WASHINGTON — James Talarico, a contender for the Texas Senate, once captivated an audience with a powerful message titled “God is not a Christian.” In his sermon, he delivered a strong denouncement of conservative figures, whom he accused of attempting to establish a theocratic state in America.
The Democratic candidate, known for his roles as a Presbyterian seminarian and Texas state representative, candidly addressed a congregation in 2023. He noted his occasional hesitance to disclose his religious views, while also cautioning that the faith is under threat, stating, “There is a cancer on our religion.”
“God transcends our human categories,” Talarico declared during his speech at St. Andrews’ Presbyterian Church. “God is not limited to being a Presbyterian or even a Christian. God transcends nouns entirely. God is a verb. God isn’t merely a being; God is the essence of being itself. God is love.”
He elaborated further, “This is why Jesus opposes anything that obstructs love between neighbors, including religious dogma. It’s why he frequently challenged religious norms and claimed that sinners would find the kingdom of heaven before the religiously devout.”
In his rapid political ascent, Talarico has invoked religious themes reminiscent of former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Both politicians are commended for their eloquence and vocal criticism of certain aspects of religious conservatism.
But the aspiring senator, who once called God nonbinary, previously explained in a 2021 podcast that “I always think of myself as a Christian who hates Christianity,” though he also noted that despite his misgivings at times, “I always get drawn back into it.”
Those remarks were made during an interview with self-described “TransQueer, Latinx” activist theologian Roberto Henderson-Espinoza, whom Talarico described as a model for his faith.
“James is a Christian seminarian who’s dedicated his life to the teachings of Jesus Christ — fighting corruption when he sees it because there’s nothing Christ-like about powerful people using scripture to justify hate and greed and score political points,” Talarico’s spokesperson JT Ennis told The Post about the remarks.
“While billionaire-bought politicians like Ken Paxton attack James for his faith — he will continue encouraging Texans to come together by loving their neighbors as themselves.”
During his 2023 sermon, the Democrat detailed his struggle with Christian nationalism — which he said needs to be booted from church teachings.
“Christian nationalism is a sectarian movement based on mutual hate,” he argued. “Jesus came to transform the world. Christian nationalism is here to maintain the status quo. They have co-opted the Son of God.”
“They’ve turned this humble rabbi into a gun-toting, gay-bashing, science-denying, money-loving, fear-mongering fascist,” he added. “And it is incumbent upon all Christians to confront it and denounce it. Christian nationalism is on the rise.”
“We are closer than we think to a Christian theocracy.”
Examples Talarico cited during his sermon on Christian nationalism wreaking havoc include the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, a push “to replace public schools in Texas with private Christian schools,” and the Jan. 6, 2021 storming of the Capitol.
Talarico also rejected the idea that America is a Christian nation and slammed those who weren’t open-minded towards other religions.
“If this was truly a Christian nation, we would make sure every child in this state and in this country was housed, fed, clothed, educated, and insured,” he said.
“If this was truly a Christian nation, we would never make it a Christian nation, because we know the table of fellowship is open to everybody, including our Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, and atheist neighbors.”
Talarico currently has a 1.2 percentage point edge over his scandal-scarred rival, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), in the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate of polls.
When faced with some of his past “woke” comments from the early 2020s, Talarico has since described them as “cringey” and added that he “missed the mark on some of those old statements.”