{"id":49061,"date":"2025-02-28T13:41:41","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T18:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?p=49061"},"modified":"2025-02-28T13:41:41","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T18:41:41","slug":"when-a-politician-name-drops-jesus-coming-attractions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2025\/02\/when-a-politician-name-drops-jesus-coming-attractions.html","title":{"rendered":"When a politician name drops Jesus + Coming Attractions"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Here&#8217;s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media &amp; culture: 02\/28\/25<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"yiv9701125224MsoNormal\"><strong>Note to Self: You don&#8217;t have to agree with a politician just because he name drops Jesus. <\/strong>In an interview on last night&#8217;s edition of <strong>NewsNation&#8217;s<em> Cuomo (<\/em>weeknight, 8:00 PM ET)<\/strong>, <strong>Democratic<\/strong> <strong>Texas state Rep. James Talarico<\/strong> told host <strong>Chris Cuomo<\/strong> this:<em> \u201cJesus is the reason I\u2019m in politics. My grandfather was a Baptist preacher in South Texas, and he taught me at a young age Christianity is a simple religion, not an easy religion, but a simple religion because Jesus gave us two commandments to follow, love God and love neighbor. That\u2019s what this whole faith boils down to.\u201d<\/em> It was a part of an exchange which began at the 3:32 mark when the host brought up the subject of Christian nationalism and those who supposedly see <strong>President Trump<\/strong> as a &#8220;deistic figure&#8221; &#8211; which is a sort of a drive-by slur and, I believe, unfair and untrue characterization of Trump supporters who are well aware of his human flaws but agree with him on the issues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9701125224MsoNormal\">Earlier in the conversation, he threw some cold water on the idea of school choice as a means of lifting poor children out of failing public schools &#8211; labeling private school vouchers as a scam. I don&#8217;t question his sincerity on the subject &#8211; and we should always be on the lookout for scams &#8211; but my personal opinion is that school vouchers are an effective tool for lifting poor children out of poverty and that it is special interests that are trying to thwart them. Name dropping Jesus &#8211; whether by the right or the left &#8211; can be a form of political manipulation. We all have a responsibility to think for ourselves to determine which policies actually align with our faith values. You can watch the whole conversation below.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Rising Texas Democrat: &#039;Jesus is the reason I&#039;m in politics&#039; | CUOMO\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bMVd8CIvoBo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Be on the lookout for&#8230;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.morethanmeetstheiq.com\/p\/19-free-jesus-the-et-are-mrna-vaccines?r=4pd0kc&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web\">Michael Guillen&#8217;s Substack post on Jesus as the Ultimate ET<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iheart.com\/content\/2025-02-21-1119-the-clay-travis-and-buck-karol-markowicz-show-motorhome-prophecies-wit\/\">Karol Markowicz&#8217;s I Heart Radio interview with journalist Carrie Sheffield about her journey from dysfunctional religion to empowering faith<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2024\/12\/motorhome-prophecies-journalist-carrie-sheffield-recalls-her-hard-won-journey-from-cultish-religion-to-a-freeing-christian-faith.html\">a subject she also discussed with me<\/a>) and these&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The Mosaic Church<\/em> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.angel.com\/guild\/join\/mosaic-church?utm_campaign=mosaic-church&amp;utm_medium=short&amp;utm_source=mosaic\">currently streaming<\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"The Mosaic Church | Now Streaming | Official Trailer | Angel Studios\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DfN0o9h_4Xg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div><strong>County Rescue \u2013 Season 2 (<a href=\"https:\/\/app.pureflix.com\/series\/527488038522\/county-rescue\">streaming now on Pure Flix<\/a> with new episodes airing Sunday nights on Great American Family) <\/strong><\/div>\n<p><iframe title=\"County Rescue | Season 2 | Official Trailer\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bEyhS3V2uVo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The Last Supper<\/em> (in theaters March 14th)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"&quot;The Last Supper&quot; Official Movie Trailer - in theaters beginning March 14 | The Last Supper 2025\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-jwAbai7k0s?start=4&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Centered: Joe Lieberman<\/em> (in select theaters nationwide March 18th and 19th)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Centered: Joe Lieberman | Official Trailer\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cj1IVXYis3Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>ONE &#8211; Voices for Tanzania<\/em> (multi-art anthem releases March 21st)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"ONE (Trailer)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ceAHErPu0Pc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div><strong><em>The