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The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power
by: Jeff Sharlet

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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 277.3082
EAN: 9780060559793
ISBN: 0060559799
Label: Harper
Manufacturer: Harper
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 464
Publication Date: June 01, 2008
Publisher: Harper
Release Date: May 20, 2008
Sales Rank: 1663
Studio: Harper

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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.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Some confusion
Mr. Sharlet deals with a good number of facts about a group which has influence in politics. That is good. But there is intertwined some failed terminology and off-topic material that I find disturbing.
Off-topic: Why deal at all with Campus Crusade ("Christian Embassy")?
Inconsistent terminology: Is this group really "fundamentalist" or even representative of fundamentalism? Two stories emerge -- they are and tehy are not.
Does he understand?: The statement that they are merely followers of Jesus reflects some postmodern thinking. I don't know that Mr. Sharlet caught that very clearly. Apparently this was also unclear to some other reviewers.
The history section is thorough but will bog down many readers. It is scholarly to do this, but further peer review would have been helpful. In that light, the research and energy are good but the taint of such inconsistency damages an otherwise ... Read More

Rating:

- Emperial ambitions
This is an excellent book for understanding both the public face of evangelical Christianism in the US and, perhaps more importantly, at least one very powerful and influential largely secret group: The Family.

Central to the Family's ideology is what Sharlet calls "American fundamentalism, a movement that recasts theology in the language of empire" (p. 3). The US, it believes, has the divine right to rule the world, either directly or indirectly. Any nation or individual who stands in the way of the American empire is, from this standpoint, thwarting the will of God and hence, evil. Reagan's language of the "Evil Empire" and Bush's of the "Axis of Evil" take on new meaning in this light.

Embedded in the notion of American empire are the ideas of "biblical capitalism," anti-labor unionism, free trade, and economic inequality. The poor will always be with us. Just as any opposition to American ... Read More

Rating:

- Pimping Jesus?
The author of The Family, Jeff Sharlet, has written a lengthy expose of The Fellowship, a clandestine 501(c)(3) "ministry organization" housed inside the beltway of Washington D.C. that is perhaps best known for its sponsorship and production of the National Prayer Breakfast as well as affiliated prayer breakfasts around the world. For clarification purposes of this review, Sharlet refers to The Fellowship as "the Family." Sharlet unwittingly infiltrated The Fellowship several years ago and wrote about it in Harpers. This book represents a lengthened treatise on the same.

The subtitle of the book, however, is misleading in terms of historical word usage. To call The Fellowship a fundamentalist organization is a far, far reach in terms of the past and present theological understanding of the word in relationship to this organization. Protestant fundamentalists are those who possess high convictions concerning the ... Read More

Rating:

- The Family Has No Values
Well this is a true horror story. One that may well be true and one that we may not be able to change without a revolution.Power for Power: in the name of God, Big G thank you.Humble also. What we are really looking at--in my view is a country with little or no mental heath care for most AND a poor education system People look for "THE TRUTH."

We are a nation of sales people. Surprise! Someone has something to sell. What worries me is how many buy it. A God based fire sale for unregulated capitalism."The Plan" for the end of representative government.Just check with the top dog that talks with God....or maybe put him on the right meds. It will be a him. The ladies are gracious and submissive in this group--even some big names in the feminist movement.And they like it that way. Sorry no fems allowed.

Jeff Sharlit is a fine writer that does his research and writes in a clear style that holds you page after ... Read More

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