Talarico Says ‘God Is Not A Christian’ In Unearthed Sermon

Texas Senate Democratic candidate James Talarico said “God is not a Christian” and compared evangelism to forcing alcohol on young children in the latest unearthed sermon highlighting what critics call the Senate hopeful’s blasphemous views.

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In the nearly 20-minute sermon, titled “God Is Not Christian: Confronting Christian Nationalism,” Talarico seemingly downplayed the divinity of Jesus and appeared to reject a key passage from the Gospel of John stating that Christ is the only way to God.

“There are so many pathways to the sacred. The Islamic mystic Rumi said, ‘Every religion has love, but love has no religion. God is so much bigger than our human categories,’” Talarico said. “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, and that’s why Jesus is against anything that gets in the way of that love between neighbors, including religion.”

The politically charged message, delivered on October 22, 2023, at his home church, St. Andrews Presbyterian in Austin, shows the leftist seminarian sharing a text he received from a mentor that mocks the Christian faith — the world’s largest faith tradition and one deeply woven into the fabric of Texas culture.

“It’s the top reasons beer is better than religion,” Talarico said, before reading off the text from minister Jim Rigby. “Number one, when you have beer, you don’t knock on people’s doors trying to give it away,” he said.

Talarico then compared introducing children to Christianity to forcing them to drink alcohol.

“Number two, there are laws against forcing beer on minors who can’t think for themselves. Number three, nobody’s ever been burned at the stake because of their favorite brand of beer. Number four, you don’t have to wait more than 2,000 years for a second beer,” he added to a laughing congregation.

Talarico expanded on the beer analogy as he opened up about his deep disdain for Christianity, blaming what he called the rise of “Christian nationalism” for why he is embarrassed to be a believer.

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“If I’m being very honest, sometimes I hesitate before telling someone I’m a Christian. There is a cancer on our religion. Until we confess the sin that is Christian nationalism and exorcize it from our churches, our religion can do a lot more damage than a six-pack of Lone Star.”

“There is nothing Christian about Christian nationalism,” he added. “A religion of sharing became a religion of greed. A religion of peace became a religion of violence. A religion of forgiveness became a religion of judgment. A religion of ego transformation became a religion of ego affirmation. Today, Christian nationalists obsess over people’s private parts while the planet burns.”

In recent years, the political Left has regularly used the term Christian nationalism to smear believers who use the Bible as the basis for their moral and political convictions. Data from the Public Religion Research Institute shows that about 46% of white Christians and 39% of Christians of color in the U.S. qualify as adherents or sympathizers of Christian nationalism.

Talarico is part of a host of leftist candidates invoking the Christian faith this cycle to win over voters who have largely abandoned a Democratic Party increasingly hostile to traditional faith voters. 

A survey of Christian voters across denominations last year revealed a staggering collapse in trust in the Democratic Party, with 75% reporting little or no trust in the party, according to data shared with TIME. More than half said they trust the GOP to protect their values, while 70% said they have little or no confidence in the federal government. Adding to the alarm, 61% said life in America has become harder for people of faith over the past decade.

“You can’t be the majority party if you ignore the majority faith in this country,” Doug Pagitt, a leftist pastor and executive director of Vote Common Good, told the outlet. “We know there’s this tension in the party.”

As his November election against Republican Ken Paxton approaches, Talarico faces an uphill battle with Texas’ largest faith group: evangelical Christians. A recent Fox News poll found that 78% of white evangelicals plan to vote against him.

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