I think it goes beyond the politics. They constantly tell their flock that the only way to be a good Christian is to be conservative. He is a very public counter-example, proving them wrong just by existing (in the public eye).
Definitely. That's part of the reason the Founding Fathers chose the secular route for government. There were four major factions of christianity in the colonies that were competing for dominance. The Pilgrims (who left Plymouth, on their second departure, only to land in Plymouth) because of "persecution," used to persecute everyone else to force them to live like the Puritans. Until they fell out of favor when culture shifted away from being ascetic.
During my brush with religion, different denominations got along, but only certain ones. Mormons were much maligned, catholics were mocked, certain denominations were left alone, but not invited to participate. Looking back, it was more like a truce of convenience than a brotherhood that cared about each other over ideology. That truce ends when the outside "threats" are eliminated. And to eliminate those threats while disassociating themselves from the act of eradication, they get the gov't to do it on their behalf, thus washing the blood from their hands like Pontius Pilate. Through degrees of separation, they rationalize "I didn't kill transpeople, the gov't did," which were acting "lawfully" after the people they voted in passed laws criminalizing everything they hate. You can see it with abortions. If the choice is abortion or letting a pregnant woman die, doctors are choosing to let the woman die. Not through neglect but through hope that chance and everything they're doing will work even if it's inadequate. If they intervene, they risk ending up in court with a christian doctor saying the abortion was unnecessary and that inadequate care would have been enough, and a christian jury will convict every single time.
Ironically, the freedom of religion actually made religion more prominent, not less. Whereas in Europe where pretty much every country has a state religion is more secular than the US. If millions upon millions weren't going to die, I'd say rip that bandaid off and let christianity kill itself off through public enforcement.
Another thing that is ironic is when I was in school (California), one could opt out of the pledge of allegiance on religious grounds. (That's right, blue states respect religious beliefs.) I'm guessing that still holds, since I'm not seeing religious children being persecuted for not saying it. I wonder if one could abstain on humanist grounds. (Honestly, the pledge of allegiance is bullshit anyway.)
Oh man, CP has an anti-Talarico article at least once a week. Many are quite a stretch. I’ve inquired what Talarico’s veterinarian’s sister’s lawn service owner’s pastor thinks.
Talarico is showing the right wing, especially the evangelicals, that their leadership is lying to them about democrats. The whole “you can’t be a Christian and vote democrat” schpiel is being demolished by current society. Where day in and day out a Republican is being charged or convicted of heinous crimes against women children and family values, where their best candidate is a divorced predator convicted of fraud at the highest government level in the state and he’s going against a freakin Eagle Scout who is demonstrably Christian and lets no one forget it. (I expect Talarico to have some flaw, that might come out to bite him, no one is perfect [well, there was this one guy, but they killed him😜]) Reality, if one bothers to look at it, puts paid to the lie that democrats can’t be Christian. And the more the right fights to prove the lie, the more they lose the battles over it.
But the fight isn’t over. We need to make a real statement in November, and then we need to hold our politicians’ feet to the fire and not let up ever. Not being vigilant is what got us here in the first place.
Except that Talarico is not a Real Christian (TM). And neither are Dems. I’ve seen it in CP comments that anyone who votes for a Dem is not a True Christian.
I’m a Democrat and a Christian. There are numerous denominations of Christianity but the MAGA crowd has decided (like many denominations) that they are the only true believers. I don’t believe that to be true. There are many paths to salvation.
No, not him. I’m blanking on the name, it’s on the tip of my tongue, you know, the guy who walked on water, fed the masses with loaves and fishes, was completely imaginary. Joe, Jose, no Jesus. Yeah. That’s the ticket.
And this, more than anything, is what has conservative panties in a twist. To them, language matters because of the patriarchal authoritarianism they espouse. They hate preferred pronouns because using them prevents them from forcing others into their narrow little boxes. God must be male, because men are always at the top of their power structure. "[I]t is a kind of “violence” to imply to a girl that her brother is more like God than she is". And that's the takeaway these conservatives want girls to get. That they are less than.
