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The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power Hardcover – May 20, 2008
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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.
- Print length464 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarper
- Publication dateMay 20, 2008
- Dimensions6 x 1.41 x 9 inches
- ISBN-100060559799
- ISBN-13978-0060559793
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
“One of the most compelling and brilliantly researched exposes you’ll ever read—just don’t read it alone at night!” — Barbara Ehrenreich, New York Times bestselling author of Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch
“Of all the important studies of the American right, THE FAMILY is undoubtedly the most eloquent. It is also quite possibly the most terrifying.” — Thomas Frank, New York Times bestselling author of What's the Matter with Kansas?
“An astounding entrée to a fascinating Christian network unknown to most Americans. . . . A must-read for any American who wants to know who is actually pulling the strings at the highest levels of power.” — Heidi Ewing, co-director Jesus Camp
“A gripping, utterly original narrative about an influential evangelical elite that few Americans even know exists. . . . The Christian Right will never look the same again.” — Michael Kazin, author of A Godly Hero: the Life of William Jennings Bryan and The Populist Persuasion: An American History
“[Sharlet] has managed to infiltrate the most influential and secretive fundamentalist network in America, and ground his reporting in the most astute and original explanation of fundamentalism I’ve ever read. . . . Indispensable.” — Hanna Rosin, former religion reporter for the Washington Post and author of God’s Harvard: A Christian College on a Mission to Save the Nation
“I was once an insider’s insider within fundamentalism. Unequivocally: Sharlet knows what he’s talking about. . . . Those who want to be un-deceived (and wildly entertained) must read this disturbing tour de force.” — Frank Schaeffer, author of Crazy For God: How I Grew Up As One Of The Elect, Helped Found The Religious Right, And Lived To Take All (Or Almost All) Of It Back
“Un-American theocrats can only fool patriotic American democrats when there aren’t critics like Jeff Sharlet around―careful scholars and soulful writers who understand both the majesty of faith and the evil of its abuses. A remarkable accomplishment in the annals of writing about religion.” — Rick Perlstein, author of Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America
“Jeff Sharlet provides a fascinating account of how part of American Christianity has gone off on a dangerous tangent. It should worry everyone—maybe especially those of us who understand the Gospels to be a call to help the powerless, not prop up the powerful.” — Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and The Bill McKibben Reader
“Jeff Sharlet is one of the very best writers covering the politics of religion. Brilliantly reported and filled with wonderful anecdotes, THE FAMILY tells the story of an influential group that you haven’t previously heard of, and need to know about.” — Ken Silverstein, Washington editor of Harper’s and author of The Radioactive Boy Scout
“A brilliant marriage of investigative journalism and history, an unsettling story of how this small but powerful group shaped the faith of the nation in the 20th century and drives the politics of empire in the 21st. Anyone interested in circles of power will love this book.” — Debby Applegate, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher
About the Author
Jeff Sharlet is a visiting research scholar at New York University's Center for Religion and Media. He is a contributing editor for Harper's and Rolling Stone, the coauthor, with Peter Manseau, of Killing the Buddha, and the editor of TheRevealer.org. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The Family
The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American PowerBy Jeff SharletHarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
Copyright © 2008 Jeff SharletAll right reserved.
ISBN: 9780060559793
Chapter One
Ivanwald
Not long after September 11, 2001, a man I'll call Zeke1 came to New York to survey the ruins of secularism. "To bear witness," he said. He believed Christ had called him.
He wandered the city, sparking up conversations with people he took to be Muslims—"Islamics," he called them—knocking on the doors of mosques by day and sliding past velvet ropes into sweaty clubs by night. He prayed with an imam (to Jesus) and may or may not have gone home with several women. He got as close as possible to Ground Zero, visited it often, talked to street preachers. His throat tingled with dust and ashes. When he slept, his nose bled. He woke one morning on a red pillow.
