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\n\tNow that Ken Paxton, the conservative attorney general of Texas, has defeated incumbent John Cornyn for the Republican Senate nomination, we may see something unusual in modern American elections: a theological throwdown.<\/p>\n\n
In a closely watched and competitive race, Paxton will be facing off against James Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian and the Democratic nominee. The race is now set to be a battle between two very different worldviews about the role of Christianity.<\/p>\n\n
That Democrats are even able to hold up their end of such a debate is unusual in a political moment when \u201cChristian\u201d has come to be synonymous with \u201cright-wing.\u201d Talarico has been trying to change that narrative<\/a> \u2014 now he gets to face off against a flawed Republican with a more typical evangelical message.<\/p>\n\n Talarico earned significant media attention in his primary for the progressive tilt of his Christian faith \u2014\u00a0one of forgiveness, love, and righteous anger against the wealthy and powerful. Yet he\u2019s also been ridiculed<\/a> by the religious right as a false prophet: a Christian in name only who launders left-wing social views through faith, supports abortion, and once argued<\/a> that God is nonbinary.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n Meanwhile, Paxton\u2019s nomination sets up an interesting foil: He\u2019s a formerly impeached and indicted politician in the middle of a divorce his wife sought \u201con biblical grounds<\/a>.\u201d And he has championed a right-wing brand of Christian politics, embracing the \u201cChristian nationalist\u201d movement\u2019s efforts to break down the walls between church and state, while fending off bipartisan attacks on his personal morals.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n This larger cultural struggle over who gets to claim Christian identity and what Christianity should stand for in 21st-century America will be front and center in the race. It will test the limits of persuasion for a liberal Christian trying to win over disaffected Republicans with different political and theological views, and the limits of partisan loyalty for a conservative Christian trying to keep them in his camp despite bipartisan concerns about his ethics.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n A Presbyterian seminarian, Talarico comes from a more politically liberal tradition than Paxton’s Southern Baptist background. His particular branch of mainline Protestantism, the Presbyterian Church (USA), has been derided by critics on the right as \u201cwoke\u201d and theologically heretical<\/a> for its embrace of same-sex marriage, ordination of women, and welcoming stance for transgender congregants.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n Talarico has centered the concept of \u201cradical love<\/a>\u201d in his political identity and campaign platform: He wants to heal political divisions, welcome Americans who aren\u2019t typically Democrats to his campaign, and move beyond anger toward any one person (like President Donald Trump or Paxton) toward a forward-looking agenda that goes after oligarchs, the political establishment, and the \u201ccorrupt\u201d elite.<\/p>\n\n \u201cIn my faith, love is the strongest force in the universe,\u201d he said at a campaign rally in February<\/a>. And to justify his righteous anger, he argues that \u201cyou can\u2019t stand for faith and then warp and weaponize religion to hurt our neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Talarico has explicitly<\/a> contrasted<\/a> his faith with \u201cChristian nationalism<\/a>,\u201d arguing that right-wing religious leaders are aligning with Trump in order to institute \u201ctheocracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Paxton is solidly in the Christian nationalist camp<\/a>. Generally, Christian nationalists oppose the separation of church and state; seek to make Christianity the official religion of the state; call for Biblical morality to determine the law; and argue that the United States has God\u2019s unique blessing among other nations. <\/p>\n\n Paxton has made a name for himself as a proponent of an aggressive form of religious liberty, arguing not just that the state should pull back and cede space to the faithful, but that the state should actively promote a specific version of Christian ethics and morality. He supported efforts to bring Christian prayer and Scripture into public schools<\/a>, to set aside time for Bible readings and prayers, and to display the Ten Commandments on public property.<\/p>\n\n \u201cIn Texas classrooms, we want the Word of God opened, the Ten Commandments displayed, and prayers lifted up,\u201d Paxton said in a September statement<\/a> calling on students to recite the Lord\u2019s Prayer in class. \u201cOur nation was founded on the rock of Biblical Truth, and I will not stand by while the far-left attempts to push our country into the sinking sand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Talarico has defended secular government, while also trying to turn the theological conversation to economic concerns. \u201cThese politicians want a Christian nation, unless it means providing healthcare to the sick or funding food assistance for the hungry or raising the minimum wage for the poor,\u201d he said on The Ezra Klein Show<\/em><\/a>. \u201cAnd so, it seems like they want to base our laws on the Bible until they read the words of Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n While marrying progressive politics and Christian themes might win over the Democratic base, Republicans are already challenging him aggressively on social issues \u2014 especially abortion and LGBT rights \u2014 where they believe their platform is more in touch with their state\u2019s longtime rightward bent. <\/p>\n\nKey takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Christian authoritarianism versus a Christianity of radical love<\/h2>\n\n