They are mad that Rigby welcomes atheists because the atheists aren't coming to their churches for high pressure conversion. They are going to Rigby's church because of shared values.
While my worldview doesn't include a "Christian God", those in the church I go to know I'm not Christian as they are: no public prayer (but I can bow my head), no communion (just creepy), and I wear jeans, a "message shirt" and sneakers, and I'm VERY political. (And NO ONE wants me to sing....)
But I love the responsiveness in this majority-Black church! It's so much fun to yell out in public! And clap! An hour, and it's time to go home for another week. It really is wonderful!
So, why aren't all churches like the one I go to, where I don't think people could be more supportive? They see me as a human being, not someone who exists solely to support their bigoted viewpoint.
Perhaps it was the same person who decided that homosexuality is "unnatural", despite biologists having observed such behavior in >1.500 different species.....in nature.
The evangelical crowd only wants to associate with people they agree with. Everyone else is part of the out-group to be feared and scorned. I'm a Texas resident who will vote for Talarico if for no other reason Ken Paxton is an awful human being. That said, I do not like politicians of any stripe putting their religiosity forward as something that qualifies them for public office.
If Talarico is the one to finally break the spell in TX delusions, I’m here for it! It should also be studied later. His taste of your own medicine approach is brilliant.
[Mr. Rigby does not use male pronouns for God, for example, because it is a kind of “violence” to imply to a girl that her brother is more like God than she is, he said in an interview after the service. He does not use the word “Lord,” because it conjures a wealthy, European, male God, he said.]
Those are the exact reasons why conservative fundamentalists need God to have a gigantic godly mega-cock.
So that men are superior to women and rich and white men are superior to everyone else.
They worship power. Brute force power. They want a cruel, powerful tyrant who orders murder of anyone defined as "Them" and not "Us." They want a king with a massive penis and balls who build an eternal medieval torture chamber for the people defined as enemies, people who refuse to recognize the superiority of "Us" and obey "Us".
They are the angry, bitter, hateful, resentful son from the story of the Two Prodigal Sons. The one who gets angry at God for welcoming "Those" people into the house and throwing a party for Them. The story ends with that son still being petulant and hateful refusing to go into the party and enjoy himself.
To humble themselves is terrifying to them. Giving up unearned power terrifies them. Giving up their core identity as a superior being in the hierarchy they've inherited and maintained terrifies them.
Check me on this, but didn't Jesus consort with tax collectors and other sinners whom the Pharisees and Sadducees tended to treat as something less than human? Pastor Rigby seems to be following the same playbook, and I think that is what setting MAGA off.
Rigby wants to practice a religion of inclusion, rather than a religion of exclusion. The angry bible thumpers don't deal well with that, and I can't help but notice that their efforts to discredit Rigby are falling flat on their individual and collective faces.
Rigby likes working with atheists, and given a chance, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't mind working with him.
When a religion or politics says "only our way to X leads to success; all others lead to failure" and someone comes along and is happy and prosperous doing X a different way, it poses an existential threat to that religion's temporal power and they react viciously to it. They can't allow their followers to know options exist. This is why places like the USSR (in the past), NK, and to a lesser extent modern China limit outside information access. It's why Iran doesn't like their people listening to western media; they have based their reputation on social order on the claim that their way is the only or best way to be happy...when the outside world shows this to be false. So they must limit access to, and attack, the outside world.
Those are big cases, this is a small one, but it's the same thing: right-wing conservative evangelicals are having absolute fits that Talarico is showing southern evangelical Christians that there's a happy, prosperous, successful way to Christian liberally. They want him gone not just because he might win an election, but because his public existence undermines their claims to be the theological and civil 'best way' to be.
The Christianity I grew up with far better resembled what Rigby is promoting than the angry bible thumpers we hear about all too often. Rigby and Talarico rub against their grain, Talarico doing so publicly with his campaign for the Senate. He makes a lie of their corrosive Christianity by providing a stark contrast to it.
“The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful.”
-Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Aw shucks! I was going to go with that "non-binary" line... but... you pretty much nailed it. "Non-binary" relating to god is not a new idea at all. Talarico's opponents are just trying to frame it that way. Here in San Antonio, every other commercial is a hit piece against Talarico sponsored by some renegade PAC. In case they say anything false, Paxton can disavow them. I am the Septuagenarian Contrarian and I approved this message. 😁
I believe I’ve read, though, that the god that evolved (culturally, that is, not biologically 😏) into the Abrahamic god YHVH was originally a lesser deity in a pantheon/family of ancient gods, all of whom were believed to have corporeal bodies just like humans; Yahweh was the brother/uncle of the more important gods (or was he a brother-in-law?), but over time his importance increased until the rest of the family were forgotten, as was belief in him as a god with an actual body.
I wish I could remember where I’ve read that — in some atheist book or other? But if anyone on here has heard that before and has any source(s) for it, I’d love to know. It certainly makes sense that the god-beliefs of the ancient Hebrews would have gradually changed over centuries, just as the god-beliefs of the ancient Egyptians did.
This is kind of funny, actually, and I'm not even on my 1st cup of coffee. We're in the middle of nowhere with nephew and niece, waiting for breakfast.
"So they’re trying to use his Christianity against him, attempting to convince conservatives that his faith—and his belief in Jesus—is somehow just as heretical as Islam and atheism."
Of course they are. I was having just this conversation yesterday with Mike nellis at endless urgency, his blog. He was saying that the biggest problem now with the far right, especially the religious right, is that they have no moral clarity. I disagreed with him. I said they are absolutely have moral clarity. They just don't care about it.
They know for example, the child molestation is wrong. They know that lying is wrong. But they're willing to lie about gay people and ignore the child molestation going on in their own churches, referring to project their evil onto innocent people rather than do something about it, and admit that they have other agendas. In this case, the other agendas are power, money, and the spiritual sickness known as religious Dominionisn. As I have said many times, sometimes on these very pages, this isn't about hypocrisy, which would be refreshingly honest in comparison.
This is about corruption. They have become that which they hate, or claimed to hate. Power, money, religious DominionIsm, and their own dark issues. This is what's important.
As Hemant points out, Rigby isn't sayingall that much that's controversial – the Bible says that God is male and female, Paul says there is no male and female in Jesus – and he welcomes everybody, which Christian say that they do – wherever two or more are gathered in his name there is love
This is what I wrote at endless urgency. Not so different than what I wrote above. But I thought I would post it anyway.
————
Great column, Mike. but as usual, I have to disagree with you even while I absolutely agree with you 100%. One sentence you wrote: “They can’t do it, because they lack the moral clarity to do it.” They have the moral clarity. Absolutely they have it. They know all of this is wrong. But they simply don’t care, because they are absolutely corrupt. The half-man corruption of Temussolini has spread everywhere, because that is what corruption does. As I have written before, Breaking Bad was not about drug dealing. It was about corruption.
My favorite example, but there are so many more. The child molestation scandal in conservative christian churches—catholic, SBC, JW, AOG— it doesn’t matter. They know child molestation is wrong, but they prefer to blame it on innocent others and do nothing about it. Why? Power and Money, and the sickness of religious dominionism. If their own kids were getting molested, you can bet they would be very upset.
Occasionally, one of their kids, like the peternel boy, gets caught up in it all. But I’m pretty sure he’s an exception. I have read a number of pastors kids being arrested for their crimes. And we know abuse is often generational. Draw your own conclusions Look at Vance. Another unqualified and incompetent half of a man. He knew it was a lie about haitians eating pets. HE even admitted it. But he didn’t care.
James Talarico’s second cousin's former roommate's childhood mailman's daughter washes her hands after using the restroom, and conservatives thinks it a scandal.
The GQP didn't blink when Hegseth announced that he hasn't washed his hands in over 10 years. His "reasoning?" Germs aren't a real thing because he can't see them.
Apparently, the major news media has FINALLY grown a backbone, now that three major news outlets have been undeservedly suspected from access to the White House. WAY OVERDUE!
I appreciate Talarico’s inclusive flavor of Christianity. I still don’t want to be any part of it. Anyone with the slightest bit of sanity left understands that they hate Talarico because he believes the separation of church and state is extremely important. THAT is dangerous! If this is what Texas needs to see the light, good luck to them on their very long journey ahead (back into reality).
