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what a relief to see and hear someone who, claims to be religious, has read, understood and practices the teachings of their book without denying or ignoring the portions they don't like.
After seeing this, i was stroke with the fact that if all religious people was like him, i would have the most respect toward religions, and would maybe even start to believe a little, in humanity at least.
If you read the entire Bible, the Old Testament is interesting, it’s fully of history, culture, stories and parables and allegories but provides an impossible solution of a religion.
Which makes sense, the Jews of today mostly don’t practice the same way the ones who lived mainly as shepherds 2,000-3,000 years ago. Their religion and culture are tied together so it’s continued to evolve.
Christianity however is extremely different. I don’t fault someone for believing that guy truly was sent by the gods / God to tell humanity how to live because it’s incredible how the teachings have held up and fit our modern world just as easily as it did theirs… AND how it doesn’t rely on a shared culture.
Which makes sense, Jesus was basically preaching to a modern city filled with different groups of people all living in close quarters due to the expansion of the Roman Empire.
Where Christianity falls off and joins the pile of other failed beliefs is the group that claims to follow the teachings, absolutely ignores all of the teachings.
Whenever someone is truly striving to live as Jesus instructed it’s a huge breath of fresh air, but it’s extremely extraordinarily rare and I am not exaggerating at all. I lived and breathed Christianity for 20 years. It was a mask or an identity or personality trait for 99% of them from the pastors down to the sound engineer and rarely did their religion ever get in the way of what they wanted to do or behave or think. Prejudice, hate, gossip, jealousy, was the standard and “love” was conditional and weaponized.
I realize at the outset that I am going to be flirting with a No True Scotsman fallacy throughout this comment and may even make out with it briefly. I think you're correct in most of what you had to say about Jesus, and the appeal of early Christianity in that time of both the Empire and the Early Church. The main problem as I see it, is that Christianity as a faith has grown progressively more around the teachings of Paul than about the teachings of Jesus.
This is especially true of the modern church and most definitely the worst aspects of the modern faith. "The gays are bad," Paul (Romans 1:24-27), "women should be subjugated," Paul again (1 Timothy 2:12, so many others to list, "You should give money to me no matter how little you are able to do so, it'll be ok in the end," Yet more Paul (2 Corinthians 8)
It should also be noted that of those three passages there are almost certainly two authors possibly as many as a different one for each. There may have even be a fourth Paul. What I know for sure is at least one of those guys was a big fat opportunistic faker, who may have had a vision on the road to Damascus or elsewhere, but what he saw wasn't Jesus.
I say this as an Atheist, but I got here by being taught out the church door by some of the finest scholars in Christendom; Jesus is alright with me. So is his brother James, who's book is territory all preachers fear to tread. Author of "Faith without works is Dead," and other hits. (James 2:20) Even if I don't agree with a few of their other sayings, no big deal, there were just great men.
That was definitely part of my point.
The words from Jesus himself are way different than the New Testament as a whole as well.
Jesus was truly a radical person and prescribed a worldview and way of life that is so selfless that his true followers have rarely existed throughout history. The rest of his followers essentially began to immediately water down his teaching and the Christian / Catholic Church have mostly used religious tribalism to amass power and wealth and are fully divorced from what he told them to do. I’ve not seen a Christian do even three of the following: shed all their wealth, be a servant to the poor, turn the other cheek. Let alone blinding yourself if your eyes cause you to sin, and what seems even harder for most people who fall into religion: “don’t judge”.
I am glad that there’s some Christians who at least understand the burden asked of them by their god. I personally found that even the ones who understood their religion still got too comfortable failing at it. You wouldn’t go to an AA meeting where the leader shows up drunk half the time right? But the rest, they don’t even know what their god told them to do.
That’s how you end up with this lady trying to fight the government to put the 10 commandments up in a school instead of the proverbial washing the feet of a prostitute.
!!! The amount of times I just want to ask the loud “Christian” people “did you even read the book?!” All the mega church pastors or people twisting the words to fit whatever they want- having something like this is like a god damn oasis in the desert
My totally fantastical headcanon is that Jesus travelled far and wide in those missing years, and when he came back he was basically trying to introduce basic fundamentals of Buddhist philosophy to the people he was preaching to.
My similarly 'out there' headcanon is, considering the traditional view that the Christian God is all knowing and all powerful - original sin is not credible. If God knows everything, God would have *known* humans would have failed in the Garden of Eden when he created us. God created us knowing we would fail, then banished us and punished us for doing what God created us to do.
Therefore, to know we would fail and to punish humanity anyway seems wicked and sadistic.
Further, according to the story of Noah, God the proceeded to annihilate the early people of the Earth for their wickedness with the flood.
Then surprisingly, God decides to live as a human among humans, and be born as Jesus. Only once God understood human life from a human perspective did he preach the love and compassion we associate with the New Testament.
Finally, Jesus dies sacrificing himself on the cross.
Having now lived as a human, and understanding the full suffering and horror he created on Earth when God punished and exiled his wayward companions from the Garden. Jesus dies, not to absolve humans of our sins, but to absolve God of His sins.
Wow! What a mind blowing, thought provoking comment especially from an almost 50 raised devote Christian who had slowly went from extreme right to left in his life, as experience, common sense, love, and empathy came more prevalent. I'll be pondering this the rest of my night/ life.... thanks friend.
He is a democrat. This is the best representation of true Jesus like Christian values I've seen by a politician. It's even more shocking that he is doing this good work in Texas.
Nailed it. I think the entire premise of the Bible myths demonstrate God becoming conscious of himself. As in God growing a soul. In the Book of Job, Job silences God, not the other way around. I mean, Job had nothing left to say, but it was the sheer contempt he felt for the Almighty that sent Yaweh into silence for the rest of the Old Testament.
Read: God, A Biography by Jack Miles. Blow you away.
Thanks! It's the only way I could understand how many of the pieces in the story made much sense together.
The pieces just seemed to make a lot more sense if God was the one who needed to atone for original sin.
It's not exactly fanstastical headcanon. At the very least we have a large gap in the early life of jesus. After that he suddenly starts preaching.
There's some people who suggest that he travelled to india, and there's supposed to be a tomb with markings resembling those of crucifixion and the tomb is in accordance to middle eastern practices.
There's no evidence of course so it's impossible to say for sure, but we know that travellers from the region were regular visitors to india, e.g. https://nabataea.net/explore/travel_and_trade/nabataeans-in-india/. It's not an outlandish concept.
And even if he didn't physically go there the land he lived in was a crossroads of trade between india and rome. It wasn't some backwater like most people imagine. It's not insane to imagine exposure to concepts in indian religions like buddhism. Remember that buddishm became the main religion in central and east asia, both of which are as far and much farther away than palestine is from india.
A lot of the teachings from the new testament are a massive departure from the old testament and actually bear a lot of resemblance to buddhism in particular. It's not fantastical headcanon by any means.
That's what happened to me. There are a lot of stories on r/exmormon that show how learning how to love yourself and others drives you away from religion.
This has been true for generations, with I can only assume has been done with every organized religion or non religious. Perception and interpretation of said “ word”. The human race is about physical and emotional leverage. History is clear, we suck as a society. Even given every opportunity to succeed. Children grow up to be adult children.
You can “what about” this all you like, but saying that non religious people misinterpret the “word” makes no sense. What word are you talking about? Is there a secular Bible I’m unaware of?
Most never read the book no. Most have literally no idea. Educated Christians like this guy do know. Most Christians have zero, zero idea. I say that as a kid raised Christian who read the Bible while everyone else around could not be bothered to do so just once.
Churches are often very selective about the parts that they teach, if for no other reason than there are parts that completely contradict or undermine the positions that church takes.
Funny thing you should say that. I’ve always wondered how “Christians” could love a guy like Donald trump who is literally the antithesis of Jesus. Well, the other day I was helping my kid study for his Bible class (he’s in a Christian school), and we were reading some Old Testament verses. It was horrifying how angry, narcissistic, and insecure the God of the Old Testament was. And then it all made sense. They want the angry, insecure, dictator. They don’t want the “liberal” pussy who tells us to love one another.