He went to bars where he sat and listened to the anger of men and women who did not understand, as he did, why they had been stricken. He stared at photographs and paintings of the Towers. The great steel arches on which they'd stood reminded him of Roman temples, and this made him sad. The city was fallen, not just literally but spiritually, as decadent and doomed as an ancient civilization. And yet Zeke wanted and believed he needed to know why New York was what it was, this city so hated by fundamentalists abroad and, he admitted after some wine, by fundamentalists—"Believers," he called them, and himself—at home.
At the time Zeke was living at Ivanwald. His brothers-in-Christ, the youngest eighteen, the oldest in their early thirties, were much like him: educated, athletic, born to affluence, successful or soon to be. Zeke and his brothers were fundamentalists, but not at all the kind I was familiar with. "We're not even Christian," he said. "We just follow Jesus."
I'd known Zeke on and off for twelve years. He's the older brother of a woman I dated in college. Zeke had studied philosophy and history and literature in the United States and in Europe, but he had long wanted to find something?.?.?.?better. His life had been a pilgrim's progress, and the path he'd taken a circuitous version of the route every fundamentalist travels: from confusion to clarity, from questions to answers, from a mysterious divine to a Jesus who's so familiar that he's like your best friend. A really good guy about whom Zeke could ask, What would Jesus do? and genuinely find the answer.
His whole life Zeke had been searching for a friend like that, someone whose words meant what they meant and nothing less or more. Zeke himself looks like such a man, tall, lean, and muscular, with a square jaw and wavy, dark blond hair. One of his grandfathers had served in the Eisenhower administration, the other in Kennedy's. His father, the family legend went, had once been considered a possible Republican contender for Congress. But instead of seeking office, his father had retreated to the Rocky Mountains, and Zeke, instead of attaining the social heights his pedigree seemed to predict, had spent his early twenties withdrawing into theological conundrums, until he peered out at a world of temptations like a wounded thing in a cave. He drank too much, fought men and raged at women, disappeared from time to time and came back from wherever he had gone quieter, angrier, sadder.
Then he met Jesus. He had long been a committed Christian, but this encounter was different. This Jesus did not demand orthodoxy. This Jesus gave him permission to stop struggling. So he did, and his pallor left him. He took a job in finance and he met a woman as bright as he was and much happier, and soon he was making money, in love, engaged. But the questions of his youth still bothered him. Again he drank too much, his eye wandered, his temper kindled. So, one day, at the suggestion of an older mentor, he ditched his job, put his fiancée on hold, and moved to Ivanwald, where, he was told, he'd meet yet another Jesus, the true one.
When he came up to New York, his sister asked if I would take him out to dinner. What, she wanted to know, was Zeke caught up in?
We met at a little Moroccan place in the East Village. Zeke arrived in bright white tennis shorts, spotless white sneakers, and white tube socks pulled taut on his calves. His concession to Manhattan style, he said, was his polo shirt, tucked in tight; it was black. He flirted with the waitress and she giggled, he talked to the people at the next table. Women across the room glanced his way; he gave them easy smiles. I'd never seen Zeke so charming. In my mind, I began to prepare a report for his sister: Good news! Jesus has finally turned Zeke around.
He said as much himself. He even apologized for arguments we'd had in the past. He acknowledged that he'd once enjoyed getting a rise out of me by talking about "Jewish bankers." (I was raised a Jew by my father, a Christian by my mother.) That was behind him now, he said. Religion was behind him. Ivanwald had cured him of the God problem. I'd love the place, he said. "We take Jesus out of his religious wrapping. We look at Him, at each other, without assumptions. We ask questions, and we answer them together. We become brothers."
I asked if he and his brothers prayed a great deal. No, he said, not much. Did they spend a lot of time in church? None—most churches were too crowded with rules and rituals. Did they study the Bible in great depth? Just a few minutes in the morning. What they did, he said, was work and play games. During the day they raked leaves and cleaned toilets, and during the late afternoon they played sports, all of which prepared them to serve Jesus. The work taught humility, he said, and the sports taught will; both were needed in Jesus' army.
