A Texas Democrat running for Senate quoted a 14th-century Islamic mystic from inside a church with a pride flag behind him.
The video shows James Talarico reciting a poem from Hafiz, a Sufi Muslim poet and mystic, during what appears to be a sermon-style address. Behind him, no cross was visible at the altar. What was visible: a pride flag bearing transgender stripes and a rainbow banner, displayed prominently.
In the clip, Talarico quoted the poem directly. “Every child has known God, not the God of names, not the God of don’ts, but the God who only knows four words and keeps repeating them, saying, ‘Come dance with me,'” he said, attributing the lines to Hafiz.
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The moment did not arrive in a vacuum. Talarico has a history of controversial statements about faith that have drawn sharp criticism, particularly from Christian communities. He has described himself as a Christian who hates Christianity. He has called Texas Republicans less Christian than his Muslim, Hindu, and atheist colleagues. He labeled teaching the Bible as historical fact to children “insidious.”
As originally reported by The Christian Tribune, Talarico has also argued that all major world religions are essentially equal paths to the same truth, comments that surfaced after he was invited to a Hindu festival in Texas.
“I find such wisdom and comfort and inspiration from faith traditions all over the world, and I find that they’re all kind of equal pathways to truth,” Talarico said in a separate video. He went on to describe all world religions as forming a circle around a shared divine mystery, with different names for the same fundamental reality. “Whether it’s God or Yahweh or Allah or Nirvana, the great spirit, whatever you call it, this is all different pathways to the same kind of fundamental truth of reality,” he said.
He has also defended abortion using biblical arguments and suggested that God is a non-binary figure in religious terms.
Talarico won the Texas Senate Democratic primary against Jasmine Crockett and is now running in the November general election against Ken Paxton, who has the backing of former President Donald Trump.
Critics argue that Talarico’s repeated elevation of other faith traditions, combined with his public criticism of Christianity itself, sits uncomfortably alongside his continued identification as a Christian and his habit of speaking from within church settings. The Hafiz video only added more fuel to that debate, offering his opponents another data point in a pattern they say speaks for itself.