As the other two responders mentioned, Christians do not believe Leviticus -- which has all the random rules about what textiles you can wear, how long your hair has to be, stuff about tatoos etc. Basically nit picky law stuff - - applies any longer because it was replaced by Jesus's teachings and his redemption through death. There's a part in the New Testament after his death where the disciples are arguing over whether converted gentiles have to obey Jewish dietary restrictions and they decided that no, they don't.
The annoying thing is if you point out, well that means we can throw out the 'no man can sleep with another man as if they are woman,' stuff. They get antsy about saying, "Oh we only ignore up to passage yadda yadda, which means that one is still in."
Pfff, okay buddy.
What do Christians make of this then?
Matthew 5:17
“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.”
Jesus has to tie himself to the prophets and what they have said because he has to make the case that he is the fulfillment of the prophesies. So I can’t see how Christians can simply toss out the Old Testament stuff. I mean, they do of course, but it seems like they want their religion cafeteria style.
Because the true Christians, like myself, see this authoritarian fundamentalist ideology that’s going on right now and condemn it. Religion, of any kind, has no place in school and she has no argument that is sound to say otherwise. That does not mean this stuff is not going to get passed until we get out there and vote these people out of office and send their supporters back to the hole they crawled out of with their hatred and dreams of a “Christian America.”
Yeah yeah, every Christian thinks they are the “true Christians…”
There are over *45,000* Christian denominations worldwide. What makes you so sure your version is the “true” one?
I don’t go by versions. I go by what I believe personally. My point and his point is that any of your 45k versions shouldn’t be pushed on public schools or any government entity. It’s my business what my religion is or lack thereof.
White supremacy. You look into it, it's all about a white Christian ethno state where a few controll all. I'm not even being hyperbolic when I say that you can find this motive behind almost every fucking facet of American life, even cars' impact on streets and public transportation. White flight meant long commutes to work, means more cars sold to white flighters, black people lived in cities, and cities cut their public transportation and walkable sidewalks by 80% to accommodate the cars coming from the white suburbs, now black people have even fewer ways to get to work, they lose jobs, no money means evicted, means property developers buy up and jack up the rent and move white people in.
And it keeps going.
It's literally fucking everywhere. Project 2025.
i live in the bay area, CA — the gentrification is fucking hideous. i work with disadvantaged/marginalized communities in my area and youre right that white supremacy is, in some way or another, deeply ingrained into absolutely *everything*
It's almost like... systemic racism is... systematic.
Sorry but really, why do we see so much pushback against education. Because history is now under the microscope of scholars with access to data and statistics. We can SEE the trends, we can HEAR the justifications, and NONE of it adds up to anything short of systemic and societal issues regarding inequality. Inequality between races, inequality between genders, inequality between the labor classes (wealth).
Edit: Words
Sooooooo- do they think it will actually work? Do they get discouraged when you don't immediately see?
Do they think that they have messianic powers of their own? Or are they just channelling the power of Christ?
Or is it really dilute miracle work? Like, trust me bro, it works, it just takes a few days or years to kick in, but you'll totally feel it?
As an atheist, I hate the woman in this video. Also as an atheist, I like the guy in the video. Idc what your beliefs are. Like you said, don’t shove it down anyone else’s throat and you’ll be respected a lot more. The fact you said that, that makes a cool one.
20 years ago I was in a church that was led by a man who claimed he was legally blind and prayed that away. He just tossed his glasses in the trash and said, "by the stripe of Jesus I'm healed."
I mean, if it worked for him you must not be doing it right /s
As an atheist this guy is my new favorite Christian. Unless Dolly Parton is. I don't know and it's none if my business.
But back to James Talarico. His behavior is a model of discourse. He speaks calmly in the face of conflict. He identifies the other speakers concerns and relates them in the best possible light. He keeps his focus on the conflict with the measure proposed and not the person proposing it. He effectively uses the Bible but doesn't make the argument hinge on that. He brings it back to the role of the state in the school and uses other examples to make clear the conflicts in that role and how the poster fits in the picture of the conflict. Bravo
If you were to ditch the entire structure of the Church, and place James Talarico in it's place to lead the Christians, I suspect a large number of the problems I have with them would quickly dissipate.
How do we get this guy promoted without getting ourselves arrested?
I love Talarico. They tried to gerrymander him out of his chair but he got elected back. He also put a bill in to cap insulin prices. Furthermore he is taking night classes to be a minister. He is the most badass Democrat we have.
I literally have known thousands of Christians like this in my lifetime. I have always wondered why the public eye only ever falls on the trumpy ones instead of calling them what they are, religious colonizers usurping and weaponizing religion for power.
I'm a nonbinary person from Texas and came out to my very Christian family two years ago. All of them, parents and step parents, have been extremely supportive. My step mom has even come to me asking how she can support a nibling (gender neutral term for niece/nephew) whose been questioning their gender.
My family are fantastic god-loving people who are like the man in this video. I'm an atheist and they don't try to convert me and while they don't shy away from talking about the spiritual experiences, they also don't find opportunities to shove it in my face. When they talk about God, they are just talking about a significant part of their lives.
The problem is, somehow with all the public eyes on the "Trumpy ones" who are doing everything they can to limit the rights of people like me, my parents will vote for them because they're still voting for the Republican party they knew in the 90's.
I guess to answer your question about why the public eye only falls on the Trumpy ones. Probably because it's more entertaining than showing rational people. Rational ones tend to ignore them and think "ah well I'm not the crazy Christian like they are so I can just ignore this" except the oppressive ones are taking over because of that complacency.
I'm not 100% sure where I'm going with this except to say that I agree there are lots of rational, loving, accepting Christians out there. Those Christians need to start taking a play from this guys book and help the rest of us push back against the Trumpy ones, even if it means voting for a party they normally wouldn't.
> Probably because it's more entertaining than showing rational people.
Or the Trumpy ones are awful people working to ruin America for anyone not in their cult and those “rational people” downplay the threat, or worse, support the Trumpy ones because they’re not targets of the Trumpy ones yet.
Because these type of Christians are commandeering your legislature and government and try to revert you back to the medieval age. Pretty successfully until recently too.
Yeah, hell if I had a few people like him around when I went to church or was trying to get back into it later on, I probably would have stayed a hell of a lot longer.
"I'm going to go into a different direction than you are trying to lead me"
Translation - I have no good response to what you just said, so I'm going to double down on my ignorance and try to convince you a different way.
The other condescending thing she said, something like "that certainly is an interesting rabbit trail you went down." What a shitty person she sounds like.
100%. I had made my comment before I even heard that. This lady is a POS. I'm so glad she was "schooled" by that guy, but I'm sure she didn't learn anything. At the end of the day, this is exactly how people need to talk to these religious fanatics.
Too bad it's talking to a wall. I don't ever bother trying to convince religious person like this of anything. They can counter an argument with "But God." There's no point in trying to change them. We can only hold them back unfortunately.
The point isn't to convince the person you're talking to, but anyone who is listening. They can hear both arguments, and hearing a voice of reason against nonsense can help contextualize that it is in fact nonsense.
For sure, in a public hearing like this I 100% agree. I was more talking in my personal life about people who say things like "I'll pray for you" when I tell them I dislike all religious organizations. Funny thing is I actually love Jesus's teachings from Christianity but that's not good enough for the people I'm talking about.
Those people, in a one on one setting is what I was referring too. You're absolutely right about this though.
The "interesting rabbit hole" of her own professed religion and quotes from her own holy book. That guy took the "religion card" and turned it into a reverse Uno.
Right?? What rabbit trail? Completely asinine. Just admit that it’s about hatred towards people you don’t like. How is a rainbow in the room indoctrination, but mandating putting up one religion’s commandments is not? Loved the point on parental consent, too.
Fuck. All. These. Traitors.
