James Talarico (13:20)

In my faith tradition, Jesus is not, not just a great teacher. Jesus is the embodiment of the pattern of the universe and Jesus life. Again, in our tradition, the milestones are incarnation. That's Christmas, right? When, when God takes human form. So that's incarnation. The second is crucifixion, right? That's Good Friday, where Jesus, because he confronts the powerful, is executed on a cross, a humiliating death along with other criminals. And then the last step is resurrection, that something new and beautiful rises from those ashes. So those three things, incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, that's the pattern of the universe. Again, just take religion out of it for a second. Let's just think like a physicist or a biologist. Creation, destruction, recreation. I mean, that is the story of the physical universe. It's the story of our lives, right? That we are all headed toward a brick wall at the end of this, right? There is birth, death, rebirth. Hindus would say reincarnation.

Allie Beth Stuckey (14:33)

Okay, so I know that was long and I kind of got bored already. But it's important to understand where he is coming from there. This is how someone who calls themselves a progressive Christian sees Jesus's life. Yes, they might say as a moral teacher, but really as a metaphor, really as a symbol for what he called the pattern of the universe. But really, as we will get into it, it is more a symbol of the call to liberate people from political systems of oppression. That is what he is getting at here. You will notice that he did not say Jesus is a savior. He did not mention sin, he didn't mention salvation, he didn't mention heaven. He didn't mention Jesus's sacrifice or his substitutionary death. In fact, that's not at all how he describes the reasons that Jesus died. He says that Jesus died to confront because he confronted the powerful. Keep that in mind as we read a little bit more about who he is and what this so called progressive Christianity is. So who is James Tallarico? Why are you seeing him on your TikTok and your Instagram? He is a Texas House representative. He represents Round Rock. Taylor Hutto, Georgetown. So this outside of Austin, if you know anything about Texas politics, Austin is very progressive and the progressivism has seeped into these areas. He actually flipped a previously red area blue. I shouldn't say he flipped it, but probably California transplants flipped it. And not only that, but here's what happened. So this is not just Texas, by the way. This is really anywhere. So progressives take over a city, say it's a city like Austin or Denver or San Francisco, and because their policies are awful, their city gets bad. It becomes ridden with crime, with homelessness, with open drug use, and it becomes dirty. And the progressives who created this place that is inundated with progressive, destructive policies, they don't want it anymore. And so the progressives with means who have been voting for the very consequences that their city is now reaping, they move outward and they say, ugh, Austin has gone to crap. I don't want to live here anymore. I don't have to live here anymore. The private schools are better. I can get more bang for my buck outside of Austin. So they move to the suburbs or they move to the more rural areas and they do this same exact thing, not seeing that they are the problem. So that is probably what happened here. The progressives who really don't like the outcomes of the policies that they've been proposing in places like Austin, they move outward where places are still nice. Because why? Because conservative policy has been dominating those places. And then they flip them. They just cannot see it. They cannot see it, which is also the definition of insanity. So that's how we get someone like James Tallarico. He came into the spotlight at the as the result of viral videos of his speeches against legislation that would require classrooms to display the Ten Commandments. I think I said aloud earlier, and I think it actually is mandating. So this becomes effective this year, September 1st. So here he is on the House floor citing Romans 13 as his defense for his position against against the requirement to pose the Ten Commandments sought to.

James Talarico (18:27)

The Hindu student who sits in a classroom is our neighbor. The Buddhist student who sits in a classroom is our neighbor. The Sikh student who sits in a classroom is our neighbor. The atheist student who sits in a classroom is our neighbor. And we are called to love them as ourselves. But if this bill passes, we're going to put a poster on the wall of that classroom that says, thou shall not worship any God before me. We're putting up a poster that says their religion is inferior. We're putting up a poster that says their faith is not welcome here.

Allie Beth Stuckey (19:11)

