Debleaire Snell went on a massive rant where he lectured the congregation at Breath of Life Ministries about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). He made the bizarre argument that Christians need to emulate the ancient Babylonian empire. In the Bible, Babylon is often used to represent an evil or sinful nation. However, the pastor argued that Babylon was a successful empire because it was diverse.
In his sermon, the pastor referenced Daniel 2:31. In this passage, Daniel has been called before the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, to interpret a dream. “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay,” the passage reads.
Traditionally, the dream is interpreted as representing a series of different empires, with each metal representing a successive civilization. However, Snell has a novel take. “What God is telling Daniel is that Babylon, the head of gold, would be the most powerful nation in this succession. So then the question should be, what would make Babylon so great?” he asked his congregation.
“Do you realize that for all of Nebuchadnezzar’s eccentricities, he had one good civil practice,” he said. The Babylonian rulers ‘eccentricities’ included throwing Jews into a furnace and a mental break where ” he was driven away from people and ate grass like the ox.” However, the pastor contends, “What made Babylon stand out was they instituted a Diversity Equity and Inclusion program.”
“So what Babylon did was [from] every captured nation, they would take individuals from that group, and they would train them in the science and literature of Babylon and put them to work in the king’s service,” he went on. He argued that, ” any kingdom that has a homogenous cabinet is going to have a lid on its prosperity…the only way to get a 360-degree view of wisdom is to have people from every nation represented in the leadership of government.”
He applied this principle to modern politics. “If America can learn something from Babylon…we’ve got to be willing to let everybody have a seat at the table. …what set Babylon apart is they literally created space for everyone to bring their diverse perspectives and gifts to employ them in the use of the kingdom,” the woke pastor said.
Online commentators were quick to pounce on this ridiculous argument. “Babylon, Pharaoh, Judas, Satan, Pilate, etc. These are the villains in the Bible. I am no minister, but I think it best to have sermons where the aforementioned list are the bad guys in your lesson…,” one user noted. Another replied, ” So, going to another country, grabbing a different people, and bringing them back is good?”
Watch The Rant Here:
Adventist pastor Debleaire Snell says the reason Babylon was the most powerful nation (head of gold) in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is because of DEI
“What made Babylon stand out was they instituted a diversity, equity + inclusion program”
“America can learn something from Babylon” pic.twitter.com/9xVJeR2UvZ
— Woke Preacher Clips (@WokePreacherTV) February 5, 2025
Another user pointed out the irony in the story. In the same book, Babylon was destroyed by the invading Persian army. “The DEI king foolishly threw a party one night while Cyrus’s non-DEI general was executing a brilliant infiltration of the city of Babylon, and that was the end of Nebuchadnezzar’s dynasty. Lesson over,” the user explained.
Featured Image From Embedded Video