In October 2023, Texas Rep. James Talarico (D-Round Rock) delivered a sermon at his home church of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church of Austin. The grandson of a Baptist preacher, Talarico knows preaching, and he did not mince words.
“I’ve been a member of this church since I was two years old, and now I’m in seminary studying to become a minister myself,” he said. “My faith means more to me than anything, but if I’m being very honest, sometimes I hesitate telling someone I’m a Christian. There is a cancer on our religion. Until we confess the sin that is Christian nationalism and exorcise it from our churches, our religion can do a lot more damage than a six-pack of Lone Star.”
Christian nationalism is vaguely defined term that encompasses several different ideologies such as Christian supremacy, belief in the divine right of a nation to act as it will, the cleansing of groups deemed antithetical to Christian ideals from the community, and belief that government should derive its authority from church structures. Few people openly identify as Christian nationalists, but it is a core belief in the far-right political power structures in Texas…