Okay, let's think about this as a Christian. If you are a Christian, then you believe in God, correct? That's pretty basic. You believe specifically in the God of Christianity, in the God of the Bible, that God who created the universe, if he created the universe, as Genesis 1:1 says at the first verse of the first chapter of the first book of the Bible, then He's the authority over all of it. And he is the source of truth. He is the source of righteousness, he is the source of morality. And this God who is the source of all truth and all goodness, the creator and authority over all things, also tells us who he is. And first John 4:8, that he love. So if God is creator, if he is authority, if he is good, if he is love, as the Christian faith posits, then everything he says and everything he does, everything he commands, he says and does and commands in love, including, you shall have no other gods before me. Now you might be able to make maybe he believes he can make a constitutional argument against it. Maybe you think this policy wise is A bad idea. That is a separate conversation. But theologically, as a Christian, to say that it is not loving to tell a person who is of a different religion that you should have no other gods before Yahweh, that is not unloving. Yes, Christianity does believe that every other religion is not inferior to Christianity, but is wrong, is actually false, and actually leads to hell. So again, politics aside, policy aside, even constitution aside, which again, we can have a debate about that. But he's making a theological, biblical argument here. Theologically, we cannot say that it is hateful to encourage someone to abandon idolatry if we believe that God is who he says he is, which by definition, as a Christian, you do. So he says that it's important that we love our neighbor as ourselves. That's what Christians are called to do. Yes, but this is the second greatest command. The first greatest command is what that's first said in the Old Testament, that's reiterated by Jesus himself. Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one, the most important, the greatest commandment is that you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. And the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. You cannot love your neighbor as yourself if you don't obey the first greatest commandment, which is to love the Lord your God. Now, Jesus tells us exactly how we are to Love him. John 14:15. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. You, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. Also, if we just want to point something out, in the capital of the United States, above the house chamber is a depiction of Moses. Now, why is there a depiction of Moses who presented the Ten Commandments and the Law to ancient Israel? Because he is a lawgiver, a very notable lawgiver in our country's history. Because our country's founding is based upon specifically Christian biblical principles that all men are created equal and are given by their Creator certain inalienable rights, among them being life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. This is based on the Christian premise, on the Judeo Christian premise. Some people have a hard time with that word. But it's true. It was in the Jewish text before it was Christian, that we are made, first of all, and we are made by a God, and we are made by a God in God's image. And therefore we have certain inalienable rights that cannot be taken away from us by a lesser power, the government. That is a Christian idea. I mean, that is partly why Moses is depicted in our nation's capital. The Ten Commandments are a very important part of American history, whether you like it or not. The ideas there are interwoven in our laws, are interwoven in our founding documents. You understand that the idea of property rights comes from the Ten Commandments, right? I saw some crazy post the other day that was like, oh, it's just property rights are BS capitalistic nonsense that doesn't come from God. God cared so much about private property that he has two commands in the big ten having to do with them. Number one, do not steal. Number two, do not covet. So it's not enough not just to take your neighbor's stuff, you also shouldn't even want your neighbor's stuff. That's how much God cared for about private property. Those ideas that are so embedded in Western civilization and the laws and the rights that we take for granted today are interwoven in are found in the Ten Commandments. So yes, this is a part of history, whether or not it offends someone of a different faith. And by the way, again, if you believe that God is who he says he is, you understand that he is the moral lawgiver. And outside of what he says is right and wrong, there is no truth that is a Christian belief. Now why doesn't James Tallarico, who calls himself a Christian, have these fundamental theological beliefs that are so obvious in any reading of scripture by a Christian? We'll get into that in a second. Let me pause, tell you about our next sponsor. It's Fellowship Home Loans. It is so important to me for to work with companies that align with my faith. Chief relay to BRO and I take every effort to do that. Like every individual, every team, every corporation we work with, we really try to find people that are aligned with our biblical principles. It makes a difference. I truly believe, like Christians just work harder, they do better work, they have a more excellent product. And I can trust that we have the same foundation that calls us to work hard and live with integrity, to be honest with one another, and to do our very best to try to glorify the Lord. That's what you're going to get with Fellowship Home Loans. Not only are they going to help you make that major purchase like buying a house, but they are also going to do so in a way that honors the Lord. They are doing business not just by the book, but by the book, the word of God. They really care about how they treat their customers and they really care about making sure that you get what you need when it comes to your loan. And they're offering a $500 credit at closing. Right now. You got to go to Fellowship Home Loans.com Alli to get it. That's Fellowship Home Loans.com Alli to get $500 credit toward your closing term supply. See Fellowship Home Loans.com Alli for more details. Nationwide Mortgage Bankers DBA Fellowship Home Loans equal housing lender NMLS number 81932. So he is the son of a Baptist minister. Now, if you stopped there, you might think, okay, he knows everything about evangelicalism. He was raised in the Southern Baptist Convention. No, he was raised progressive. So actually, I think with a grandson of a Baptist minister. He grew up in the very progressive St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Austin. The church calls itself progressive. Okay. Not hiding that at all. This is on their website. He says, we are Christ centered, yet we respect and learn from all religions of love. From all religions of love. What other religions are religions of love? Would we include Islam in that interesting display of love through that jihad? The church is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church usa, PC usa. This is a fully affirming denomination, by the way. The church is also affiliated with Reproductive Freedom Congregations, a movement of Texas churches and aiming to remove the, quote, stigma and shame of abortion. Now, let's just take away the euphemism because abortion is a euphemism and let's say what it is, because it is the killing of a living child, of a baby. Even if you want to say fetus. Fetus is just Latin for small child. So let's take away all euphemisms here. They want to remove the stigma and the shame of killing a baby. Wow. I think some things need stigma. I think some things should be shamed. Not that we should not love the woman who has made this sinful choice, but we also shouldn't hide the fact that it is a sinful choice, that it's wrong, that it's actually going to hurt her as well as kill this baby, who are both made in the image of God. Babies deserve better than to be killed. Women deserve better than abortion. That is the Christian position. We should not be removing shame and stigma around things that God calls sin, things that kill vulnerable people like the baby inside the womb. And mind you, these are the very people who say that they lead with love and they lead with empathy. They are talking about normalizing and celebrating the brutal poisoning and dismemberment of little living, wiggling, breathing babies. That's the baby inside the womb. This church openly celebrates transgenderism, every type of sexuality. Like, let me just show you this absolute abomination on their Instagram, they posted this picture of the cross of Jesus Christ draped in a flag that is celebrating the very sins that Jesus died for. So we see the cross draped in transgender flag and pride flag. And I, I think, I, I don't even know. I can't keep up with what all of this is. I still don't know how black and brown people got roped into the pride flag. Like, I, I just don't. I don't understand. I actually do understand it because they want you to think, you know, these activists want you to think that all of these people are born this way. That a person's they, them identity is just as embedded and immutable as someone's ethnicity and the color of their skin, which of course is crazy. But when you make your sin, your identity, it's easy to see how you become deceived in that way. Um, he also taught middle school in San Antonio before entering politics. This is a lot of what he talks about is how it is so anti Christian to be pro school choice. And that is because he is very, very heavily funded by the teachers associations, which are the teachers unions that have a lot of political power and exclusively fund Democrats, not just in Texas, but elsewhere. So this is not like, oh, just a genuine position. He really feels strongly about this. No, that's not really what's going on. He is well funded by this. And by the way, the anti school choice position is wrong. Just because you believe that parents should have the power to send their kids where they want to send them without the restriction of something as arbitrary as a zip code does not mean that you are defunding public schools. We fund public schools. Unfortunately, a lot of those funds go to the teachers unions. The associations and bureaucratic bloat don't make them their way to the teachers and to the students. So if he really cares about student performance, then we shouldn't just be looking at how much money is flowing to these schools, but where that money is actually going. He doesn't focus on that because that is not a popular position with the teachers unions, who of course want more money. You've seen him go viral? Probably several times. He delivered a sermon that was pretty popular online at St. Andrews, his church that he grew up in. In November of 2022, arguing that Jesus is a feminist.

