{"id":2620438,"date":"2026-06-28T10:36:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T14:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/talarico-says-christianity-is-most-violent-among-major-religions-claims-it-caused-damage-to-islam\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T10:41:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T14:41:08","slug":"talarico-says-christianity-is-most-violent-among-major-religions-claims-it-caused-damage-to-islam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/talarico-says-christianity-is-most-violent-among-major-religions-claims-it-caused-damage-to-islam\/","title":{"rendered":"Talarico Says Christianity Is &#8216;Most Violent&#8217; Among Major Religions, Claims it Caused &#8216;Damage&#8217; to Islam"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftalarico-says-christianity-is-most-violent-among-major-religions-claims-it-caused-damage-to-islam%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2620438&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The content discusses a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/andrew-cuomo-accuser-and-former-aide-slams-new-york-lawmaker-for-claiming-200-ethnic-backgrounds\/\" title=\"Cuomo accuser criticizes NY lawmaker&#039;s ... of 200 ethnic backgrounds.\">controversial statement made<\/a> by Texas State Representative James Talarico (D), who compared Judaism, Christianity, and Islam to seasons of the same show, claiming Christianity is the &#8220;most violent.&#8221; this remark was made during a campaign interview in The New Yorker in February 2026. Critics highlight that Talarico&#8217;s analogy falsely equates the religions, ignoring their essential differences-such as their views of God, doctrines, and relationships between church and state. Specifically, Christianity emphasizes a personal, triune God and a separation of church and state, whereas islam is a political religion with no distinction between religion and governance. The article refutes Talarico\u2019s claim that Christianity is the &#8220;most violent,&#8221; pointing out the ancient and ongoing violence associated with Islam and emphasizing that Christianity\u2019s actions are often separated from its spiritual teachings. It underscores that Christianity has historically advocated for spiritual authority over political power and has not been inherently violent, contrasting it with Islam&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/high-school-football-coach-fired-for-privately-questioning-black-lives-matter-curricula\/\" title=\"High School Football Coach Fired For Privately Questioning Black Lives Matter Curricula\">political nature<\/a> and historical conquests. the piece concludes that Talarico&#8217;s assertions are unfounded and reflect a misunderstanding of the complexities of these religions, with a note that in reality, Christianity has not been the bloodiest religion and that such mischaracterizations are unfair and inaccurate.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Texas State Representative James Talarico (D) claimed in an interview this year that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are each different seasons of the same show, with Christianity as \u201cthe most violent.\u201d The remark extends a string of scandalizing statements by the self-described seminarian. It is most noteworthy because it was not some past comment dredged from the depths of the internet, but it came during his current campaign for U.S. Senate, during an interview for a profile <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/aTkhn\">published<\/a> in The New Yorker on February 23, 2026.Referring to his campaign manager, Seth Krasne, Talarico said, \u201cSeth and I talk about how Judaism is Season One of the show, Christianity is Season Two, and Islam is Season Three. I\u2019m Season Two \u2014 the most violent season. My religion has done more damage to both of those religions than they\u2019ve done to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Credit where credit is due: few politicians can pack theological errors together as concisely as Talarico. Here, Talarico sounds as if he is half-responding to subjects he half-learned. These comments serve Talarico\u2019s political purposes nicely (denigrating Christianity and praising Islam both appeal to the Democratic base), but he would be too intelligent to defend the substance of these comments if ever forced to think below the surface.<\/p>\n<p>The first absurd claim is that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are Seasons One, Two, and Three, implicitly of the same show. The claim suggests that these religions are fundamentally alike and therefore equal and interchangeable. At root is the progressive belief that all religions are fundamentally about keeping behavior within acceptable limits.<\/p>\n<p>Such notions may pass for wisdom in a class on Comparative Religion, which \u201cis so much a matter of degree and distance and difference that it is only comparatively successful,\u201d quips G.K. Chesterton in \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/gutenberg.net.au\/ebooks01\/0100311h.html\">The Everlasting Man<\/a>.\u201d \u201cWe are accustomed to see the names of the great religious founders all in a row: Christ; Mahomet; Buddha; Confucius. But in truth this is only a trick. \u2026 Those religions and religious founders, or rather those whom we choose to lump together as religions and religious founders, do not really show any common character.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chesterton grants that \u201cIslam did come after Christianity and was largely an imitation of Christianity,\u201d but it does not follow that the two should be lumped together as the same.<\/p>\n<p>The most glaring difference is the God they worship. Christians worship a personal, triune God; Muslims mock the notion of a trinity and maintain that Allah is so transcendent as to have no personal relationship with his creatures. Jews likewise deny the Trinity, making the Christian God fundamentally distinct than the objects of worship in either Judaism or Islam.<\/p>\n<p>The identity of God is a core principle for any religious system. Fundamental differences here introduce fundamental consistencies when trying to string different religions together. Just imagine \u201cThe Office\u201d if Dunder Mifflin was a paper company in Season One, a defense contractor in Season Two, and a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >tech support call center<\/a> in Season Three.<\/p>\n<p>Countless other doctrinal differences between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam could be described, including different understandings of salvation, holiness, revelation, and eschatology.<\/p>\n<p>The one difference most relevant to highlight here is the disparate understandings of the relationship between church and state. Christianity fundamentally divides church from state as two separate realms of authority. Jesus taught, \u201crender to Caesar the things that are Caesar\u2019s, and to God the things that are God\u2019s\u201d (Matthew 22:21). Even when Roman emperors began to claim jurisdiction over Christianity in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hispanic-world-celebrates-dia-de-los-reyes-christian-feast-of-the-magi\/\" title=\"Hispanic World Celebrates Dia de los Reyes, Christian Feast of the Magi\">fourth century<\/a>, some Christians pushed back. \u201cWhat has the emperor to do with the church?