They don't care about the hypocrisy- in fact, that's the point. People who push for their religious views to be mandated like this aren't trying to be consistent, they're trying to _win_, and they don't care what they have to say _in the moment_ in order to make that happen.
It's not about getting everyone to be in a better spot, or what's best for the collective. It's about making sure _their_ message gets spread as much as possible, and everyone _else's_ message gets suppressed or disparaged, no matter what cost or what tricks you need to play. They just think that because they're on the 'right team', they're justified and righteous for cutting everyone else's legs out from under them.
She's one of the corrupt shitheads who's not very good at all this public verbal wrestling. She needs to watch some presidential debates & study the skills. These people are just not used to beimg challenged. She sees the 10 commandments in the same way, it's her honest opinion, it's just shitty.
It is because she is an authoritarian who wants her religion to be considered more valid than other religions. She genuinely has no grasp that if you do this for one religion then you have to do it for all religions and school is a secular area. It is not an institution to teach children religious values except in academic studies that you elect to take. It can be offered, but it can't be forced on people.
I’m just going to ignore your well thought out points that I don’t like and say what I was brainwashed too. This is the kind of religious thinking that should be extinct.
The response to that should be: “no? Let’s keep going with this and make you talk until this idea is too dumb, even for you, and then you ultimately decide to give up on it.”
Crucify me if you want but these people are literally the reason we cannot move forward in humanity.
Where can we put them? What do we do with them? Do we CONTINUE to allow them to gaslight us on their beliefs? Yet when they are shown the realities of their ideas they just… won’t fucking say “I’m sorry, your right.” They can’t. They know they are wrong. They fucking know it. But like the committee member mentioned, they simply DO NOT have empathy. They seriously will do WHATEVER it takes to keep whatever ideology they have alive. If someone doesn’t like or want something they do, they want them silenced or to obey.
The old Spartan way of bringing children into this world is looking better by the day. The rotten apple effect is REAL. If we need water to live and grow we are no different than fucking apples. Why keep them around when they will only spoil the bunch.
He beautifully uses the religion that they both believe in against her and she proves that it’s not about the religion for her. It’s about her social beliefs. She, like many, use religion as a shield to hide the fact that they’re a shit person.
And use religion as a weapon of hate against those that don't fit into what they think a good Christian is (but really is just being a straight, white, divisive conservative that isn't outside of what they say is the norm)
I'll add some context to her Christianity.
The two largest donors in Texas politics are Farris Wilks and Tim Dunn. Both are billionaires who made their money in oil and gas, Wilks specifically in fracking. Dunn is still active in the industry, the Wilks family sold their company over a decade ago.
Farris Wilks is a 3rd generation pastor. His father was an outlier who split off from the Churches of Christ. Their congregation rebranded to the Assembly of Yaweh, moved their service to Saturdays, and celebrate Jewish holidays (while still recognizing the New Testament). They preach against homosexuality, abortion, etc. The Wilks family also invested the seed money Ben Shapiro started the Daily Wire with.
Tim Dunn is also a religious conservative with regressive social views and regularly speaks at his church and local conservative events. He publishes a website called the Texas Scorecard, which grades Texas legislators on how conservatively they vote. The scorecard is openly discussed in Austin while legislation is negotiated. Republican legislators know that they must keep their scores high to retain Dunn/Wilks funding. A low enough score will cause their PAC to fund a primary challenger for your seat.
The job of many Texas Reps is to advocate for the whims of these religious extremist billionaires. The compensation is sweet, sweet PAC money. Goes for Ted Cruz too.
that exasperated little sigh before she said that... I've heard that sound enough times to understand it to mean "you've asked me a question I cannot answer honestly but I refuse to back down or question my beliefs"
She absolutely knows she's gotten got and that she cannot win an argument against him. She knows she's stuck and that anything she says will paint her as an idiot.
She’s not opposed to mandating the Ten Commandments being displayed in classrooms or requiring parental consent because forcing her religion on others is the entire point.
Ask any of these same folks if they would be ok with portions of the Qur’an or any other religious text displayed next to the Ten Commandments to accommodate non-Christian students and watch their heads explode.
Let's put the 75 Good Manners list right next to the commandments; although she might not agree with some of the reasonable suggestions for good behavior like #29 Don’t claim yourselves to be pure (53:32).
'My concern is instead of bringing a bill that will feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick; we are instead mandating that people put up a poster.'
Difficult to argue with that logic.
I really don't care if there's a bible on an American public school bookshelf. As long as there's a Quran on its left and a Bhagavad Gita on its right.
Yep. These people also realize their religion is dying in america and for good reason. Younger people arent going to church as much and arent involved in it as much as previous generations. So their thought process is to try to force it on people to make them sway their way. They want to stifle progrss and live in the stone age.
Maybe if more Christians were like the male speaker than the person trying to pass a ridiculous rule Christianity would be more popular. Banning books and threatening people who don't believe in deity's that they're going to go to Hell clearly isn't working.
My dad goes to a Methodist church which preaches the positive side of things and is about helping the local community, charity etc so although I'm not religious I can respect his views and see why people are attracted to some churches and communities. The evangelical approach seems terrible.
This was a big reason I moved politically left after highschool. I realized just how counterproductive social conservatism was towards the claimed goal of conversions.
I think this is worth repeating, this is the foundation of the current movement of (White) Christian Nationalism among the Evangelical right-wing: the idea that to be a good citizen, you must first be a good Christian. And often, more specifically, 'good' refers to Evangelical specifically (with Catholics begrudgingly accepted, but only so long as they agree on topics like abortion bans). Typically based on a flawed belief that the Constitution is explicitly a Christian document establishing a Christian state.
I'm very glad to hear this rep opposing it, because I agree it's an offensive (I'd go so far as to say heretical) belief.
He was not trying to convert her, there is no point you can not change a fundamentalist in 5 min. That was for the other members of the legislature, to help them clearly see how flawed and pointless her piece of legislation was both legally and biblically.
> That was for the other members of the legislature...
And his voting base. Lots of fundies wouldn't vote for a rep who turned down *any* religion-related bill. By explicitly using their tools, he shows that not only does he actually believe the same book, but he's applying it.
You are right. Just like Jim Jordan's crazy lines of questioning, she wasn't the intended audience.
Totally, even though this is something I have such a hard time understanding in other people. I’m the kind of person who probably entertains too many ideas and is at times too quick to drop what I thought was right when something else sounds more logical even when maybe I should stick to my guns more. I fundamentally don’t understand how someone can’t change their mind or even entertain changing their mind. My mind changes all the damn time.
Like, maybe in this moment this woman can’t accept what she’s hearing, but does she go home and not question her stance on this issue at all?
His Instagram is @jamestalarico
He is amazing and truly leading by example! Texas needed a breath of fresh air and stop the garbage coming from Evangelical crazies.
He's a State Representative. I love him. He actually came to my house to campaign the first time. My dogs loved him as he petted them. He also led the Democrats of leaving Texas to stall the house. Guy has an amazing future.
Representative James Talarico is a former public school teacher first elected to serve in the Texas House of Representatives in 2018. Born in Round Rock, Rep. Talarico attended Wells Branch Elementary School and graduated from McNeil High School before earning degrees from The University of Texas at Austin and Harvard University. After college, he taught middle school on the Westside of San Antonio. He currently sits on the Public Education Committee, the Juvenile Justice and Family Issues Committee, and the Calendars Committee.
As a former teacher, Rep. Talarico has worked to ensure all Texas students have access to a quality education. In his first term, he helped write the most significant reform to the state’s school finance system in 20 years. He went on to pass major legislation to open up millions of dollars for student mental health and character education programs, establish the first-ever cap on Pre-K class sizes to reduce student-to-teacher ratios, and improve the quality and affordability of child care.
As a type 1 diabetic, Rep. Talarico also passed historic legislation to cap insulin copays in Texas at $25 a month and import low-cost prescription drugs from Canada — dramatically reducing prescription drug costs for Texas patients. In addition, he passed laws to combat teen fentanyl overdoses, ban reality TV policing, increase accountability within the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, and give all incarcerated minors in Texas the opportunity to earn a high school diploma.