James Talarico (31:36)

First way we can tell that Jesus was a feminist is through his actions. And throughout the Gospels, Jesus is constantly subverting first century gender norms by talking with women, learning from women, healing women, trusting women. In fact, the. The only person to ever beat Jesus in a debate in the Bible was the Syrophoenician woman. Think about that. The only person to teach Jesus something was a woman. Even the Son of God had something to learn from one of God's daughters. The church should start to listen to them again.

Allie Beth Stuckey (32:15)

Okay, so much blasphemy there. First of all, Jesus is God. Okay, so that's like pretty basic. Jesus is God. That means he's all knowing. That means he's all powerful. That means he is not limited by time and space. Even though he entered time and space in the person of Jesus, who is fully God and fully man, he did not surrender his omniscience there. And so it is not possible for for Jesus to have learned something that he did not already know. It is not possible for him to have made an error. It is not possible for Jesus to have lost a debate because he is all knowing. He used this moment with the Syrophoenician woman as a learning opportunity and to teach her and the people around him something about faith. And this story is from Mark 7, when a woman wanted to he entered a house, and a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. She was a Gentile, but she begged Jesus, please cast this demon out of my daughter. But he rebuked her and said, the children should be fed first. So the non Gentiles, the Israelites, and then, you know, I'm not going to pay attention to you right now. And she says, yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs, Gentiles under the table eat the children's crumbs. And he said, for this statement, you may go your way. The demon has left your daughter. And so that is obviously not only showing what faith means, that it is by faith that we are saved. Not by our ethnicity, not by being an Israelite or a Gentile, but by faith, as we see reiterated throughout the New Testament. But this is also a moment that was recorded, that was included in the Gospels to show that Jesus came for both the Jew and and the Gentile, who are reconciled to each other and to God by grace through faith. As we read throughout the book of Ephesians, so progressives are always getting it wrong because they are reading their politics into the text and they miss the true meaning and beauty of the text. They miss the Gospel in the text because they are looking to justify their politics. He also conflates the least of these in Matthew 25 with illegal aliens, with the world's poor, apparently, according to the progressive the least of these that is referenced in Matthew 25 is the military aged male from Guatemala who crosses over our border and lives here and commits a life of crime. That is the least of these. But the innocent unborn child in the womb is not here.

James Talarico (34:54)

So for Christ says what we do for the least of these, we do for him. So where is Christ today? Christ is the immigrant deported without due process. Christ is the senior deprived of their Social Security benefits. Christ is the protester kidnapped in an unmarked vehicle by plainclothes officers. Christ is the student sitting in an overcrowded classroom in a defunded school. Sometimes I wonder what would Jesus do if he visited the Texas legislature? What would he say to me and my colleagues? I think he would tell us, depart from me, for I was hungry and you cut my food stamps. I was sick and you kicked me off Medicaid. I was a stranger and you deported me and my family. I was in prison and you wouldn't even pay for air conditioning. And then I think he would flip over our fancy desks on the floor of the Texas house and demand that we take care of all our neighbors, especially the least of these.

Allie Beth Stuckey (36:10)

