Opinion | He's a Famous Evangelical Preacher, but His Kids Wish He'd Pipe Down - The Ne... - 1 views
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He’s a Famous Evangelical Preacher, but His Kids Wish He’d Pipe Down
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The Rev. Rick Joyner has called on Christians to arm themselves for civil war. But his children would be on the other side.
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The Rev. Rick Joyner is a famous evangelical leader who has called on Christians to arm themselves for an inevitable civil war against liberals, whom he suggests are allies of the devil.
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But this is the awkward part: His five children would be on the other side of that civil war, as he and his kids all acknowledge
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She worries that his far-right rhetoric may get people killed, so she feels a responsibility to challenge him.
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“I think it’s completely possible that some of my dad’s followers could pick up guns and cause violence because they think they’re defending the country,”
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He claims liberals are in league with Satan and Democrats are plotting “to criminalize Christianity.”
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Joyner’s rants leave his children furiously texting back and forth in exasperation (they say their mom is somewhere in the middle).
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The most outspoken is Anna Jane, who says her father’s rhetoric became more extreme in recent years. She had her first falling out with him when she became a Democrat and an environmentalist while a sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He cut off her college funding, and she moved to New Zealand. Soon after, she nearly died in a boating accident — and the first person she called was her dad. They reconciled.
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He also promoted a film by his son Ben about a gay man in the South, even though it likewise had him gritting his teeth.
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At what point can I no longer go home for Thanksgiving and watch football with my dad?” Ben mused. “By doing so, am I condoning his behavior? It can be hard to draw that line in the sand, especially when you love this person.”
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“Is it OK to just talk about movies and dogs with someone who’s trying to incite civil war? I don’t know.”
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She was furious at her father for his climate denial — but he’s the person she called in that crisis, and he stayed on the phone with her for much of the night, relaying the latest information and helping to keep her safe.
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“I’m so angry at him for his politics and for endangering me and all of us by not believing in climate change,” she said. “And yet he’s the one I turn to in the middle of the night when I’m evacuating and I’m really scared.”