Category: history

Rick Joyner: The Only Hope For America Is A Military Takeover

Right Wing Watch posted a video clip of Rick Joyner telling his audience that the only hope for America is a takeover of the government by the military.  Watch the clip:

This clip is taken from his 20 minute sermon titled, “Has Democracy Failed.” Curious about the context of this clip, I watched the entire talk and found that the context, while at times confusing, is consistent with the plain meaning of his words. I can’t embed it here but for those who want to see fear mongering done well, I recommend you watch it. Joyner, who leads the Oak Initiative, very calmly tells his audience that the republic is doomed because people aren’t religious anymore and because of the 17th Amendment, we elect our Senators via popular vote. Prior to the passage of the 17th Amendment, state legislatures appointed Senators.
Then he says that things are so bad that our only hope is a military takeover. To catch the context of the RWW clip, go to about 7:40 into the video. At 7:50, Joyner says:

I believe our only hope is a military takeover, martial law and that the crucial, most crucial element of that is who the marshal is going to be. I believe there are noble leaders in our military that love the republic and love everything we stand for, and they could seize the government. I’m not advocating this, I’m just telling you what could happen. They could seize it and help restore the foundations, restore the Constitution.

On one hand he says he is not advocating it, but on the other hand, he says that the takeover is our “only hope.” I think most people would get the message that he hopes it happens and thinks it should “to restore the Constitution.”
The rest of the video is a rambling explanation that a third great awakening is coming somehow and some revisionist history involving Albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.
Rick Joyner is kind of a big deal in dominionist circles. Look at the members of his Oak Initiative board. You will find some influential and visible leaders of evangelical groups. A person of his stature calling for martial law and military takeover is a frightening development. I hope Christian media and his peers call him out on this irresponsible rhetoric.

Weekend Roundup – Tanks, Government Lies, Anti-Gay Pride, Christian Persecution, Government Shut Down

These are some items of interest that I either didn’t get to or need no additional noise from me.
David Barton: Tanks A Lot – David Barton told his Wallbuilders audience that private citizens should be allowed to have whatever weapons the government has – tanks, fighter jets, whatever. Just like the founders had.
How Do You Know When The Government Is Lying? – That’s the burning question Michael Peroutka asks on his IOTC website. He claims that the government and the media conspire together ” to endanger you, impoverish you or otherwise to harm you.” I also learned that the media hyped up the dangers of Swine Flu in 2009 to “provide cover” for the government to meddle in health care.
Scott Lively and Bryan Fischer Celebrate Anti-Gay Pride –  At 10:25, Lively calls his indirect influence on Russia’s anti-gay law “one of the proudest achievements of my career.” Guess it is all downhill from there.
Christians are under attack all over the world and the Church seems silent – Kirsten Powers’ thought provoking editorial provoked me. I will return to this issue next week. My initial view is that most Christians in the pew are praying but don’t know what else to do. Our evangelical leaders are consumed with Values Voting and Culture Warring and Taking The Country Back.
Oh, and the government might shut down…

NRB Network Breaks Silence On Institute On The Constitution

On their Facebook page this morning, NRB CEO Troy Miller pointed to an article by Michael Peroutka being “the truth” about the IOTC.
Miller wrote:

The last episode of this series has aired on the NRB Network. We appreciate your feedback about this matter. If you would like to further investigate the truth about the Institute on the Constitution, please visit http://www.theamericanview.com/policies-based-on-skin-color-are-sinful-and-shameful/ – Troy A. Miller, NRB Network President & CEO

In July, I asked Michael Peroutka how he reconciles similar statements with his leadership role in the League of the South. He did not reply.
At this point, I am unable to reconcile the above article with other articles on the American View website, such as this one justifying discrimination based on race, or this one providing the theological justification for slavery, or this one declaring that the Confederate troops fought for government “of the people” (white people I guess), or this one calling Confederate troops “American forces” and defending the slave owning South as “fighting to defend and preserve an American way of life.”
Michael Hill, president of the League, said recently that the Southern people are white Southerners. Hill said that the League members are “ethno-nationalists.” Does Mr. Peroutka agree with his fellow board member? Hill said that white people need to control the land in order to preserve their people. Does Mr. Peroutka agree with this?
In my opinion, this is a conversation that needs to happen in the church.
UPDATE: On the NRB Facebook page, I asked if the IOTC course would be broadcast again. NRB Network’s response:

As with all of our programs, any future runs will be reviewed by the programming approval committee, and all information will be taken into account.

