The leaders of the New Apostolic/dominionist movement have done a pretty good job of staying under the radar. But now that it seems the mainstream media is finally peering into the guts of this fascist brand of Christianity, we may be hearing a lot more about them. One of its biggest players lives uncomfortably close to me--Rick Joyner. I mentioned this on Friday, but figured this merits a repost.
Joyner leads MorningStar Ministries, based out of Jim Bakker's old complex in Fort Mill, South Carolina--20 minutes south of Charlotte. Although Hunter didn't mention it on his front-page post last week, Frank Gaffney made his call for a new Un-American Activities Committee on Joyner's Internet program--and Joyner enthusiastically endorsed it. Gaffney counts Joyner as a personal hero, and the two have been working together closely to stir up Islamophobia. Joyner is a major proponent of the "Seven Mountains" strategy--the idea that in order to take back the world and bring about Jesus' return, Christians must take over the seven most influential sectors of society--government, family, media, business, education, arts and entertainment, and the church.
To get a true taste of what Joyner is all about, check out an article he wrote in 2007 (h/t to Bruce Wilson/Troutfishing and The Orchid). He frankly admits that the regime they want to set up will "look a lot like totalitarianism" at first, but will gradually move toward increasing liberty. Sounds an awful lot that Oceania's mantra in 1984--"War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength."
PFAW's Right Wing Watch has a pretty long dossier of Joyner's more unhinged statements. Among them:
Increasingly, Joyner has started to ramp up his political involvement. He is president of the Oak Initiative, a "grassroots" outfit that promotes Seven Mountains ideas. The list of board members tells you all you need to know about this group--Cindy Jacobs, Jerry Boykin, Janet Porter and Lou Sheldon. He has also worked with Boykin and Tony Perkins to put together a coalition called "300," with the goal of taking the country back from evil. Apparently Perkins was responsible for puffing Engle, and PFAW thinks he's doing the same with Joyner.
It's pretty unnerving that this guy is one of the people who may have the ear of Rick Perry, given Perry's close links to the dominionist crowd. But as we've already seen, the more light we put on these people, the better.