A prominent religious right leader sent a dire warning to his followers this weekend–if the Supreme Court decides in favor of marriage equality, it could potentially be the “mark of the beast.”
Rick Joyner is the head of MorningStar Ministries, based at the old Heritage USA complex in Fort Mill, South Carolina–just 20 minutes south of my home in Charlotte. He is one of the more prominent leaders of the New Apostolic Reformation, an overtly fascist offshoot of the religious right that believes it can bring about the Second Coming by taking over the world and steamrolling anyone or anything that dares to oppose them. Joyner is considered a “prophet” in NAR circles. He has also played a key role in bridging the gap between the NAR and the mainstream religious right. Most notably, Jerry Boykin, the nation’s most (in)famous “warrior for Jesus,” serves as executive vice president of the Family Research Council and a board member of Joyner’s grassroots political outfit, the Oak Initiative.
On Friday, Joyner fired off a “special bulletin” to the members of the Oak Initiative. Joyner wrote that when Daniel spoke of the beast, he called it “the abomination of desolation” or the “abomination that desolates.” Joyner mused that homosexuality, given how it is “so quickly and profoundly desolating the moral fabric of Western civilization,” could very well be that abomination.
As evidence, Joyner cites the numerous gay pride celebrations that have taken place across the country in recent years. To Joyner’s mind, it means that this country has fallen to “the ultimate national depravity” described in Isaiah 5, in which what God calls evil is considered good and what God calls good is considered evil. He also cites the “desolation” that has taken place in the military since gays were finally allowed to serve openly–something which has supposedly played out on a lesser scale in government, business, education, and the media.
All of that, Joyner warns, could be minor league compared to what happens if the Supreme Court decides in favor of marriage equality. He argued that such a decision could potentially force not only Christians, but also devout Jews and Muslims, to live under “the constant threat of losing your business, or your position and livelihood, because of an offended homosexual.” To Joyner’s mind, marriage equality would have the same effect as the mark of the beast for many people, since “they would not compromise their religious convictions in order to buy, sell or trade.”
Well, this is news to me. All this time, endtimes enthusiasts have told us that the mark of the beast would be some kind of chip or implant, or even a single worldwide currency. But marriage equality? That’s really a reach–especially if you just change a few words. Can you imagine a pastor saying that if Jim Crow laws were struck down and that businesses would no longer be allowed to refuse service to people on account of their race, it would have the same effect as the mark of the beast? It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if a pastor would have said exactly that sometime in the 1950s. If he said something like that today, it would be considered patently offensive. What Joyner is saying here is no different.
Believe it or not, this is pretty mild stuff by Joyner’s standards.? Back in 2007, he penned an article for Elijah List, another NAR-aligned ministry, in which he frankly admitted that he wanted to set up a government that would “look a lot like totalitarianism” at first before moving toward increased liberty. In 2013, he openly declared that nothing short of a military coup would save this country, since there is little to no chance of the right people being elected. If you want to read more, check out People for the American Way’s extensive dossier on him.
But if you really want to know about the kind of person Joyner is, watch a “webinar” Joyner recorded in 2012 with the late Bob Jones, another prominent NAR prophet (no relation to the family that founded Bob Jones University). In it, Jones suggested that Hurricane Sandy–which had just blown through the Northeast a few weeks earlier–was divine punishment for legalizing same-sex marriage. Jones sarcastically characterized Sandy and a nor’easter that came behind it were actually a blessing–and he and Joyner laughed about it. That’s right, LAUGHED. You would think this would be beyond the pale for even the most fundified among us. But apparently he still has the ear of the Family Research Council–after all, Boykin is still on the board of the Oak Initiative. The fact this is even remotely possible is a disgrace, plain and simple.