They don't understand how much separation of church and state protects them. They can't grasp the idea thatbif church and state merge, the state might be someone else's church. How much blood was spilled during the last 5 centuries in fights over whether or not Protestants or Catholics should run things?
Oh they're for separation of a different church and state. We see it every time they get paranoid about "Shaira Law". They think their church should be the exception.
It's been a loooong time since baptists felt the negative effects of non-separation in the US. They're willing to risk it because they think they have the numbers to be the theology of political choice and because none of them alive today has any experience otherwise.
“…Talarico once saying “God is non-binary” because God shouldn’t be defined by a gender. (That, by the way, is something many conservative Christians believe, too.)”
Well… they say they believe this, this is something that is supposed to be cannon, however, the church is and always has been male centric and therefore god is more male than female. I mean, Adam was created first and Eve as an afterthought (and apparently a second draft, hi Lilith) so of course god is a man since he created Adam in his image and Eve from Adam’s rib. Let’s not forget Christianity’s history, and Jewish and Islam, is patriarchy with an omnipotent leader.
These are nice words this preacher, but they are not really supported in reality. There’s a lot that Christians believe that they do not practice.
Virtually nothing of Christianity is based in reality, but Rigby at least thinks that being inclusive rather than exclusive is more productive and more positive.
To test them on how strongly they believe God shouldn't be defined by a gender, refer to God using she/her pronouns within earshot. Time how long it takes for their heads to explode.
When I comment at CP I always structure my sentences to say “your god” or “the Christian god” etc. That way I am using proper English by not capitalizing a non-proper noun. This irks some people there who think I should be writing “God”. And when they admonish me, I refer them to a grammar guide.
Why are they so afraid of Talarico? His message resonates with the electorate and threatens their stranglehold on the levers of power.
He challenges their "ownership" of Christianity.
He also practices a Christianity that is virtually 180° opposed to theirs.
Talerico is a Jimmy Carter christian.
Indeed, a Christian with his empathy intact!
He challenges their "ownership" of Texas.
By all appearances he's a decent human being, and that terrifies them.
I think it goes beyond the politics. They constantly tell their flock that the only way to be a good Christian is to be conservative. He is a very public counter-example, proving them wrong just by existing (in the public eye).
It's not just a fight to control the government, but christianity itself.
Christians have been fighting over who has the correct interpretation of their religion since there have been Christians.
Kind of like this
youtu.be/Ka9mfZbTFbk
Definitely. That's part of the reason the Founding Fathers chose the secular route for government. There were four major factions of christianity in the colonies that were competing for dominance. The Pilgrims (who left Plymouth, on their second departure, only to land in Plymouth) because of "persecution," used to persecute everyone else to force them to live like the Puritans. Until they fell out of favor when culture shifted away from being ascetic.
During my brush with religion, different denominations got along, but only certain ones. Mormons were much maligned, catholics were mocked, certain denominations were left alone, but not invited to participate. Looking back, it was more like a truce of convenience than a brotherhood that cared about each other over ideology. That truce ends when the outside "threats" are eliminated. And to eliminate those threats while disassociating themselves from the act of eradication, they get the gov't to do it on their behalf, thus washing the blood from their hands like Pontius Pilate. Through degrees of separation, they rationalize "I didn't kill transpeople, the gov't did," which were acting "lawfully" after the people they voted in passed laws criminalizing everything they hate. You can see it with abortions. If the choice is abortion or letting a pregnant woman die, doctors are choosing to let the woman die. Not through neglect but through hope that chance and everything they're doing will work even if it's inadequate. If they intervene, they risk ending up in court with a christian doctor saying the abortion was unnecessary and that inadequate care would have been enough, and a christian jury will convict every single time.
Ironically, the freedom of religion actually made religion more prominent, not less. Whereas in Europe where pretty much every country has a state religion is more secular than the US. If millions upon millions weren't going to die, I'd say rip that bandaid off and let christianity kill itself off through public enforcement.
