"The Family" and its use of cells, explained

[Shallah Kali]

long article but worth wading through to understand how groups like this work starting out with everybody loves Jesus and working the way up to you are the chosen one sonny boy so rules don't apply to the likes of you.

"The Family" and its use of cells, explained

Level 1 in "The Family"--and in most other pyramid-style groups (as we'll get into)--is the level of initial indoctrination and "shepherding". In "The Family", there's evidence (which, again, Sharlet will be discussing in full in his book) that indicate the same coercive practices common across pyramidal cell-groups may be occuring.

In particular, at least one comment by Sharlet has indicated that quite a bit more than innocent "Bible study" goes on in these cells, and that other potentially more coercive activities may go on in the inner circle:

This is more than a little dangerous. In fact (we'll need to wait for Sharlet's book to come out to document more of it, alas), this is a rather strong hint that potentially abusive tactics may be in use (the use of unethical confession tactics by "Family" predecessor/model Moral Re-Armament are already a concern, and disallowing people to read the Bible for themselves (and requiring specific, leader-inspired interpretations) removes a powerful form of "reality testing" for persons in Bible-based groups). In addition, the specific advise to not participate in mainstream churches is very, very worrisome--it's a classic method to isolate people from communities that might threaten the dogma of what is promoted by Coe and by "shepherds".

The fact that group leaders promote authoritarianism in general also does not exactly relax one--it is extremely common in abusive "cell church" groups for leaders to claim direct personal revelation from God, and opposition to the group leaders to be opposition to God.

Level 1 initiates in pyramidal groups are generally not trusted to leadership positions within the group, are privy to only some of the info, and are essentially seen as "infants in need of instruction" internally--so they do tend to be shepherded and shadowed, in part because the group doesn't yet see them as "loyal faithful" and doesn't trust them not to leave or to bugger up.

There are equivalents to this elsewhere. Level 1 in AmWay is typically the level where people have joined the group, are not yet Diamonds, but are trying to peddle Quixtar merchandise to their relatives et al. (This is also where they are encouraged to join the AmWay "business motivational organisations" where quite a bit of the reports of coercive practices come from.) In Scientology, this is the level where people are in the group, aren't yet privy to the secrets about Xenu et al, are running up their credit cards with "auditing" sessions, and often join the Sea Orgs (a paramilitary/missionary group within Scientology) as a method of alternate payment for their E-Meter sessions.)

In addition, there's a potential second form of coercion that "The Family" has in their deck that is rarely available to "level 1" in abusive pyramidal groups (other than groups using org-owned living and working arrangements)--namely, "The Family" really can threaten to derail a political career if their mark gets too out of line. The only comparable common level of potential coercion over someone's career and livelihood that I'm personally aware of is with Scientology after someone has signed themselves into the Sea Orgs (and that's in part because, at that point, they do often end up in employment with Scientology as well as in Scientology-provided housing as well as force their members to sign coercive (and, likely, illegal) "contracts" where members forfeit their right to sue for damages); generally pyramidal groups do not get this sort of ammo until the "Level 2" recruitment stage.

This is the level at which Hillary Clinton is presently a member (and why I have concerns for her at this point).

more info:
The Family: Power, Politics and Fundamentalism's Shadow Elite by Jeff Sharlet

NBC News Exclusive: Political ties to a secretive religious group By Andrea Mitchell and Jim Popki w/video (direct link HERE

The Wild Hunt » Interview with Jeff Sharlet author of “The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power”

Terri Gross interviews Dan Balz and Jeff Sharlet on the GOP's continuing decline. Sharlet's The Family: Fundamentalism's most secret and effective group podcast

Imperial Jesus: ‘Family’ author Jeff Sharlet on the secret history of the other Christian right
"They're not interested in converting the masses. They're interested only in elites." Meet the Family.>

Worse Than Fascists: Christian Political Group 'The Family' Openly Reveres Hitler

Everybody Loves Jesus Or, the unofficial lobbying fest known as the National Prayer Breakfast (which is run by The Family)

Hampton: Religious Buddies Drove Ensign To FedEx To Mail Letter To Cindy (Buddies = Sons of 'The Family' head Doug Coe)

Meet 'The Family' (aka Fellowship or the Foundation or C Street') "Six conservative politicians living in a DC townhouse owned by a fundamentalist Christian organization. What happens when you stop being polite and start finding Jesus?"

