Baptist Pastor Receives Backlash for Claiming Violence May Be Necessary to Stop DOGE
A Baptist Pastor in Tennessee sparked backlash online after preaching a sermon suggesting to his congregation that 'sometimes violence is necessary' when it comes to pushing back against the efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
"And in this nation, I'm worried that we are on the verge of bloodshed. This is an attempt to take us back to a day that we do not want to go and we will not go. Therefore, there will be conflict. I pray that the peace of God will win out and overcome the madness that is attempting to take over this nation," Dr. Steve Caudle, the senior pastor of Greater Second Missionary Baptist Church Chattanooga, said at a Sunday school message on Feb. 9.
"And I will say to you, beloved, no one likes violence, but sometimes violence is necessary," he contended, Protestia reported.
As highlighted in a clip posted by the X account, Woke Preacher Clips, Caudle accused Elon Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), of forcing "his way into the United States Treasury and threatens to steal your personal information and your Social Security check, there is a possibility of violence."
He argued, "Sometimes the devil will act so ugly that you have no other choice but to get violent and fight!"
"Well, someone might say, 'Now Reverend, you know, you shouldn't be talking about violence. This isn't the Christian thing to do," Claude said. "Well, I will say, why not talk this way because Jesus did. Jesus said in this key verse, didn't he?"
Referring to Matthew 11:12, the pastor asked, "The kingdom of heaven suffers what? Violence. And the who? The violent take it by force. The kingdom of God is a war zone. It is a battlefield. You did know this, right?"
Misinformation and violent rhetoric about DOGE is spilling out into pulpits across the nation:
— Woke Preacher Clips (@WokePreacherTV) February 10, 2025
"No one likes violence, but sometimes violence is necessary. When Elon Musk forces his way into the U.S. Treasury and threatens to steal your personal information and your Social… pic.twitter.com/JJl0XWVRAd
As reported by American Family News (AFN), the clip of Claude's remarks went viral, including receiving a response from Musk himself.
"This tells me that he is trying to hide MASSIVE fraud," Musk said.
This tells me that he is trying to hide MASSIVE fraud https://t.co/VMC4LmYnwG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 10, 2025
Meanwhile, Claude responded to the backlash contending that his words were taken out of context since it was only under two minutes long while the message, which has since been posted in its entirety on the church's YouTube channel, is 35 minutes in length.
"It's really kinda funny," he told AFN. "It's from the Sunday school lesson."
Claude also insisted that his message is about "spiritual warfare," not a call for physical violence.
In response, the Woke Preachers Clips responded to AFN's post about the story and contended that the clip was not taken out of context.
"People always say things are taken out of context, but never explain what specifically in the rest of the sermon (which I linked to) changes the meaning of what's been said in the highlighted clip," the person behind the channel wrote.
"I bend over backwards to make sure I don't clip things out of context. I could have just posted the 28 seconds that have been quoted in headlines everywhere, but I made the clip about 3x as long to get a fuller picture of the thought he was developing. This is a lazy excuse."
People always say things are taken out of context, but never explain what specifically in the rest of the sermon (which I linked to) changes the meaning of what's been said in the highlighted clip.
— Woke Preacher Clips (@WokePreacherTV) February 11, 2025
I bend over backwards to make sure I don't clip things out of context. I could… https://t.co/Q6DNcV8nCb
Photo Credit: ©X/Woke Preacher Clips
Originally published February 12, 2025.
