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Guest (Male): This is Viewpoint with attorney and author Chuck Crismier. Viewpoint is a one-hour talk show confronting the issues of America's heart and home. And now, with today's edition of Viewpoint, here is Chuck Crismier.

Chuck Crismier: It was said many years ago in not-so-jolly old England that all’s fair in love and war. All’s fair in love and war, but how about politics? Is politics love? Is politics war? Or is it something else? Today on Viewpoint, we're going to take a look at the Texas test. The Texas test. Now, we wouldn't normally look at a particular state here on Viewpoint today to deal with an issue of our times, but quite frankly, this is the manifestation of American politics today, a portrait of American politics, what's happening in the Lone Star State, the state of Texas.

And so, I welcome you to Viewpoint. I’m Chuck Crismier. It’s conversation with ever-increasing conviction, talk that transforms. And indeed, what happens in the state of Texas in the senatorial race may very well have a transforming effect upon the entire country. That’s true, upon the entire country. We have two men, both accused of lying, both accused of dissimulation, both accused of not being what they claim to be, either one being a Christian, although each claims to be. And how that plays out among the voting populace. The Texas test, a portrait of American politics.

Today, we're going to bring some things together that would be very hard to find in the news media per se. You might find bits and pieces of it here and there, but we're going to collectivize it here today on Viewpoint to help us to understand a much bigger picture here. The Bible says that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So, if that be true, and these two men, Ken Paxton and James Talarico, are both claiming to be Christians, then what do their mouths and what do their lives say?

In the King James Version of the Bible, the Apostle Paul writes and says that our conversation should be right among the Gentiles and bring glory to God. What he's talking about is not just what we say with our mouths, but the condition of our lives that actually represents the truth of what we say we believe. That’s what the word "conversation" means in the King James Version of the Bible. It doesn't mean to have a nice little talk with one another. It means the expression of your life, what you say and what you do as being consistent, meaning you're a person of biblical Christian integrity.

So, what does that look like in Texas today? Well, we're going to see what it looks like in Texas today. And I’m glad that you've joined us. It’s conversation, as always, with ever-increasing conviction, talk that transforms. And I trust that today might actually be not just informative, but perhaps even speak into your own life. Because what we're seeing in these two men, James Talarico and Ken Paxton, is a contrast of political positions, but maybe not so much a contrast of truth positions, their lives, what their lives actually express. And therein lies the problem.

Therein lies one of the big political problems with the choice of these two men, one running as a Democrat, the other as a Republican for the United States Senate in Texas. My understanding is that at least $100 million has been devoted to this race. So much money has been devoted to this race that, indeed, monies that needed to be spent elsewhere in the country have been diverted to Texas because Texas is such a big deal. And because Texas is such a big deal, not just because it's such a big state, but because of what it represents.

Historically, Texas has been what they call a red state, fairly secure as a red state, which means it tended to vote conservative, tended to vote Republican. But now, things have changed. People have been flooding from Colorado, and they've been flooding from California and from New York and flooding to Texas. And it's changing the demographics. It's changing the way people think. It's changing their beliefs or at least as reflected in politics and voting. So, hence, this is a very big deal.

With a little more than 40 days until Election Day in the United States Senate race in Texas, a new poll suggests the race may still be up for grabs for either candidate. Democrat James Talarico leads Republican Ken Paxton by one percentage point, 47 to 46%. And the other remaining percentages are made up of 3% of voters supporting a Libertarian, while 4% remain undecided. You can see how tight this race really is. Ken Paxton and James Talarico remain in a dead heat in Texas, the Texas Senate race, a dead heat.

Well, what is dying there in Texas? Is it politics that's dying? Is it dependency upon the state of Texas to determine as a litmus paper what's going to happen in the country? Or is truth itself actually dying? Is integrity dying? One poll found that Talarico had a negative favorability rating of 50%. Paxton had a negative favorability rating of 55%. So, in other words, both of these guys have very strong negative favorability ratings. The question then would be why the negative favorability ratings?

We're going to go into some of that here on the program today. You say, "Well, I don't live in the state of Texas, and it's irrelevant to me." Oh, my friend, it is profoundly relevant to you. It may very well determine the future of the country, including your state, including many aspects concerning the country, including future presidents, including future congressmen, including future this, that, or the other. It is a very, very big deal. It's the test case, the Texas test case.

