S4, Ep. 21: 613 Commandments: James Talarico on his defense of church-state separation as a Christian

Respecting Religion

The Texas legislature meets once every two years, and they are spending a great deal of this session on bills that would advance religion. We return to our conversation on the Ten Commandments bill in Texas, as we saw a groundswell of opposition to the bill when it headed to the state House. Amanda and Holly take a look at some viral moments, and we share an exclusive conversation with Texas state Rep. James Talarico, who spoke in opposition to this bill as a lawmaker, a former schoolteacher, and a Christian.

SHOW NOTES: Segment 1 (starting at 00:38): Why are we still talking about this?

Last week’s program on the Ten Commandments bill in Texas (Senate Bill 1515) is episode 20 of season 4. You can listen to it on our website.

We played the viral video of state Rep. James Talarico questioning the author of the bill. You can watch it on Twitter.

An advocate in Waco put together this petition opposing SB 1515, available for Texans who oppose the bill as people of faith to sign.

Segment 2 (starting at 12:39): A conversation with Texas state Rep. James Talarico

You can see video clips of the interview with Amanda and Texas state Rep. James Talarico in a Twitter thread she posted. It is also available on YouTube and on a reel posted by the @endchristiannationalism Instagram account.

Segment 3 (starting at 27:32): Putting this discussion into focus

For additional resources on the various ways religions interpret and list the commandments, a chart from New World Encyclopedia shows how different traditions order them. You can see a list of the 613 Mitzvot (Commandments) here. Visit this website for a side-by-side comparison of the Ten Commandments as listed in Deuteronomy 5 and Exodus 20.

We played a clip of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg questioning Paul Clement in 2005 during oral arguments in the Van Orden v. Perry case. You can listen to the full argument here, and the clip we played is from 51:24 in the audio recording of the argument.

Respecting Religion is made possible by BJC’s generous donors. You can support these conversations with a gift to BJC.