rigorousintuition.ca

[medicis]

I'm perfectly willing to believe this organization exists.. has existed. But I confess ignorance.. about the topic and about the author. I mean, I know a bit, but wonder what the erudite here might know on this topic.

I know about the Air Force and fundamentalist influence, the Dobson (s) and their ilk. I grew up next to Rex Humbard's 'Cathedral of Tomorrow... I figured there was probably something like this.... but this all seems too pat... with all the hoopla... I don't know that I trust any of the reviewers or their associations...

Amazon description:

The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power (Hardcover)by Jeff Sharlet (Author)
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Product Description
A journalist's penetrating look at the untold story of christian fundamentalism's most elite organization, a self-described invisible network dedicated to a religion of power for the powerful

They are the Family—fundamentalism's avant-garde, waging spiritual war in the halls of American power and around the globe. They consider themselves the new chosen—congressmen, generals, and foreign dictators who meet in confidential cells, to pray and plan for a "leadership led by God," to be won not by force but through "quiet diplomacy." Their base is a leafy estate overlooking the Potomac in Arlington, Virginia, and Jeff Sharlet is the only journalist to have reported from inside its walls.

The Family is about the other half of American fundamentalist power—not its angry masses, but its sophisticated elites. Sharlet follows the story back to Abraham Vereide, an immigrant preacher who in 1935 organized a small group of businessmen sympathetic to European fascism, fusing the far right with his own polite but authoritarian faith. From that core, Vereide built an international network of fundamentalists who spoke the language of establishment power, a "family" that thrives to this day. In public, they host Prayer Breakfasts; in private, they preach a gospel of "biblical capitalism," military might, and American empire. Citing Hitler, Lenin, and Mao as leadership models, the Family's current leader, Doug Coe, declares, "We work with power where we can, build new power where we can't."

Sharlet's discoveries dramatically challenge conventional wisdom about American fundamentalism, revealing its crucial role in the unraveling of the New Deal, the waging of the cold war, and the no-holds-barred economics of globalization. The question Sharlet believes we must ask is not "What do fundamentalists want?" but "What have they already done?"

Part history, part investigative journalism, The Family is a compelling account of how fundamentalism came to be interwoven with American power, a story that stretches from the religious revivals that have shaken this nation from its beginning to fundamentalism's new frontiers. No other book about the right has exposed the Family or revealed its far-reaching impact on democracy, and no future reckoning of American fundamentalism will be able to ignore it.

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Editorial Reviews
Barbara Ehrenreich, New York Times bestselling author of Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch
"One of the most compelling and brilliantly researched exposes you’ll ever read—just don’t read it alone at night!"

Thomas Frank, New York Times bestselling author of What's the Matter with Kansas?
"Of all the important studies of the American right, THE FAMILY is undoubtedly the most eloquent. It is also quite possibly the most terrifying."

Ken Silverstein, Washington editor of Harper's and author of The Radioactive Boy Scout
"Jeff Sharlet is one of the very best writers covering the politics of religion. Brilliantly reported and filled with wonderful anecdotes, THE FAMILY tells the story of an influential group that you haven’t previously heard of, and need to know about."

Debby Applegate, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher
"A brilliant marriage of investigative journalism and history, an unsettling story of how this small but powerful group shaped the faith of the nation in the 20th century and drives the politics of empire in the 21st. Anyone interested in circles of power will love this book."

Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and The Bill McKibben Reader
"Jeff Sharlet provides a fascinating account of how part of American Christianity has gone off on a dangerous tangent. It should worry everyone—maybe especially those of us who understand the Gospels to be a call to help the powerless, not prop up the powerful."

Hanna Rosin, former religion reporter for the Washington Post and author of God's Harvard: A Christian College on a Mission to Save the Nation
"[Sharlet] has managed to infiltrate the most influential and secretive fundamentalist network in America, and ground his reporting in the most astute and original explanation of fundamentalism I’ve ever read. . . . Indispensable."

Heidi Ewing, co-director Jesus Camp
"An astounding entrée to a fascinating Christian network unknown to most Americans. . . . A must-read for any American who wants to know who is actually pulling the strings at the highest levels of power."

Frank Schaeffer, author of Crazy For God: How I Grew Up As One Of The Elect, Helped Found The Religious Right, And Lived To Take All (Or Almost All) Of It Back
"I was once an insider’s insider within fundamentalism. Unequivocally: Sharlet knows what he’s talking about. . . . Those who want to be un-deceived (and wildly entertained) must read this disturbing tour de force."

