Nevada Rancher Cliven Bundy Says Fight With Federal Government A 'Spiritual' Battle Of Good Vs. Evil

Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who had a stand-off with federal agents back in April, said the controversy over his cattle was an example of a spiritual battle between good and evil.

Bundy, along with several armed protesters at his ranch in Bunkerville, Nevada, squared off with United States Bureau of Land Management federal agents back in April over unpaid grazing fees for his cattle. Bundy had allegedly let his cattle graze on federal land without a permit for 20 years.

Although the agents had received a court order to confiscate Bundy's 500 cattle, the federal rangers eventually backed off, citing safety concerns, and Bundy's cattle were subsequently released.

Bundy said at a gathering for the American Independent Party in St. George, Utah over the weekend that he believes the April standoff was a spiritual battle between good and evil, and that God was on his side.

"The Lord told me [...] if [the local sheriff doesn't] take away these arms from federal agents, we the people will have to face these arms in a civil war. He said, 'This is your chance to straighten this thing up,'" the rancher said, according to The Spectrum of St. George.

"If the standoff with the Bundys was wrong, would the Lord have been with us?" he continued. "Could those people that stood (with me) without fear and went through that spiritual experience [...] have done that without the Lord being there? No, they couldn't."

Bundy, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints, is a conservative states' rights proponent, meaning he refuses to acknowledge federal authority over public land, including the grazing land located next to his ranch.

The United States Bureau of Land Management has said that it continues to "aggressively" pursue Bundy and his actions using the U.S. legal system.