Take a photo of a barcode or cover
socraticgadfly 's review for:
The Family
by Jeff Sharlet
Simply a good book.
That starts with Sharlet’s conceit, if you will, of separating American fundamentalism into two strains — the elite and the populist.
With its plays on American and foreign leaders, The Family clearly is in the former. But, part of its genius has been, in more recent years, to stick its toes in the waters of the populist strain as it grew stronger, and got more of a sheen of respectability itself, starting approximately with Reagan’s election.
With the elite strain, Sharlet notes a few points very worth mentioning:
1. The Family, especially, isn’t that big on religious dogma and, especially at top eschelons, isn’t hugely big on political dogma, as long as a person doesn’t go too far left.
1A. It’s also, based on the type of developing world dictators it avidly embraces, quite selective on what “Christian ethics” are.
1B. Also related, based on how many of these leaders aren’t Christian, is about power, power politics and relations first, and somewhat that way on the domestic scene, too. I wouldn’t be totally surprised to hear that Imam Rauf of Park 51 in New York City turns up at a prayer breakfast hosted by The Family someday.
2. At the personal level, The Family is about power and relationships first, doctrine second, too. This can be summed up in two words — “submission” and “covenant.”
Just what all this, and much more, will mean for an America that shows little signs of incorporating much of the Western European welfare state (which would arguably undercut modern megachurch Christianity a lot) is all worth thinking about. Sharlet doesn’t have answers, but, by connecting the dots, he shows that there’s heavy lifting to be done … and, by referencing things like faith-based initiative programs at the end, shows that at least some Democrats (including our current president, my emphasis) have already given some things away.
That said, Sharlet still doesn’t tell us, in the end, too awful much about Family founder Abram Vereide, successor Doug Coe, or just all what the hell it wants, if it’s not big on doctrine but is on power and submission. Power, unless one is a psychopath, is a tool, a means, not an end in itself.
That starts with Sharlet’s conceit, if you will, of separating American fundamentalism into two strains — the elite and the populist.
With its plays on American and foreign leaders, The Family clearly is in the former. But, part of its genius has been, in more recent years, to stick its toes in the waters of the populist strain as it grew stronger, and got more of a sheen of respectability itself, starting approximately with Reagan’s election.
With the elite strain, Sharlet notes a few points very worth mentioning:
1. The Family, especially, isn’t that big on religious dogma and, especially at top eschelons, isn’t hugely big on political dogma, as long as a person doesn’t go too far left.
1A. It’s also, based on the type of developing world dictators it avidly embraces, quite selective on what “Christian ethics” are.
1B. Also related, based on how many of these leaders aren’t Christian, is about power, power politics and relations first, and somewhat that way on the domestic scene, too. I wouldn’t be totally surprised to hear that Imam Rauf of Park 51 in New York City turns up at a prayer breakfast hosted by The Family someday.
2. At the personal level, The Family is about power and relationships first, doctrine second, too. This can be summed up in two words — “submission” and “covenant.”
Just what all this, and much more, will mean for an America that shows little signs of incorporating much of the Western European welfare state (which would arguably undercut modern megachurch Christianity a lot) is all worth thinking about. Sharlet doesn’t have answers, but, by connecting the dots, he shows that there’s heavy lifting to be done … and, by referencing things like faith-based initiative programs at the end, shows that at least some Democrats (including our current president, my emphasis) have already given some things away.
That said, Sharlet still doesn’t tell us, in the end, too awful much about Family founder Abram Vereide, successor Doug Coe, or just all what the hell it wants, if it’s not big on doctrine but is on power and submission. Power, unless one is a psychopath, is a tool, a means, not an end in itself.