James Talarico and the Hollowing Out of Christianity
- Rex Ballard
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
Is This the Best Democrats Can Offer Texas?
As Texas Democrats pick state Rep. James Talarico as their 2026 U.S. Senate candidate, many voters are asking: Is this the best they have? Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian, presents himself as a defender of real Christianity, but he often uses selected Bible verses to push progressive ideas on gender, life, borders, and faith. His words show more left-wing politics than solid biblical teaching.
Twisting Scripture
Talarico's most talked-about comments try to reshape God and Jesus to match today's warped views. In that 2021 speech, he said: “God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is non-binary.” He also stated, “Trans children are God’s children, made in God’s own image.” He later called it “provocative” and “cringey,” but stood by the idea that God goes beyond human categories. He pointed to Galatians 3:28, yet missed its real meaning about unity in Christ, not erasing male and female differences.
Theologian D.A. Carson (often quoted via his father’s wisdom) put it well: “A text without a context is a pretext for a proof text.” Talarico takes verses out of their full setting to back modern ideas. The Bible shows God mainly in masculine terms — Father, Son, King. Jesus was clearly a man. Turning God into a spectrum aligns more with activism than with historic Christian belief.
He has called Jesus “a radical feminist” in sermons. He claims the Bible is “silent on abortion” since Jesus never said the word directly. He even twists the Annunciation story — where Mary accepts God’s will — into support for “consent” and choice. But Scripture strongly protects unborn life (Psalm 139, Luke 1, Proverbs 6:17). Jesus stood up for the weak. Talarico’s view puts personal choice first.
He also says atheists or people from other faiths can be more “Christ-like” than some Christian leaders. And he treats Christianity as one path to a shared “love” truth. This waters down Jesus’ clear words: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6).
Gender, Borders, and Selective Care
On gender, Talarico fought bans on puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries for minors. He calls biological sex a “spectrum” with “six biological sexes,” based on rare conditions. This mixes disorders with the normal male-female reality of human biology.
On immigration, he stresses “welcoming the stranger” from Matthew 25. He has criticized ICE and pushed for citizenship paths. Yet the Bible also supports ordered laws and justice. Many see his stance as favoring open borders that hurt American workers, strain services, and weaken the country.
He attacks “Christian nationalism” as hateful while focusing on economic justice. Real Christianity balances personal holiness, family, life, and liberty with care for others. Making government the main answer risks putting the state in God’s place.
A Weak Choice for Democrats
Voters deserve far better. They need leaders who approach the Bible with reverence and humility, not those who twist its timeless truths to fit political expediency. In 2026, Texans have a clear opportunity to reject this shallow approach. While Talarico may represent the strongest option Democrats can muster right now, his nomination says far more about the current state of his party than it does about principled leadership or substantive ideas.