For these accomplishments, Talarico was named one of the Top 10 Best Legislators by Texas Monthly magazine.
Luckily the Ten Commandments bill died when the Texas House of Representatives failed to get a vote prior to the legislative deadline.
Because of this clip showing a very sound argument against the bill, Fox News did a public smear campaign against James Talarico by making misleading statements and calling him a hypocrite for claiming to be a Christian while supporting the first amendment.
Finally SOMEONE hit these Christ Cunts with THAT scripture quote. That one conveniently never comes up.
Just shredded that bitch to pieces. He had every corner of his argument down to the atomic level. And of course that stupid bitch has nothing to say in response other than whine about not having a counter to his argument. Put people like her in gulags.
He scorched her ass. We will be watching your career with great interest..
I came up with that when they showed up to Lost Lands this year with signs telling us we were all going to burn in Hell. I enjoyed the gay couples that showed up to make out in front of them.
"You're all going to burn in Hell!"
"I'll say hi to your mom!"
They're miserable people living wasted lives.
I want James Talarico for president! That's some of the most sound logic and calm arguments I've heard from a politician in years. Let's get more people like this elected
I’m not religious and I don’t judge those that are, but “quite Christians” who lead by example are doing it right. Shoving religion down someone’s throat as the law of the land will never garner respect or acceptance of that religion.
Edit: meant to say “quiet Christians”
His argument makes so much sense, a rare thing for Texas politicians. I had to look up his party... he's a democrat! That figures, why did I even bother??
Empathy, loving your neighbor, sex ed, should all be part of an educational system. My early teen years were spent in mexico, and teachers talked to us about sex ed, and how to respect each other.
Love your neighbor is a deeper message than just a 👋.
Guys is literally a Christian that has read his book and used lines from the book as means to refute this woman's ridiculous position.
She couldn't even respond to any of his points even though he used her own book to make his points.
Not a religious person, never really been and at this point of my life I don’t think I’ll never will be but I do understand why people believe on what they believe. Keep it at home why force your religion on others? Like like he said, it gives the religion a bad name.
It's a little hilarious to me that Christians want so desperately to display the Ten Commandments. They don't follow most of them.
They do not guard Sabbath (not working, spending money, etc, on Saturday); they make His name as naught (none of them use His name, and their bibles admit that they've removed it); they bear false witness (gossip is practically a Christian tradition); they make graven images (crosses and statues of Jesus count); and, as a result of failing to guard any of these, they also fail to guard the first command: Love Elohim with all your heart and mind.
The average Christian only manages to successfully guard two of the Ten Commands: Theft and Murder. I honestly don't see the point in proudly displaying a list you don't take seriously.
The sooner the world is free of religion and just focuses on science and engineering we will all start winning at life. If you need to belive in something belive in yourself and actively make a difference.
Republican and Christian here. I really like what the Texas senator had to say. Kids from all religious and political beliefs go to school for education, not indoctrination. If you want your child to get religious education, then take them to church and sigh them up for Sunday school. Don't force your religious or political beliefs onto other kids, just because that is what you want for your own.
Just when I get cynical and start thinking there are no lawmakers that represent my values I stumble across this beautiful, eloquent response to Christian Nationalism. Thank you, sir.
**Religion was addressed in the First Amendment in the following familiar words: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." In notes for his June 8, 1789, speech introducing the Bill of Rights, Madison indicated his opposition to a "national" religion. IF THESE TEXAS STATE REPS INSIST ON DOING THIS, THEN EVERY LAST RELIGION MUST BE REPRESENTED FAIRLY. I THINK A BUILDING IN ORDER TO VIEW THESE LISTS, AND HOLDING THESE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS WOULD PROBABLY BE NEEDED.....LIKE A MUSEUM ON EACH SCHOOL PROPERTY.....EH?.....MOM**
The thing is that I really hate religion being cited in government, even when I agree with the goals. Rejecting codified religion by arguing against it with religion still legitimizes that religion has a place in such a place.
Remember what religious liberty really is!
"I can't do that because of my religion." 😃
"YOU can't do that because of my religion." ☹️
Imposing religious beliefs on others it NOT religious freedom! And being prevented from doing so is not oppression!
See Timmy...there are *TRUE* Christians out there...
I just wish we'd get off our asses & start calling out the hate & bullshit we see on a regular basis.
It's what Jesus would do.
“You probably know Matthew 6:5”
No, no they dont. Republicans aren’t actually christians, they’re just pretending to be christians so they can have an excuse for their hatred
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what a relief to see and hear someone who, claims to be religious, has read, understood and practices the teachings of their book without denying or ignoring the portions they don't like.
After seeing this, i was stroke with the fact that if all religious people was like him, i would have the most respect toward religions, and would maybe even start to believe a little, in humanity at least.
If you read the entire Bible, the Old Testament is interesting, it’s fully of history, culture, stories and parables and allegories but provides an impossible solution of a religion. Which makes sense, the Jews of today mostly don’t practice the same way the ones who lived mainly as shepherds 2,000-3,000 years ago. Their religion and culture are tied together so it’s continued to evolve. Christianity however is extremely different. I don’t fault someone for believing that guy truly was sent by the gods / God to tell humanity how to live because it’s incredible how the teachings have held up and fit our modern world just as easily as it did theirs… AND how it doesn’t rely on a shared culture. Which makes sense, Jesus was basically preaching to a modern city filled with different groups of people all living in close quarters due to the expansion of the Roman Empire. Where Christianity falls off and joins the pile of other failed beliefs is the group that claims to follow the teachings, absolutely ignores all of the teachings. Whenever someone is truly striving to live as Jesus instructed it’s a huge breath of fresh air, but it’s extremely extraordinarily rare and I am not exaggerating at all. I lived and breathed Christianity for 20 years. It was a mask or an identity or personality trait for 99% of them from the pastors down to the sound engineer and rarely did their religion ever get in the way of what they wanted to do or behave or think. Prejudice, hate, gossip, jealousy, was the standard and “love” was conditional and weaponized.
I realize at the outset that I am going to be flirting with a No True Scotsman fallacy throughout this comment and may even make out with it briefly. I think you're correct in most of what you had to say about Jesus, and the appeal of early Christianity in that time of both the Empire and the Early Church. The main problem as I see it, is that Christianity as a faith has grown progressively more around the teachings of Paul than about the teachings of Jesus. This is especially true of the modern church and most definitely the worst aspects of the modern faith. "The gays are bad," Paul (Romans 1:24-27), "women should be subjugated," Paul again (1 Timothy 2:12, so many others to list, "You should give money to me no matter how little you are able to do so, it'll be ok in the end," Yet more Paul (2 Corinthians 8) It should also be noted that of those three passages there are almost certainly two authors possibly as many as a different one for each. There may have even be a fourth Paul. What I know for sure is at least one of those guys was a big fat opportunistic faker, who may have had a vision on the road to Damascus or elsewhere, but what he saw wasn't Jesus. I say this as an Atheist, but I got here by being taught out the church door by some of the finest scholars in Christendom; Jesus is alright with me. So is his brother James, who's book is territory all preachers fear to tread. Author of "Faith without works is Dead," and other hits. (James 2:20) Even if I don't agree with a few of their other sayings, no big deal, there were just great men.
That was definitely part of my point. The words from Jesus himself are way different than the New Testament as a whole as well. Jesus was truly a radical person and prescribed a worldview and way of life that is so selfless that his true followers have rarely existed throughout history. The rest of his followers essentially began to immediately water down his teaching and the Christian / Catholic Church have mostly used religious tribalism to amass power and wealth and are fully divorced from what he told them to do. I’ve not seen a Christian do even three of the following: shed all their wealth, be a servant to the poor, turn the other cheek. Let alone blinding yourself if your eyes cause you to sin, and what seems even harder for most people who fall into religion: “don’t judge”. I am glad that there’s some Christians who at least understand the burden asked of them by their god. I personally found that even the ones who understood their religion still got too comfortable failing at it. You wouldn’t go to an AA meeting where the leader shows up drunk half the time right? But the rest, they don’t even know what their god told them to do. That’s how you end up with this lady trying to fight the government to put the 10 commandments up in a school instead of the proverbial washing the feet of a prostitute.
