Texas state rep James Talarico (D) (1 Viewer)

I am lutheran by birth more or less, since my father worked as the church clerk for years and attended a church where the minister preached about finding Christ in our everyday life - a "what would Jesus do" teaching. He always said that that was more important than attending the sermon every sunday (although he did like it when people showed up ) By american standards it was probably consideres "progressive" since things like Forrest sermons were part of it when the whole congregation would go for a walk and at one point the minister would stop and perform his service often asking people to look for God in all the things around them.

superchuck500 said:

In order to avoid this thread going down the wrong direction, I’ll just say that I like his version better.

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I should've clarified better (way better) the point I was trying to make.

The thing about the Bible, you can make arguments for or against the same thing, depending on which passages you read.

Talarico is trying to use certain portions of the scriptures to make MAGA types see Trump and the GOP in a certain light, but MAGA has their own preachers and scripture quoters, who preach different portions of the scriptures, which cast a different light on Trump and the GOP.

He's not the first to try it. But the reality is, not many wear WWJD bracelets anymore, if at all. Talarico's arguments have been made before, by a lot of people, for quite some time, yet here we are:



There's a reason why people still go to mega churches, or Catholic churches, no matter how corrupt or morally bankrupt they are shown to be. You hear many passages quoted in churches, but who preaches Mark 10:21-22? (That's the passage that says sell all your stuff and give the proceeds to the poor).

Now, if Talarico can persuade some MAGA types to "see the light", great, every bit counts. I just don't have that much faith in him making a significant dent in the MAGA cult.

Hopefully he reaches those who are looking for an excuse not to vote for Trump and GOP candidates.

SystemShock said:

I should've clarified better (way better) the point I was trying to make.

The thing about the Bible, you can make arguments for or against the same thing, depending on which passages you read.

Talarico is trying to use certain portions of the scriptures to make MAGA types see Trump and the GOP in a certain light, but MAGA has their own preachers and scripture quoters, who preach different portions of the scriptures, which cast a different light on Trump and the GOP.

He's not the first to try it. But the reality is, not many wear WWJD bracelets anymore, if at all. Telerico's arguments have been made before, by a lot of people, for quite some time, yet here we are:

There's a reason why people still go to mega churches, or Catholic churches, no matter how corrupt or morally bankrupt they are shown to be. You hear many passages quoted in churches, but who preaches Mark 10:21-22? (That's the passage that says sell all your stuff and give the proceeds to the poor).

Now, if Talarico can persuade some MAGA types to "see the light", great, every bit counts. I just don't have that much faith in him making a significant dent in the MAGA cult.

Hopefully he reaches those who are looking for an excuse not to vote for Trump and GOP candidates.

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The irony is that many megachurches denounce the very values Jesus preached, resembling the mercenary priests he cast out from the temple. When did we stop living as Christians—rooted in humility, compassion, and service—and start turning faith into a marketplace, worshipping the golden calf instead?

Dragon said:

The irony is that many megachurches denounce the very values Jesus preached, resembling the mercenary priests he cast out from the temple. When did we stop living as Christians—rooted in humility, compassion, and service—and start turning faith into a marketplace, worshipping the golden calf instead?

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About late 1st century

SystemShock said:

Except for that pesky 1st commandment, and that the original audience for the texts weren't 21st century English speaking U.S. residents... "love" didn't mean back then what means today... "your neighbors" were fellow Jews, not everyone, and definitely not those aberrations of different sexual orientations. And even among your neighbors and family, remember, Jesus didn't come to bring peace, but a sword, make set you up to make enemies.

But hey, if he can get some magas away from ballot boxes, so they don't vote or burn the ballot boxes, more power to him.

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Some people evolve and adapt. Some people don't. Don't be one of the ones who don't.

I mean, do we really want to judge people today for what their ancestors believed and did in the past. That doesn't end well for anyone, no exceptions.

LA - L.A. said:

Some people evolve and adapt. Some people don't. Don't be one of the ones who don't.

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WTH?? LOL

I'm not the one who believes in ancient myths, or continues to re-interpret (more like lie to themselves) ancient scriptures to try to shoehorn the ancient myth into modern society the way I want it to fit for my convenience.

LA - L.A. said:

I mean, do we really want to judge people today for what their ancestors believed and did in the past. That doesn't end well for anyone, no exceptions.

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Again, WTH? LOL

Who am I judging today for what their ancestors believed or did in the past?

SystemShock said:

WTH?? LOL

I'm not the one who believes in ancient myths, or continues to re-interpret (more like lie to themselves) ancient scriptures to try to shoehorn the ancient myth into modern society the way I want it to fit for my convenience.


Again, WTH? LOL

Who am I judging today for what their ancestors believed or did in the past?

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If you can't see it, you can't see it. Nothing I can say to you will change that.

LA - L.A. said:

If you can't see it, you can't see it. Nothing I can say to you will change that.

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That's pathetic, dude.

SystemShock said:

That's pathetic, dude.

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I've given a lot of time and energy in the past to making an effort to genuinely communicate with you. It's never really been reciprocated. What you see as pathetic is just me being honest with you. It's nothing personal, it's just a conclusion and choice that I've made for myself.