Okay, again, so much wrong with this interpretation. Not even talking about his policy proposals, which maybe we could talk about those, although I think that those are misguided too. And I think that most of that is just disinformation about what's actually going on with those policies. But we could talk about that. But since he's bringing up theology, it's important to note what he is doing theologically here and why it is wrong. It is convincing, but it is wrong. One thing that progressive so called Christians do is ascribe the personal to the political. Or actually it's the opposite, ascribe the political to the personal. So what I mean is that they will take Jesus commands for you and me as individuals or the Bible's dictates specifically to churches in particular or to Christians in particular. And they will say this applies to governments and societies while simultaneously arguing that allowing Christianity to influence our laws is Christo fascism. So do you see the contradiction in what he's doing here? Simultaneously he is saying that putting the Ten Commandments up in a classroom, that that is oppressive, that that is wrong. But he is also using the Bible to justify his policies and saying that his interpretation of Scripture should actually be the law of the land. So it's not a problem. He won't say this, but he doesn't actually believe that Christianity and state power should be separate. He wants his version of Christianity and state power to be inextricably intertwined to give Democrats in the state more power to push progressive policies. In Matthew 25, Jesus is not talking about the illegal immigrant who comes over here and murders Lake and Riley. I promise you that guy is not the least of these. I promise you, the people that are forcing their children, the illegal aliens forcing their children to work in marijuana farms in California. That's not who Jesus is talking about when he's talking about the least of these. And you'll see also the conflation there of immigrant and illegal immigrant. That is also a propagandistic manipulation tactic. But Jesus is actually not even talking about the truthly vulnerable in the world. In that case, he's not talking about the world's poor. There is a place for them. We should be caring for them. The book of James is clear about that. Jesus's life is clear about that. Christians do have a responsibility to care for the poor. That's not who he's talking about in this passage because Jesus says the least of these, my brothers. He is talking about his followers, who we later find out are called Christians, followers of Christ. He is talking about specifically in that passage, persecuted Christians. Whatever you are doing for persecuted Christians, whether it's in China or Yemen or the United States, whatever you are doing for Jack Phillips, you are doing to me. Okay, so this is not a justification for illegal immigration. That's not what Jesus is talking about here. Progressives try to fit their politics into every text and always miss the goodness of God and his gospel. That's the problem when Jesus tells us, for example, to love our enemies or to turn the other cheek. He is not saying that the government should not enforce the law like by that logic, because people use that as justification for open borders or justification for not deporting or justification for not having a death penalty or not having prisons or whatever. Okay then by that logic we shouldn't have any laws and there should be zero consequence for doing anything, including stealing your stuff and killing your family member. By that logic you are saying that Jesus says there should be no justice and no consequence for those things by saying we should love our enemies. That is not what he is talking about. He is talking to you and he is not asking you to delegate your individual Christian responsibility to the government. And that is what socialists and so called progressive Christians are arguing for. This is a big movement, like I said and I will give you just a few examples of that before we finally get into my monologue about progressive Christianity and also the Specific clips from James Talarico on Joe Rogan. All of this context really matters and I want it to leave you with a better understanding of what this movement is, what it actually means beneath the surface. And all of that setup is necessary to actually go through the clips, which we will do at the end. So let me tell you a little bit more about who these people are that are pushing this. Just the other day we had Representative Hakeem Jeffries, who is a Democrat, argue that we need to be against the big beautiful bill because the Bible calls us to care for the sick. And you know what? I'm not even going to play it. I was going to play it, but it's the same exact passage as we just saw James Talarico site to say that we need to vote Democrat and we need to vote against the big beautiful bill because they said erroneously, it's going to take people's health insurance away. Go back to Monday. We debunked that factually and just explained why that is actually absolutely not true. But he uses the same passage to say that, see, we should vote against this. So understand simultaneously Democrats will say that, you Christian, you cannot use the Bible. You conservative Christian, you cannot use the Bible to inform your politics. You have to leave your faith at home. You have to check it out the door before you go into the public square, before you talk about politics, before you vote. But they don't. They can use the Bible, they can use their erroneous theology to inform the law, to shape public policy, but you can't because they don't actually care about the theology. They just care about the policy and whatever manipulation tactic they can use to get you to be a Democrat, that's really what it's about, then they will do that. Stacey Abrams. The other day there was a an article that I read that said, Stacey Abrams, in order to be a real Christian, that you should be progressive. So Stacey Abrams says it roll out another run for office. This headline read, sets true Christians should espouse Progressive Views. And I keep seeing this over and over again, not just from politicians, but also online. A lot of you guys send me Ben Kramer stuff like, please respond to this. He's the guy who says things like this. If our Christianity causes kids to go hungry, the sick to go without health care, the stranger to be unwelcome, the needy to be called parasites, all while billionaires get richer. We profoundly misunderstood the most basic elements of Jesus's teachings. And again, this is a misunderstanding of who Jesus is talking to, what Jesus is talking about. And not only that, it is a misunderstanding of progressive policy versus conservative policy policy and the outcomes that these policies actually produce. Because democratic policies cannot be judged by their stated intention. They have to be judged by their outcome. And Democratic policies are not helping people not grow hungry. They are not helping people be safer. They are not helping them get a better education. You know how I know? Because every single city that has gotten more progressive policy wise is dirtier and less safe. Okay, so let's judge progressive policies by their outcomes, not by their stated intentions and see which one actually helps people in a tangible way and in a long term way. Not just by handing out but actually helping up. No policy is perfect, no party is perfect. But conservative policy wins on that. Remember, it was the Biden administration who threw the USDA took away SNAP breakfast and lunches from poor students in public schools who refused to abide by the new rewrite of title 9 which said under the Biden admin that boys must be allowed into girls bathrooms, teams and locker rooms. If a public school didn't abide by that, the USDA took