Texas politician calls out anti-LGBTQ+ ‘Christian nationalist’ views by citing the Bible
James Talarico is a fierce LGBTQ+ ally and Democrat. (@jamestalarico/X)
A Texas politician has called out anti-LGBTQ+ “Christian nationalist” views by citing the Bible in his campaign speech.
Texas state Representative James Talarico, a fierce LGBTQ+ ally and Democratic Party politician, spoke out against the homophobic, sexist and racist laws which have recently been passed in the state.
In a recent news conference at the Texas Capitol, the politician recalled the fatal Capitol Riots in 2021 and the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 at the hands of “Christian nationalists”, both of which had damaging after-effects.
Talarico went on to campaign against a bill in the state which would allow public schools to replace counsellors with untrained priests. The bill, SB 763, would allow unlicensed chaplains to provide mental health services to children in public schools.
He used the teachings of the Bible to call out the group for attempting to insert their anti-LGBTQ+ views and extreme religious beliefs into schools in the name of God.
“Let me be very clear, there is nothing Christian about Christian Nationalism,” he said. “It is the worship of power; social power, economic power in the name of Christ, and it is a betrayal of Jesus of Nazareth.
“Jesus never asked us to kill police officers. Jesus never asked us to ban books, silence teachers, or defund schools. Jesus never asked us to control women’s bodies. Jesus never asked us to establish a Christian theocracy.
“All he asked was that we ‘love thy neighbour’ — not just our Christian neighbours, not just our straight neighbours, not just our male neighbours, not just our white neighbours, not just our rich neighbours.
“We are called to love all of our neighbours, and that is exactly the opposite of what Christian Nationalism does in the world,” he concluded.
It comes as the politician dismantled a bill sponsored by a right-wing Republican which would make it compulsory for classrooms to display a Ten Commandments poster. Talarico interrogated the bill’s sponsor, questioning her faith and noting that the reasoning for making the posters mandatory goes against The Bible.
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