Last Rodeo<\/em> (in theaters May 23rd\/Memorial Day Weekend)<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><iframe title=\"The Last Rodeo | Official Trailer | Angel Studios\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ADuANCCW1iw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Also ahead&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Prime Video<\/strong> has just confirmed that <strong>Jamie Campbell Bower<\/strong> and <strong>Eddie Marsan<\/strong> have joined the cast of <strong><i>The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power<\/i><\/strong> for the series\u2019 upcoming third season that is currently in pre-production. The series will begin filming this spring at its new production home at <strong>Shepperton Studios<\/strong> in the UK. Bower will be a series regular while Marsan will appear in a recurring role. The globally successful series, which has attracted over 170 million viewers worldwide, continues to be one of the strongest drivers for new Prime membership sign-ups.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2025\/02\/a-walk-to-remember-reboot-monarch-media-development-1236304380\/\">From <strong>Deadline<\/strong><\/a>: <em><strong>Monarch Media<\/strong> has secured the rights to <strong>A Walk to Remember<\/strong>, the seminal early aughts coming-of-age romance from <strong>Nicholas Sparks<\/strong>, with plans to develop a reboot alongside the original film\u2019s producers <strong>Denise Di Novi<\/strong> and <strong>Hunt Lowry<\/strong>. An enduringly popular bestseller published in 1999, A Walk to Remember follows a rebellious high school senior who falls for a quiet, faith-driven girl after being forced to participate in a school play, discovering the transformative power of love, forgiveness and the beauty of living each day with purpose.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God. <\/em><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong><em><span class=\"st\">Encourage one another and build each other up &#8211; <\/span><\/em><span class=\"st\">1 Thessalonians 5:11<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media &amp; culture: 02\/28\/25 Note to Self: You don&#8217;t have to agree with a politician just because he name drops Jesus. In an interview on last night&#8217;s edition of NewsNation&#8217;s Cuomo (weeknight, 8:00 PM ET), Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico told host Chris Cuomo this: \u201cJesus&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>When a politician name drops Jesus + Coming Attractions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2025\/02\/when-a-politician-name-drops-jesus-coming-attractions.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When a politician name drops Jesus + Coming Attractions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here&#8217;s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media &amp; culture: 02\/28\/25 Note to Self: You don&#8217;t have to agree with a politician just because he name drops Jesus. In an interview on last night&#8217;s edition of NewsNation&#8217;s Cuomo (weeknight, 8:00 PM ET), Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico told host Chris Cuomo this: \u201cJesus&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2025\/02\/when-a-politician-name-drops-jesus-coming-attractions.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-28T18:41:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John W. 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James Talarico told host Chris Cuomo this: \u201cJesus&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2025\/02\/when-a-politician-name-drops-jesus-coming-attractions.html","og_site_name":"Faith, Media &amp; Culture","article_published_time":"2025-02-28T18:41:41+00:00","author":"John W. Kennedy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2025\/02\/when-a-politician-name-drops-jesus-coming-attractions.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2025\/02\/when-a-politician-name-drops-jesus-coming-attractions.html","name":"When a politician name drops Jesus + Coming Attractions","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-02-28T18:41:41+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-28T18:41:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2025\/02\/when-a-politician-name-drops-jesus-coming-attractions.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2025\/02\/when-a-politician-name-drops-jesus-coming-attractions.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2025\/02\/when-a-politician-name-drops-jesus-coming-attractions.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When a politician name drops Jesus + Coming Attractions"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/","name":"Faith, Media &amp; Culture","description":"Beliefnet Voices - John W. Kennedy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2","name":"John W. Kennedy","description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations &amp; Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. He can be reached for writing, producing and consulting services at 516-640-1182.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/author\/jkennedy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49061"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49079,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49061\/revisions\/49079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}