away their SNAP funding so those kids actually went hungry. That happened under a Democrat president. All right, so even just beyond the theological interpretation here, that is completely wrong and a complete misapplication of what Jesus says. It is also politically wrong. Okay, that's not just true of Ben Kramer. That's also true of the Jen Hamilton person who I've responded to before I can link the video that I put out that responded to her viral video. This is another person who claims I follow the red words of Jesus. I follow the red words of Jesus. A lot of progressive Christians say that that's, that's a tale as old as time. None of this stuff is new. None of it is novel. None of it is like brilliant. If any of these people stood before and debated and discussed with a Christian who knows their Bible, I promise you they would not be able to stand strong. Their views do not hold water. They are very superficial. They are made for sound bites in TikTok, not for a real robust theological conversation, discussion or understanding. Okay, this idea that they believe in and apply the red words of Jesus, you know they weren't originally read, right? Because all of the Bible is God's word. But that's not even true because there are words of Jesus that they completely deny. So let me explain what so called progressive Christianity is in just a second. Let me pause and tell you about our next sponsor. It's Concern Women for America. This is an awesome organization from Congress to your children's schools. There is a cultural war raging across America. For the moms watching, I don't have to tell you this. You are living it every day. I've talked to moms on this couch who are fighting that battle on their school board, in the public school system, even in their private schools, fighting for what is good and right and true and for parental rights and education and concerned women for America for decades have been fighting for you mom. Have been fighting for you, dad. Have been fighting for your children to live in a better and a freer country. They care about these seven core issues the most Family sanctity of life, religious liberty, parental choice and education. Fighting sexual exploitation, national sovereignty and support for Israel. CWA trains women to become grassroots leaders, speak into the culture, pray, testify and lobby. I have spoken at their conferences before. They are awesome. Their president, Penny Nance, has a book called A Woman's Guide. Seven Rules for Success in Business In Life. You can get it for free@conservedwomen.org ally that's concernedwomen.org Alli first, progressive Christianity, quote, unquote, is a misnomer. It is an oxymoron. An oxymoron is a contradiction in terms. Now, a paradox is a seeming contradiction. Sometimes these words are used in a changeably, but this is this word, this progressive Christian is an oxymoron. It is actually a contradiction. It is like saying, I want a flat waffle. Well, a flat waffle is a pancake because what makes a waffle a waffle are the ridges. In the same way, a progressive Christian is not a Christian because Christianity is not progressive. It is static. It is defined by a central fixed truth. This truth does not change. It doesn't progress. It doesn't evolve. Evolve. The central defining fixed truth of Christianity is found in our name. Christians follow Jesus Christ, which means Jesus the Messiah, which means Jesus the Anointed One or the Chosen One. That's what Christ means. So the question is chosen to do what? Chosen by God to bring salvation. John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Luke 2:11 says, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord. So Jesus, this Jesus Christ came to save. Jesus is our Savior from what Matthew 1:21 says she will bear that's Mary. She will bear a son. And you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Sins. Romans 6:23 says, for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So we read that Jesus is a savior from sin and death, spiritual death, which is separation from God in hell. That is the most fundamental defining belief of Christianity, and it is found in our name. And so those who call themselves progressive Christians deny this central truth. So called progressive Christians do not believe. And this is true. This is not an exaggeration. I am as accurately as I can describing what they believe. Do not believe in sin, how the Bible defines sin. They do not define Savior as we define Savior. They do not define salvation as we define salvation. They follow Jesus as a moral teacher to an extent. And that's an important caveat as an activist, as a justification for socialism, as a liberator from earthly systems of oppression. And here's how those who identify themselves as liberal Christians define Christianity. A means by which we fight for the liberation of the oppressed and the marginalized. And we gotta define our terms. We learned that in 2020, who are the oppressed and the marginalized? The illegal immigrant, the non white person, the LGBTQ person, the poor person, and in some cases, in some cases, like when it comes to abortion, the woman. Now, what does oppressed mean today? It mostly means in this context, not receiving taxpayer subsidized privileges. For example, the LGBTQ person is oppressed because perhaps insurance companies won't cover their IVF and surrogacy journeys the way that they would for a straight couple. The illegal immigrant is oppressed, they would say, when they're unable to receive state funded health care coverage or when our border laws are enforced and they're not able to stay here illegally. It may mean laws against homeless encampments, it may mean laws against abortion that they would argue oppress women. And how do they believe these groups should be fought for? Primarily politically, voting and advocating for a political system that prioritizes the needs and the desires of these groups above the needs of the privileged class of oppressors, which are made up of white people, straight men and the rich. And really anyone in any demographic who opposes progressive policies, this is to the so called progressive Christian salvation. This is the kingdom of heaven. This is the gospel. In their world, sin is collective, not personal. Salvation is political, not spiritual. The kingdom of heaven is earthly, not eternal. Jesus is a savior from conservatism, not condemnation. James cone was a far left theologian. He taught black liberation theology, the tenets of which are still extremely popular today, even amongst some people who call themselves evangelicals. And he wrote this quote, jesus is not a human being for all persons. He is a human being for oppressed persons whose identity is made known in and through their liberation. That's from his book, A Black Theology of Liberation. Every bit of Scripture, Old and New Testament, is read through that lens, the lens of political liberation of those the modern Democrat Party views as disenfranchised and oppressed. Now, you contrast this to what the Bible says the Gospel is, which is this, that there is a perfect holy God who created the world. Because he is holy, he cannot tolerate sin. That's bad news for us because all of us have sinned, every single one of us. Romans 3:23 says, all have sinned and fallen short of the of the glory of God. That's God's perfect standard. And because of that, every single one of us deserves to be separated from God forever. We deserve punishment for our sins in hell. But God, But God, because he loves us warts and all sins and all, sent someone to reach his perfect standard on our behalf. And that was Jesus, his only son, who lived a perfectly sinless life and yet was executed like a brutal criminal. Now, you heard James Tallarico say this. All progressive Christians believe this, that Jesus was killed by the Roman Empire for upsetting the power