James Talarico: Obama 2.0

OPINION:

James Talarico is 36 years old. He now serves in the Texas House of Representatives. Last week, he defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary for a seat in the U.S. Senate.

If Mr. Talarico wins in the November general election, here is a prediction you can take to the bank: In 2028, this freshly minted senator will be a featured speaker at the Democratic National Convention, and just a handful of months thereafter, he will announce his candidacy for the presidency of the United States.

If you have an eerie sense of deja vu — that you’ve already seen this movie, heard this song and read this book — then you should. James Talarico is young. He was raised by a single mother. He is an “articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy” (to quote what Joseph R. Biden once said about another relatively unknown upstart).

Mr. Talarico presents his ideas in soft, calculated, melodic tones. My goodness; if you close your eyes and listen to him talk, you would swear you’re listening to the great “deporter in chief” himself. James Talarico is essentially Obama 2.0.

In addition to age, family background and communication style, there’s another striking similarity between Mr. Talarico and his Manchurian precursor. James Talarico, while claiming to be a biblical Christian, really is not.

Here are just a few of the heretical statements Mr. Talarico has made in recent days.

First, he argues that because Jesus is silent on the issue of modern-day abortion, he is, therefore, in favor of it, and conservative Christians are wrong to argue otherwise. Aside from this being a quintessential example of a fallacious “argument from silence,” it is simply not true.

All Orthodox Christians hold that Jesus is the second person of the triune God. All true followers of Christ understand that, as God, Jesus communicates not only through what is recorded in the four Gospels but also through the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

In other words, all of Scripture is the word of God, and the God who tells us in Matthew that “it would be better to have a millstone tied around your neck and be cast into the sea than to harm a little child” is the same God who tells us in Genesis that he will “demand an accounting for the life of every human being” because he has made every man, woman and child “in His image.”

Claiming that Jesus is silent on murdering babies is nonsense. It is unbiblical, and un-Christian, and it’s simply wrong. Second, Mr. Talarico says the story of the Annunciation (as recorded in the Gospel of Luke) describes Mary’s “consent” and, therefore, is a moral template for all women having the choice to keep or abort any child resulting from such a consensual act.

Sidebar: Did he just suggest that the miraculous conception and subsequent virgin birth is evidence of consensual sex between God and the mother of Christ? Oh my! Not only is this terrible hermeneutics, but it’s also blatant heresy that all Christians of whatever denominational stripe should condemn.

Third, Mr. Talarico is a proponent of religious pluralism, and, as such, he argues that all paths lead to the same summit and the same God, and that all good people will end up at the same place, singing “Kumbaya” to a savior who looks a lot more like them than the biblical Christ.

Such theology flies directly in the face of something even Mr. Talarico can’t deny that Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life, and NO ONE (emphasis mine) comes to the Father but by me.”

Fourth, Mr. Talarico is a proponent of sexual nihilism and everything LGBTQ, to the extent that he has even declared that “God is nonbinary” and, thus, suggests that the creator of the universe is somehow trans.

The list of unbiblical ideas goes on and on and on. In addition to disparaging the Gospel, butchering the Bible and deconstructing the basics of the Christian faith, James Talarico is a student of the Frankfurt School. He is more a disciple of Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno and Herbert Marcuse than he is a follower of Christ.

He believes in critical race theory, diversity, equity and inclusion and liberation theology. He argues for open immigration, economic redistribution and reverse discrimination.

Put simply, Mr. Talarico is more aligned with the worldview of Karl Marx than with that of Peter, Paul, James, John and even Jesus. James Talarico is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and we ignore him at our peril. As I said above, this is a deja vu moment. We’ve been here before.

If you feel as if you’re listening to another upstart politician who goes to church and quotes Jesus precociously tell you he will “fundamentally transform” America, then you’re right. If you just sit on your hands and let this man get elected, then mark my words: You ain’t seen nothing yet.

• Everett Piper (dreverettpiper.com, @dreverettpiper), a columnist for The Washington Times, is a former university president and radio host. He is the author of “Not a Day Care: The Devastating Consequences of Abandoning Truth” (Regnery). He can be reached at epiper@dreverettpiper.com.