Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina just can’t stop calling for violence, can he? This time, though, how is Cawthorn going to claim his words were taken out of context and misheard? He declared a holy war—or a “spiritual battle,” to be exact.

“Now is the time for our pastors and our congregations, like this one here, like many that you represent. It’s time for us to stand up and declare boldly that as men and women of faith, we have a duty to stand against tyranny, we have a duty to be civically involved, we have a duty to save this country for the next generation.” Cawthorn said in a speech delivered at the North Carolina Faith & Freedom Coalition’s “Salt & Light Conference.”

Cawthorn posted the week-old speech’s clip to Twitter Sunday, calling on people “of faith.”

In it, he referenced his botched knowledge of religion to call on Christians to declare a holy war.

“Look back at the Old Testament. Look at David, look at Daniel, look at Esther, look at all of these people who influenced the governments of their day to uphold Christian principles. It is time for the American Christian church to come out of the shadows, to say ‘No longer are we going to allow our culture to be determined by people who hate the things that we believe in! We are going to stand valiantly for God’s incredible inerrant truths that predate any version of government.’ Because my friends, if we lose this country today, if we bend the knee to the Democrats today, our country will be lost forever, our children will never know what freedom is,” Cawthorn said.

He continued: “It’s our duty to stand up. Let us stand united as men and women of faith to fight for our country!”

There’s a lot to question in Cawthorn’s speech. Firstly, what principles are being threatened? Is he referring to vaccines? Given the increased violence Republicans are invoking at school board meetings over children wearing masks and some being eligible for the vaccine, it would be no surprise that Cawthorn believes vaccines are violating freedom.

Second, how is Cawthorn even coming posing as a religious authority? I mean he has been accused of sexual harassment by various women. Also, the notion that Christians have remained “in the shadows” is a rather humorous one. 

The most noteworthy aspect of his clip is his references to religious scriptures. I mean, even one who isn’t Christian knows that no one in the Old Testament was fighting to uphold Christian principles. Christ wasn’t even born at the time of the Old Testament—which is based on the Hebrew Bible, or the Torah.

Of course, Twitter had something to say about Cawthorn’s little speech.

Clearly, Cawthorn needs some help.