"The Family" on C Street - Rachel Maddow Show 7-10-2009 - Part 1 of 2

"The Family" on C Street - Rachel Maddow Show 7-10-2009 - Part 2 of 2

The Religion Report (2008) Elite Fundamentism - The Fellowship's gospel of Capitalist Power (Fellowship aka The Family)

Meet 'The Family' By Anthony Lappé, Guerrilla News Network

Google search of Talk2Action keywords "doug coe"

[Odin2005]

1. Scary shit!

:scared:

[Buzz Clik]

3. Especially the similarities to Amway. Terrifying.

[Warpy]

2. All that remains is to determine Moonie involvement with that bunch

and you know it's got to be there. The organization is pure Moon.

[patrice]

Excellent point!! One has always wondered concretely WHY they are soooo tolerant of Moon. nt

[no_hypocrisy]

4. The Family/Fellowship is like Scientology w/o the science fiction creatures.

[Odin2005]

9. Yup, that's disturbing as hell!

[patrice]

5. Aren't the most immediate basis for these relationships organic chemistry that is labeled "The Holy

Spirit"?

EVERYONE, would benefit from a better understanding of the bio-chemical and physiological mechanics of emotional experiences.

[tanyev]

6. I belong to a mainstream denomination and small group Bible studies

have become all the rage in the last few decades. At the churches where I have been a member I have never seen it used as a control mechanism, though I do think it is yet another example of a shrinking sect looking enviously at the unbelievable growth of non-denominational mega-churches and desperately trying to imitate some of their techniques in the hope that it will reverse their own downward trends.

I didn't even realize that was how the mega-churches were organized until I read Matt Taibbi's book The Great Derangement about his experiences undercover in John Hagee's church. Interesting stuff.

[patrice]

8. There is truth to be found in The Bible. The problem is Blasphemers who think they OWN it. nt

[Odin2005]

11. I think people need to quit looking towards religion for truth and start looking at facts.

Religion is inherently authoritarian and anti-freedom.

[patrice]

13. I agree. Life will show you the Truth and then you may also notice parallels

with what religion has to say, but you'll also notice that you didn't need religion to figure the truth out.

[Odin2005]

17. Exactly.

An unsourced quote I ran into:

"I believe in the cosmos. All of us are linked to the cosmos. So nature is my god. To me, nature is sacred. Trees are my temples and forests are my cathedrals."

[patrice]

18. Om namah Shivaya! Translates roughly to: May the fundamental principles of the universe be manifest

in me in fullness.

It is from the Bhagavad Gita which is the source of Buddhism, which is not a religion.

[Odin2005]

20. Some forms of Buddhism are a religion, some are a philosophy.

More precisely I would say that Mahayana Buddhism is a religion while Theravada Buddhism is a humanistic philosophy of life. It's hard to put truly accurate labels on many Eastern belief systems because they don't use the same conceptions of "God" as the cultures of Western Eurasia do, here in the West the term "God" is used to label complicated philosophical conceptions that have no relation to primitive conceptions of personal deities, a result of the fusion of Greek philosophy and Middle-Eastern religion. I am not a Buddhist myself (as I don't believe in Karma and re-incarnation), though I do have sympathies towards Theravada Buddhists.

[patrice]

21. I don't fall into any precise category myself, primarily because I see most of what

we're talking about here as putting words ahead of the experience that words only point to. Words mediate something that is essentially immediate.

I was raised Conservative Catholic; went with the intellectual and spiritual experimentation of the '60s, had the usual amount of undergraduate Philosophy and taught AP Psychology, as Science.

My perspective is fundamentally organic, guided and pushed by empirical rationalism but not limited to it, though I do habitually translate most "spiritual" memes and philosophical abstractions into my own do-it-yourself organic hypotheses within a more or less speculative wholistic context.

Like Buckminster Fuller, I think it's better to think in Verbs than it is to do so in Nouns.

[FraDon]

19. I think that's Frank Lloyd Wright. • n/t

[madfloridian]

7. dogemperor has done good research on this

I trust his work.

[shraby]

10. Looks similar to how Al Queda works. n/t

[Odin2005]

12. +1

[stray cat]

14. Except Al Queda murders you

[monmouth]

15. Damned scary stuff. The Opus Dei of the Right....n/t

[felinetta]

16. The good thing is that it is being exposed.

[patrice]

22. I am happy about that.

:hi:

[bluesmail]

23. I've bookmarked this. I know I'll be needing to reread it

Anytime there's a reference to twelve people intertwined by secrecy and loyalty I think Illuminati, ergo BookMark. This is hugh. Thanks Shallah kali.