Submission by Joseph Menslage
When someone running for the United States Senate speaks publicly about Christianity, Christians ought to listen carefully.
That is why recent comments from Texas state Rep. James Talarico, now the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas, deserve more than a passing reaction. In a profile published by The New Yorker, Talarico compared Judaism, Christianity and Islam to different seasons of the same television show. Christianity, in his description, was “the most violent season.”
That is a serious charge, especially from someone who publicly identifies as a Christian.
Talarico’s statement makes a common modern mistake: it judges Christianity by the worst actions of people who claimed Christ while ignoring the words of Christ Himself.
The sins of men do not define the Son of God.
Christianity begins with Jesus Christ: crucified, buried and raised from the dead. The Apostle Paul called the death and resurrection of Christ a matter “of first importance” in 1 Corinthians 15. Peter later told the rulers in Jerusalem that salvation is found in Christ alone, because “there is no other name under heaven” by which mankind must be saved (Acts 4:12).
That is the center of the Christian faith.
Christianity grew out of Judaism. Jesus was Jewish. The apostles were Jewish. The Old Testament is Christian Scripture. Christians must acknowledge that. Still, the gospel is far more than the next installment in a shared religious series. Christianity stands on the claim that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Son of God and the Savior of the world.
Judaism does not accept Jesus as the Messiah. Islam acknowledges Jesus as a prophet while rejecting the central Christian claims about His crucifixion, resurrection and divine Sonship. These differences are foundational.
When people speak on Christianity while reducing it to a “Season Two,” essential distinctions get lost.
The same is true when Christianity is treated as uniquely violent.
Every ruler or government that has claimed Christian authority does not speak for Christ. Some kings carried crosses into battle while chasing land and glory. Some church leaders punished dissent with cruelty. Make no mistake, those sins were not condoned by the Lord, and they should be judged by the standard they violated.
The standard for Christianity is Jesus Christ.
When Jesus stood before Pilate, He said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).
When Peter drew a sword in Gethsemane, Jesus told him to put it away, “All who draw the sword will die by the sword,” He said (Matthew 26:52).
Further, when Jesus taught His followers how to respond to their enemies, He told them to love and pray for them (Matthew 5:44). From the cross, He prayed for the forgiveness of the people executing Him (Luke 23:34).
Those passages expose the difference between Christianity and the political or personal sins committed under its name.
The closer we look at Christ, the easier it becomes to recognize the counterfeit, humanly cruel acts done under His name.
That is why Talarico’s statement is so careless. It treats Christianity as though its most faithless representatives have the authority to define it.
They do not.
The Crusades were violent, costly and often ruthless. They were also tied to centuries of conflict over land, empire, pilgrimage routes and sacred sites. The Inquisition involved persecution and torture, and it remains one of the darkest chapters in church history.
Those examples prove that human beings can corrupt biblical language for power. However, this violence is not what Jesus Christ taught.
Further, a fair account must also deal with the violence of other empires, religious movements and political powers. Islam, in particular, has a long history of conflict, with aggression, retaliation, empire-building and persecution appearing in different forms across centuries.
Sweeping statements calling Christianity inherently violent may work well in today’s progressive political game, but they do not accurately reflect history. They also ignore Christians living under persecution today.
According to the 2026 World Watch List from Open Doors, more than 388 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith worldwide. Open Doors reports that, in the top 50 countries alone, more than 315 million Christians face very high or extreme persecution. Its 2026 reporting also counted thousands of Christians killed, detained and attacked because of their faith.
That persecution comes from different sources in different places: authoritarian regimes, religious nationalism, militant groups, family pressure, community hostility and Islamic oppression in certain regions. Pew Research Center has also tracked government restrictions and social hostilities involving religion around the world for more than a decade, showing how widespread these pressures are.
A Christian in North Korea risks prison for owning a Bible. A Christian convert in Iran can face state pressure, family rejection and surveillance. Christians in parts of Nigeria have endured deadly attacks by militants and armed groups. Believers in parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East gather for worship knowing it may cost them their safety or lives.
Those Christians are witnesses under immense danger. They deserve a seat at the table in any serious conversation about religious violence.
Christian history also includes mercy on a scale the modern world often forgets. Early Christian communities became known for caring for the sick, the poor, widows, orphans and abandoned infants.
Historians have long noted the role Christian institutions played in the development of hospitals; one medical history overview notes that hospices under Christian control developed into hospitals “in the modern sense” (PubMed). Religious institutions were also central to many hospitals in the United States as medical care expanded between the 19th and early 20th centuries (University of Pennsylvania Nursing).
Christian conviction also helped fuel abolitionist movements. The National Humanities Center’s overview of American abolitionism and religion describes how religious belief shaped many anti-slavery arguments, even as other purported Christians shamefully defended slavery. That tension shows again that Scripture can be handled faithfully or wickedly, and the decision is up to the human.
Every Christian claim, movement and institution must be judged by the words and life of Jesus Christ.
Christ commanded His followers to make disciples, baptize them and teach them to obey His commands (Matthew 28:19-20). He gave no command to force conversion, nor did he give the command to spread the gospel through political domination. The early church grew through preaching, service, suffering, martyrdom and the witness of transformed lives.
Christians in public office should be able to witness God’s love with honesty and conviction. Instead, we are watching a loud and growing hostility toward Christianity in American public life. Political speakers, media voices and celebrities routinely portray Christianity as a uniquely violent religion, while many of those same voices praise Islam as peaceful beyond critique. The double standard is glaring. Proponents of this message often ignore the suffering of Afghan women, who have been stripped of basic rights, dignity and freedom under the Taliban and in accordance with Sharia law.
That is where Talarico’s comments fall short. Calling Christianity the “most violent” religion may sound enlightened and woke in a New Yorker profile, but it gives a distorted picture of the faith and an incomplete picture of history.
Christians should know better.
We should know Scripture well enough to speak with conviction. America has plenty of politicians willing to borrow Christian language when it helps them. What we need are Christians who know what the gospel actually says.
The Christian faith is built on a Savior who forgave His enemies, touched lepers, welcomed sinners, rebuked hypocrites, wept at gravesides and laid down His life for the world. His kingdom advances through truth, love, repentance, mercy and obedience.
Christians have failed Him many times.
Jesus has never failed.
And He told us how the world should recognize His people. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another,” He said (John 13:35).
Feature photo: Antonioaesparza, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
