Jesus Christ is not a political mascot, a campaign strategy or a convenient justification for whichever policies happen to be popular in an election year.
Yet several progressive Democratic candidates seeking seats in the U.S. Senate are increasingly incorporating religious language into their campaigns, including direct comparisons between their political positions and the teachings or life of Jesus Christ.
According to Fox News, Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon, Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Texas state Rep. James Talarico have each brought faith prominently into their political messaging as they campaign for Senate seats.
The most striking remarks came from Nixon, who recently won the Democratic Senate primary in Florida and is running against Republican Sen. Ashley Moody.
During a sermon at Saint Paul AME Church in Jacksonville, Nixon responded to critics who have characterized her politics as radical.
“They are trying, y’all. They are trying … to label me as this extremist, this radical. But, you know, Jesus was a radical,” Nixon said, according to Fox News.
Nixon went further, drawing a direct connection between Christ and the causes she supports.
“And Jesus fought for — I mean, he pushed for the same things that I’m fighting for today, right? Right now, we’re literally in a civil rights moment,” she said. “Whether or not people wanna believe it or not, but we are.”
According to Fox News, Nixon joined the Democratic Socialists of America in June, although she has denied that she is a Democratic socialist.
A similar comparison came from Abdul El-Sayed, a Muslim Democratic candidate running for Senate in Michigan.
During an appearance on the Progressive Christians Podcast that aired in May, El-Sayed was asked about Christianity, Islam and political positions that have been characterized as radical.
“Well, you know, Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him, was considered radical in his time, too,” El-Sayed said, according to Fox News.
He continued by arguing that standing against corruption can itself be radical.
“And there is a radical nature to being willing to stand forthright in a time of corruption, and I think it’s important for all of us to realize that popularity and zeitgeist don’t make truth. And we live in a time where people are trying to normalize corruption,” he said.
Texas state Rep. James Talarico has incorporated Christianity even more extensively into his public political identity. According to Fox News, Talarico is taking seminary classes to become a Presbyterian minister and has regularly blended his Christian beliefs with his policy positions.
Some of his theological statements, however, sharply conflict with Catholic teaching.
While opposing a Texas law concerning transgender children in 2021, Talarico argued that Republican lawmakers were attempting to justify the legislation “in the name of God’s law.”
“The first two lines of the Bible, the first two lines in Genesis, use two different Hebrew words to describe God. One is the masculine Hebrew noun for divinity,” Talarico said. “The second is the feminine Hebrew noun for spirit. God is both masculine and feminine, and everything in between.”
“God is non-binary,” he said.
Catholic teaching requires important distinctions when discussing such claims.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that God transcends human sexuality and that God “is neither man nor woman: he is God.” At the same time, Scripture reveals God using the language of Father, and Jesus Christ taught His disciples to pray to “Our Father.”
Christ also cannot simply be fitted into contemporary political categories.
Catholics may legitimately debate how particular policies best serve the poor, protect human dignity, promote justice and advance the common good. But identifying Jesus with a modern political platform risks reducing the Gospel to an election-year endorsement.
Christ certainly challenged the powerful, defended the vulnerable, commanded care for the poor and called His followers to radical conversion. But His mission cannot be reduced to the policy agenda of a political party, whether Democratic or Republican.
For Catholics, Jesus is not useful because He can lend moral authority to a candidate’s platform.
He is the Son of God.
That distinction becomes especially important when politicians invoke His name to validate positions that Christians themselves may seriously dispute.
Political candidates are free to explain how faith shapes their consciences and their understanding of public service. But Christians should be cautious whenever the name of Jesus becomes a rhetorical weapon designed to make a political ideology appear synonymous with Christianity.
The Gospel does not belong to the Democratic Party. It does not belong to the Republican Party.
And Jesus Christ should never be reduced to a campaign slogan.
Your support brings the truth to the world.
Catholic Online News exists because of donors like you. We are 100% funded by people who believe the world deserves real, uncensored news rooted in faith and truth — not corporate agendas. Your gift ensures millions can continue to access the news they can trust — stories that defend life, faith, family, and freedom.
When truth is silenced, your support speaks louder.