Looking at voting demographics, here's what the polls have found. Paxton leads Talarico among white likely voters 56 to 37%. Why would that be? Well, one reason is because the white likely voters are predominantly Christian, traditional Christian, not liberal Christian, traditional Christian. That has been the history of Texas and Texas politics. Paxton leads Talarico among men 51 to 42%. Interesting. So, the men, you see, Texas, if you have this image of Texas, the man with the ten-gallon hat and the rancher and the tough guy and he's standing for values and strength and so on, so the men are going after Paxton.

But here's what's interesting. Talarico leads Paxton among women by 53 to 42%. Wow! What is Talarico’s appeal to women? This is one of the biggest messages of this particular election, in my opinion. And it says something that nobody wants to talk about. You say, "Well, what is that?" It’s that the appeal to women is about feelings, and Talarico is a soft-sell kind of a guy who appeals to feelings, touchy-feely, everybody gets along, sweet-niceness, inclusivity, all of those things. That's what he appeals to. And that's where he's getting his strength among women, and interestingly, it's in a very significant way among white women.

Now, why is that? Because women are women. This is the reason why George Soros’ friends has gone on a particular program, as we talked about the other day, to capture the minds and hearts of white women in 24 test states. Why is he going after women? Isn't that bigotry? Well, you could say it's bigotry, but he knows the propensity of women to go with their feelings and not with other discretionary factors. Satan knew that too, and that's why he went after Eve in the garden. Let’s be honest about it. So, we see this playing out again in Texas.

Maybe there are reasons lurking behind the scenes that help us to understand what really is going to happen and why these demographics exist as they do. And we're going to look into that in the balance of the program here today on Viewpoint. Viewpoint does determine destiny, could determine the destiny of Texas and the US.

Chuck Crismier: Once upon a time, children could pray and read their Bibles in school. Divorces were practically unknown, as was child abuse. In our once great America, virginity and chastity were popular virtues and homosexuality was an abomination. So what happened in just one generation? Hi, I’m Chuck Crismier, and I urge you to join me daily on Viewpoint where we discuss the most challenging issues touching our hearts and home. Could America's moral slide relate to the fourth commandment? Listen to Viewpoint on this radio station or anytime at SaveUS.org.

Welcome back to Viewpoint, the Texas test. The Texas test for American politics, a portrait of American politics right there in the Lone Star State. Ken Paxton was the Attorney General for Texas for a number of years, and during that sojourn, there were a number of things that came up. The Democrats did everything they could to try to dislodge him and accuse him of this, that, or the other. They even tried to impeach him, and they lost that effort. The Senate in the state of Texas refused to confirm the impeachment of Ken Paxton. But Mr. Talarico won’t let that one go.

So, where does all of this go? Well, here is perhaps something that might help us to understand. I put into the famous resource called Google, which relies upon another infamous resource almost intelligent, that is AI. And here was the question, or it wasn't a question, it was a statement: "Paxton and prevarication." Prevarication is a word for lying. Another word for lying is dissimulation. Another word for lying is lying. Another word for lying is Taqiyya. We're going to talk about all of those here on the program today because they have everything to do with where we are as a people in this country and in terms of our politics.

James Talarico centered his campaign on accusing Paxton of systematic dishonesty, ethical evasion, and outright lies. That came from the Texas Tribune. The friction regarding truthfulness and prevarication operates on two primary fronts in the race. One is a clash over AI and campaign advertisements. Another is spotlighting a history of legal and ethical evasions. So, we're going to take a look at these very simply and not spend a great deal of time on them because that's not really where we're going.

But here's the issue. In September of 2026, that's this year, this month, the rhetoric surrounding lying reached a boiling point when Paxton’s campaign released an AI-generated advertisement targeting Talarico. The AI-generated version of Talarico reading from a fictional "King James Talarico Bible," mocking the progressive statements of Talarico as made regarding gender and Christianity. Now, the reality is you may call it an AI-generated King James Talarico Bible, but in fact, that's exactly what they were doing.

They were trying to show that Talarico’s version of the Bible is a completely different version than the Bible. It’s the Talarico version. And we're going to see what that looks like later on in the program. Because his own pastor of many, many, many years actually has brought forward his new Bible, the Inclusive Bible. This is the pastor that Talarico relies upon for defining what Christianity is. So, Ken Paxton says, "Okay, we're going to reveal this in a short TV ad showing that basically Talarico has essentially rewritten the Bible." So, we call it the King James Talarico Bible.