structures of the day, for standing up for the marginalized, for being an activist. But that is not true. Jewish religious leaders demanded Jesus's death because Jesus asserted that he's got, that he's the Messiah that they've been waiting for, that the prophets prophesied about the Savior that the Jewish people had been longing for, and Rome complied. But even that is not why ultimately Jesus died. Jesus didn't die because of Rome or because of the Jews. Ultimately, Jesus died because of us. Jesus died because sin demands punishment, and that punishment is death. Hebrews 9:22 says, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. So when Jesus, the sinless one, was crucified, he served as a sacrifice for our sins because we're sinners and God's perfect. And someone had to stand in our place and say, they're okay, they're forgiven, their sin is gone, their slate is wiped clean. Don't look at their sins. Look at me. The perfect one, the Holy One. That was Jesus. That is Jesus. Jesus stood in the gap for us, making us by his sacrifice, perfect and pleasing to God for our sake. He who he made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God. 2nd Corinthians 5:21. And not only did he die because every leader of every major religion has died. But he rose again three days later, as witnessed by hundreds and recorded by the writers of the Gospels. He conquered death so that we could live forever in heaven with God. What amazing news. And how do we access this good news? By grace, through faith. Ephesians 2, 8, 10, Romans 5. One says, Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we may disagree somewhat on how we apply the teachings of the Bible to politics, to the world. But all Christians who follow not Jesus the activist, but Jesus Christ the Messiah, believe in that good news. And because we believe in Jesus the Messiah, we believe in his divinity, that he is God. So we don't separate Jesus's words from the rest of Scripture, because we understand all of Scripture are Jesus's words. Everything God does in the Old Testament, Jesus is right there too. Everything God the Father calls sin, Jesus and the Holy Spirit do too. Progressives view Jesus's ministry as at odds with the Old Testament, with the Old Testament, God, with the Old Testament words, because they essentially deny the Trinity. They have to. They have to deny the Trinity really, to paint Jesus as this communist hippie who had nothing to do with, for example, the property rights that got established in the Old Testament, or the command for the death penalty, Genesis 9, 6, or the prohibition against homosexuality in Leviticus and the establishment of marriage in Genesis 1. But you see, all of this falls apart so quickly because Jesus also affirmed the definition of gender in marriage in Matthew 19:4,5. Jesus affirmed and doubled down on the Ten Commandments in Matthew 5 and emphasize that following the law is more than just actions. It's about heart obedience. The New Testament affirms the right of the state to execute Romans 13 and also emphasizes the sinfulness of homosexuality and the holiness of marriage between one man and one woman. First Corinthians 6, Romans 1, Ephesians 5. We could go on. Progressive Christians will say they follow Jesus, but they don't follow Jesus the Christian, because they don't believe that he's the Messiah who saves from sins. And they don't follow Jesus the teacher, actually, because they don't abide by his teachings. Not only do they redefine sin, salvation, the Gospel, they also redefine the very thing they claim is central to their belief system, love. When they say love your neighbor, they are including the affirmation of what God calls sin. When they say love your neighbor, they are not including the unborn child. When they say love, they are including the wholesale celebration of sexual immorality and societal chaos. So it is not true love. It is toxic empathy. True love never rejoices in wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. And that is 1st Corinthians 13:6. Who defines truth? Who defines love? God is love. 1 John 4:8. He's the creator of the world, Genesis 1:1. So he is the source of truth. So we can only fulfill this truth and love command that we are called to by agreeing with Him. Progressives think they're nicer than God. Christians know that God is love, and the most loving thing therefore we can do is agree with him in all things. And by the way, many if not most of these in this camp deny the resurrection. They deny John 14:6 that Jesus is the only way to heaven. They are largely universalist when it comes to heaven. Most don't believe in hell at all. But if there is a hell, they will tell you you're going there. Conservative I literally been told that I think in like one single message that there is no hell, but you're going there. They've constructed a Jesus that didn't actually exist. They've built up a faith that is built on political ideals, not on faith in Christ. So by no definition can a progressive Christian actually define themselves as Christian. Understand too, that progressives who identify as Christians do not believe in the inerrancy of Scripture. Their belief is that the Bible was written, interpreted and compiled by sinful men who were trying to make sense of the world and who in many cases were actually tragically trapped by the myopic thinking of their culture at the time. And so because of this, they don't view the Bible as authoritative and cohesive, but as exclusively a tool to wield for their political ends and or as affirmation of their own choices. Those of us who know that the Bible is without error and is therefore authoritative to we believe all of Scripture must be understood in light of Scripture. We don't pick and choose which parts to believe and which parts to reject. We understand each segment as it is meant to be understood. Much as literal, some is allegory, some as hyperbole, some is parable, some is descriptive, a lot is prescriptive. And we carefully study every passage in context, in light of history, in the ancient Hebrew and Greek to try our very best as fallible people, to understand what is really going on. We have to go to the Bible to know what's up. But progressives feel no such obligation. The Bible to them is a cafeteria. And as much as they may say, they follow the red letters of Jesus. They pick and choose those two. And I want to see this in action now. I want us to look at this in action as we watch James Talarico completely misinterpret scripture and misapply scripture and hypocritically say that you should apply the Bible to your politics as long as it is supporting progressive policies. But if you do so as a conservative Christian, then you are a Christo fascist who wants to wed state power with religious power. So let's get into it. Let me pause tell you about our next sponsor for the day and that is Patriot Mobile. Patriot Mobile is America's only Christian conservative wireless provider. There is only one wireless provider that stands in the gap for every American that believes that freedom is worth fighting for. You can switch to Patriot Mobile today without sacrificing quality or service. Patriot Mobile uses all three major US networks so you can get great service without funding. The left, They've got a 100 US based customer service team that makes switching really easy and they've got an awesome deal going on right now. You can get a free month of service when you use my code. Alli. You can keep your phone or you can upgrade. They make it all really simple. Go to patriotmobile.com Alli that's patriotmobile.com Alli okay, it was really hard to pick my favorite, my favorite clips here because they're all, they're all insane. But I'll give you a concise response to each of them in just a second. Okay, let's go ahead and play saw 11 as James Tallarico is trying to defend abortion using the Bible.

