Paxton Pardons Pedophiles

And other attacks on candidates

Ken Paxton opened his campaign against James Talarico with an ad quoting Talarico saying “God is nonbinary.” The unethical, adulterous, corrupt, and child-rape excusing Attorney General of Texas thinks that the best way to defeat the Presbyterian seminarian is to insult the seminarian’s theology, as well as lie that Talarico is a vegan.¹ The U.S. Constitution forbids any religious test for any elected office. That alone should make Paxton, who is a lawyer, ashamed of this particular attack, but Paxton is, first and foremost, a slimy creep, so expecting more of him is a waste of time. The ad did make me wonder whether any members of Congress hold about God that aren’t strict Trinitarian Christianity?²

Mormonism: There are nine sitting members of the US Congress who belong to the Church of Latter Day Saints. All of the current ones are Republican; the most prominent Democrat was former Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who was the most powerful Mormon to serve in Congress. What does Mormonism teach about the nature of God? God was once a mortal male. Mormons reject the Nicene Creed. Again, and I cannot stress this hard enough, IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT MORMON OFFICEHOLDERS BELIEVE ABOUT GOD IN ORDER FOR THEM TO SERVE IN OFFICE. It is true, however, that Mormon beliefs about God are far different from standard Christian doctrine. Further, Mormons specifically ascribe physical gender to God, which orthodox Christians do not. If it’s fair to attack Talarico for believing that God is a disembodied and genderless Spirit, then why isn’t it fair to attack Harry Reid for believing God lives on the planet Kolob and once was a mortal male?

(Some) Catholics. To some Catholics, Mary is considered “Co-Redemptrix.” The Vatican has rejected this idea, but it lives on. I can’t find evidence that any member of Congress adheres to this particular belief, and as I continue to emphasize, it would not be appropriate to question them about it at all. The idea of Mary as any kind of mediator between God and humans directly contradicts Holy Scripture, yet millions of people believe it. The idea of attacking a Catholic for believing that Mary has a non-Scriptural role in salvation is, correctly offensive. Paxton would never do that because the majority religion in Texas is Catholicism. Still, Mary as Mediatrix or Co-Redemptrix is not found anywhere in the Bible.

The obvious reason Paxton doesn’t complain about Mormons or extremely conservative Catholics is that he knows they vote for him. Talarico’s sincere faith doesn’t deserve respect from Paxton because he can use it to rile up his supporters. Like everything else in the modern Trumper Cult otherwise known as the Republican Party, this is aggressively hypocritical of him. If belief that God doesn’t have a gender is a disqualification for public office, then that same principle should disqualify Mormons and Marian Catholics, who also believe things about God not found anywhere in the Bible.

I do NOT want religious tests applied to public office and as a result, I do not care that Mitt Romney or Harry Reid believed that God lives on Planet Kolob and might once have been married. Theology does not appear anywhere in the job description of a US Senator. What I DO want is a level playing field. If Talarico’s religion matters, so does every other candidate’s religion. So long as officeholders aren’t imposing specific theological doctrines through their offices, their private beliefs are their own. Paxton’s ad crosses a line set by our Constitution and should for that reason alone disqualify him for the US Senate.

1. Talarico’s response to that attack could not have been better: “I’ve been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton’s first indictment.”

2. I’m not going to discuss Islam or Judaism. See the link above.