Over at Salon.com, atheist Amanda Marcotte is in a state of joy over her belief that notorious biblical cherry picker James Talarico, could be an "existential threat" to the beliefs of Republican Christians during the course of his Texas campaign for the U.S. Senate.
It is no error or slur to label Marcotte as an atheist since she herself flat out admitted it. In fact her brand of atheism goes beyond merely tolerating religion to outright hostility of Christianity in particular as you can see in "Salon’s Marcotte: ‘Merry Christmas!’ Is Conservative Code For ‘F**k You!’."
With an attitude like that you can read Marcotte's Monday story, "James Talarico’s campaign could do lasting damage to the GOP," with a huge grain of salt as she engages in the obvious pretense of somehow supporting Christianity but only in a very liberal cherry-picking way which nixes large sections of the Bible in order to reinterpret it as Socialist/Woke dogma much as her candidate hero has done.
All politics are identity politics. Republicans have long mocked this notion, treating the very concept of “identity politics” as a left-wing fixation. In reality, the GOP’s success is entirely due to the cheapest form of identity politics: For decades, but especially now, they have worked to distract voters from the party’s ruinous policies with appeals to their identity as white, provincial and, most importantly, Christian. This campaign has been enormously successful. White evangelicals have been the backbone of the GOP for decades not because they love tax cuts for the rich and environmental degradation, but because they have been told, repeatedly, that Democrats are demonic and there is no such thing as a liberal Christian.
This is why there’s a growing panic in the Republican ranks over the campaign of James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Texas, and it’s not just fear that he could beat Ken Paxton, the state’s Republican attorney general. Win or lose, Talarico — a seminary student-turned-politician — embodies an existential threat to the right’s long-standing myth that to be Christian must necessarily mean voting Republican.
Panic? More like bemusement that "non-binary God" Talarico is turning himself into a laughingstock on the campaign trail with his woke reinterpretation of the Bible.
Atheist Marcotte continues to gush over Talarico's supposed threat to non-woke namely what has been normally considered Christianity until the Left attempted to rebrand it for political purposes in order to fool enough voters to win elections as she so desperately hopes.
Talarico, though, has centered his Christian identity in his campaign. It’s not just that he regularly quotes scripture or speaks openly of his faith. His biography reads far more like that of a right-wing evangelical than the liberal Democrat he is. He studied theology at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and is the grandson of a Baptist preacher. He gives off Boy Scout vibes with his earnest tones and short haircut. He even grew up in Round Rock, a suburb of Austin that has shifted left in recent years, but that used to be infamous for its right-wing politics. For white evangelicals experiencing doubts about MAGA politics, Talarico is a role model for how to be a liberal without giving up their faith, or even a conservative aesthetic.
Many Christian right leaders understand that, even if Talarico can’t pull off a miracle win in Texas, his campaign and fame is a long-term threat to their cause. The reaction from white evangelical influencers to him isn’t just about disagreeing with him politically. They are actively trying to discredit his identity as a Christian.
...The religious right has good reason to worry that some of their followers could be tempted by Talarico’s message that liberal Christians are a real thing. Already, churches are losing power because their fidelity to the GOP over Christ’s message of love and compassion.
Yeah, far-left atheist Amanda Marcotte preaching about "Christ's message." Somehow it makes her own message about Talarico's supposed threat to normal Christianity, in favor of the woke version being pushed by the candidate, sound even more absurd.