Notes On Session 12 Of The Institute On The Constitution On The NRB Network: US Infested With Communism

In the face of the growing controversy over the program, the NRB Network broadcast session 12 of the Institute on the Constitution’s course on the Constitution. The topic by speaker David Whitney was how to salvage the republic.  Here are some things I “learned” in session 12.
The first thing I learned is that David Whitney and his boss Michael Peroutka disagree about why IOTC teaches the Constitution. Whitney said he is teaching it because he believes the nation can be salvaged. Peroutka told the League of the South in a speech at the 2012 conference:

I don’t want the League of the South, for one minute to think that I am about reforming the current regime, and that studying the Constitution is about reforming the regime.

I was surprised to hear Whitney say he believes in reform since he is the chaplain of the newly formed Maryland-Virginia chapter of the League of the South. The prime objective of the League is not reform but Southern secession. In contrast to Whitney, Peroutka’s position is consistent with his position as a board member of the League. 
Although I already knew this, I learned that the IOTC believes that civil law should reflect the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. In contrast to the First Amendment’s prohibition on the establishment of  religion, the IOTC wants to establish Christian reconstructionism as the religious position of the nation (either the United States or a seceded South, I guess it depends on the audience).
I learned the United States is a communist nation. Whitney said:

That ignorance [of our Constitution] has allowed the infestation in our country of a foreign system of government, something foreign completely to what our founders  created in this constitutional republic. And that foreign system is communism.

Whitney said Karl Marx designed 10 “planks of the communist manifesto” as a test of the degree a nation is communist.  Then Whitney compared the US to those planks. I learned so much about my country that I didn’t know.
I learned that the government is my landlord and I pay rent to it.
I learned that an estate tax is “the abolition of all rights of inheritance.”
I learned that if you rebel against the government, the government will take all of your property (rebellion was not defined).
I learned that the Federal Reserve Board is the centralization of all credit.
I learned that the FCC represents the “centralization of the means of communication” and the TSA represents the centralization of all transportation.
I learned that the government owns the means of production in the economy and is in complete control of agriculture.
I learned that the government is in control of labor because there is a Department of Labor.
I learned that smart growth policies serve to distribute population and determine where I live. Whitney said:

Just the fact that the government is in control of this and determines where I’m going to live, that’s the goal of Smart Growth, the government will tell you where you can and where you can’t live is essentially the goal of Smart Growth.

I had no idea. I thought my wife and I determined where we now live.
I learned that free education is an indicator of communism.
I always thought that many framers thought education was the bedrock of republican government. At least Jefferson thought so, and wanted the Virginia legislature to appropriate money for his public education plan. Good thing I watched this session; Jefferson the Communist.
Regarding education, I also learned that Goals 2000 was bad. Hillary Clinton was behind an “education to work plan” which required that

every child by the time they were in kindergarten is told what career they are going to have; we’re going to train them for that career for the rest of their education. So we pick out the workers and we’re going to tell them do this and you’re going to do that by the time they are in kindergarten.

Again, I had no idea. I don’t remember that part when my kids went through school.
Bottom line what I learned was the future of the nation depends on everybody taking the IOTC course on the Constitution. Mr. Whitney was very clear about that point. He also said that those who watched the broadcast should go teach others about the Constitution. Actually I think teaching about the Constitution is a good idea, but unfortunately those who watched every session of the IOTC course will need to unlearn a lot of what they learned in order to do it right.