LA - L.A. said:

I've given a lot of time and energy in the past to making an effort to genuinely communicate with you. It's never really been reciprocated. What you see as pathetic is just me being honest with you. It's nothing personal, it's just a conclusion and choice that I've made for myself.

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Preaching to an atheist is a fool's errand. You'd do better, much better, with another tack.

superchuck500 said:

So to bring it back to the political topic, the question is why aren’t there more voices like James’s? Where are the kind Christians in politics? Why isn’t the rejection of the MAGA/“Evangelical” fraud more prominent?

I suspect that some of it is because the kind Christians are predisposed to respect the principles of the Establishment Clause and to respect others’ beliefs - so it’s more difficult for them to take that voice to politics in such an active way.

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I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and re-focused on it overnight after reading this thread.

I have opinions but I’m still not sure I understand it. A lot of what is expressed in the Christian community is at complete odds with what we understand about Jesus and his teachings. So much so that the label of Christian doesn’t actually fit a lot of people who claim it.

Churches have long been radicalized, reinforcing a lot of society’s worst impulses, and religion has been exploited to be a tool to both control people and empower, and in many instances, enrich churches and their leaders.

So I think your closing paragraph gets into it, but it feels like there’s a lot more to unravel and consider.

I agree about the more faithful Christians being unable by their very nature to get down and dirty in the political arena. It’s a painful reality of our current time. I can’t pretend to know the answer either.

Incumbent said:

I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and re-focused on it overnight after reading this thread.

I have opinions but I’m still not sure I understand it. A lot of what is expressed in the Christian community is at complete odds with what we understand about Jesus and his teachings. So much so that the label of Christian doesn’t actually fit a lot of people who claim it.

Churches have long been radicalized, reinforcing a lot of society’s worst impulses, and religion has been exploited to be a tool to both control people and empower, and in many instances, enrich churches and their leaders.

So I think your closing paragraph gets into it, but it feels like there’s a lot more to unravel and consider.

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Above (minus the wanton support of pedophiles) is exactly the reason I don't believe in organized religion....period....it's caused way more harm than it has done good.....

That's not to say there aren't good folks that practice Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and are in it for the right reasons.....there are.....

But far too often......above.....

Taurus said:

Preaching to an atheist is a fool's errand. You'd do better, much better, with another tack.

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He's not preaching. He just takes jabs, and posts nonsense/non-sequiturs in his responses. Fun times! LOL

superchuck500 said:

So to bring it back to the political topic, the question is why aren’t there more voices like James’s? Where are the kind Christians in politics? Why isn’t the rejection of the MAGA/“Evangelical” fraud more prominent?

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"Evangelical"... just like U.S. citizens abroad don't like to call themselves immigrants and use expat instead, evangelicals is the U.S. term for zealots.

Talarico is a good person who happens to be Christian, not a person who's good because he's a Christian. And because he's a good person, he's using his understanding of scriptures to fight MAGA, but in the end, I think he's going to fall short, way short, because MAGA has their own interpretation of the scriptures, and really, MAGA's interpretation is more attuned to the scriptures.

You have to go to the manual to understand what Trump represents to the zealots and to many of the people who live within a certain spectrum of Christianity. Many Christians see Trump as the stubborn king of the West who in the end of times will attack Persia, prophesized in Revelations, as one of the signals for Jesus coming back. Don't take my word for it, there are books about it.

This is Daniel 11:36-39. Reminds you of anyone?

The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place. He will show no regard for the gods of his ancestors or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all. Instead of them, he will honor a god of fortresses; a god unknown to his ancestors he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. He will attack the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him. He will make them rulers over many people and will distribute the land at a price.

So, if you are a Christian who lives by the Good Book and believes in the prophecies, what do you do? They may not like Trump, even despise him, but are they not going to do anything to help fulfill the Bible prophecies and get that much closer to Jesus' return?

SystemShock said:

"Evangelical"... just like U.S. citizens abroad don't like to call themselves immigrants and use expat instead, evangelicals is the U.S. term for zealots.

Talarico is a good person who happens to be Christian, not a person who's good because he's a Christian. And because he's a good person, he's using his understanding of scriptures to fight MAGA, but in the end, I think he's going to fall short, way short, because MAGA has their own interpretation of the scriptures, and really, MAGA's interpretation is more attuned to the scriptures.

You have to go to the manual to understand what Trump represents to the zealots and to many of the people who live within a certain spectrum of Christianity. Many Christians see Trump as the stubborn king of the West who in the end of times will attack Persia, prophesized in Revelations, as one of the signals for Jesus coming back. Don't take my word for it, there are books about it.

This is Daniel 11:36-39. Reminds you of anyone?

The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place. He will show no regard for the gods of his ancestors or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all. Instead of them, he will honor a god of fortresses; a god unknown to his ancestors he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. He will attack the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him. He will make them rulers over many people and will distribute the land at a price.

So, if you are a Christian who lives by the Good Book and believes in the prophecies, what do you do? They may not like Trump, even despise him, but are they not going to do anything to help fulfill the Bible prophecies and get that much closer to Jesus' return?

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You know, addressing this requires Christians to acknowledge that their entire religion is a nihilistic death cult. There's no happy ending for the vast majority of humanity. We all die in flames while a chosen few survive to inherit paradise.

Sounds like the kind of scheme the Avengers would thwart.