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caitlinxmartin 's review for:
The Family
by Jeff Sharlet
To begin with let's stipulate that [a:Jeff Sharlet|251474|Jeff Sharlet|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1210026815p2/251474.jpg] has an agenda, but so do most writers of political analysis. Like it or not, the political is as much personal as vice versa & we've all got an ax to grind. Having said that this is a wonderfully well-written book & I enjoyed it immensely despite the fact that it triggered all my paranoia.
[b:The Family|6524798|The Family The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power|Jeff Sharlet|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51f20PR6UKL._SL75_.jpg|542198] is an examination of the The Fellowship (aka The Family) a somewhat secretive fundamentalist group that at its most overt is responsible for the National Prayer Breakfast & at its most covert is influencing political policy through its members on an international scale. Members of this group include people in power from both sides of the aisle. Their Christianity isn't like any that I've ever experienced. The essential notion is that those who are in power are in power because they are chosen by Jesus, &, therefore, all of their actions are justifiable in his name. The group has studied the organizing tactics of everyone from Marx to Hitler, breaking themselves into hierarchies that at their most fundamental are prayer cells.
On the surface this group might seem like an innocent way for people in power to network, but scrape that surface & things get scary. Some of their members believe the poor should be disenfranchised because they are poor & therefore unloved by Jesus & unworthy of the vote. The group has been supportive of genocidal dictators such as Suharto of Indonesia who came to their attention after his first half million killings.
The notion of a personal Jesus is not an unfamiliar one, but taken to such an extreme that all of one's actions are justified by him & this is out of hand. Sharlet also examines the history of American fundamentalism through this lens reminding the reader that the theocrats have always been with us. In the case of this group & all of its offshoots, however, I think the vision is less for a Taliban-style theocratic state & more for a concentration of power in the hands of the chosen (them).
This book could easily have been dry & hard going, but it reads like a thriller & it can easily give you nightmares. It will certainly make you re-examine how you see some of the people in our halls of power.
[b:The Family|6524798|The Family The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power|Jeff Sharlet|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51f20PR6UKL._SL75_.jpg|542198] is an examination of the The Fellowship (aka The Family) a somewhat secretive fundamentalist group that at its most overt is responsible for the National Prayer Breakfast & at its most covert is influencing political policy through its members on an international scale. Members of this group include people in power from both sides of the aisle. Their Christianity isn't like any that I've ever experienced. The essential notion is that those who are in power are in power because they are chosen by Jesus, &, therefore, all of their actions are justifiable in his name. The group has studied the organizing tactics of everyone from Marx to Hitler, breaking themselves into hierarchies that at their most fundamental are prayer cells.
On the surface this group might seem like an innocent way for people in power to network, but scrape that surface & things get scary. Some of their members believe the poor should be disenfranchised because they are poor & therefore unloved by Jesus & unworthy of the vote. The group has been supportive of genocidal dictators such as Suharto of Indonesia who came to their attention after his first half million killings.
The notion of a personal Jesus is not an unfamiliar one, but taken to such an extreme that all of one's actions are justified by him & this is out of hand. Sharlet also examines the history of American fundamentalism through this lens reminding the reader that the theocrats have always been with us. In the case of this group & all of its offshoots, however, I think the vision is less for a Taliban-style theocratic state & more for a concentration of power in the hands of the chosen (them).
This book could easily have been dry & hard going, but it reads like a thriller & it can easily give you nightmares. It will certainly make you re-examine how you see some of the people in our halls of power.