAmerica may be beyond redemption\u201d and wanted to ask voters whether they thought the nation needed \u201cmore God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It called the dropping church attendance numbers \u201cfrightening\u201d and noted: \u201c1 in 4 high school students identifies as something other than straight \u2013 what are they being taught in school?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in April, which was based on 2021 data, said that only 75.5% of high school students in the US identified as heterosexual. Other categories included 12.2% bisexual, 5.2% questioning, 3.9% other, 3.2% gay or lesbian and 1.8%, who said they didn\u2019t understand the question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The share of non-straight students went from 11% in 2015 to 26% in 2021, the CDC remarked. It added that the rise may be partially attributed to changes in the wording of survey questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Brown University poll in July said LGBTQ identification had skyrocketed among Ivy League students over the past decade, with 38% claiming to be in the category, compared to 14% in 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Interpretation of such poll data is a matter of political debate in the US, with conservative pundits attributing it to \u201csocial contamination\u201d rather than a major shift in the sexual preferences of young Americans. Johnson, a self-described \u201cBible-believing Christian\u201d appeared to be making the same argument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLet\u2019s face it \u2013 we live in a depraved culture,\u201d his email read. \u201cI fear God may allow our nation to enter into a time of judgment for our collective sins.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Critics of the speaker, who was elected to his current position in October, have accused him of holding extreme positions on LGBTQ issues, based on his past writing and legal work for Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian advocacy group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n