Another thing that is ironic is when I was in school (California), one could opt out of the pledge of allegiance on religious grounds. (That's right, blue states respect religious beliefs.) I'm guessing that still holds, since I'm not seeing religious children being persecuted for not saying it. I wonder if one could abstain on humanist grounds. (Honestly, the pledge of allegiance is bullshit anyway.)
That is why there are over 45.000 different - and mutually incompatible - sects.
Oh man, CP has an anti-Talarico article at least once a week. Many are quite a stretch. I’ve inquired what Talarico’s veterinarian’s sister’s lawn service owner’s pastor thinks.
Talarico is showing the right wing, especially the evangelicals, that their leadership is lying to them about democrats. The whole “you can’t be a Christian and vote democrat” schpiel is being demolished by current society. Where day in and day out a Republican is being charged or convicted of heinous crimes against women children and family values, where their best candidate is a divorced predator convicted of fraud at the highest government level in the state and he’s going against a freakin Eagle Scout who is demonstrably Christian and lets no one forget it. (I expect Talarico to have some flaw, that might come out to bite him, no one is perfect [well, there was this one guy, but they killed him😜]) Reality, if one bothers to look at it, puts paid to the lie that democrats can’t be Christian. And the more the right fights to prove the lie, the more they lose the battles over it.
But the fight isn’t over. We need to make a real statement in November, and then we need to hold our politicians’ feet to the fire and not let up ever. Not being vigilant is what got us here in the first place.
Except that Talarico is not a Real Christian (TM). And neither are Dems. I’ve seen it in CP comments that anyone who votes for a Dem is not a True Christian.
And the bagpipes just keep on bagpiping! 😁
The Highlands Festival never ends.
Would that i could toss a caber onto them...
I'm an atheist and I would vote for Talarico. If you care about decency he's the only possible choice.
The more fanatical can repeat that mantra to themselves. But they know in their hearts they'll lose membership to him unless they do something.
I couldn't agree more, considering who's already shown the further true meaning of indoctrination.
I’m a Democrat and a Christian. There are numerous denominations of Christianity but the MAGA crowd has decided (like many denominations) that they are the only true believers. I don’t believe that to be true. There are many paths to salvation.
"no one is perfect [well, there was this one guy, but they killed him]"
Who? Charlie Kirk?
No, not him. I’m blanking on the name, it’s on the tip of my tongue, you know, the guy who walked on water, fed the masses with loaves and fishes, was completely imaginary. Joe, Jose, no Jesus. Yeah. That’s the ticket.
LOL!
Talarico is hilarious and has brought me so much joy just watching him. That is a Christian boy I can get behind 🤣.
A possible flaw of Talarico is that he apparently wants to “keep boys out of girls’ sports”.
𝑅𝑖𝑔𝑏𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑎𝑦.
And this, more than anything, is what has conservative panties in a twist. To them, language matters because of the patriarchal authoritarianism they espouse. They hate preferred pronouns because using them prevents them from forcing others into their narrow little boxes. God must be male, because men are always at the top of their power structure. "[I]t is a kind of “violence” to imply to a girl that her brother is more like God than she is". And that's the takeaway these conservatives want girls to get. That they are less than.
They are mad that Rigby welcomes atheists because the atheists aren't coming to their churches for high pressure conversion. They are going to Rigby's church because of shared values.
Hi Joe,
While my worldview doesn't include a "Christian God", those in the church I go to know I'm not Christian as they are: no public prayer (but I can bow my head), no communion (just creepy), and I wear jeans, a "message shirt" and sneakers, and I'm VERY political. (And NO ONE wants me to sing....)
But I love the responsiveness in this majority-Black church! It's so much fun to yell out in public! And clap! An hour, and it's time to go home for another week. It really is wonderful!
So, why aren't all churches like the one I go to, where I don't think people could be more supportive? They see me as a human being, not someone who exists solely to support their bigoted viewpoint.
God is a male 🤣 Who thought of that? Certainly not Mother Nature! Someone jealous of real creation perhaps? A little 🤏🏼
How is patriarchy or capitalism going to work with a genderless “God” 🤣 I’m so cynical now.