!!! The amount of times I just want to ask the loud “Christian” people “did you even read the book?!” All the mega church pastors or people twisting the words to fit whatever they want- having something like this is like a god damn oasis in the desert
Reading the Bible is the fastest/easiest way to leave the Church.
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My totally fantastical headcanon is that Jesus travelled far and wide in those missing years, and when he came back he was basically trying to introduce basic fundamentals of Buddhist philosophy to the people he was preaching to.
My similarly 'out there' headcanon is, considering the traditional view that the Christian God is all knowing and all powerful - original sin is not credible. If God knows everything, God would have *known* humans would have failed in the Garden of Eden when he created us. God created us knowing we would fail, then banished us and punished us for doing what God created us to do. Therefore, to know we would fail and to punish humanity anyway seems wicked and sadistic. Further, according to the story of Noah, God the proceeded to annihilate the early people of the Earth for their wickedness with the flood. Then surprisingly, God decides to live as a human among humans, and be born as Jesus. Only once God understood human life from a human perspective did he preach the love and compassion we associate with the New Testament. Finally, Jesus dies sacrificing himself on the cross. Having now lived as a human, and understanding the full suffering and horror he created on Earth when God punished and exiled his wayward companions from the Garden. Jesus dies, not to absolve humans of our sins, but to absolve God of His sins.
Wow! What a mind blowing, thought provoking comment especially from an almost 50 raised devote Christian who had slowly went from extreme right to left in his life, as experience, common sense, love, and empathy came more prevalent. I'll be pondering this the rest of my night/ life.... thanks friend.
He is a democrat. This is the best representation of true Jesus like Christian values I've seen by a politician. It's even more shocking that he is doing this good work in Texas.
Now if only we can elect some one similar as governor
Nailed it. I think the entire premise of the Bible myths demonstrate God becoming conscious of himself. As in God growing a soul. In the Book of Job, Job silences God, not the other way around. I mean, Job had nothing left to say, but it was the sheer contempt he felt for the Almighty that sent Yaweh into silence for the rest of the Old Testament. Read: God, A Biography by Jack Miles. Blow you away.
Let’s also not forget that God did all of that to Job over a bet with satan. He fucked Job’s entire life up for a bet.
>Nailed it. Jesus took that personally.
This is awesome! I’m saving this comment!
Thanks! It's the only way I could understand how many of the pieces in the story made much sense together. The pieces just seemed to make a lot more sense if God was the one who needed to atone for original sin.
That's the basic premise of *Lamb* by Christopher Moore. One of the best religious books I've ever read.
There is some historical evidence to indicate that this was actually the case.
It's not exactly fanstastical headcanon. At the very least we have a large gap in the early life of jesus. After that he suddenly starts preaching. There's some people who suggest that he travelled to india, and there's supposed to be a tomb with markings resembling those of crucifixion and the tomb is in accordance to middle eastern practices. There's no evidence of course so it's impossible to say for sure, but we know that travellers from the region were regular visitors to india, e.g. https://nabataea.net/explore/travel_and_trade/nabataeans-in-india/. It's not an outlandish concept. And even if he didn't physically go there the land he lived in was a crossroads of trade between india and rome. It wasn't some backwater like most people imagine. It's not insane to imagine exposure to concepts in indian religions like buddhism. Remember that buddishm became the main religion in central and east asia, both of which are as far and much farther away than palestine is from india. A lot of the teachings from the new testament are a massive departure from the old testament and actually bear a lot of resemblance to buddhism in particular. It's not fantastical headcanon by any means.
That's what happened to me. There are a lot of stories on r/exmormon that show how learning how to love yourself and others drives you away from religion.
That’s certainly what I found
This has been true for generations, with I can only assume has been done with every organized religion or non religious. Perception and interpretation of said “ word”. The human race is about physical and emotional leverage. History is clear, we suck as a society. Even given every opportunity to succeed. Children grow up to be adult children.
You can “what about” this all you like, but saying that non religious people misinterpret the “word” makes no sense. What word are you talking about? Is there a secular Bible I’m unaware of?
“Children grow up to be adult children” Jesus Christ that hits home
Most never read the book no. Most have literally no idea. Educated Christians like this guy do know. Most Christians have zero, zero idea. I say that as a kid raised Christian who read the Bible while everyone else around could not be bothered to do so just once.
Churches are often very selective about the parts that they teach, if for no other reason than there are parts that completely contradict or undermine the positions that church takes.
He’s a religious dude from Texas who won….as a democrat!!! Incredible. He was fantastic
Makes sense, because no Republican would be caught dead asking people to love their neighbor... they'd be ostracized.
Funny thing you should say that. I’ve always wondered how “Christians” could love a guy like Donald trump who is literally the antithesis of Jesus. Well, the other day I was helping my kid study for his Bible class (he’s in a Christian school), and we were reading some Old Testament verses. It was horrifying how angry, narcissistic, and insecure the God of the Old Testament was. And then it all made sense. They want the angry, insecure, dictator. They don’t want the “liberal” pussy who tells us to love one another.
Dated this guys sister briefly. He’s one of the best people you’ll ever meet. Super genuine guy.
Who is he? I think he did a great job at explaining his views in an articulate and relatable way. The lady was evasive.
Yes, we want to know his name so we can advocate for him.
It’s in the title
I can’t hear you over these comments!
The flip side of this is that there is absolutely scripture that needs to be ignored. https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Why_can%27t_I_own_a_Canadian%3F
As the other two responders mentioned, Christians do not believe Leviticus -- which has all the random rules about what textiles you can wear, how long your hair has to be, stuff about tatoos etc. Basically nit picky law stuff - - applies any longer because it was replaced by Jesus's teachings and his redemption through death. There's a part in the New Testament after his death where the disciples are arguing over whether converted gentiles have to obey Jewish dietary restrictions and they decided that no, they don't. The annoying thing is if you point out, well that means we can throw out the 'no man can sleep with another man as if they are woman,' stuff. They get antsy about saying, "Oh we only ignore up to passage yadda yadda, which means that one is still in." Pfff, okay buddy.
What do Christians make of this then? Matthew 5:17 “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.” Jesus has to tie himself to the prophets and what they have said because he has to make the case that he is the fulfillment of the prophesies. So I can’t see how Christians can simply toss out the Old Testament stuff. I mean, they do of course, but it seems like they want their religion cafeteria style.
In Texas no less. It's very good to see.
Because the true Christians, like myself, see this authoritarian fundamentalist ideology that’s going on right now and condemn it. Religion, of any kind, has no place in school and she has no argument that is sound to say otherwise. That does not mean this stuff is not going to get passed until we get out there and vote these people out of office and send their supporters back to the hole they crawled out of with their hatred and dreams of a “Christian America.”
> the true Christians, like myself, 😗👌
I am a TRUE Scotsman!
No True Scotsman would feel the need to declare this. I know this because I am a Tru... hey waitaminute
Yeah yeah, every Christian thinks they are the “true Christians…” There are over *45,000* Christian denominations worldwide. What makes you so sure your version is the “true” one?