\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ccel.org\/ccel\/wace\/biodict.html?term=Donatus%20and%20Donatism\">protested<\/a> the North African Bishop Donatus in AD 347. Christianity offers freedom, and so the church\u2019s mission cannot be combined with state compulsion.<\/p>\n<p>Islam, by contrast, is all about submission (as its very name means). Islam recognizes no distinction between church and state; Islamic governments are inherently religious, and they enforce submission to Islam with the power of the sword.<\/p>\n<p>This leads us to consider Talarico\u2019s second absurd claim, that Christianity is the \u201cmost violent\u201d of the three monotheistic religions. Talarico has in mind the Crusades, a series of campaigns undertaken by Medieval Christendom to retake political control over the Holy Land, in which Jesus lived and died.<\/p>\n<p>However, there are two major flaws with judging Christianity to be the \u201cmost violent\u201d religion because of the Crusades. The first is implied by the prefix of the word \u201cretake.\u201d Those who condemn Christianity for the Crusades usually stop their historical inquiry at around AD 1000. If we travelled further back in time to say, the sixth century, we would find flourishing, predominantly Christian societies in what would now be Tunisia, parts of Syria, and parts of Turkey. Christians also played significant and influential roles in Egypt, the Levant, and other Roman provinces ringing the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n<p>What happened to all those communities? When Mohammed invented Islam in the early seventh century, Muslims launched a rapid campaign of conquest and forcible conversion, demolishing (not all, but many) Christian communities that had existed for centuries. The westward tide of the Muslim conquest was not stemmed until Charles Martel, grandfather of Charlemagne, defeated a Moorish raid in central France at the Battle of Tours in 732. In the east, Constantinople long impeded Islamic expansion, but after its fall in 1453 Muslim armies dominated eastern Europe for more than two centuries. The apex of Muslim expansion in the east was the 1683 siege of Vienna, which was only broken by a famous Polish cavalry charge.<\/p>\n<p>Even today, Islam commits far more violence against Christianity than vice versa. From Madagascar to Congo to Sudan to Nigeria, it is Muslims killing Christians, not the other way around. Christians face systematic persecution in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and other Muslim countries that is categorically worse than the freedom offered in countries (like the U.S.) long influenced by Christianity.<\/p>\n<p>In summary, if it comes to comparing whether Muslims or Christians have invaded more of the other\u2019s lands, Islam is by far the worse aggressor.<\/p>\n<p>Yet such analysis is inadvisable due to the second major flaw in Talarico\u2019s argument, which has to do with the difference between Islam and Christianity as religions. Islam is a political religion, so when an Islamic ruler conquers territory, it is fair to say that Islam has conquered that territory.<\/p>\n<p>Christianity is fundamentally different. As Jesus explained, \u201cMy kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world\u201d (John 18:36). Recall the distinction made earlier between the Christian church and the state, which should lead us to distinguish \u201cChristianity\u201d (the religion of Jesus) from \u201cChristendom\u201d (a political and cultural arrangement with official state recognition of Christianity). Although the church can wield spiritual authority over rulers, it cannot wield political authority. Thus, when a king calls out his army and goes to war, even if he does it in the name of Christianity, it is not Christianity doing the fighting.<\/p>\n<p>Consider too that Christians distinguish between deeds of the flesh and deeds of the Spirit, and they hold that every believer is locked in a lifelong conflict between his former, worldly way of life and a new, spiritual way of life. Even if a ruler is a genuine Christian, he can still act in a worldly, un-Christian way. Any worldly king can embark upon unjustified wars of conquest; therefore, such actions are worldly, not spiritual. Even if a Christian king embarks upon an unjust war in the name of Christianity, it is not Christianity doing the fighting.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, to call Christianity the \u201cmost violent\u201d religion, Talarico must 1) ignore Islam\u2019s bloody track record; 2) dissolve distinctions between Christianity and Islam; and 3) ignore Christianity\u2019s own self-understanding.<\/p>\n<p>This analysis has largely compared Christianity and Islam, while setting aside Judaism, the third religion. The reason is that Judaism had no political power for about 1800 years after the Romans destroyed their homeland. In every place they dwelt, they were a persecuted minority just trying to survive. Thus, they do not present equal data for comparison.<\/p>\n<p>But if Talarico really wants to know how much damage one religion can do to another, he should ask some Jews what they think about an Islamic mosque sitting on the site of the Jewish temple. There are no churches in Mecca, nor in fact are any public churches <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opendoorsus.org\/en-US\/persecution\/countries\/saudi-arabia\/\">permitted<\/a> in all of Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, Talarico\u2019s surprising claim turns out to be groundless. The religion of love that worships a crucified Messiah has actually not morphed into the bloodiest religion. In times when Christianity had only nominal influence over the actions of temporal rulers, those rulers did claim to commit deeds of violence in the name of Christianity. But such violence was no more Christian than it was pacifist. Christianity has always faced libel and slander, so why should it receive anything different now from \u201ca Christian who hates Christianity\u201d?<\/p>\n<div><em>Joshua Arnold is a senior writer at The Washington Stand.<\/em><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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James Talarico (D) compared Judaism, Christianity, and Islam to different seasons of a show, claiming Christianity is \u201cthe most violent,\u201d in a recent interview<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2620439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_9681.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[5695,73207,10248,68501,3699],"class_list":["post-2620438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-christianity","tag-interfaith","tag-religion","tag-talarico","tag-violence"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_9681.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2620438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2620438"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2620438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2620442,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2620438\/revisions\/2620442"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2620439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2620438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2620438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2620438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}