Linda,
Perhaps it was the same person who decided that homosexuality is "unnatural", despite biologists having observed such behavior in >1.500 different species.....in nature.
Exactly. The same person without a doubt 😂
The evangelical crowd only wants to associate with people they agree with. Everyone else is part of the out-group to be feared and scorned. I'm a Texas resident who will vote for Talarico if for no other reason Ken Paxton is an awful human being. That said, I do not like politicians of any stripe putting their religiosity forward as something that qualifies them for public office.
If Talarico is the one to finally break the spell in TX delusions, I’m here for it! It should also be studied later. His taste of your own medicine approach is brilliant.
[Mr. Rigby does not use male pronouns for God, for example, because it is a kind of “violence” to imply to a girl that her brother is more like God than she is, he said in an interview after the service. He does not use the word “Lord,” because it conjures a wealthy, European, male God, he said.]
Those are the exact reasons why conservative fundamentalists need God to have a gigantic godly mega-cock.
So that men are superior to women and rich and white men are superior to everyone else.
They worship power. Brute force power. They want a cruel, powerful tyrant who orders murder of anyone defined as "Them" and not "Us." They want a king with a massive penis and balls who build an eternal medieval torture chamber for the people defined as enemies, people who refuse to recognize the superiority of "Us" and obey "Us".
They are the angry, bitter, hateful, resentful son from the story of the Two Prodigal Sons. The one who gets angry at God for welcoming "Those" people into the house and throwing a party for Them. The story ends with that son still being petulant and hateful refusing to go into the party and enjoy himself.
To humble themselves is terrifying to them. Giving up unearned power terrifies them. Giving up their core identity as a superior being in the hierarchy they've inherited and maintained terrifies them.
They don't play well with others, either!
They see the others as the toys to play with and not the fellow players to share with.
Anytime they do humble themselves, it is to god only, and it is performative rather than true humility.
https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.A13Kv42A4zWv5E_aIxGUOwHaJ4?w=175&h=233&c=7&pcl=292827&r=0&o=7&dpr=2.9&pid=1.7&rm=3
Saucy!
Check me on this, but didn't Jesus consort with tax collectors and other sinners whom the Pharisees and Sadducees tended to treat as something less than human? Pastor Rigby seems to be following the same playbook, and I think that is what setting MAGA off.
Rigby wants to practice a religion of inclusion, rather than a religion of exclusion. The angry bible thumpers don't deal well with that, and I can't help but notice that their efforts to discredit Rigby are falling flat on their individual and collective faces.
Rigby likes working with atheists, and given a chance, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't mind working with him.
When a religion or politics says "only our way to X leads to success; all others lead to failure" and someone comes along and is happy and prosperous doing X a different way, it poses an existential threat to that religion's temporal power and they react viciously to it. They can't allow their followers to know options exist. This is why places like the USSR (in the past), NK, and to a lesser extent modern China limit outside information access. It's why Iran doesn't like their people listening to western media; they have based their reputation on social order on the claim that their way is the only or best way to be happy...when the outside world shows this to be false. So they must limit access to, and attack, the outside world.
Those are big cases, this is a small one, but it's the same thing: right-wing conservative evangelicals are having absolute fits that Talarico is showing southern evangelical Christians that there's a happy, prosperous, successful way to Christian liberally. They want him gone not just because he might win an election, but because his public existence undermines their claims to be the theological and civil 'best way' to be.
The Christianity I grew up with far better resembled what Rigby is promoting than the angry bible thumpers we hear about all too often. Rigby and Talarico rub against their grain, Talarico doing so publicly with his campaign for the Senate. He makes a lie of their corrosive Christianity by providing a stark contrast to it.
And it's WORKING.
"By their fruits ye shall know them." Rigby and Talarico have good fruit. Paxton's fruit was rotten before he harvested.
🤣
OT:
“The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful.”
-Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
OT
Before I forget to mention it: Happy 79th Birthday to the Master, Stephen King.
I met him once for about 2 minutes in 1982. He doesn't remember it, I'm sure, but I do.
https://tenor.com/Qrof.gif
Kash Patel!?!
Patel doesn't look anywhere near that good!
