That is how to preach.
posted by hypnogogue at 8:10 PM on April 18 [1 favorite]

This should be required listening in every Christian church, both to excoriate the people who proclaim Christian Nationalism, and to bolster the confidence of Christians who don’t.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 8:20 PM on April 18 [3 favorites]

As an agnostic Unitarian who has a BIG problem with modern "Christianity"… this is wonderful.

Happy Easter!
posted by jabo at 9:09 PM on April 18 [3 favorites]

Talarico is not my rep but I'm so proud of him as a Texan. I haven't listened to this speech but I've heard him preach before and while I don't share his faith, I respect the hell out of him for what he does in the Lege. More like him, please.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 9:28 PM on April 18 [1 favorite]

I am a exvangelical christian buddhist atheist, and I approve this message. Happy Easter, y'all.
posted by pt68 at 9:33 PM on April 18 [2 favorites]

wwjd? a persecuted refugee after all.

perhaps some solace to the degree the center-right is persuadable: "Three days ago, on April 14, Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times wrote that the vibe is shifting against the right..."

We have been in a similar moment of shifting coalitions before.

In the 1850s, elite southern enslavers organized to take over the government and create an oligarchy that would make enslavement national. Northerners hadn’t been paying a great deal of attention to southern leaders’ slow accumulation of power and were shocked when Congress bowed to them and in 1854 passed a law that overturned the Missouri Compromise that had kept slavery out of the West. The establishment of slavery in the West would mean new slave states there would work with the southern slave states to outvote the North in Congress, and it would only be a question of time until they made slavery national. Soon, the Slave Power would own the country.

Northerners of all parties who disagreed with each other over issues of immigration, finance, and internal improvements—and even over the institution of slavery—came together to stand against the end of American democracy.

Four years later, in 1858, Democrat Stephen Douglas complained that those coming together to oppose the Democrats were a ragtag coalition whose members didn’t agree on much at all. Abraham Lincoln, who by then was speaking for the new party coalescing around that coalition, replied that Douglas “should remember that he took us by surprise—astounded us—by this measure. We were thunderstruck and stunned; and we reeled and fell in utter confusion. But we rose each fighting, grasping whatever he could first reach—a scythe—a pitchfork—a chopping axe, or a butcher's cleaver. We struck in the direction of the sound; and we are rapidly closing in upon him. He must not think to divert us from our purpose, by showing us that our drill, our dress, and our weapons, are not entirely perfect and uniform. When the storm shall be past, he shall find us still Americans; no less devoted to the continued Union and prosperity of the country than heretofore.”

as Ehime Ora says: "We become the gods we pray to."*

or: "Politics is downstream from culture."

like Frederick Douglass said: "Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to, and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them. And these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppressed."
posted by kliuless at 11:56 PM on April 18 [21 favorites]

Link did not work for me
posted by Vigilant at 4:19 AM on April 19 [1 favorite]

I wish he's said "Jesus saves, Christian Nationalism steals" rather than "Christian Nationalism kills". It's done some killing, but so far, a lot more stealing.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 4:51 AM on April 19 [1 favorite]

I found it in YouTube myself tho, and this is great.

The sermon did remind me of quite a few UU services in my past, though with a much stronger Christian flavor.

This is a Christian I can admire. I don't share his faith, but it's clear he is using it to reach for empathy, compassion, love, mutual understanding. I've known quite few like him, though without the pulpit and seminary education. These are people I can admire, because they read closely into their own religion, and apply those lessons to themselves rather than try to force others.

A close friend is a Christian like this, though unchurched. She uses her faith as a guide toward kindness. She'll help anybody any way she can within her limited resources. Even when frustrated, she reaches toward empathy. Way less bigoted than I am, in most respects. And she will only vote in local elections - she leaves federal stuff alone because she is a single mom with three jobs and doesn't feel she understands federal politics well enough to make good decisions. That last frustrates me sometimes, but since I won't vote for anything I don't understand, I get it, and respect her own respect for her limitations.

More Christians like this please!
posted by Vigilant at 4:53 AM on April 19 [1 favorite]

This should be required listening in every Christian church

Totally! Keep religion out of politics.
posted by low_horrible_immoral at 5:08 AM on April 19 [1 favorite]

Well, this is a breath of fresh air. Thanks for posting.
posted by scratch at 5:22 AM on April 19 [1 favorite]

Yeah, that's a good sermon...

One of my good friends is a pastor, not in this denomination, and I can totally see him giving this kind of sermon. Will send it to him.
posted by Windopaene at 8:26 AM on April 19 [1 favorite]

I needed that. Thanks for posting
posted by JoeXIII007 at 8:52 AM on April 19 [1 favorite]

Speaking as a militant agnostic who tends to strongly dislike religious thought in general, could probably get along with this guy.
posted by Enturbulated at 4:18 PM on April 19

You are not currently logged in. Log in or create a new account to post comments.