James Talarico (61:01)

All I'm asking is that for Christians who are pro choice and who respect the bodily autonomy of women, that we be given the space to make our theological argument. Because I think there is a lot of biblical evidence to support that opinion.

Allie Beth Stuckey (61:16)

What do you think is the biblical evidence to support the opinion of being pro abortion?

James Talarico (61:20)

So one you know, in Genesis, God creates life by breathing life into the first human being, which we later call Adam. That life starts when you take your first breath. And that is actually the, the, the, the mainline position in Judaism is that that's when life starts. Then if you think about it from a Christian perspective, what something interesting that Jesus does throughout his ministry is he is breaking first century norms about women, talking with women, learning from women. The longest conversation Jesus has with anybody in the whole Bible is with the Samaritan woman at the well. And so this affirmation of women as Full and equal people is a huge part of the Jesus movement, especially the early church. Mary is probably my favorite figure in the Bible, the mother of Jesus. But I say all this in terms of, in context of abortion, because before God comes over Mary and we have the incarnation, God asks for Mary's consent. The angel comes down and asks Mary if this is something she wants to do. And she says, if it is God's will, let it be done. Let it be, Let it happen. So to me, that is an affirmation in one of our most central stories that creation has to be done with consent.

Allie Beth Stuckey (62:47)

Okay? So his three defenses basically boil down to God breathed life into Adam, so therefore life doesn't start until first breath. And then. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to laugh because it's a serious thing, but it's so ridiculous. And then, number two, Jesus talked to a woman at the well for a long time and therefore he's pro abortion. And then number three, God asked Mary's consent before impregnating her. So first of all, I just want to address this, like this principle that's going on here. All three of these passages, according to James Tallarico, are secretly about abortion. But thou shall not murder is not. Okay. So all of these, we're supposed to read into all of these passages and say, huh, okay, I can't figure out what God thinks about murdering innocent people. Let me go to the story of the woman at the well. Oh, Jesus talked. Jesus talked to this woman for a long time. He must be okay with killing babies using forceps. That makes sense. Oh, let me go back to the Ten Commandments. One of them says, thou shalt not murder. Nah. Has nothing to do with killing an unborn child. Okay? There's so much wrong with this, even beyond that. Number one, Adam was made from the dust. God created Adam from the dust. So he literally was not alive when God breathed life into him. Babies in the womb were alive. Okay, Like, I just need to tell you that pro abortion people, scientifically, we're just talking about science here. We're not even talking about theology and that silly hogwash that you just heard. We're just talking about science. Babies in the womb are alive. You know how I know they're alive? Because an abortion kills them. If they're not alive, you don't need to have an abortion. You just deliver the child. There's nothing else to do. But poison is used to kill that child. Forceps are used to kill that child. That child is stripped of its amniotic Fluid in abortions to die, they're not just removed. They are killed via pill, via pores poison, via dismemberment to ensure fetal demise. That is the euphemism that is used. Those babies are alive. That's how you know that you are pregnant. They are growing, they are moving. They are practicing those breathing movements. By the way, they are ingesting that amniotic fluid and expelling it. But, yeah, they're not actually breathing air because there's not air in the amniotic sac. And they don't need to do that yet. But their lungs are working. That is part of the development. If they weren't alive, they wouldn't be growing. These babies inside the womb are not only growing, their heartbeats are not only going, but they also can feel pain at a certain point. Okay? These are human beings with their own distinct DNA. They're not like an organization. They are their own distinct DNA growing on their own, yes, with the help and the sustenance of the mother. But they just need time and room and sustenance to grow. And the only difference between a baby inside the womb and a baby outside of the womb is time. And time seems like a very flimsy and arbitrary justification for the murder of a defenseless, innocent person. Wouldn't you agree, James Talarico? Have you not been preaching to us all day about defending the most vulnerable? Who is more vulnerable than the unsuspecting baby inside the womb? Do I need to tell you, James, what happens in an abortion? Do you know that that abortion pill is robbing that baby of sustenance and the ability to breathe? It suffocates and poisons the baby until they die and are dispelled later on. There is a chemical combination that is used in the lethal injection of death row inmates that is also injected into the amniotic sac and into the heart of that wiggling, moving baby to induce a heart attack in that child in the second trimester so that he or she dies before delivery? That's what's happening. And let me guess, James Tallarico, you disagree with the death penalty for brutal murderers, but you're okay with the same chemical combination of that lethal injection being used on an innocent baby inside the womb? Is that your loving Christianity? Is that your compassion? Is that what you're saying Jesus would stand for because he talked to the woman at the well? Really? Sin makes you stupid, James. Sin makes you stupid, and you are case in point. All right, next one. He defends homosexuality. Sad. 8.

James Talarico (67:36)

Well, I think broadly we should say that using religion to control the people is a tale as old as time. Right? I mean, this is powerful stuff. It's part of why I made the decision to go to seminary, because I was like, if I'm going to talk about my faith and my beliefs and my values in a public setting or on this podcast when millions of people are going to listen, I better know what I'm talking about. Let's take the issue of homosexuality in particular. One is something Jesus never talks about even though gay people existed in the ancient world.

Allie Beth Stuckey (68:08)

Is it in the Old Testament?

James Talarico (68:10)

So in the Old Testament, there is a prohibition against men lying with other men. And here's the thing, and any biblical scholar will tell you this, in a lot of ways, we're dealing with ancient euphemisms, and it's hard to tell what a euphemism means thousands of years later in the Hebrew Bible. You do have this prohibition. We're not sure exactly what it means. And if we're taking it just literally, does that mean that we're also prohibiting same sex relationships between women? We're now reading it with modern eyes, trying to interpret what they mean and then apply it to our modern context. One, I think that's sloppy theology. Two, I think it's disrespectful to the Jewish people. Three, it's a misunderstanding of Christianity because the whole idea of Jesus's movement was that he was simplifying the law, right? He simplified it into two commandments. Love God and love neighbor. Those are the only two commandments that we Christians should keep our focus on.