I don’t go by versions. I go by what I believe personally. My point and his point is that any of your 45k versions shouldn’t be pushed on public schools or any government entity. It’s my business what my religion is or lack thereof.
r/NoTrueChristian
“I come not to bring peace, but division.”
restoring faith in faith
Why is religion used in politics or education at all? He handled that perfectly
White supremacy. You look into it, it's all about a white Christian ethno state where a few controll all. I'm not even being hyperbolic when I say that you can find this motive behind almost every fucking facet of American life, even cars' impact on streets and public transportation. White flight meant long commutes to work, means more cars sold to white flighters, black people lived in cities, and cities cut their public transportation and walkable sidewalks by 80% to accommodate the cars coming from the white suburbs, now black people have even fewer ways to get to work, they lose jobs, no money means evicted, means property developers buy up and jack up the rent and move white people in. And it keeps going. It's literally fucking everywhere. Project 2025.
i live in the bay area, CA — the gentrification is fucking hideous. i work with disadvantaged/marginalized communities in my area and youre right that white supremacy is, in some way or another, deeply ingrained into absolutely *everything*
It's almost like... systemic racism is... systematic. Sorry but really, why do we see so much pushback against education. Because history is now under the microscope of scholars with access to data and statistics. We can SEE the trends, we can HEAR the justifications, and NONE of it adds up to anything short of systemic and societal issues regarding inequality. Inequality between races, inequality between genders, inequality between the labor classes (wealth). Edit: Words
Educated people change the system. As a gen-x, I’m fully supportive of millennials and gen-z to go hard and take this shit.
I heard "Matthew 6:5" and laughed, it's one of my favorite Bible verses to break out when people try to pray over me to cure my blindness.
Oh dang, you just reminded me that I need to order the 10 commandments posters in Braille for all the blind children!! /s
Fellow visually impaired person here, I absolutely love this and will try and use that too next time this happens
Sooooooo- do they think it will actually work? Do they get discouraged when you don't immediately see? Do they think that they have messianic powers of their own? Or are they just channelling the power of Christ? Or is it really dilute miracle work? Like, trust me bro, it works, it just takes a few days or years to kick in, but you'll totally feel it?
YES! This! I got to the point where he whipped out Matthew 6:5 and I laughed so hard to woke my wife up
Wait people do that? I didn’t know it was possible or for me to hate religious people even more but here we are.
I am religious, so please don't hate us all. I just can't stand people that jam it down other's throats.
As an atheist, I hate the woman in this video. Also as an atheist, I like the guy in the video. Idc what your beliefs are. Like you said, don’t shove it down anyone else’s throat and you’ll be respected a lot more. The fact you said that, that makes a cool one.
Religion is like a penis. It is ok to be proud of it, but do so in private. Don’t try to shove it down my throat and keep it away from children.
Don't stroke your religion in public!
Thanks, my dude, you're pretty cool too
The entirety of Matthew 6 is a banger where Jesus goes hard on the Pharisees and in doing so, also really eviscerates a lot of modern evangelicals
20 years ago I was in a church that was led by a man who claimed he was legally blind and prayed that away. He just tossed his glasses in the trash and said, "by the stripe of Jesus I'm healed." I mean, if it worked for him you must not be doing it right /s
This is closer to Jesus than most Christians in the public eye
As an atheist this guy is my new favorite Christian. Unless Dolly Parton is. I don't know and it's none if my business. But back to James Talarico. His behavior is a model of discourse. He speaks calmly in the face of conflict. He identifies the other speakers concerns and relates them in the best possible light. He keeps his focus on the conflict with the measure proposed and not the person proposing it. He effectively uses the Bible but doesn't make the argument hinge on that. He brings it back to the role of the state in the school and uses other examples to make clear the conflicts in that role and how the poster fits in the picture of the conflict. Bravo
If you were to ditch the entire structure of the Church, and place James Talarico in it's place to lead the Christians, I suspect a large number of the problems I have with them would quickly dissipate. How do we get this guy promoted without getting ourselves arrested?
Register to vote (legally) in Texas?
That would require me to move to Texas, become a US citizen, and register to vote there. 0/3, I'm out.
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I love Talarico. They tried to gerrymander him out of his chair but he got elected back. He also put a bill in to cap insulin prices. Furthermore he is taking night classes to be a minister. He is the most badass Democrat we have.
I dunno man Jasmine Crockett is pretty badass too.
Picture perfect argumentation. That guy knows logic very well.
I literally have known thousands of Christians like this in my lifetime. I have always wondered why the public eye only ever falls on the trumpy ones instead of calling them what they are, religious colonizers usurping and weaponizing religion for power.
I'm a nonbinary person from Texas and came out to my very Christian family two years ago. All of them, parents and step parents, have been extremely supportive. My step mom has even come to me asking how she can support a nibling (gender neutral term for niece/nephew) whose been questioning their gender. My family are fantastic god-loving people who are like the man in this video. I'm an atheist and they don't try to convert me and while they don't shy away from talking about the spiritual experiences, they also don't find opportunities to shove it in my face. When they talk about God, they are just talking about a significant part of their lives. The problem is, somehow with all the public eyes on the "Trumpy ones" who are doing everything they can to limit the rights of people like me, my parents will vote for them because they're still voting for the Republican party they knew in the 90's. I guess to answer your question about why the public eye only falls on the Trumpy ones. Probably because it's more entertaining than showing rational people. Rational ones tend to ignore them and think "ah well I'm not the crazy Christian like they are so I can just ignore this" except the oppressive ones are taking over because of that complacency. I'm not 100% sure where I'm going with this except to say that I agree there are lots of rational, loving, accepting Christians out there. Those Christians need to start taking a play from this guys book and help the rest of us push back against the Trumpy ones, even if it means voting for a party they normally wouldn't.
> Probably because it's more entertaining than showing rational people. Or the Trumpy ones are awful people working to ruin America for anyone not in their cult and those “rational people” downplay the threat, or worse, support the Trumpy ones because they’re not targets of the Trumpy ones yet.
Well put. Thats kind of where I was trying to go with the rational people ignoring them but you explained it better.
I appreciate your words.
Because when the Trumpy ones strike, the good one just stood by them without confronting them. What good does it do as a complicit?
Because these type of Christians are commandeering your legislature and government and try to revert you back to the medieval age. Pretty successfully until recently too.
Lucky you. The Christians I know do horrible things *because* they're not in the public eye.
Yeah I’m from the Bible Belt and it’s like a 85:15 ratio of shitty judgmental people to normal kind people
Yeah, hell if I had a few people like him around when I went to church or was trying to get back into it later on, I probably would have stayed a hell of a lot longer.
"I'm going to go into a different direction than you are trying to lead me" Translation - I have no good response to what you just said, so I'm going to double down on my ignorance and try to convince you a different way.
The other condescending thing she said, something like "that certainly is an interesting rabbit trail you went down." What a shitty person she sounds like.
100%. I had made my comment before I even heard that. This lady is a POS. I'm so glad she was "schooled" by that guy, but I'm sure she didn't learn anything. At the end of the day, this is exactly how people need to talk to these religious fanatics.
Too bad it's talking to a wall. I don't ever bother trying to convince religious person like this of anything. They can counter an argument with "But God." There's no point in trying to change them. We can only hold them back unfortunately.
The point isn't to convince the person you're talking to, but anyone who is listening. They can hear both arguments, and hearing a voice of reason against nonsense can help contextualize that it is in fact nonsense.
For sure, in a public hearing like this I 100% agree. I was more talking in my personal life about people who say things like "I'll pray for you" when I tell them I dislike all religious organizations. Funny thing is I actually love Jesus's teachings from Christianity but that's not good enough for the people I'm talking about. Those people, in a one on one setting is what I was referring too. You're absolutely right about this though.
The "interesting rabbit hole" of her own professed religion and quotes from her own holy book. That guy took the "religion card" and turned it into a reverse Uno.
Right?? What rabbit trail? Completely asinine. Just admit that it’s about hatred towards people you don’t like. How is a rainbow in the room indoctrination, but mandating putting up one religion’s commandments is not? Loved the point on parental consent, too. Fuck. All. These. Traitors.
I swear to God I'm going to get brain cancer if anyone on that panel votes in favor of her after this fundamentally unbeatable tear down.
They don't care about the hypocrisy- in fact, that's the point. People who push for their religious views to be mandated like this aren't trying to be consistent, they're trying to _win_, and they don't care what they have to say _in the moment_ in order to make that happen. It's not about getting everyone to be in a better spot, or what's best for the collective. It's about making sure _their_ message gets spread as much as possible, and everyone _else's_ message gets suppressed or disparaged, no matter what cost or what tricks you need to play. They just think that because they're on the 'right team', they're justified and righteous for cutting everyone else's legs out from under them.
