The Family. Elite Fundamentalism and religion for the 1%.

[white_wolf]

I have recently started reading Jeff Sharlet's excellent book "The Family." In this book he details his time at the Family's retreat and the history of the group and the rise of what he terms "elite fundamentalism."

The Family was founded by Abraham Veriede, a man who believed he had been called by God to gather together the powerful of society and create, in his own words, a "new world order." Sharlet describes Veriede as a man who rode the fence of Fascism, but never jumped over.

Veriede preached a gospel of wealth, the powerful were powerful because God gave them power. To oppose them was to oppose God. In the midst of a San Fransisco labor riot, Veriede had formulated his new Gospel. A gospel of a Jesus "disentangled form church organization." A "rejection of the "Social Gospel" of good works for the poor in favor of an unhindered Christ defined by his muscles, a laissez-faire Jesus..."

Sharlet goes into to detail to discuss Vereide's scorn for organized labor, which he viewed as threat to Christ. In discussing a San Fransisco labor longshoremen strike organized by labor leader Harry Bridges, Sharlet says that in the eyes of Veriede the "thud of the billy club and shriek of the gas canister were the sounds not of repression but of Christian civilization making its last stand."

Today Veriede's Family is as strong as ever, with members of both political parties attending pray dinners at the retreat called the "Cedars." Sharlet mentions several members of the Congress who are members of the Family, including Democrats such as Bill Nelson and Mark Pryor and every President since Eisenhower has attended their prayer breakfast.


Note: all quotations are taken from Jeff Sharlet's book "The Family."

[mercuryblues]

1. A good book

I recommend it to many people with this disclaimer - I found it a hard read. Ony because I would get so disgusted with the events that I would have to put it down for a few days to digest. I would be shocked and have to reread pages to be sure I read it right.

[white_wolf]

3. Have you read his sequel yet?

I think it is called C-Street Fundamentalism. Also here is an interview with the author, which mentions Hillary Clinton's ties to the family: http://www.alternet.org/rights/87665/?page=1

[mercuryblues]

12. I had not

heard of it. Thanks for ruining my day. j/k. I will put that at the top of my list.

[provis99]

2. a better title for "The Family" would be "The Satanically Evil"

but that's just my opinion.

[riderinthestorm]

4. President Obama kow tows to this group with the Prayer Breakfast they host.

Yet many, many people think it's some kind of "traditional" thing that ALL Presidents should.... just do!

NO President should EVER pander to this group. It's dangerous. As dangerous to America's civil society as Al Qaeda....imho.

Pretty shocking stuff eh?

[white_wolf]

5. Yeah, there is no excuse for it.

This group is dangerous. No one who has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution should have anything to do with these people. I've seen some posts worried that if Romney wins he will govern from Salt Lake, but to be honest I'm more worried about C-Street than Salt Lake. These people are more dangerous than any organized Church, because they are all but invisible. Also, unlike the Vatican or Salt Lake, these people don't care about doctrinal purity. As Sharlet notes, they care about power.

[hootinholler]

6. Jesus plus nothing

If you have power it's because you were anointed. Anything you do is ok because it is forgiven.

I would call them dominionists, but they're not really. That doesn't mean they are below using real believers in the dominionist cause. Those people can be manipulated.

[white_wolf]

7. I'm not sure what they are.

You are right in that they don't seem to be your average Domionist at least not in the way that I fear Bachman is. Sharlet points out that they aren't Fascists either, though he argues they are something worse than Fascism.

[Zalatix]

10. Followers of the Anti-Christ.

The Anti-Christ owns Earth and we're essentially paying rent.

The only good way out now is complete collapse and anarchy. The other way out is this: http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm

[DCKit]

8. Isn't "to gather together the powerful of society and create, ...a "new world order.""...

pretty much the definition of fascism? Sharlet was being entirely too kind.

We wouldn't be where we are now without "Teh Family" and their not-so-behind-the-scenes machinations.

[white_wolf]

11. Sharlet argues that they are actually more dangerous than Fascists.

As he points out there hasn't been a powerful fascist nation since WWII, but Veriede's Family is stronger now than ever. He argues that the group is different from Fascists, because, at least according to Sharlet, Fascists revere violence because they seem to think it has redemptive quality for the nation, whereas the Family would say that they are seeking peace and they don't see violence in and of itself as holding redemptive power, that is reserved for Jesus. Sharlet does point out that they readily admire Hitler, though for his means not his ends. Of course, as he says when the means are authoritarianism, who cares what the ends are?

[cliffordu]

9. K&R......

[hifiguy]

13. Isn't this Veriede character

the person who picked up the pieces of the plot exposed by General Smedley Butler?

Interesting that the Wikipedia page on Veriede has been scrubbed so thoroughly there's nothing left of it.

[white_wolf]

14. I don't know about Butler and Veriede, but I'm only a 3rd of the way through the book.

As for Wikipedia, I find that very odd. I've never seen a page scrubbed like that. It's also strange that if you do a search for Veriede the Wikipedia link shows part of the article, but if you click it sends you to the scrubbed page.