Well, CBS News didn't like that. They’re hyper-liberal, and they chose to say, "Well, that's just fictional." No, it wasn't fictional. What was fictional is, yes, Talarico doesn't actually have his own Bible, but he actually interprets the Bible in such a way that it is as if he has his own Bible. But CBS News couldn't quite get the distinction. Talarico publicly torched the ad, asserting that Paxton was lying to the people of Texas. Talarico argued and labeled Paxton’s career-long record of lying.

So, notice Talarico is accusing Paxton of lying and deceit, and Paxton is accusing Talarico of lying concerning his alleged Christian faith and deceiving the people of Texas, which basically are part of the Bible Belt of America, with the buckle of the Bible Belt being Dallas, Texas. Talarico frequently reminds voters of Paxton’s 2023 historic impeachment by the Texas House, which of which he was ultimately acquitted by the Texas Senate, just like the Democrats tried to impeach Donald Trump two or three times in which the impeachment never took hold, and he was never fully convicted of the impeachment. In other words, it was a political tactic.

Paxton and his campaign have dismissed Talarico’s focus on his past as a desperate attempt to hide extremism, that is, Talarico’s extremism. Paxton has hit back at Talarico, framing the Democrat as a radical socialist who supports extreme tax increases and seeks to dismantle conservative Texas values. So, the bottom line is, has to do with Texas values. In reality, that's the bottom line, Texas values. But what are Texas values? What are America’s values? Values is a very morally corrupt term because it doesn't include morality at all. It just includes what you want morality to be.

In other words, values are dependent upon what you want them to be, not any standard of values, but what you want them to be. It’s like going to the Bible and selecting out certain passages that you like and forgetting those that you don't like, and so coming up with, like Thomas Jefferson did, a different kind of Bible. He got rid of all the miracles. He got rid of all the divinity part of the Bible and just used it as a moral compass. That was the Thomas Jefferson Bible. It wasn't the real Bible, but it was his version of it, what he thought to be important or the values of the Bible.

So, we have this issue of Texas values. What are Texas values? Well, historically, Texas values were conservative, that is politically conservative, morally Christian, and therefore ethically Christian, at least in presentation and theory. That was Texas. That's why Texas was renowned as a secure red state. But now, it's become like a purple state. Things have happened demographically that have changed the picture of things in Texas politics. Movement of many people trying to escape politically liberal and corrupt areas such as California and New York, but moving to Texas and contaminating Texas politics and values with their own liberal values that they imported from California and New York.

So, it's a very serious thing that's taking place. If you don't understand that, then you would just think that, well, Texas is changing. No, Texas itself is not changing. It’s the demographics within Texas that are changing. So, let’s go back and take a look at some of these demographics that will help us to understand at least some of what's taking place there. Looking at the voter demographics, as I indicated earlier, Paxton leads Talarico among white likely voters 56 to 37%.

Why would that be? Well, one reason is because the white likely voters are predominantly Christian, traditional Christian, not liberal Christian, traditional Christian. That has been the history of Texas and Texas politics. Paxton leads Talarico among men 51 to 42%. Interesting. So, the men, you see, Texas, if you have this image of Texas, the man with the ten-gallon hat and the rancher and the tough guy and he's standing for values and strength and so on, so the men are going after Paxton. But here's what's interesting.

Talarico leads Paxton among women by 53 to 42%. Wow! What is Talarico’s appeal to women? This is one of the biggest messages of this particular election, in my opinion. And it says something that nobody wants to talk about. It’s that the appeal to women is about feelings, and Talarico is a soft-sell kind of a guy who appeals to feelings, touchy-feely, everybody gets along, sweet-niceness, inclusivity, all of those things. That's what he appeals to. And that's where he's getting his strength among women.

And interestingly, it's in a very significant way among white women. Now, why is that? Because women are women. This is the reason why George Soros’ friends has gone on a particular program, as we talked about the other day, to capture the minds and hearts of white women in 24 test states. Why is he going after women? Isn't that bigotry? Well, you could say it's bigotry, but he knows the propensity of women to go with their feelings and not with other discretionary factors. Satan knew that too, and that's why he went after Eve in the garden.