Non-binary? According to the the Jews, YHVH doesn't have a physical form at all. Christians came up with that.
And pronouns? You're not even supposed to pronounce the Jewish god's name (hence YHVH).
Parker (of "Parkergetajob") just made that very point in a YouTube Short, not that long ago. If I can find it, I'll post it.
GOT IT: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-r_zHyf67D4
Aw shucks! I was going to go with that "non-binary" line... but... you pretty much nailed it. "Non-binary" relating to god is not a new idea at all. Talarico's opponents are just trying to frame it that way. Here in San Antonio, every other commercial is a hit piece against Talarico sponsored by some renegade PAC. In case they say anything false, Paxton can disavow them. I am the Septuagenarian Contrarian and I approved this message. 😁
I believe I’ve read, though, that the god that evolved (culturally, that is, not biologically 😏) into the Abrahamic god YHVH was originally a lesser deity in a pantheon/family of ancient gods, all of whom were believed to have corporeal bodies just like humans; Yahweh was the brother/uncle of the more important gods (or was he a brother-in-law?), but over time his importance increased until the rest of the family were forgotten, as was belief in him as a god with an actual body.
I wish I could remember where I’ve read that — in some atheist book or other? But if anyone on here has heard that before and has any source(s) for it, I’d love to know. It certainly makes sense that the god-beliefs of the ancient Hebrews would have gradually changed over centuries, just as the god-beliefs of the ancient Egyptians did.
Don't you mean 𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑑 over the centuries?
Yes, presumably over centuries.
Really drifting O.T. now , I guess, but FWIW…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahwism
if there's one thing that makes Jesus a grumpy Gus it's people who read his dad’s book and assume he's Mexican.
Names and links, please.....
WELL, somebody got ratioed....
That's why they call me Fraction Man. Three and one over two fifths of an ordinary human!
I don't understand your mathematical terminology.....
So you must have an IQ of at LEAST 100! (Tri-Dig)
This is kind of funny, actually, and I'm not even on my 1st cup of coffee. We're in the middle of nowhere with nephew and niece, waiting for breakfast.
"So they’re trying to use his Christianity against him, attempting to convince conservatives that his faith—and his belief in Jesus—is somehow just as heretical as Islam and atheism."
Of course they are. I was having just this conversation yesterday with Mike nellis at endless urgency, his blog. He was saying that the biggest problem now with the far right, especially the religious right, is that they have no moral clarity. I disagreed with him. I said they are absolutely have moral clarity. They just don't care about it.
They know for example, the child molestation is wrong. They know that lying is wrong. But they're willing to lie about gay people and ignore the child molestation going on in their own churches, referring to project their evil onto innocent people rather than do something about it, and admit that they have other agendas. In this case, the other agendas are power, money, and the spiritual sickness known as religious Dominionisn. As I have said many times, sometimes on these very pages, this isn't about hypocrisy, which would be refreshingly honest in comparison.
This is about corruption. They have become that which they hate, or claimed to hate. Power, money, religious DominionIsm, and their own dark issues. This is what's important.
As Hemant points out, Rigby isn't sayingall that much that's controversial – the Bible says that God is male and female, Paul says there is no male and female in Jesus – and he welcomes everybody, which Christian say that they do – wherever two or more are gathered in his name there is love
That's not what they want. They want power.
This is what I wrote at endless urgency. Not so different than what I wrote above. But I thought I would post it anyway.
————
Great column, Mike. but as usual, I have to disagree with you even while I absolutely agree with you 100%. One sentence you wrote: “They can’t do it, because they lack the moral clarity to do it.” They have the moral clarity. Absolutely they have it. They know all of this is wrong. But they simply don’t care, because they are absolutely corrupt. The half-man corruption of Temussolini has spread everywhere, because that is what corruption does. As I have written before, Breaking Bad was not about drug dealing. It was about corruption.
My favorite example, but there are so many more. The child molestation scandal in conservative christian churches—catholic, SBC, JW, AOG— it doesn’t matter. They know child molestation is wrong, but they prefer to blame it on innocent others and do nothing about it. Why? Power and Money, and the sickness of religious dominionism. If their own kids were getting molested, you can bet they would be very upset.
