James Talarico, who in the state legislature represents District 50, parts of Austin and the surrounding area, is not only drawing raised eyebrows by calling the Bible pro-abortion.
Also a U.S. Senate candidate, Talarico opposes the state’s law to post the Ten Commandments in school classrooms and says the Bible does not speak against homosexuality.
He takes these positions will professing to be a Christian.
Last July Talarico was a guest on the Joe Rogan podcast and claimed that the Bible was pro-abortion.
A clip posted on X he twisted the story of Mary learning of God’s plan for her in Luke 1, interpreting the passage as God asking Mary for consent before the Holy Spirit came over her.
“To me that is an affirmation in one of our most central stories that creation has to be done with consent. You cannot force someone to create. Creation is one of the most sacred acts that we engage in as human beings, but that has to be done with consent,” said Talarico.
Early in the Senate race Talarico was running a close second to former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, who held a 46%-42% lead. U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett is also in the race.
The primary is scheduled for March 3.
Walker Wildom, CEO of AFA Action, a division of American Family Association, condemned Talarico’s statements. He said that Talarico’s claim of being a devout Christian while also claiming “no biblical basis against abortion” is bad theology and “deception and open rebellion against biblical truth.”
Talarico has also claimed that the Bible is not against homosexuality, and he said in 2021 that God is nonbinary. Most recently, Fox News reported that he stated Hindus, Buddhists, Sikh Jews, Muslims, atheists, agnostics” are more “Christ-like” than the Christians he works with.
Frank Pavone, national director and chairman of the board of Priests for Life, spoke with Jenna Ellis on her morning show on AFR. He comments on how others try to twist the words of Scripture, especially on the abortion issue.
“What happened to the days when the pro-abortion advocates were saying, ‘Oh, the word abortion is not in the Bible.’ Sometimes they try that line of approach when we do make the biblical arguments for pro-life,” says Pavone. “But here in this case you have a really bad exegesis because the passage he's talking about shows just the opposite.”
Explaining not discussing
As he explains, God did not ask Mary but rather announced His intentions to bring about a child — a unique situation where the son of God becomes man. Mary responded in fiat, which mean “let it be done” in Latin. She had not been with a man, and she followed God’s will.
“The point is that she says fiat — let it be done to me according to Your word, Your plan, Your choice. Pro-choice is just the opposite. She bows to God's will; that's the whole pro-life argument, not the pro-abortion argument,” Pavone defends.
Even if people interpret the passage as Mary being asked permission, the argument still doesn’t support abortion.
“Should people freely consent to being pregnant? Of course, but there's a big difference between the freedom to bring a child into the world and the freedom to throw a child out of the world,” states Pavone. “When a woman is pregnant the child's already in the world. So, the choice is are you going to kill that child?”
Critics point out that deciding to have sexual relations means consenting to the natural consequences. Once pregnancy happens, the choice has already been made, and there is no moral or ethical decision that allows the removal of said consequences.
Pavone says the fact anyone tries to argue that God allows abortions is horrific. He specifically references an organization, Religious for Reproductive Choice, for twisting the Bible’s words to justify killing babies.
“Even the devil can quote scripture as we know from the temptations of Jesus in the Gospels,” says Pavone.
Why would anyone would want to follow a religion that justifies abortion, he asks? Why would anyone follow a sacred book that allows it? As he says, while Christians should live according to the Word of God guided by Scripture, there is still a basic understanding of right and wrong.
“There are certain things that the human mind, the heart, and instinct — even though it is corrupted and darkened by sin and we do need the Word of God even to remind us of basic things, but nevertheless, we have a built-in ability to know in and of ourselves that it's wrong to kill a baby,” states Pavone. “These people, these Democrats — not only this Democrat, the whole Democrat party — have fulfilled the prophecy of Paul when he writes to Timothy.”
In the end times, people will lack in natural affection, Paul wrote.
Take note of Isaiah
Pavone also references Isaiah 58 and 49. Both are God speaking though Isaiah, saying “do not turn your back on your own flesh” and “can a mother forget her child?”
“He's (Isaiah) like if God himself is thinking the most extreme unthinkable example of being hard of heart — that's the fundamental problem. It's out of that hardness of heart that these people are then compelled to twist the Scriptures,” says Pavone.
To dispute the liberal ideology, he points to many biblical themes that squash the pro-abortion mentality.
“The dominion of God; the blessing of fertility as opposed to the curse of barrenness; the very meaning of love, that it is to sacrifice yourself for the good of the other person rather than sacrificing the other person for the yourself; the victory of life Jesus Christ has abolished death — how can the choice of death be?” Pavone asks. “Every page of scripture is about life because it's the word of life.”
American Family Association is the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates AFN.net.