Let’s be honest about it. So, we see this playing out again in Texas. Now, one of the things that concerns me is Talarico leading Paxton among black voters, 87 to 10%. Now, because Talarico is a Democrat, I can understand because black voters tend to vote Democrat. But here's what bothers me about this. Supposedly, the black community, according to George Gallup 20 years ago, was the most Christian community in the country. So, how is it that the majority of blacks, 87%, are in favor of Talarico, who undermines the very authority, the moral authority of the Scriptures?

He doesn't seem to have any qualms about doing that. He's in favor of homosexuality, he's in favor of transgenderism, he's in favor of all the things that are contrary to the word and will and wisdom of God in terms of moral behavior. So, why is it that 87% of the black community in Texas are in favor of Talarico? Something's wrong with their alleged faith. Something seriously wrong with their alleged faith. Or maybe their pastors are promoting political power with the Democratic party and trying to encourage their people to vote Democrat, notwithstanding the fact that the person he's asking them to vote for is radically contrary to the word, will, and way of God in terms of all moral behavior.

You won't hear conversations like this on CBS, NBC, MSNBC, or Fox News or even Newsmax. You will not hear them. But these are things that need to be honestly talked about. Because if we don't understand these things and are willing to deal with them, we actually lie to ourselves. We play games with ourselves.

Guest (Male): There is so much more about Chuck Crismier and Save America Ministries on our website, SaveUS.org. For example, under the marriage section, God has marriage on His mind. Chuck has some great resources to strengthen your marriage. First off, a fact sheet on the state of the marital union, a fact sheet on the state of ministry, marriage, and morals. SaveUS.org. Marriage, divorce, and remarriage. What does the Bible really teach about this? Find all of this at SaveUS.org. Also, a letter to pastors, the Hosea Project. SaveUS.org. And many more resources to strengthen your marriage. It's all on Chuck's website, SaveUS.org. Again, you can listen to Chuck's Viewpoint broadcast live and archived. Save America Ministries’ website at SaveUS.org.

Chuck Crismier: Welcome back to Viewpoint. I’m Chuck Crismier. Today, we take a look at Texas, not just Austin, Texas, the capital, but Dallas and all of the surrounding areas. It’s a very large, large state. Very large state, and it speaks largely into the future of America, especially now in this particular senatorial election that's about to take place in around 40 days. In this segment of the program, we take a look at the belief system of James Talarico, claiming to be a Christian.

In fact, I asked the question specifically of AI whether or not James Talarico was a Christian and practiced deceit. Here was AI’s response, which was totally liberal. He said James Talarico is a devout Christian. Devout? What does that mean? You see, words require definition. They said he's a devout Christian because he's an ordained Track Presbyterian seminarian who graduated with a master's degree from the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Well, what is the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary? A hyper-liberal example of American Christianity.

They go on to say that Talarico has maintained that his faith is rooted firmly in biblical Christianity and centered on the teachings of Jesus Christ. That came from Wikipedia. That is a liberal interpretation of James Talarico. So, you can say biblical Christianity all you want, but biblical Christianity includes not just the things that he wants to say it is, but the things that he ignores that the Bible has to say. You see, and that they don't want to talk about because AI does have sensitivity to presenting a liberal viewpoint. Perhaps you didn't know that, but it is true.

So, we take a look at James Talarico and his pastor. Talarico’s PCUSA pastor questions the resurrection. This came from the Christian Post just yesterday. Sermons from the Reverend Jim Rigby show the longtime pastor and spiritual mentor of Democrat US Senate candidate questioning the historicity of the resurrection and the Lord's Supper. He maintains that the Lord's body may very well have been stolen by his disciples. In other words, he undermines the resurrection. Doesn't believe in the resurrection, therefore doesn't believe in the Bible because the resurrection is at the very heart of the gospel message. So, he ignores the gospel message from the get-go.

It's fascinating. He says the symbols in the Scripture were never meant to be taken literally. Well, how are they meant to be taken? He makes up his own interpretations. He said, "We don't have to be loving or kind like Jesus to be saved from God's wrath. We don't have to do a single thing. Just admit you're worthless trash, but that Jesus likes you anyway. You don't have to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior and repent of your sin. No, you're just worthless trash anyway. God knows that, and He loves you, so everything's fine. Everything's wonderful."

So, if you really understood then the pastor that Mr. Talarico has submitted himself to for all these years, he's just like Talarico. He looks at the Bible the same way Talarico does. And Talarico looks at the Bible the same way his pastor does. In fact, his pastor now says God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. That's what Talarico says. So, his pastor has removed, come up with a new Bible, the Inclusive Bible. Everybody's included.