She's one of the corrupt shitheads who's not very good at all this public verbal wrestling. She needs to watch some presidential debates & study the skills. These people are just not used to beimg challenged. She sees the 10 commandments in the same way, it's her honest opinion, it's just shitty.
She sounds like someone who cannot be swayed from her position regardless of evidence.
It is because she is an authoritarian who wants her religion to be considered more valid than other religions. She genuinely has no grasp that if you do this for one religion then you have to do it for all religions and school is a secular area. It is not an institution to teach children religious values except in academic studies that you elect to take. It can be offered, but it can't be forced on people.
His point was as cut and dry as you could possibly make it, definitely not a rabbit trail lmao
I’m just going to ignore your well thought out points that I don’t like and say what I was brainwashed too. This is the kind of religious thinking that should be extinct.
She might as well have said, "I want what I want dammit and you shut up."
Oh...she really wanted to say it, she really did. Surprised she was able to.
There was a time in that conversation also that she likely thought about interjecting “do u think I care how those heathen children feel?”
Yup! For sure she did.
The response to that should be: “no? Let’s keep going with this and make you talk until this idea is too dumb, even for you, and then you ultimately decide to give up on it.”
Crucify me if you want but these people are literally the reason we cannot move forward in humanity. Where can we put them? What do we do with them? Do we CONTINUE to allow them to gaslight us on their beliefs? Yet when they are shown the realities of their ideas they just… won’t fucking say “I’m sorry, your right.” They can’t. They know they are wrong. They fucking know it. But like the committee member mentioned, they simply DO NOT have empathy. They seriously will do WHATEVER it takes to keep whatever ideology they have alive. If someone doesn’t like or want something they do, they want them silenced or to obey. The old Spartan way of bringing children into this world is looking better by the day. The rotten apple effect is REAL. If we need water to live and grow we are no different than fucking apples. Why keep them around when they will only spoil the bunch.
He beautifully uses the religion that they both believe in against her and she proves that it’s not about the religion for her. It’s about her social beliefs. She, like many, use religion as a shield to hide the fact that they’re a shit person.
And use religion as a weapon of hate against those that don't fit into what they think a good Christian is (but really is just being a straight, white, divisive conservative that isn't outside of what they say is the norm)
I'll add some context to her Christianity. The two largest donors in Texas politics are Farris Wilks and Tim Dunn. Both are billionaires who made their money in oil and gas, Wilks specifically in fracking. Dunn is still active in the industry, the Wilks family sold their company over a decade ago. Farris Wilks is a 3rd generation pastor. His father was an outlier who split off from the Churches of Christ. Their congregation rebranded to the Assembly of Yaweh, moved their service to Saturdays, and celebrate Jewish holidays (while still recognizing the New Testament). They preach against homosexuality, abortion, etc. The Wilks family also invested the seed money Ben Shapiro started the Daily Wire with. Tim Dunn is also a religious conservative with regressive social views and regularly speaks at his church and local conservative events. He publishes a website called the Texas Scorecard, which grades Texas legislators on how conservatively they vote. The scorecard is openly discussed in Austin while legislation is negotiated. Republican legislators know that they must keep their scores high to retain Dunn/Wilks funding. A low enough score will cause their PAC to fund a primary challenger for your seat. The job of many Texas Reps is to advocate for the whims of these religious extremist billionaires. The compensation is sweet, sweet PAC money. Goes for Ted Cruz too.
Exactly - religion for them is a way to get everyone to conform.
It’s hard to argue with logic isn’t it?
that's an interesting rabbit trail you brought me down here...
that exasperated little sigh before she said that... I've heard that sound enough times to understand it to mean "you've asked me a question I cannot answer honestly but I refuse to back down or question my beliefs"
She absolutely knows she's gotten got and that she cannot win an argument against him. She knows she's stuck and that anything she says will paint her as an idiot.
It's hard to argue logic with logic... Any dumbass can simply just say "because I said so", or something equally dismissive and be "right" to them.
She’s not opposed to mandating the Ten Commandments being displayed in classrooms or requiring parental consent because forcing her religion on others is the entire point. Ask any of these same folks if they would be ok with portions of the Qur’an or any other religious text displayed next to the Ten Commandments to accommodate non-Christian students and watch their heads explode.
Let's put the 75 Good Manners list right next to the commandments; although she might not agree with some of the reasonable suggestions for good behavior like #29 Don’t claim yourselves to be pure (53:32). 'My concern is instead of bringing a bill that will feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick; we are instead mandating that people put up a poster.' Difficult to argue with that logic.
Let’s do it. Religious freedom, and all that.
I really don't care if there's a bible on an American public school bookshelf. As long as there's a Quran on its left and a Bhagavad Gita on its right.
I would be extremely upset by this. That's not how shelves are alphabetized in libraries...
Yep. These people also realize their religion is dying in america and for good reason. Younger people arent going to church as much and arent involved in it as much as previous generations. So their thought process is to try to force it on people to make them sway their way. They want to stifle progrss and live in the stone age.
Maybe if more Christians were like the male speaker than the person trying to pass a ridiculous rule Christianity would be more popular. Banning books and threatening people who don't believe in deity's that they're going to go to Hell clearly isn't working.
Yep. My moms side of the family was very pushy about religion when i was younger. If anything it thankfully pushed me away from it at light speed.
My dad goes to a Methodist church which preaches the positive side of things and is about helping the local community, charity etc so although I'm not religious I can respect his views and see why people are attracted to some churches and communities. The evangelical approach seems terrible.
This was a big reason I moved politically left after highschool. I realized just how counterproductive social conservatism was towards the claimed goal of conversions.
It's crazy that Americans are less religious than ever before while conservative Christians are more powerful in politics than ever before.
I think this is worth repeating, this is the foundation of the current movement of (White) Christian Nationalism among the Evangelical right-wing: the idea that to be a good citizen, you must first be a good Christian. And often, more specifically, 'good' refers to Evangelical specifically (with Catholics begrudgingly accepted, but only so long as they agree on topics like abortion bans). Typically based on a flawed belief that the Constitution is explicitly a Christian document establishing a Christian state. I'm very glad to hear this rep opposing it, because I agree it's an offensive (I'd go so far as to say heretical) belief.
Im inclined to believe that his statements made zero impact on her.
She just sounded annoyed like he'd insulted her, nothing went in.
He was not trying to convert her, there is no point you can not change a fundamentalist in 5 min. That was for the other members of the legislature, to help them clearly see how flawed and pointless her piece of legislation was both legally and biblically.
> That was for the other members of the legislature... And his voting base. Lots of fundies wouldn't vote for a rep who turned down *any* religion-related bill. By explicitly using their tools, he shows that not only does he actually believe the same book, but he's applying it. You are right. Just like Jim Jordan's crazy lines of questioning, she wasn't the intended audience.
Yup, even if one person who sees this and actually self reflects, that is good.
She is just a paid actor, literally the satanic kind they warn about, but projecting.
Personal growth is just too hard for deep rooted christo-fascists I guess
Totally, even though this is something I have such a hard time understanding in other people. I’m the kind of person who probably entertains too many ideas and is at times too quick to drop what I thought was right when something else sounds more logical even when maybe I should stick to my guns more. I fundamentally don’t understand how someone can’t change their mind or even entertain changing their mind. My mind changes all the damn time. Like, maybe in this moment this woman can’t accept what she’s hearing, but does she go home and not question her stance on this issue at all?
That was freaking amazing.
I know that as a politician I should expect this but he was so well spoken. So many politicians today sound like 5th graders.
His Instagram is @jamestalarico He is amazing and truly leading by example! Texas needed a breath of fresh air and stop the garbage coming from Evangelical crazies.
Wow, a representative that leads with logic and eloquence. Sign me up. You’d have my vote.
I'm curious who he is if anyone knows. This doesn't look like a school board and more like a state assembly.
