Dictionary.com defines propaganda as:
*information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.
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*the deliberate spreading of such information, rumors, etc.
*the particular doctrines or principles propagated by an organization or movement.
Which is where Presbyterian seminarian and part-time preacher James Talarico, the Democrat candidate for the U.S. Senate in Texas, comes in:
Graphic: X Post
He’s referring to the Bible, the Good News of God’s commandments and promise to Man, in the contemporary sense of propaganda: deceptive, false political messaging intended to fool voters to evil ends. And why not? If Jesus is a contemporary leftist radical and God is “non-binary,” reality itself is up for grabs. At PJ Media, Chris McQueen explains:
The Senate hopeful from Texas once used a heretical Gnostic “gospel” to call Jesus a feminist and preach in favor of transgenderism. He grew up in a church with squishy, unbiblical theology. He has repeatedly said that “God is nonbinary” and gushes over a “TransQueer, Latinx” activist theologian.
Talarico has been guilty of eisegesis (reading his own desired meaning into scriptural texts) time and time again. He even claimed to lefty podcaster Ezra Klein that the Bible doesn’t say you have to be a Christian to get into heaven.
Last week, the New York Post unearthed a sermon — Good grief, they let this guy preach? — in which he discussed his shame at calling himself a Christian and declared that God is “not a Christian.”
Well, that’s OK. Most Texans are probably ashamed he calls himself a Christian and a Texan. As one might expect, his explanation is decidedly leftist, anti-Christian, and anti-American:
“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.”
We often hear essentially Godless leftists, and self-identified Christians belonging to churches that have abandoned the Gospels for contemporary leftist social orthodoxy, use the term “Christian Nationalism” as an insult, yet few, if any, Christians think of themselves that way, or know anyone who so identifies. McQueen observes the insult encompasses “essentially conservative Christianity combined with love of this country.”
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“Conservative Christianity” is surely Christians who take the word of God seriously, who think it revealed truth. That, of necessity, excludes those who reject the Bible’s holy inspiration and Godly authority. This sort of Christianity, which is what the Scriptures urge us to adopt, goes hand in hand with love of a country in which Christians see the hand of God, establishing and guiding its custodians—all of us.
No wonder Talarico and his leftist friends hate Christianity and Christians so.
“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.”
Christians are open to others, as Scripture encourages, but are reasonably wary of enemies of Western Civilization, Christianity, and Judaism like Islam, and the Communism Talarico embraces and describes without specifically naming. Christians hearing anyone speak like this would be concerned for the soul of the speaker:
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.
Do Christians judge others? Of course they do. It’s necessary not only for living and socializing with people who might be dangerous, but for mere survival. What they do their best not to do is judge others’ relationship with God. The Almighty is more than capable of handling that. Still, Scripture warns about false prophets and how to discern them. Prophets like Talarico:
Graphic: X Post
One suspects Christians, even “Conservative Christians,” think enough of their black brethren to believe them sufficiently intelligent and capable to procure ID for many purposes, just like everyone else.
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Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, lifelong athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer, and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.
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