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But the headline of an episode of evangelical podcaster Allie Beth Stuckey’s show was perhaps the most inflammatory: “James Talarico is More Demonic Than You Think.” Stuckey, who has attacked empathy as “toxic,” warned viewers and listeners that “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Satan looks good. He sounds good.” Talarico, she said, is “evil disguised as goodness.”
Or, your mythical satan might use a cunt named Allie Beth as a mouthpiece.
I doubt it but I hope so. And I think it's also crucial that these Christians don't push the party to embrace forcing everyone to follow their rules.
Lasting damage is what we want. Too bad this is just another opinion piece and not news. Kinda like polls telling you what you want to hear until they've been proven false. Ignore the bullshit on both sides and vote like you've never voted before.
As long as there are humans there will be the equivalent of the GOP. There are always backwards, selfish, hateful people.
This is wishful thinking. Evangelicals have been aware of liberal Christian churches forever, and they hate them more than anything.
Evangelicals aren't a large enough fraction, they're just loud
Loud and highly motivated to vote
Those absurd attempts to suppress Talarico's interview with Jimmy Kimmel tell a different story. It shows they are scared of him. Even if they didn't need to be scared of him, showing that you're scared isn't a good look.
I don’t mean that Talarico can’t win. He’s a slight favorite, according to the polls. Republicans are scared of him, as they should be. They’re worried that most independents in Texas, even conservative leaning ones, will go for Talarico over the odious Paxton this year.
That’s different than saying Talarico has the potential to permanently pull Evangelicals over to Democrats in meaningful numbers. Those are Trump’s base. They’ve long been aware that it is possible to be a Christian and a decent person at the same time, and have roundly rejected the notion.
The "christian right" is a broad category going far beyond Evangelicals, and I don't think anyone's addressed their hypocrisy in such an appealing and convincing way before. Many will dig their heels in and stick to the tribal identity, but their claims of being real Christians are going to sound more hollow to a lot of people.
This is exactly what I've been saying since Talarico came on the scene. The voters are there if he can pierce the bubble and reach them, but that's the hardest part. That's exactly why his interview with Kimmel is on YouTube instead of regular cable.
Many of the kinds of people he's appealing to don't follow politics at all. They vote R because they perceive the people around them to be doing it too. He doesn't need to convince all Christians in Texas to vote for him. He just needs to get some of them having the conversation. That is enough to shake things up in this election.
If he manages to make his case in a compelling enough way to reach voters in other states then the GOP is absolutely fucked. Low information Christian voters are the foundation of the party. There aren't enough Nazis in America to replace them if the GOP loses a double digit percentage of them.
He is very Christian and perfect for Texas. Talarico being interviewed by Jimmy Kimmel that wasn't aired on tv because of the FCC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLDE9LrGpNk
(Currently at 12 million views)
Very Christian, but he is what I would expect from Christians.
I wonder if he is doing so well because he's actually popular, or because Republicans have picked the worst candidate imaginable.
yeah, it's hilarious how much they contrast - paxton, whose entire career has been grift and crime, vs. a guy who looks like he just left teaching bible school.
I think that's why he's the perfect weapon. You can't look at that guy and say he isn't sincere or knowledgeable in his religious beliefs, and he draws a straight line from that to his political position. His sincerity must come over as something exceptional if you're used to listening to GOP politicians. It's not going to win over every voter but I think it will cause a few to really question themselves.
I felt much the same way. Like, when he dropped this - that God loves transgender and queer children, and that they, too, are made in his image. - dude yes, this is the way.
so when he tossed trans kids under the bus I was pretty fucking bummed out.
I'm not in texas, still will tell fam there to vote for him, but fucks sake human rights are human rights and if you've already staked that out, you're doing right. to backpedal now is just.... fucking fuck.
I felt much the same way. Like, when he dropped this - that God loves transgender and queer children, and that they, too, are made in his image. - dude yes, this is the way.
None of that has changed. He just feels different about a couple issues.
"feels different"? When talking about real actual day-to-day life, he talks about trans people like they're second class citizens.
Does he? You got examples of this?
This is a really tricky issue for him, not saying he handled it the right way. Voting the right way in the Texas House but seemingly walking it back in a Fox interview isn't great, but I don't know how to handle it better. Trans kids in sport is the wedge issue of the moment and if he takes a confrontational hard line about that on Fox news it would instantly alienate him from the audience he is trying to reach. I don't think you can realistically be the guy who appeals to right wing christians and the guy who consistently champions trans rights. Getting people to break out of identity politics isn't easy and wedge issues exist to drive people back into their tribal mindset. Not a battle you can win.
That's why I'm saying he's the perfect weapon, not the perfect politician. Honestly the whole clean cut white christian thing gives me the creeps and I wouldn't leave him alone with my kids on that basis alone. But I do think he's the right guy in the right place at the right time.
It doesn't help that the Trans community is taking such a hard stance on this issue. You're either 100% on their side, or you're a bigot. It's playing right into the hands of the Republicans.
I hate to say I agree with you on this. And I really hate to say it because I also agree with the trans community in principle. But it's a really small issue compared to a lot of the other evils in this world, and it's being used to perpetuate those other evils.
Yes! It's frustrating because I genuinely want what's best for this community, but I feel like this is such a massive misstep.
