Christian right calls James Talarico "demonic" — for quoting Jesus - Salon.com
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Attacks on Texas Senate candidate aren't just about him. They're an attempt to crush progressive Christianity

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/48166923

James Talarico has been found guilty of quoting Jesus. The sentence he uttered, according to right-wing media, was “demonic” and “blasphemous,” exposing him as a “fake Christian.” Talarico is running for the U.S. Senate in Texas on a platform The New Yorker recently described as basically the New Testament. One Newsmax host accused him of using fake Bible passages.

The passages in question are familiar ones, found in Matthew 22 and Matthew 25. Love God and love your neighbor. Feed the hungry, heal the sick, welcome the stranger. They are, in fact, in the Bible.

The right’s attacks on Talarico aren’t about him, or at least not entirely. They’re about a much older argument — one progressive Christianity has been losing in public for 50 years — about whose version of the faith gets to count as real. The answer to that question has consequences far beyond any Senate race. When Christianity becomes a tool of power rather than a challenge to it, it doesn’t just damage the church. It destabilizes democracy. We are watching that happen in real time.

  • Log in | Sign up@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    3 days ago

    using a modern-language translation alone could draw that condemnation from some commenters

    You’re hinting that it’s in some sense invalid to quote the New Testament in some other language than Greek or something?!

    I think you want to scrape the bark off two trees in the hope that once you’re done people won’t see the forest.

    • DaleGribble88@programming.devEnglish
      6·
      2 days ago

      There is a pretty significant portion of America Christians who believe than any translation besides the 1611 King James version of the Bible is blasphemous, nevermind that they are probably reading the 1769 version, but what matters is what think is the 1611 version.

      • phutatorius@lemmy.zipEnglish
        5·
        2 days ago

        There’s also a smaller but still significant portion of American Christians who juggle snakes and roll around in the aisles of their churches speaking in tongues.

        And some fundies believe that, not only is the KJB the definitive text, but that ol’ JC spoke English.

        It’s never wise to underestimate the lumpen stupidity of fundamentalists. They are largely morons led by con artists (though there are a depressingly small number of exceptions).