Continues...
Excerpted from The Familyby Jeff Sharlet Copyright © 2008 by Jeff Sharlet. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Product details
- Publisher : Harper; First Edition (May 20, 2008)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 464 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0060559799
- ISBN-13 : 978-0060559793
- Item Weight : 1.53 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.41 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #505,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #655 in General History of Religion
- #860 in History of Religions
- #1,166 in Political Conservatism & Liberalism
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Jeff Sharlet is the New York Times and national bestselling author of THE FAMILY and C STREET, and executive producer of the 2019 Netflix five-part documentary series based on them, THE FAMILY. His newest book is THE UNDERTOW: Scenes from a Slow Civil War (W.W. Norton, March 2023). His other books include THIS BRILLIANT DARKNESS, SWEET HEAVEN WHEN I DIE, and RADIANT TRUTHS. With Peter Manseau he wrote KILLING THE BUDDHA and edited BELIEVER, BEWARE. Of SWEET HEAVEN WHEN I DIE, The Washington Post writes, "This book belongs in the tradition of long-form, narrative nonfiction best exemplified by Joan Didion, John McPhee [and] Norman Mailer… Sharlet deserves a place alongside such masters.” An article for GQ that became the beginning of THIS BRILLIANT DARKNESS won a National Magazine Award, and excerpts from C STREET were honored with the Molly Ivins Prize, the Thomas Jefferson Award, the Outspoken Award, and the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association's prize for feature writing. Barbara Ehrenreich called THE FAMILY "one of the most compelling and brilliantly researched exposes you'll ever read."
Sharlet is the Frederick Sessions Beebe '35 Professor in the Art of Writing at Dartmouth College, a contributing editor for Vanity Fair and editor-at-large for VQR. He has been a frequent commentator on MSNBC's "Rachel Maddow Show," "All in With Chris," and NPR's "Fresh Air." He has received grants and fellowships from The MacDowell Colony, the Blue Mountain Center, The Nation Institute, and other organizations. His writing on music has twice been featured in the annual BEST MUSIC WRITING volume.
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The author tackles a complex and sensitive subject, the intersection of Christian fundamentalist beliefs with the American political system. He had the erudition to place it within an historical context, and relates it to the secular strains of American life. He starts with his own personal experiences at Ivanwald, the "retreat" for the elite fundamentalists, those who want to utilize "Jesus," the one they define as a tough, muscular one, certainly not the "turn the other cheek" one, to further specific political objectives, as well as the general ones, of expanding the influence of "free-markets" and the American empire. Next, Sharlet places today's fundamentalist movement in an American historical context, starting in the early 1700's, with the preacher Jonathan Edwards, author of "The Great Awaking," and his relationship with Abigail Hutchinson. He then moves in the early 1800's, and the character of Charles Finney. I'm beginning to think: Do I really need to know all this? Fortunately, I persevered, and Sharlet did convince me that I DID need to know it: specifically, his theme that religious fundamentalism has been one of the essential strains of the American historical experience. The author then moves into the modern period, and how Abram Vereide used fundamentalism in his fight against the labor movement of the `30's, and in particular, Harry Bridges of the Longshoremen's union.
The author discusses how numerous leaders of the fundamentalist movements, including Coe in recent times, openly admired the techniques of various totalitarian leaders, from Lenin to Hitler and Mao, although he is generally careful to insist that the fundamentalist leaders are not actually fascists themselves. He also shows how many dictators in the world, from Papa Doc in Haiti, through Haile Selaisse in Ethiopia, to even a Muslim leader, like Sukarno in Indonesia, became friends of "The Family," and were in turn sponsored by them with political leaders in Congress. The last third of the book is wryly entitled the "popular front," and centers on a town three hours to my north, Colorado Springs, CO., which has become a "Mecca" for fundamentalist. I particularly appreciated the detailed background on Pastor Ted Haggard, whom I had only recalled as yet another hypocritical preacher when he was exposed briefly in the media.