I think of the issue of gun regulation. Democrats wanted "common sense gun regulation". With was incredibly popular in the polls. But Republicans lied about what democrats wanted, and this engaged their voters. They went to the polls to protect their gun rights.
Now guns are deregulated in ways nobody even wanted. Maybe democrats were on the right side, but the messaging was wrong, and it backfired massively.
On a wedge issue like this there really doesn't seem to be a right way to do the messaging. On Fox news you're addressing entrenched beliefs that trans athletes are this huge threat to all that is good in the world, trying to explain why it isn't so is a losing game.
I think Talarico tried to sidestep the issue by saying he opposes trans athletes “if it endangers safety or fairness”, which is really quite a reasonable position. To the right wing it sounds like he opposes trans athletes but the condition he put on it means he actually doesn't. He put forward a position that both sides might even agree on, but it didn't give the trans community the impression of endorsing their side that they wanted.
There's no such thing as a right wing Christian so there's only hypocrites, bigots, and liars to try to appeal to but otherwise, sure, that's the rhetorical line he needs to draw to get those hypocritical votes.
There’s no such thing as a right wing Christian
No such thing as a true Scotsman
Ohh, I saw some of that. The religion part got a little ooky.
I'll preface this by saying I'm not religious at all. I think the fake Christianity running rampant in today's world is the cause of so much strife. I'm also not a resident of Texas.
Talarico talks like someone that I think a Christian should sound like. It doesn't sound like he's trying to justify his bad actions by saying "God told me to." He genuinely feels like a nice person who happens to be religious, instead of someone who thinks they're nice BECAUSE they're religious.
Yeah but is that 12 million Texans the ones who must vote for him? Doubt it even close to anybody who needed to hear his message heard it.
GOP is doing lasting damage to the GOP
...there is no such thing as a liberal Christian.
American Christians are a weird bunch. They are big fans of Old Testament God who was a giant asshole. He was a basically a bronze age war God that demanded absolute submission and kept killing people for sometimes bizzare reasons (like he killed a bunch of kids for laughing at a bald dude).
Big J came around and said: hey all that Old Testament shit sucks. Don't chop your kids dick's off and kill people that aren't like you. Just chill and love each other, that's the way to go. It's why most Christians around the world don't circumcise for example, because Jesus fulfilled the law and abolished it.
I'm an atheist honestly and don't care what people believe or don't believe in as long as they just mind their own business. Also don't be a hypocrite and follow the god damn rules Jesus set for you if you're gonna call yourself a Christian.
Eh, Jesus is better than the old testament God, but even he still does some pretty shitty stuff in the new testament. That's the thing about Christianity (and most organized religions) though, it doesn't have to make sense or be consistent or even moral or ethical. It's propaganda, a tool for controlling the masses, not actual philosophical doctrine.
Because Jesus fulfilled the law and abolished it.
Key thing to note, Jesus did not abolish the old law. He fulfilled it by being the final sacrifice for sin. He’s specifically quoted as saying, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” He’s mainly talking about the 10 commandments, not the law of Leviticus that was only for the Israelites.
I’m not religious anymore, but it’s a key distinction.
It's why most Christians around the world don't circumcise for example, because Jesus fulfilled the law and abolished it.
The reason why most christians don't follow jewish law is that Paul wasn't fond of it. His interpretation won against other branches (including that of John, Jesus literal brother), hence the laws were abandoned for gentiles.
Nobodsy knows what the fuck Jesus might have actualy taught, but the author of Matthew is quite clear about it:
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:17-19)
One might note that he says all that business and then violates a bunch of the laws.
They are big fans of Old Testament God who was a giant asshole.
Here's the thing about The Bible: it says all kinds of shit. Much of it contradictory. And so you'll find that the parts of The Bible people subscribe to are always the parts that reinforce their existing ideology, because it can then be weaponized as a sort of justification of their views. So, those people are just giant assholes using "the word of God" as justification to continue being assholes.
Which is probably why official churches were very important in early Christianity. You can't let the masses interpret it themselves.
Don't threaten me with a good time. If he can win those idiots over, I could see him becoming president at some point, which would be great if he is dismantling the toxic Christian nationalism that has plagued the USA forever.
I wish it plays out like this. I really do.
But the cynic in me says that the two biggest reports I've seen on Talarico's lead were both from Kalshi and Polymarket. A couple of people stand to grow very rich(er) if the odds are in blue's favor but red manages to win... Which is why I both doubt the blue numbers from these sources and believe they would take... shall we say, further action in order to help their odds if it turned out to be necessary.
Paxton is for sure taking the win, it's already decided.
A bit of cynicism and skepticism is healthy, but you don't have to do the GOP's job and manifest the outcome for them. I.e. do more to get out the vote for Talarico, and pre-emptively block or actively counter the methods used to help Paxton's odds. Cook Political Report puts Texas as a Toss Up, so neither Paxton nor Talarico's win is likely or assured.
If a county reduces voting locations in bluer districts, offer more services to transport voters to the polls in those areas. If there's attempt at interference, put that to the courts. In fact draft up a suit that prohibits federal agents of any kind from "monitoring" poll locations, in case Trump decides to fart some kind of threat out in the next couple months.
I hate that we treat sports betting as the equivalent of a poll, but it tracks with how politics is sports for people who think they’re too smart for sports.
I don't follow how you got to that last sentence. You've seen 2 questionable polls, so that's absolute proof Paxton's already won?