Now, what does that matter? What does that mean? Well, you might think, "Well, that means the practice of homosexuality is fine, the practice of transgenderism is fine, abortion is fine, everybody's included. No problem, everything's wonderful, everything's cool, and we're all going to heaven on the gospel train," whatever the gospel train is. Well, Mr. Talarico has some problems. In fact, he has been backtracking on all the things that he historically believed and said concerning issues like transgenderism, homosexuality, and so on.

He's changed his tune in order to pander to the electorate. In other words, to make himself look less extreme, more biblical, more in alignment with Texas voters. So, here is what the outed lesbian chaplain at Talarico’s church said about Talarico’s pivot on these issues. Listen very carefully. This self-identified lesbian minister at Talarico’s church in Austin, which is, by the way, one of the most liberal cities in the entire country, says she believes Talarico is merely playing politics on where he stands on human sexuality and other topics and will change his tune if he's elected.

In other words, he's lying. He's deceiving the people. In a video, the Reverend Babs Miller, an out lesbian chaplain at the parish of Saint Andrews Presbyterian Church, PCUSA, in Austin, characterizes Talarico’s shift on support for a national ban on gender transition surgery for minors and opposition to trans-identified male athletes competing in girls’ sports as simply a temporary political makeover. In other words, dissimulation, lying, deception to the people. She then suggested Talarico would once again embrace some of the LGBT movement’s most extreme elements if he wins the US Senate race against Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.

"I can guarantee you," she said, "that once he gets elected, he'll change his tune back to where he was. He's just playing the game to get elected." Is anybody listening out there? Now, if you have friends in Texas, I urge you to contact them concerning this program, which you will find on our website starting this evening, and it will be there through the election for sure, so that they can understand a little more deeply what's going on there. Let’s go even further to what Mr. Talarico himself believes.

A video of James Talarico calling Islam and Christianity equal pathways to truth has resurfaced now. He made eyebrow-raising comments in 2024 about Islamic mystics teaching him about his faith. Talarico said Islamic mystics influenced his faith as much as Christian authors. In 2021, he was a "Christian who hates Christianity," he said. That's James Talarico. So, today, an article comes in the Christian Post, "James Talarico’s Moderate Makeover Doesn't Add Up." After months of sustaining heavy fire for his radical left-wing views, US Senate candidate James Talarico is now weaving, dodging, and running for cover.

He had a campaign event in Dallas where he tried to rebrand himself as the most moderate version imaginable. In the interview, Talarico claimed he would absolutely vote for a national ban on trans surgery for minors. He said it was consistent with his past record, which included a 2023 vote against Texas SB 14, which attempted to do exactly what he said that he wouldn't do. Talarico voted for all 18 amendments that Democrats offered to water down the bill, none of which succeeded. So, in other words, his apparent lurch to the center is nothing but deception.

Now, before we go further into this issue of deception, I want to be honest with you concerning Ken Paxton. Ken Paxton is no angel. Yes, he is a professing evangelical Christian. He is a law-and-order kind of a guy. He's the kind of guy that Texans generally like. So, what is it that they don't like? Well, they don't like the fact that he did some dangerous dancing with decisions a while back that brought him before the courts. They don't like the fact that the Texas House brought up impeachment charges against him, even though he was acquitted of them.

They don't like that. But here's something else they don't like, and this just doesn't seem to come out in the news. Paxton was unfaithful to his wife. And ultimately, she divorced him just a couple of years ago. Now, that doesn't sit well with women, and neither should it. In fact, it shouldn't sit well with men either. But then again, when you find that the divorce rate in the Bible Belt of America for the past 25 years has exceeded the nation as a whole by 50% and the divorce rate among our pastors has equaled the nation as a whole of their constituents, according to a Hartford Seminary study, we got a serious problem in our country.

We have inaugurated divorce as a wonderful, practical, acceptable thing in the church. And remarriage after divorce when our spouse is still living, which Jesus calls adultery. We got a real problem. Texas has a problem with their Republican candidate. The old grey mare ain't quite what he represents himself to be. And neither do many Christians all over the country.