Rick Perlstein, author of Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America
"Un-American theocrats can only fool patriotic American democrats when there aren’t critics like Jeff Sharlet around—careful scholars and soulful writers who understand both the majesty of faith and the evil of its abuses. A remarkable accomplishment in the annals of writing about religion."

Michael Kazin, author of A Godly Hero: the Life of William Jennings Bryan and The Populist Persuasion: An American History
"This is a gripping, utterly original narrative about an influential evangelical elite that few Americans even know exists. . . . The Christian Right will never look the same

[chiggerbit]

I don't seem to see Hillary's name mentioned here. You're aware that she has been a member of this prayer group since 1992, I think it was, right?

[Occult Means Hidden]

With fundamentalism equating to the conservative. Anti-fundamentalism equating to so called liberalism.

The conundrum is that, an elite wants more freedom for themselves but less freedom for others, to allow their freedom. This is why it often appears later, or is revealed that the disguised elitist fundamentalist was actually a hypocrite. So those embracing fundamentalism and who are not elite, see the elite as inherently "liberal" because the elite want anti-fundamentalism for themselves.

Meanwhile the anti-fundamentalists who are not elite, believe the elite want freedom for themselves, so they therefore believe the elite are inherently neo-liberal while being fully aware that they use fundamentalism as a form of restricting other's freedom - which is why they are against it or why they label the elite as fundamentalist.

Basically the world is seen the same way by 'liberals' and 'conservatives' but with inexplicable biases against each other. Each side fueled by apparently not recognizing that liberal elitism or conservative elitism is still essentially - elitism - and that they act in the same way... And so crimes go unpunished.
_________________
I apologize to those I haven't said sorry to and thank those who I haven't thanked - but should have.
Time to get back to basics. Worker Control of Industry!

[sunny]

medicis, Here is Sharlet's Harpers piece that is the foundation of his book. It is long and detailed-highly worth the read.

chiggerbit, Sharlet was on FDL Book Salon the other day and made a couple of comments about Hillary's association with The Family.
_________________
QUESTION EVERYTHING, for fucks sake

[tKl]

"The Family" is a clever way to brainwash and corral people. It functions like most religions and cults, except it targets the powerful instead of the powerless.
_________________
"He needs less and more blankets!"

-Walk Hard

[chiggerbit]

sunny, I thought FDL was a Hillbot site. What's Sharlet's piece doing there?

[sunny]

chig, FDL front pagers try to keep it closer to the vest than most because as far as I can tell from my periodic forays over there, the vast majority of their commenters are pro-Obama. But yeah, you can read between the lines and pretty much make a safe bet that Hamsher is pro-Clinton. Nothing at all like Joan Walsh at Salon who has gone batshit crazy defending her. Go to Salon.com and read her "A New Low in Clinton Bashing". You see, it's not ok to call Hillary out on her assassination "gaffe" and it's all Obama's fault anyway.

/rant (sorry, but somewhat surprisingly, Hillary is driving me batshit crazy)
_________________
QUESTION EVERYTHING, for fucks sake

[chiggerbit]

It's not the first time I've read Sharlet's Salon piece, or even the second or third, but every time I do, I just shake my head.

Fer instance:

[tKl]

[chiggerbit]

IanEye had just posted about The Family, too, barely a page ago, although it unfortunately seemed to devolve into KeywordHijacking or somesuch:

http://rigorousintuition.ca/board/viewtopic.php?t=17840

[Horatio Hellpop]

[IanEye]

[Avalon]

"...To the Family, Jesus is not just a name; he is also a real man. “An awesome guy,” a Family employee named Terry told the brothers over breakfast one morning. “He excelled in every activity. He was a great teacher, sure, but he was also a real guy's guy. He would have made an excellent athlete.....”

I always thought he'd have made a great Pilates coach. And a superb blackjack player. And I bet Jesus would have rinsed his bottles and cans for recycling and taken them out to the curb on the right day without being asked. Unlike some. <glare>

I've gone back to the original Sharlet article over the years, and it still gives me the chills each time. I wonder if this book will penetrate the consciousness of Hillary supporters in a way nothing else has yet managed to do?

[brainpanhandler]

[IanEye]

Consider this: