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The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power Hardcover – May 20, 2008
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Jeff Sharlet
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Print length464 pages
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LanguageEnglish
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PublisherHarper
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Publication dateMay 20, 2008
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Dimensions6 x 1.41 x 9 inches
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ISBN-100060559799
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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
“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.
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Product details
- Publisher : Harper; 1st Edition (May 20, 2008)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 464 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0060559799
- ISBN-13 : 978-0060559793
- Item Weight : 1.55 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.41 x 9 inches
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Best Sellers Rank:
#904,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #200 in Christian Fundamentalism
- #242 in Religious Fundamentalism (Books)
- #1,550 in History of Religion & Politics
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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Little did he know what he would find when he started this journey. Last night, I saw him on CNN again. It seems the arrest of the Russian woman, Maria Butina, has reopened this can of worms. She infiltrated the NRA and other right leaning groups to find out how to influence Americans, for the Kremlin. Her attendance at The National Prayer Breakfast , as were 50 other Russians, just confirms what thus book originally talked about. That the agenda of the Kremlin and far right churches and groups, is the same, only hoping for different outcomes.
There is a mention of Hillary Clinton attending prayer meetings in DC, but not that she was an active member. At any rate, the book becomes very relevant today......literally today. I am a Christian who was horrified by what I read, but , in the age of Trump, no longer even surprised by anything that goes on in the world.
This is REALLY real. The Founding Fathers wanted NOTHING to do with the kind of BS this presents. The SEPARATION of Church and State is imperative. We must STOP the encroachment of the Family into our government.
The Family is a disturbing book. It is a detailed study of the growth of a particular type of Evangelical “Christianity” indigenous to the USA beginning in colonial times continuing into the present age. The line leads to the 1930’s where a self-proclaimed preacher begins to establish a “Christian” sect built on the same model of disparate cells following the model of anarchists and terrorists of that day. The recruitment of members targeted the well-to-do as the ideal expression of the faith (following the Calvinist idea that “you recognize them from their fruits and the well-to-do are clearly blessed by the divine). While the members of the “Prayer Groups” are encouraged to submit themselves to “Jesus Christ” as a prerequisite to full membership, the Jesus they follow is not usually found in mainstream churches. If anything, their Jesus is closer to “South Park” and their “Supply Side Jesus.” Also, their submission and subsequent revelations aren’t so much revelation as confirmation of what the believer already believed.
Very disturbing is the fact that their doctrine of “Jesus plus Zero” in conjunction with the confirmation of their preceding beliefs endorses the use of whatever earthly power these (largely male) believers see as the right path for the nation and the planet. In the end, it is all about power, the acquisition and application as a means to an end that is not consistent with your tradition Christian follower. There is no Jesus telling the rich young man to: “Sell all you have, give it to the poor, and follow me” no Francis-of-Assisi, Theresa-of-Calcutta, Dr. Schweitzer, or any of that sort. To members of the Prayer Breakfast set, the accumulation of wealth and power is their divine command and to use it to create the world that Jesus wants as he affirmed their previously held beliefs. In short they want a Theocracy where the elect of Jesus speak for Theo. The rest of us simply must obey.
A final word about revelations. The divine force still speaks to us through our brains and our brains are less than perfect. We interpret messages through myriad filters so we generally only see or hear what we are preconditioned to see and hear. To be sure, there have been times in human history where the message got through. Generally it has been the same message over-and-over-again for more than 6000 years: “Do not do to others, that which you do not want done to you.” Unfortunately, to members of “The Family” that is old news and no longer applies – what matters now is the application of power, their power as confirmed by their revelation from (Supply Side) Jesus.
In addition, his arguments and information are undermined by an apparent bias he brings to the material. People on the right of the spectrum are consistently characterized by some negative descriptor without context - such as describing George Bush as a 'failed oilman' and Charles Colson as 'convicted felon'. Both statements are true, but he omits for example, that the former was governor of Texas, and the latter worked for criminal justice reform.
In addition, he speculates that Jonathan Edwards took advantage of young women...... something unsupported outside his book.
A less obviously biased narrative would probably be more believable.
Top reviews from other countries
Thus we have allowed religion to claim as its exclusive dominion areas of experience which should rightly belong to all mankind –and which we should feel unembarrassed about reappropriating for the secular realm. Early Christianity was itself highly adept at appropriating the good ideas of others, aggressively subsuming countless pagan practices which modern atheists now tend to avoid in the mistaken belief that they are indelibly Christian.
The challenge facing a sceptical based culture is how to reverse the process of religious colonization: how to separate ideas and rituals from the religious institutions which have laid claim to them but don’t truly own them.
In the words of the great Orwell, those who control the past control the future, and those who control the present control the past