I found the book most readable, though it is difficult to organize material of such a vast scope without seeming to be episodic. Sharlet has his witty moments, with some pithy comments like: "This religion isn't an opiate of the masses; it's the American Christ on methamphetamine." And "For Coe, it was Jesus plus nothing--a formula into which he could plug any values. It was a theology of total malleability, perfect for American expansion." And in discussing Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, the author says his attitude is: "Hate the sinner, love the sin."
This is a rich, informative book, which addresses the working of power, and as those who wield it so often prefer, they would like to remain "behind the curtain." I thought of Mearsheimer's and Walt's book on "The Israeli Lobby." Both books steer clear of a "conspiracy theory" mode, yet frankly address the behind-the-scenes political lobbying efforts of each lobby. And for their efforts, both have received their share of 1-star reviews. I read all the 1-stars on Sharlet, and concluded that they were of limited substance, and usually outright wrong, such as the statement by Coffman that Sharlet was claiming "The Family" was "anti-Semitic." I was particularly impressed that Sharlet answered in a thoughtful manner.
Lastly, I loved the cover, well-done as an antique Bible, and I felt one of Sharlet's concluding messages was aimed at me: "We cannot just counter fundamentalism's key men with our own; nor can we simply switch out the celebratory model of history for an entirely grim chronicle of horrors. Rather, we must continue to revisit the history of American fundamentalism--which is to say, we must reconsider the story we speak of when we say "America." In another words, we must pay much more attention to that which we really don't want to look at. A solid 5-star work that will be re-visited.
The author, Jeff Sharlet, knows the Family better than most outside the elite Washington set -- Sharlet spent a month in 2002 living in one of the Family's many residences, Ivanwald. While there, Sharlet was privy to confidential Family documents and met with the head of the Family, Doug Coe. In 2005, Coe was named one of the 25 most influential evangelicals by Time magazine, joining the ranks of more widely-recognized figures like Chuck Colson (a Family member and product); James Dobson; and others.
The Family, Sharlet says, "is a story about two great spheres of belief, religion and politics, and the ways in which they are bound together by the mythologies of America." And quite a story it is, too. Best known for their behind-the-scenes sponsorship of the annual National Prayer Breakfast, the Family is a far less benign, and far more influential group than might be apparent at first glance. Recently, some members of the Family have made headlines for their marital infidelity -- Senator John Ensign, and Governor Mark Sanford. But the Family counts its many friends among the most powerful business and political leaders in the world, many of whom are not Christians and some of whom have crossed the line into international criminality.
Sharlet writes with a captivating clarity, weaving the story of the organization from the Family's own records housed at the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College. Once accessible to anyone, more recent documents are now off-limits to researchers because of Sharlet's articles and the inquiries of several international reporters, according to Sharlet. Secrecy creates the impression the Family has something to hide, which Sharlet's critics say they don't.
Does Sharlet get it all right? I'm not sure about all the details, but at times the book seems to gather up the whole of evangelicalism under the suspicion of one part of it, the Family. But perhaps this is Sharlet's way of pointing out that evangelicalism's unquestioning embrace of all who bathe their work in the name of Jesus ought to be re-examined. For the most part, Sharlet's book is a stunning expose' of the blurring of power politics and a reinvented gospel fostering an Americanized-version of Jesus.
Jeff Sharlet has done evangelicals a favor by showing us that in the case of the Family, the emperor really is naked. The argument which forms the basis for the Family -- that men of authority are there because God placed them there -- is a poor exegetical attempt to justify amoral power politics. If Jesus had adopted the philosophy of the Family, he would have worked with Herod, and taken Pontius Pilate to lunch. And, when Satan tempted Christ by offering him raw political power, Jesus would have jumped at the chance because, as Doug Coe says, "we work with power where we can [and] build new power where we can't."








