He is very Christian and perfect for Texas. Talarico being interviewed by Jimmy Kimmel that wasn't aired on tv because of the FCC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLDE9LrGpNk
(Currently at 12 million views)
Very Christian, but he is what I would expect from Christians.
I wonder if he is doing so well because he's actually popular, or because Republicans have picked the worst candidate imaginable.
yeah, it's hilarious how much they contrast - paxton, whose entire career has been grift and crime, vs. a guy who looks like he just left teaching bible school.
I think that's why he's the perfect weapon. You can't look at that guy and say he isn't sincere or knowledgeable in his religious beliefs, and he draws a straight line from that to his political position. His sincerity must come over as something exceptional if you're used to listening to GOP politicians. It's not going to win over every voter but I think it will cause a few to really question themselves.
I felt much the same way. Like, when he dropped this - that God loves transgender and queer children, and that they, too, are made in his image. - dude yes, this is the way.
so when he tossed trans kids under the bus I was pretty fucking bummed out.
I'm not in texas, still will tell fam there to vote for him, but fucks sake human rights are human rights and if you've already staked that out, you're doing right. to backpedal now is just.... fucking fuck.
This is a really tricky issue for him, not saying he handled it the right way. Voting the right way in the Texas House but seemingly walking it back in a Fox interview isn't great, but I don't know how to handle it better. Trans kids in sport is the wedge issue of the moment and if he takes a confrontational hard line about that on Fox news it would instantly alienate him from the audience he is trying to reach. I don't think you can realistically be the guy who appeals to right wing christians and the guy who consistently champions trans rights. Getting people to break out of identity politics isn't easy and wedge issues exist to drive people back into their tribal mindset. Not a battle you can win.
That's why I'm saying he's the perfect weapon, not the perfect politician. Honestly the whole clean cut white christian thing gives me the creeps and I wouldn't leave him alone with my kids on that basis alone. But I do think he's the right guy in the right place at the right time.
I felt much the same way. Like, when he dropped this - that God loves transgender and queer children, and that they, too, are made in his image. - dude yes, this is the way.
None of that has changed. He just feels different about a couple issues.
Ohh, I saw some of that. The religion part got a little ooky.
I'll preface this by saying I'm not religious at all. I think the fake Christianity running rampant in today's world is the cause of so much strife. I'm also not a resident of Texas.
Talarico talks like someone that I think a Christian should sound like. It doesn't sound like he's trying to justify his bad actions by saying "God told me to." He genuinely feels like a nice person who happens to be religious, instead of someone who thinks they're nice BECAUSE they're religious.
...there is no such thing as a liberal Christian.
American Christians are a weird bunch. They are big fans of Old Testament God who was a giant asshole. He was a basically a bronze age war God that demanded absolute submission and kept killing people for sometimes bizzare reasons (like he killed a bunch of kids for laughing at a bald dude).
Big J came around and said: hey all that Old Testament shit sucks. Don't chop your kids dick's off and kill people that aren't like you. Just chill and love each other, that's the way to go. It's why most Christians around the world don't circumcise for example, because Jesus fulfilled the law and abolished it.
I'm an atheist honestly and don't care what people believe or don't believe in as long as they just mind their own business. Also don't be a hypocrite and follow the god damn rules Jesus set for you if you're gonna call yourself a Christian.
It's why most Christians around the world don't circumcise for example, because Jesus fulfilled the law and abolished it.
The reason why most christians don't follow jewish law is that Paul wasn't fond of it. His interpretation won against other branches (including that of John, Jesus literal brother), hence the laws were abandoned for gentiles.
Nobodsy knows what the fuck Jesus might have actualy taught, but the author of Matthew is quite clear about it:
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:17-19)
One might note that he says all that business and then violates a bunch of the laws.
They are big fans of Old Testament God who was a giant asshole.
Here's the thing about The Bible: it says all kinds of shit. Much of it contradictory. And so you'll find that the parts of The Bible people subscribe to are always the parts that reinforce their existing ideology, because it can then be weaponized as a sort of justification of their views. So, those people are just giant assholes using "the word of God" as justification to continue being assholes.
Which is probably why official churches were very important in early Christianity. You can't let the masses interpret it themselves.
He was a basically a bronze age war God
I have long said that people are ridiculous for thinking that bronze age philosophy is applicable for daily life. Also, evidence is that Yaweh was a Sumerian Earth god that was picked up by the Hebrews during their nomadic times.
Yeah. There was a lot of syncretism back then, everyone kept copying the homework from each other. Slap a new name or just modify the one they had a little bit and bam its our God now.
he killed a bunch of kids for laughing at a bald dude)
This is my favorite bible story. God sends bears from the woods to do it. The Bible is fucking bananas sometimes.
This is wishful thinking. Evangelicals have been aware of liberal Christian churches forever, and they hate them more than anything.
Those absurd attempts to suppress Talarico's interview with Jimmy Kimmel tell a different story. It shows they are scared of him. Even if they didn't need to be scared of him, showing that you're scared isn't a good look.
I don’t mean that Talarico can’t win. He’s a slight favorite, according to the polls. Republicans are scared of him, as they should be. They’re worried that most independents in Texas, even conservative leaning ones, will go for Talarico over the odious Paxton this year.
That’s different than saying Talarico has the potential to permanently pull Evangelicals over to Democrats in meaningful numbers. Those are Trump’s base. They’ve long been aware that it is possible to be a Christian and a decent person at the same time, and have roundly rejected the notion.
This is exactly what I've been saying since Talarico came on the scene. The voters are there if he can pierce the bubble and reach them, but that's the hardest part. That's exactly why his interview with Kimmel is on YouTube instead of regular cable.
Many of the kinds of people he's appealing to don't follow politics at all. They vote R because they perceive the people around them to be doing it too. He doesn't need to convince all Christians in Texas to vote for him. He just needs to get some of them having the conversation. That is enough to shake things up in this election.
If he manages to make his case in a compelling enough way to reach voters in other states then the GOP is absolutely fucked. Low information Christian voters are the foundation of the party. There aren't enough Nazis in America to replace them if the GOP loses a double digit percentage of them.
You can't follow teachings of Jesus and be a Republican.
Christ said to pay your taxes, that hoarding wealth is a sin, and he flipped shit (and tables) over the commercialization of faith in the temple.
He threatens Hell one time (Matthew 25), and it's for the mistreatment of the poor, hungry, sick, imprisoned, and foreigners.
As someone who, unfortunately, needs to interact with a lot of American "Christians", it cannot be understated how little of Christ's own words are spoken in most Protestant churches.
Years of going to church with my wife's family and I've heard Romans or Timothy 2 dozens of times but I can't remember the last time I heard anything from the gospels that were actually Jesus' words vice an apostle.
Sunday school is worse. Kids learn Old testament -> brief synopsis of Jesus, mostly John (should be obvious by now why) -> and then wrote memorize Paul.
Christians in America generally avoid Christ as much as possible.
I remember Robert Anton Wilson, who grew up Catholic, musing about how they should probably be called Paulians. Man, did that hit home with my experience.
I grew up xtian (from a liberal tradition of xtianity) and when I started hearing how other kids that were also xtian talking about certain issues, as early as maybe third or fourth grade I started to understand that there are vastly different interpretations of what that means.
I read the NT at a rather early age, slogged through the OT later, 2x for both of them (although I admit to skimming Numbers) and that did a lot to generally give me a great distance from all of it.
When hard core wingers talk about "the bible", I often get the sense they have never read anything but hand-selected passages spoon-fed to them. It is especially wild to notice that when I talk about "red letter xtians" around them they often get a look of confusion. Before the term was concocted, though, even as an adolescent, when I'd ask people if what they were espousing was something that was written in red, they'd be confused. Which is strange, since quite a few bibles I've seen have Jesus' words in red...