Allie Beth Stuckey (69:15)

I was holding it together that whole time. Okay, so we are looking through a modern lens at these verses and trying to apply it to our modern day with just sloppy theology. But the woman at the well is about abortion. Oh, my gosh. Do you hear yourself, James Talarico? You're saying that the story of Mary submitting to the Lord and bringing forth the savior of the world, Jesus, that that's secretly about abortion. That God giving life to Adam, that's secretly about abortion. The woman at the wall, that's secretly about abortion. But this is a very, apparently very euphemistic and unclear Leviticus 20:13. If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They should be put to death. Ooh, what could that mean? Let us bring out the scholars to try to figure out why that is. Because it ensured civilizational demise. And we see in the very beginning that God made the male and female told them to be fruitful and multiply. That is impossible with two men. And we also see in Ephesians 5 that that marriage between a man and a woman is reflective of an eternal spiritual reality of Christ's marriage to the Church. Christ the groom, and the Church the bride. Romans 1 is not at all unclear about this. They don't use euphemisms. They don't use contested terms. Literally. God who is in the Old Testament and the New, and does not change. Hebrews 13:8. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And Jesus is God, so he is in all of this. But Romans 1 says, for their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature. And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another. Men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. Goodness. What could that possibly mean? First Corinthians 6, 9, 10. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Don't be deceived. Neither sexually immoral. Sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkard, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. What do we say? Marriage between one man and one woman, rooted in creation. Genesis 1, reiterated throughout Scripture, as we see in honor your father and mother, for example, repeated by Jesus himself, which we'll get to in a second representative of Christ in the church, Ephesians 5, and therefore is reflective of the Gospel. The Bible starts with the marriage and ends with marriage. That's why when people deny Genesis 1:27, they end up denying John 14:6, as of course Tellarico does. But he says Jesus never mentions homosexuality. Here's thought. 9.

James Talarico (71:53)

If this was something that really was central to Jesus's ministry, I would think he would have said something about it, right? We have four gospels with tons of teachings from Jesus, and none of them are about this. So it just. I get suspicious when anybody, whether it's a televangelist or a politician, tells me that something is central to my faith. When Jesus never talks about it to me, that should, I think, ring alarm bells as to what is the agenda here? What is someone trying to get across? And I think for looking at the last 40, 50 years, the religious right has made a concerted effort to make homosexuality and abortion the two biggest issues for Christians.

Allie Beth Stuckey (72:39)

Number one, Jesus answered Have you not read that? He who created them from the beginning, made them male and female, and said, therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. That's Matthew 19:4 through 5. Jesus positively defined marriage, exactly how the Bible positively defines marriage and holy sexuality throughout Scripture, and that is between one man and one woman. In answering a question about divorce to the Pharisees, he goes all the way back to creation and takes the time to define the gender binary and define marriage. And remember what we said about these people denying the Trinity? They try to separate Jesus from God himself because they just see him as a political activist, not the God who is in charge, who defines all things, who is just as much in the Old Testament as the New. But they try to separate him and lessen him and use him as a political activist, a means to their political ends. And that's why they are blasphemers and idolaters, because they've exchanged the God of Scripture for the God of self. And I just want to note, he claims that the religious right has made abortion and homosexuality the two biggest issues. No, the left has made abortion and homosexuality and transgenderism their biggest issues. These are their calling cards. This is what they run on. This is what they celebrate. I heard a pastor during the election who tried to play both sides of the issue. He said that, you know, I don't like that Republicans didn't have abortion as a part of their platform, you know, pre mid-1970s. That means they're using Christians. Abortion wasn't part of their platform pre mid-1970s because Roe v. Wade happened in 1972. So it wasn't a political issue until Democrats, progressives, made it a political issue and pushed so hard through lies, through propaganda to, To. To make abortion seem normal and good. They've done the same thing with homosexuality. Okay? I mean, Obergefell is like the mirror image of Roe v. Wade, okay? It was progressives who made this their calling card first. And maybe Christians should have been better at being proactive instead of reactive against these things. But it is dishonest to say that we did it first. And really, it all comes down to this. And this is the last one. Talarico believes that we should trust ourselves. And here is Sat 10.

James Talarico (75:12)

If you don't empower your congregation or someone who is seeking answers to check everything based on their experience and use that as a measure for what's true and what's good, then you make people dependent on that one guy, which is way too much power for one person.

Allie Beth Stuckey (75:32)

Too intoxicating.

James Talarico (75:34)

It has to be. You have to use your own life as a way of saying, like, does this work for me right, or does it not? Does this ring true with everything I've lived through? Or does it not trust yourself in some ways?

Allie Beth Stuckey (75:49)

Okay, Jeremiah 17:9. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Who can understand it? The heart is deceived, hateful, and desperately sick. I seem to remember a passage about everyone doing what is right in their own eyes. Let's see. This is judges 21:25. In those days, there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. That led to chaos and destruction and a curse for the people. And the same principle is true today. God is the source of truth. He is the source of righteousness. He is the source of love. We are called to agree with him in all of our lives, public and private, personal and political and professional. Progressives, although they're deceptive in it, are right about one thing. You cannot separate religion from politics. All of our laws come from a worldview. All of our laws come from some kind of moral belief. The only question is which one. So Christian, do not be manipulated. Do not be discouraged to separate what you know to be true about God from your worldview and how you operate in the world. Progressives certainly are not. All right, we'll be back here Friday. Sam.