These would seem rather extreme labels to put on a soft-spoken, meek-looking seminarian running for office in Texas.
asserted
These → seem → Texas
But they are questions being asked – and not just in the far reaches of the internet.
asserted
they → ask → internet
In his high-profile Senate run, Talarico, 37, has sparked Obama-like devotion from Democrats, who see his faith-based campaign as their best chance of winning a seat in the Lone Star state since 1988, and perhaps the rise of a proto-president.
asserted
who → spark → president
However, in the process, Talarico has not just alienated but infuriated many evangelical Christians, and it could be his undoing.
uncertain
it → alienate → Christians
But to some, this election against scandal-plagued Republican Ken Paxton is not just about the fate of the US Senate.
asserted
election → plague → Senate
Nor is it about influencing the final two years of Donald Trump's presidency.
asserted
it → influence → presidency
By espousing a progressive brand of Christianity that critics call 'woke,' Talarico has made himself enemy number one for the religious right.
'I think what he teaches is evil,' Dr Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of the First Baptist Church, a nationally known megachurch in Dallas, Texas, told the Daily Mail.
asserted
Jeffress → espouse → Mail
Truth be told, there is something much higher at stake than mere politics – this is Biblical.
asserted
this → tell → politics
James Talarico has sparked Obama-like devotion from Democrats, who see his faith-based campaign as their best chance of winning a seat in the Lone Star state since 1988
However, Talarico has not just alienated but infuriated many evangelical Christians, and it could be his undoing
His boldest proclamations include statements such as 'God is non-binary,' 'Jesus was a radical feminist' and that there are 'six genders', a claim he has since walked back on.
uncertain
he → spark → statements
He has also suggested that the Bible is silent on abortion, and that Jesus would have supported universal healthcare.
uncertain
Jesus → suggest → healthcare
Perhaps most controversially of all, he has supported religious pluralism, the idea that other religions are equal to Christianity and that 'God' is just another name for Yahweh, Allah or Nirvana.
asserted
God → support → Yahweh
Jeffress said: 'I think if people accept his belief that all religions are the same and there are many ways to Heaven, he is leading people on a road that leads to Hell.
'
asserted
that → say → Hell
Just because we ought to respect people's right to choose any faith they want to choose, that doesn't mean the choice they make is the right one.
asserted
they → respect → faith
Those who would teach all religions are the same
asserted
who → teach → religions
are absolutely denying what Jesus himself said.
asserted
Jesus → deny → what
'I don't think [Talarico] is misguided.
asserted
Talarico → think → ?
I think he's made a willing choice to embrace error, to reject the truth.'
asserted
he → think → truth
Jeffress said some were being 'taken in' by Talarico, and 'what he says to those who don't know the Bible sounds good and positive.
asserted
who → say → Bible
But those who know their Bible know James Talarico is a fraud.'
asserted
Talarico → know → Bible
The First Baptist Church does not endorse Senate candidates but its 16,000 followers have been urged to vote for 'righteousness' over 'unrighteousness' in the midterms on November 3.
asserted
followers → endorse → November
'I don't know anybody in Texas who is a conservative Christian who's saying they're going to vote for James Talarico,' said Jeffress.
asserted
Jeffress → know → Talarico
'Now, to be honest, they may not vote for Ken Paxton, or they may just sit at home, but they're not going to vote for James Talarico.
uncertain
they → vote → Talarico
In Texas, evangelical voters make up an estimated 25 percent of the electorate, and such views about Talarico are widely held.
asserted
views → make → Talarico
On one Facebook site with over 250,000 members, a lively discussion kicked off with: 'James Talarico has the antichrist spirit living in him.'
asserted
spirit → kick → him
A YouTube video with tens of thousands of views suggested he should be called '555' because he's 'not the Antichrist but man is he getting close,' going on to explain with a detailed analysis of Scripture why he is a 'heretic.'
Talarico was born in Round Rock, just outside Austin, Texas in 1989, the year after the Democrats last won a Texas Senate seat.
His name at birth was James Dell Collins but his mother fled from his abusive high-school dropout father, and he later took his stepfather's last name.
After graduating from Harvard with a Master of Education, he became a middle school language arts teacher back in Texas and was first elected to the state legislature in 2018.
uncertain
he → suggest → 2018
While in the legislature he also became a seminarian, training to become a pastor in the Presbyterian Church and pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at Austin Theological Seminary.
asserted
he → become → Seminary
The degree is currently on hold while he campaigns.
asserted
he → campaign → hold
He has made his faith central to his campaign, using the slogan 'Love Thy Neighbor,' and regularly quotes Scripture on the stump.
asserted
faith → make → stump
But what he, and Democrats, may regard as his greatest personal and political strength – his faith – is also turning out to be his greatest point of electoral weakness.
uncertain
regard → regard → weakness
Talarico, has made his faith central to his campaign, using the slogan 'Love Thy Neighbor,' and regularly quotes Scripture on the stump
While in the legislature he also became a seminarian, training to become a pastor in the Presbyterian Church and pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at Austin Theological Seminary
In a short space of time, he has built up a greatest hits album of controversial religious statements, including on transgender issues.
asserted
he → make → issues
During a legislative hearing in 2021, Talarico said: 'Modern science recognizes that there are many more than two biological sexes - in fact, there are six.'
asserted
science → say → fact
He voted against a Republican bill banning transgender children playing on sports teams aligning with their gender identity, making a reference to the Bible in the process.
And he pledged to 'defend trans Texans' every day in office, suggesting that parents who 'deny their child's gender identity' are 'abusive for sure.'
asserted
who → vote → identity
Another comment that landed badly with many Christians in Texas was that theirs has been the 'most violent' religion, having done 'more damage' than Islam, according to Talarico.
uncertain
theirs → land → Talarico
Talarico also asserted that 'you can't call yourself a Christian and destroy God's creation with greenhouse gases,' which had many Texans, Christian or not, shaking their heads while they filled their pickups.
asserted
they → assert → pickups
During the Black Lives Matter era, he wrote about racism, referring to it as a 'virus,' on X: 'White skin gives me and every white American immunity from the virus.
asserted
skin → write → virus
But we spread it wherever we go - through our words, our actions, and our systems.
asserted
we → spread → words
We don't have to be showing symptoms - like a white hood or a Confederate flag - to be contagious.
asserted
We → have → hood
He found an audience, though, repeatedly going viral on TikTok and attracting the attention of national Democrats intrigued by his faith.
asserted
He → find → faith
Here, Democrat strategists dreamed, was an opportunity to take back some of the Christian vote, and in deeply religious Texas.
asserted
opportunity → dream → Texas
The tactic had already worked in Georgia where the left-wing Baptist pastor Raphael Warnock won a Senate seat in 2021.
asserted
pastor → work → 2021
…and 69 more, not listed.
The Aporia