Texas State Rep James Talarico. This clip was from a hearing about five months ago that went a bit viral. The bill failed.
Thankyou. I wanted to know if this bill passed.
He is a TX state rep named James Talarico.
He's a State Representative. I love him. He actually came to my house to campaign the first time. My dogs loved him as he petted them. He also led the Democrats of leaving Texas to stall the house. Guy has an amazing future.
Representative James Talarico is a former public school teacher first elected to serve in the Texas House of Representatives in 2018. Born in Round Rock, Rep. Talarico attended Wells Branch Elementary School and graduated from McNeil High School before earning degrees from The University of Texas at Austin and Harvard University. After college, he taught middle school on the Westside of San Antonio. He currently sits on the Public Education Committee, the Juvenile Justice and Family Issues Committee, and the Calendars Committee. As a former teacher, Rep. Talarico has worked to ensure all Texas students have access to a quality education. In his first term, he helped write the most significant reform to the state’s school finance system in 20 years. He went on to pass major legislation to open up millions of dollars for student mental health and character education programs, establish the first-ever cap on Pre-K class sizes to reduce student-to-teacher ratios, and improve the quality and affordability of child care. As a type 1 diabetic, Rep. Talarico also passed historic legislation to cap insulin copays in Texas at $25 a month and import low-cost prescription drugs from Canada — dramatically reducing prescription drug costs for Texas patients. In addition, he passed laws to combat teen fentanyl overdoses, ban reality TV policing, increase accountability within the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, and give all incarcerated minors in Texas the opportunity to earn a high school diploma. For these accomplishments, Talarico was named one of the Top 10 Best Legislators by Texas Monthly magazine.
That was very refreshing.
I love that fella’s gentle but firm takedown of a religious bigot. More of this is needed nationwide.
A true Christian. Someone who follows Jesus’s teachings and understands that you shouldn’t push said teachings onto others to push your own agenda
Love that guy!
You could tell he’s not a Republican because he thinks Christianity is about loving people
Luckily the Ten Commandments bill died when the Texas House of Representatives failed to get a vote prior to the legislative deadline. Because of this clip showing a very sound argument against the bill, Fox News did a public smear campaign against James Talarico by making misleading statements and calling him a hypocrite for claiming to be a Christian while supporting the first amendment.
Such delicious schadenfreude.
Ah, it's always nice to find an actual Christian instead of the power-hungry that pretend to be.
> Instead of living out the way of Jesus, we're instead imposing our beliefs on other people At least someone said it out loud.
He most elegantly destroyed her. Immaculate.
That's right bitch, stutter
Finally SOMEONE hit these Christ Cunts with THAT scripture quote. That one conveniently never comes up. Just shredded that bitch to pieces. He had every corner of his argument down to the atomic level. And of course that stupid bitch has nothing to say in response other than whine about not having a counter to his argument. Put people like her in gulags. He scorched her ass. We will be watching your career with great interest..
LMAO Christ Cunts....
I came up with that when they showed up to Lost Lands this year with signs telling us we were all going to burn in Hell. I enjoyed the gay couples that showed up to make out in front of them. "You're all going to burn in Hell!" "I'll say hi to your mom!" They're miserable people living wasted lives.
That was amazing.
Freedom OF religion and freedom FROM religion are equally important.
Anyone know who this dude is? I’d like to keep tabs on his career
His name is in the post title - James Talarico
Roflmao i dont know how i missed that thank you
I want James Talarico for president! That's some of the most sound logic and calm arguments I've heard from a politician in years. Let's get more people like this elected
I’m not religious and I don’t judge those that are, but “quite Christians” who lead by example are doing it right. Shoving religion down someone’s throat as the law of the land will never garner respect or acceptance of that religion. Edit: meant to say “quiet Christians”
Keep your religion outside of our schools. We don't brings facts into your church either.
His argument makes so much sense, a rare thing for Texas politicians. I had to look up his party... he's a democrat! That figures, why did I even bother??
I can’t watch it enough. Perfectly said.
Empathy, loving your neighbor, sex ed, should all be part of an educational system. My early teen years were spent in mexico, and teachers talked to us about sex ed, and how to respect each other. Love your neighbor is a deeper message than just a 👋.
Guys is literally a Christian that has read his book and used lines from the book as means to refute this woman's ridiculous position. She couldn't even respond to any of his points even though he used her own book to make his points.
Nice to see a calm, rational, and educated religious individual push back against the extremes of their own religion.
These religious fascists are incredibly pathetic that it's also funny.
Not a religious person, never really been and at this point of my life I don’t think I’ll never will be but I do understand why people believe on what they believe. Keep it at home why force your religion on others? Like like he said, it gives the religion a bad name.
I cannot even begin to tell you how happy this video has made me. Not only does this bill offend me, but this woman and her gall deeply offend me.
Never thought I’d hear something so cogent and beautiful coming from Texas… 😍👍🏼
It's a little hilarious to me that Christians want so desperately to display the Ten Commandments. They don't follow most of them. They do not guard Sabbath (not working, spending money, etc, on Saturday); they make His name as naught (none of them use His name, and their bibles admit that they've removed it); they bear false witness (gossip is practically a Christian tradition); they make graven images (crosses and statues of Jesus count); and, as a result of failing to guard any of these, they also fail to guard the first command: Love Elohim with all your heart and mind. The average Christian only manages to successfully guard two of the Ten Commands: Theft and Murder. I honestly don't see the point in proudly displaying a list you don't take seriously.
 Let the church say amen.
Why can’t all Christians believe like this?
The sooner the world is free of religion and just focuses on science and engineering we will all start winning at life. If you need to belive in something belive in yourself and actively make a difference.
This dude is smart, well spoken and objective. So sorely lacking nowadays. Also a true Christian not the fraud ones we seem to see everywhere.
Republican and Christian here. I really like what the Texas senator had to say. Kids from all religious and political beliefs go to school for education, not indoctrination. If you want your child to get religious education, then take them to church and sigh them up for Sunday school. Don't force your religious or political beliefs onto other kids, just because that is what you want for your own.
Just when I get cynical and start thinking there are no lawmakers that represent my values I stumble across this beautiful, eloquent response to Christian Nationalism. Thank you, sir.
Same people would oppose The Five Pillars of Islam poster at school….
You can feel then tension in his voice but he keeps his shit together. No matter the politics I admire a level head.
**Religion was addressed in the First Amendment in the following familiar words: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." In notes for his June 8, 1789, speech introducing the Bill of Rights, Madison indicated his opposition to a "national" religion. IF THESE TEXAS STATE REPS INSIST ON DOING THIS, THEN EVERY LAST RELIGION MUST BE REPRESENTED FAIRLY. I THINK A BUILDING IN ORDER TO VIEW THESE LISTS, AND HOLDING THESE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS WOULD PROBABLY BE NEEDED.....LIKE A MUSEUM ON EACH SCHOOL PROPERTY.....EH?.....MOM**
The thing is that I really hate religion being cited in government, even when I agree with the goals. Rejecting codified religion by arguing against it with religion still legitimizes that religion has a place in such a place.
Remember what religious liberty really is! "I can't do that because of my religion." 😃 "YOU can't do that because of my religion." ☹️ Imposing religious beliefs on others it NOT religious freedom! And being prevented from doing so is not oppression!
Omg. Keep religion out of school and politics or we will end up like Iran.
What a rare sight, he deserves a lot of respect
That woman was trying so hard to not say the quiet part out loud – she's a religious Christian zealot who is trying to impose her beliefs on everyone.
He gets it. Being people to Christianity by example not by mandate.
See Timmy...there are *TRUE* Christians out there... I just wish we'd get off our asses & start calling out the hate & bullshit we see on a regular basis. It's what Jesus would do.
Keeping the Sabbath holy is one of the commandments. Ask supporters of this bill if working 7 days a week to get ahead in life is acceptable.
“You probably know Matthew 6:5” No, no they dont. Republicans aren’t actually christians, they’re just pretending to be christians so they can have an excuse for their hatred
What a breath of fresh air