Chuck Crismier: Have you ever considered what the early church was like? Many people are developing a hard longing for a greater fulfillment in our practices as Christians. A recent study showed 53,000 people a week are leaving the back door of America’s churches in frustration. What is going on? Why has there not been even a 1% gain among followers of Christ in the last 25 years? Could it be that God is seeking to restore first-century Christianity for the 21st century? Jesus said, "I’ll build my church." Is Christ by His Spirit stirring to prepare the church for the 21st century? The early church prayed together and broke bread from house to house. They were family, and it was said by all who observed, "Behold, how they love one another." Incredible! But the same can be found right now. Go to SaveUS.org and click "Cell Church." We can revive first-century Christianity for the 21st century. It's about people, not programs. It's about the body, not a building. That's SaveUS.org. Click "Cell Church."

The Texas test, the senatorial test reflecting American politics, a portrait of American politics today, a very serious and troubling portrait. Where will it lead? What will it prove, if anything? Well, it certainly reflects much of the way Americans are thinking now, even in the formerly red state of Texas. So, this is about much more than politics itself. This is about moral truth. This is about biblical truth. This is about what you believe the Bible teaches.

This is about whether or not you are willing to align yourself with what the Bible teaches concerning the behavior of human beings, whether it's sexual behavior or any other kind of behavior. And what we're discovering is, indeed, James Talarico rejects biblical standards in that regard. Now, here is a statement that really caught my attention. I asked if Ken Paxton posed provocative kinds of statements, and this came out.

The senior editor at Texas Scorecard on Monday posted undercover video of Reverend Carol Johnson from Saint Andrews Presbyterian Church in which she stated, now bear in mind Saint Andrews Presbyterian Church is James Talarico’s longtime church there in Austin. Here's what she said: "We don't have a lot of people who are religious here in this church. Don't laugh at me. We're not a belief-based church, we're a values-based church." Did you hear that? "We're not a belief-based church, we're a values-based church."

In other words, they're substituting evolutionary cultural values for what the Bible teaches. That's what she's really saying. We're substituting evolutionary cultural values such as free-wheeling divorce, transgenderism, homosexuality, whatever it is. We're substituting our acceptance of all of these things, including the belief that all religions are on their way to heaven, that all have the same basic standard. So, let’s not be worried about those things. It’s our values that count, whether or not we're nice. Are we nice to one another? Are we having a hug-fest? Then that's what our church is about. It's not about what we believe.

So, the questioner noted, "I’ve been following the Talarico campaign. I understand he goes to this church and speaks about it in interviews." Reverend Johnson responded, "Yeah, he grew up in this church." In other words, Talarico does not believe in biblical truth. He believes in cultural values that have replaced biblical truth, which are promoted in that congregation. All right. Now, from there, we go to a very interesting discussion. And when I began to look at the news that was coming through concerning this senatorial contest, it became clear to me that there's something very similar that Islam uses in order to gain dominion in the world in every situation.

It’s called Taqiyya. It's spelled T-A-Q-I-Y-Y-A or I-Y-Y-A-H. Taqiyya. It's an Islamic legal concept that allows a person to hide their true religious faith or identity to protect themselves from severe violence, torture, or death. Now, that's what Wikipedia tells you. And on the theoretical level, that is basic truth. But it's not the whole truth. The whole truth is much different. It’s called the terrorist art of deception. It’s the art of deception. It’s not just protecting yourself. It is advancing the cause of Islam by lying, by deception, by dissimulation.

You might think, "Well, what does that have to do with this election in Texas?" It has everything to do with it, friends. Because the campaign, Talarico’s campaign is centered on accusing Paxton of systematic dishonesty, ethical evasion, and outright lies, when in fact Talarico is lying about the whole concept of Christianity, what he believes, what he will do, and so on. He’s changed his position. He has changed his position why? In order to somehow modify what he really believes in order to capture the election so that he can go back and do what he intended to do in the first place, which his own people have agreed that's what he intended to do even in his own church.

So, he may say he's a devout Christian, that he's ordained. But that means nothing. Ordained to do what? Ordained by a liberal organization that embraces not the truth of God's word, but a different set of values defined by the evolutionary standards of the culture. So, what is really happening here is the use of the art of Taqiyya. Taqiyya offers two basic uses by Islam. The better known revolves around dissembling over one's religious identity when in fear of persecution.

