When we’ve written about North Texas fascist legislator Bryan Slaton in the past, it was never really all that personal, just stuff about how he was working to have women executed for having an abortion, about his desire to have Texas secede and about his bizarre mania against the LGBTQ community. I mean, a real piece of work, but still... a former pastor and solid Christian family man, right? Well… that hinges on how you want to define “solid.”
For example, among pastors it’s probably pretty common to feed underage children alcohol and rape them, but even in Texas that’s a no-no for state legislators. Slaton represents tiny Royse City (pop. around 13,000), parts of backward, rural Hunt, Hopkins and Van Zandt counties in the hellish northeast part of the state. These were Trump’s 2020 percentages in each county:
Hunt- 75.56%
Hopkins- 79.79%
Van Zandt- 85.56%
Anyway, aside from blaming those yahoos for Slaton’s humanity-destroying politics, you can also blame them for the fact that they sent a sexual predator to Austin to represent them. A father of two, Slaton pounced on an intern, got her drunk and raped her. Members of both parties— including fellow fascists Briscoe Cain and Steve Toth— are calling on Slaton, widely considered the most right-wing MAGAt in the legislature, to resign and go back to Royse City and spend the rest of his life praying for salvation.
A former youth minister, Slaton was targeted this week by a bill drafted by Muenster Republican Sen. Drew Springer looking to hold legislators accountable for grooming behavior. Several of Slaton’s colleagues have said that watching him eat is like a disgusting horror show and that he has no control over his gluttony. Since he was a pastor he should know that in Christianity overeating is considered a sin as it goes against the principle of self-control and moderation. In Proverbs 23:2, it is written, "Put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony." In the New Testament, the apostle Paul warns against indulging in food and drink excessively (Romans 13:13-14). This is a common thread across religious teaching, which makes you wonder why most white MAGA evangelicals are such overeaters. They probably aren’t aware that in Islam, overeating is also discouraged and that religion also recommends to eat in moderation. Muhammad said, "No human being fills a vessel worse than his stomach. Sufficient for a human being are some morsels to keep his back straight. But if he must eat, then one-third for his food, one-third for his drink, and one-third for his breath." Similarly, in Hinduism, overeating is also discouraged as it is believed to lead to physical and mental ailments. The concept of mitahara or moderation in food is emphasized in the Bhagavad Gita. Many religions see the kind of extreme overeating Slaton does daily as a form of indulgence and excess.
A study by Kendall Eskine and Natalie Kacinik, “Greed, Anticipated Regret, and Healthful Food Choices,” published in 2012 in the journal Psychological Science, found that people who were primed to feel a sense of greed were more likely to consume a greater amount of unhealthy food compared to those who were not primed in that way. The researchers concluded that a sense of greed could lead to overeating and unhealthy food choices. The concept of "greed" typically refers to an excessive desire for wealth or material possessions and in a case like Slaton’s can be seen as related to gluttony and overeating, as both involve excessive consumption or indulgence in something. His excessive desire for consumption has also manifested in other areas of his life, including his shady finances and fascist politics. His greed has led to unethical, if not illegal behavior and his politics are marked by a desire for power and control, obviously leading to corruption and abuse.