Occasionally, one of their kids, like the peternel boy, gets caught up in it all. But I’m pretty sure he’s an exception. I have read a number of pastors kids being arrested for their crimes. And we know abuse is often generational. Draw your own conclusions Look at Vance. Another unqualified and incompetent half of a man. He knew it was a lie about haitians eating pets. HE even admitted it. But he didn’t care.
It’s not hypocrisy. IT IS CORRUPTION
https://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/2026/09/18
wherever two or more are gathered in his name there is a crime spree and usually civil rights violations.
James Talarico’s second cousin's former roommate's childhood mailman's daughter washes her hands after using the restroom, and conservatives thinks it a scandal.
The GQP didn't blink when Hegseth announced that he hasn't washed his hands in over 10 years. His "reasoning?" Germs aren't a real thing because he can't see them.
I have a feeling that he is lying.
Well, he is Christian after all. Lying is his birthright.
You can't see chemical or biological weapons either, Petey. Want to take the same attitude toward THEM?
It astounds me that he's still breathing.
OT: BIG HONKING NEWS BULLETIN! Networks Suspend Pool Coverage of Trump After CNN Is Barred:
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/09/21/business/trump-white-house-cnn-politico-msnow?unlocked_article_code=1.C1E.6uKP.AeZMRiBU303I&smid=url-share
Apparently, the major news media has FINALLY grown a backbone, now that three major news outlets have been undeservedly suspected from access to the White House. WAY OVERDUE!
About damn time. They should have stood up to the blowhard the first time he insulted a reporter.
I fully expect that Trump will go through the ceiling about this, because those reporters have cut him off from the one thing that he lives on:
ATTENTION.
I appreciate Talarico’s inclusive flavor of Christianity. I still don’t want to be any part of it. Anyone with the slightest bit of sanity left understands that they hate Talarico because he believes the separation of church and state is extremely important. THAT is dangerous! If this is what Texas needs to see the light, good luck to them on their very long journey ahead (back into reality).
They don't understand how much separation of church and state protects them. They can't grasp the idea thatbif church and state merge, the state might be someone else's church. How much blood was spilled during the last 5 centuries in fights over whether or not Protestants or Catholics should run things?
Oh they're for separation of a different church and state. We see it every time they get paranoid about "Shaira Law". They think their church should be the exception.
I would hardly call feeling threatened by the 1% of Muslims here a belief in the separation of church and state. It’s just pearl clutching.
It's been a loooong time since baptists felt the negative effects of non-separation in the US. They're willing to risk it because they think they have the numbers to be the theology of political choice and because none of them alive today has any experience otherwise.
Unfortunately we all have to suffer through their f**k around and find out phase via fascism. Unforgivable
💯 It’s absolutely mind boggling
Too many folks still believe they are the exception to fascist rule. They weren’t supposed to take MY rights away just THEM.
Leopards, faces.
🤣🐆
“…Talarico once saying “God is non-binary” because God shouldn’t be defined by a gender. (That, by the way, is something many conservative Christians believe, too.)”
Well… they say they believe this, this is something that is supposed to be cannon, however, the church is and always has been male centric and therefore god is more male than female. I mean, Adam was created first and Eve as an afterthought (and apparently a second draft, hi Lilith) so of course god is a man since he created Adam in his image and Eve from Adam’s rib. Let’s not forget Christianity’s history, and Jewish and Islam, is patriarchy with an omnipotent leader.
These are nice words this preacher, but they are not really supported in reality. There’s a lot that Christians believe that they do not practice.
Virtually nothing of Christianity is based in reality, but Rigby at least thinks that being inclusive rather than exclusive is more productive and more positive.
I'll sign up for that everyday of the week.
To test them on how strongly they believe God shouldn't be defined by a gender, refer to God using she/her pronouns within earshot. Time how long it takes for their heads to explode.
When I comment at CP I always structure my sentences to say “your god” or “the Christian god” etc. That way I am using proper English by not capitalizing a non-proper noun. This irks some people there who think I should be writing “God”. And when they admonish me, I refer them to a grammar guide.