Deception is not only permitted in certain situations, but may be deemed obligatory in others. Contrary to early Christian tradition, for instance, Muslims who were forced to choose between recanting Islam or suffering persecution were permitted to lie and feign apostasy. Other jurists have decreed that Muslims are obligated to lie in order to preserve themselves. It's called dissimulation in Islam. Taqiyya is a fundamental importance in Islam. The practice of Taqiyya is mainstream in Islam. It is very prevalent in Islamic politics, especially in the modern era.

This is a very lengthy piece by Raymond Ibrahim concerning this matter of Taqiyya. He says Muhammad, whose example is the most perfect human is to be followed in every detail, took an expedient view of lying: to reconcile two or more quarreling parties, to placate one's wife, and in war. Several believe deceit is integral to the waging of war. The need is more stressed than the need for courage. In other words, deceit is more important than courage. "The most complete and perfect war waged by a holy warrior is a war of deception," writes Muhammad.

That Islam legitimizes deceit during war is, of course, not at all astonishing. After all, the Elizabethan writer John Lyly put it, "All’s fair in love and war." The crucial difference, though, in Islam is that war against the infidel is a perpetual affair until, in the words of the Quran, "all chaos ceases and all religion belongs to God." That, friends, explains what's happening with Iran. You don't need to go beyond that to know what's happening with Iran and why they can't give up. The duty of the Jihad exists as long as the universal domination of Islam has not been attained.

So, here is what's happened. Mr. Talarico has gone to Islam by his own testimony and has gotten instructions from Imams that have told him about his own faith and given him insights from Islam as to how he should view things as a Christian politician. And they understand that in order to win, you have to deceive. Taqiyya. And it's okay. It’s okay to deceive in order to win. Lying means nothing. It’s just what you have to do in order to achieve your objective.

So, they're locked in a tight race. And indeed, Talarico is mastering Taqiyya to deceive the Texas people. He made eyebrow comments about Islamic mystics teaching him about his own faith. He said Islamic mystics influence his faith as much as Christians. He believes that all religions are going to heaven. His pastor believes the same thing. So, all you got to do is tell people what you think they want to hear in order to get elected. You can lie to them outright. You can deceive them with intent. Doesn't matter. Even the people in his own church declare that's exactly what he's doing.

So, what do you think? What do you think he's doing? He comes across as Mr. Nice Guy. But if he has to lie and deceive to gain the position he aims, he ain't Mr. Nice Guy. He is at war with the truth. He is at war with the truth! And the people of Texas better figure it out pretty quickly. It’s not that Mr. Paxton is such a wonderful, innocent person, but at least he stands for the truth. At least he stands for basic moral principles in alignment with the word of God. Whether or not he himself lived up to them is another matter altogether.

How about your church? How many people have divorced their spouse in your church? How many people have committed adultery or fornication in your church? How many pastors have committed adultery or fornication in your church? You see our problem, friends? It’s hypocrisy at the heart of what we say we believe. And now it's cluttered up one of the most important elections in the country. Just cluttered it up. And we think it doesn't matter.

We think, as the Apostle Paul said, that our conversation should be—that is our life—should reflect what we say we believe among the Gentiles, among the unbelievers. And we think it doesn't matter. Oh, my dear friends, it matters far more than we want to admit. Who knows what this election will tell us? But it's so close and people are being persuaded by touchy-feely representations through Taqiyya through Talarico. The touchy-feely stuff doesn't come from Ken Paxton, it comes from Talarico. And that's why he's prevailing among white women.

This is amazing, friends. We need to understand what's actually happening in our culture, what's happening in the church. And that's the Bible Belt of America. What's happening elsewhere? Thanks for joining us. Become a partner, friend. Send your gifts by faith to Save America Ministries. Do it today. Get a copy of my book, *The Power to Overcome: How to Triumph in Troubled Times*. You think we don't need that today? Oh my goodness, friends, we need it more than you can possibly imagine.

$25 will put the book in your hands. It's on the website. And for you people up there and our listeners up there in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York, we're going to come up there on October 31st for one of our breakfasts there at the Crestwood Country Club in Agawam. I hope you'll make plans. Go to the website SaveUS.org, make your reservations today. Do it today. SaveUS.org. God bless and be a blessing.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to Viewpoint with Chuck Crismier. Viewpoint is supported by the faithful gifts of our listeners. Let me urge you to become a partner with Chuck as a voice to the church declaring vision for the nation. Join us again next time on Viewpoint as we confront the issues of America’s heart and home.