The Family: A Study of Power, Politics, and Evangelical Influence in Washington

... at this phenomenon all around me. And that is one of the strengths of Sharlet's book; he was willing to, at length, and in a fairly systematic way. The American news is filled with the threats and dangers of Islamic fundamentalism (and indeed, there really is such a thing), but what of the Christian religious fundamentalism within our own country, which is usually not discussed in terms of being a threat, but rather as an occasional oddity, such as a theme park that shows dinosaurs and man coexisting, all after 4004 B.C or the numerous televangelists and/or evangelical preachers caught in a sex scandal. For me, Sharlet functioned much in the sense of that website which proclaims: "We watch Fox News so you won't have to." The author tackles a complex and sensitive subject, the intersection of Christian fundamentalist beliefs with the American political system. He had the erudition to place it within an historical context, and relates it to the secular strains of American life. He starts with his own personal experiences at Ivanwald, the "retreat" for the elite fundamentalists, those who want to utilize "Jesus," the one they define as a tough, muscular one, certainly not the "turn the other cheek" one, to further specific political objectives, as well as the general ones, of expanding the influence of "free-markets" and the American empire. Next, Sharlet places today's fundamentalist movement in an American historical context, starting in the early 1700's, with the preacher Jonathan Edwards, author of "The Great Awaking," and his relationship with Abigail Hutchinson. He then moves in the early 1800's, and the character of Charles Finney. I'm beginning to think: Do I really need to know all this? Fortunately, I persevered, and Sharlet did convince me that I DID need to know it: specifically, his theme that religious fundamentalism has been one of the essential strains of the American historical experience. The author then moves into the modern period, and how Abram Vereide used fundamentalism in his fight against the labor movement of the `30's, and in particular, Harry Bridges of the Longshoremen's union. The author discusses how numerous leaders of the fundamentalist movements, including Coe in recent times, openly admired the techniques of various totalitarian leaders, from Lenin to Hitler and Mao, although he is generally careful to insist that the fundamentalist leaders are not actually fascists themselves. He also shows how many dictators in the world, from Papa Doc in Haiti, through Haile Selaisse in Ethiopia, to even a Muslim leader, like Sukarno in Indonesia, became friends of "The Family," and were in turn sponsored by them with political leaders in Congress. The last third of the book is wryly entitled the "popular front," and centers on a town three hours to my north, Colorado Springs, CO., which has become a "Mecca" for fundamentalist. I particularly appreciated the detailed background on Pastor Ted Haggard, whom I had only recalled as yet another hypocritical preacher when he was exposed briefly in the media. I found the book most readable, though it is difficult to organize material of such a vast scope without seeming to be episodic. Sharlet has his witty moments, with some pithy comments like: "This religion isn't an opiate of the masses; it's the American Christ on methamphetamine." And "For Coe, it was Jesus plus nothing--a formula into which he could plug any values. It was a theology of total malleability, perfect for American expansion." And in discussing Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, the author says his attitude is: "Hate the sinner, love the sin." This is a rich, informative book, which addresses the working of power, and as those who wield it so often prefer, they would like to remain "behind the curtain." I thought of Mearsheimer's and Walt's book on "The Israeli Lobby." Both books steer clear of a "conspiracy theory" mode, yet frankly address the behind-the-scenes political lobbying efforts of each lobby. And for their efforts, both have received their share of 1-star reviews. I read all the 1-stars on Sharlet, and concluded that they were of limited substance, and usually outright wrong, such as the statement by Coffman that Sharlet was claiming "The Family" was "anti-Semitic." I was particularly impressed that Sharlet answered in a thoughtful manner. Lastly, I loved the cover, well-done as an antique Bible, and I felt one of Sharlet's concluding messages was aimed at me: "We cannot just counter fundamentalism's key men with our own; nor can we simply switch out the celebratory model of history for an entirely grim chronicle of horrors. Rather, we must continue to revisit the history of American fundamentalism--which is to say, we must reconsider the story we speak of when we say "America." In another words, we must pay much more attention to that which we really don't want to look at. A solid 5-star work that will be re-visited.

As an avid reader of history, I found this interesting for many of the same reasons as other reviewers: it's eye opening revisiting of US history through the lens of fundamentalism and its related history. This was very well done in terms of research findings, though I have some sympathy for those reviewers who criticize the structure and editing of the book: it could have been tighter. A much more powerful synthesis at the end would have been fascinating and also would have forced some restructuring of the book so its arguments cohered and flowed just a little better. But I liked the sense that the author was at times almost drawn into the spell of the heart of darkness. What I would add as a perspective, is that the belief driven cell structure that The Family uses is it admits based on Leninism, Nazism and Maoism. What is fascinating to me is that such structures have catastrophically negative impacts on their host countries. Leninism probably put back Russian progress by a century; Nazism gave us Germany Year Zero in 1945 and Maoism the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution with perhaps 50 million dead resulting. Before leaping to emulate these losers, it might have been interesting for The Family to conduct a military After Action Review before imitating them. Thinking that putting Jesus in place of Marx or Mein Kampf would make all the difference may go down as unbelievably naive or don't they care? Power is all: very Big Brother a la 1984. In any event, perhaps some future Gibbon looking at US decline and fall (hopefully we will steer a fresh course and avoid this) may look at this book as providing insight into the destruction of the US from within through reality denying, Machiavellian, religious nihilists dressed up in Christian drag. If in 1950 some far seeing Chinese Communist had decided to destroy US power along the lines of the old Classical mantra: those whom the Gods wish to destroy they first make mad, could hardly have done better than breed The Family. The sub-story that this book only hints at is one of their most incredibly stupid policy directions on almost every field domestic and foreign: pointless wars, wasteful government spending, pretending that issues don't exist, lack of financial regulation, and wacky ideas on all sorts of subjects. I am reminded of James Hogg's Memoirs of a Justified Sinner, which depressed me almost as much as the central characters of this book. So we have banal, evil, psychotic, cellular manipulators who haven't had a good policy idea since 1935. And what this says about our political culture is staggering: all those politicians of both major parties infusing The Family brew presumably via their egos.

Arrived earlier than expected. Good quality even though I bought a used copy.

The author not only tells "stories" but gives references to the source of his information. This makes the content of this book credible but the information even more shocking and rocking the naive believer.

Shockingly true. Found this book revealing.

Fascinating book and more precisely than the movie. However, I am reading this book after the death of the main character. It was more interesting to have it long time ago when some of the facts were not yet "cold".

Davvero un libro intrigante che fornisce un quadro controverso sull influenza che i gruppo evangelico autodefinitosi the Company ha sulla politica della Casa Bianca da oltre 40 anni ..ed ora anche su diversi governi dell Est. Da leggere assolutamente.