When this same batch of illiterates advocate for "teaching the bible", part of me wants to say - yes, let's do that, but read the entire thing and have class discussions after each assigned reading.
No special guidance, though, from certain beliefs. No apologetics applied to "explain" all the contradictions with logic, math, science and ethics. Start to finish, baby, even if it takes a few years to do it.
See how long that lasts, LOL.
GOP is doing lasting damage to the GOP
Don't threaten me with a good time. If he can win those idiots over, I could see him becoming president at some point, which would be great if he is dismantling the toxic Christian nationalism that has plagued the USA forever.
Lasting damage is what we want. Too bad this is just another opinion piece and not news. Kinda like polls telling you what you want to hear until they've been proven false. Ignore the bullshit on both sides and vote like you've never voted before.
The Regressives (aka the Pedo Party) need to go away. They are holding back humanity.
If Talarico doesn't win due to the scum-sucking pieces of shit cheating, at least he can do some damage.
I wish it plays out like this. I really do.
But the cynic in me says that the two biggest reports I've seen on Talarico's lead were both from Kalshi and Polymarket. A couple of people stand to grow very rich(er) if the odds are in blue's favor but red manages to win... Which is why I both doubt the blue numbers from these sources and believe they would take... shall we say, further action in order to help their odds if it turned out to be necessary.
Paxton is for sure taking the win, it's already decided.
A bit of cynicism and skepticism is healthy, but you don't have to do the GOP's job and manifest the outcome for them. I.e. do more to get out the vote for Talarico, and pre-emptively block or actively counter the methods used to help Paxton's odds. Cook Political Report puts Texas as a Toss Up, so neither Paxton nor Talarico's win is likely or assured.
If a county reduces voting locations in bluer districts, offer more services to transport voters to the polls in those areas. If there's attempt at interference, put that to the courts. In fact draft up a suit that prohibits federal agents of any kind from "monitoring" poll locations, in case Trump decides to fart some kind of threat out in the next couple months.
I hate that we treat sports betting as the equivalent of a poll, but it tracks with how politics is sports for people who think they’re too smart for sports.
I don't follow how you got to that last sentence. You've seen 2 questionable polls, so that's absolute proof Paxton's already won?
Here's some hope: (This data is from 2024, so with the current political climate, it is probably even better for the Ds)
https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/will-texas-ever-turn-blue-heres-what
As a Texan, I'll believe it when I see it. We have a "puppies for everyone vs diarrhea forever" situation going and it's a fucking TOSSUP!
What I really hate in our politics is when you have loads of situations like this in virtually every election cycle, and lots of basic, low-info assholes will proclaim bOtHsIdeStHeSaMe in close elections like this.
For extra irritant points, they think they are soooper dooper insightful and Above It All (TM) if they say it's a choice between a Giant Douche or a Turd Sandwich. These are the kind of apes that will smugly not vote, and then proudly point out that nothing changes for the better when the normal human being is not put into office. As if letting Republicans win proves this thesis they think they came up with themselves...
I have a feeling some of these assholes are either too stupid or cowardly to actually pick a side, and don't want to look dumb, so take a stupid copout. I'm sure at least a few are Republicans that are savvy enough to know that Republicans are not exactly liked in mixed company, and so pull the bothsiderest card when politics come up, then still vote Republican.
Yeah but they are "Christians" first, assholes second. They would not vote for him because he hasn't promised to torture Latinos or further weaponize law enforcement against minorities. Those are key elements in their voting decisions.
But the headline of an episode of evangelical podcaster Allie Beth Stuckey’s show was perhaps the most inflammatory: “James Talarico is More Demonic Than You Think.” Stuckey, who has attacked empathy as “toxic,” warned viewers and listeners that “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Satan looks good. He sounds good.” Talarico, she said, is “evil disguised as goodness.”
Or, your mythical satan might use a cunt named Allie Beth as a mouthpiece.
As long as there are humans there will be the equivalent of the GOP. There are always backwards, selfish, hateful people.
The GOP needs to have lasting damage done to it and democrats need to get their shit together.
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