WASHINGTON — James Talarico, the Texas Democrat now seeking a U.S. Senate seat, once preached a sermon called “God is not a Christian,” using the message to denounce conservatives he accused of pushing the United States toward theocracy.
Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian who also serves as a Texas state representative, acknowledged in the 2023 sermon that he sometimes hesitates to speak publicly about his faith. Still, he warned the congregation, “There is a cancer on our religion.”
“God is so much bigger than our human categories. God is not a Presbyterian. God is not a Christian. God is not a noun at all. God is a verb. God is not a being. God is being self. God is love,” Talarico told worshippers at St. Andrews’ Presbyterian Church.
He went on to argue that Jesus opposed anything that obstructs love between people, “including religion.” Talarico added, “That’s why he’s always breaking religious rules,” and said Jesus taught that “sinners will see the kingdom of heaven before religious people do.”
As his profile in Texas politics has grown rapidly, Talarico has often turned to religious language and biblical themes, drawing comparisons to former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, another Democrat known for polished public speaking and criticism of parts of the religious right.
The Senate hopeful, who has previously referred to God as nonbinary, also said during a 2021 podcast appearance, “I always think of myself as a Christian who hates Christianity.” At the same time, he added that despite his frustrations with the faith, “I always get drawn back into it.”
Talarico made those comments in an interview with Roberto Henderson-Espinoza, a self-described “TransQueer, Latinx” activist theologian whom Talarico has described as an example for his own faith journey.
Responding to questions about the remarks, Talarico spokesperson JT Ennis told The Post, “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.”
“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.”
