It’s Not “Family” Friendy for Fundies
When The Da Vinci Code fervor was at full crest a year or two ago, it made some inroads into the Protestant Churches. The reason may have been because the majority of Dan Brown’s targets were contained within the Roman Catholic Church—also a favorite target of fundamentalists.
Now it is the Fundamentalists’ turn. What Dan Brown did with (or to) Opus Dei, Jeff Sharlet may accomplish with (or to) the Fundamentalists/Evangelicals. The odd part is that, unlike The Da Vinci Code, it may be the marketing rather than the content of Sharlet’s “expose” that does the most damage. (Sharlet himself in interviews appears to be a very nuanced and careful writer.)
Sharlet’s book in question is The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power. The subject of the book is not the obscure sect, The Family, formerly known as the Children of God. Nor is it the more politically involved organization of James Dobson, Focus on the Family. Instead, the target is a group in Washington most known for initiating the Prayer Breakfasts attended by presidents and congressmen alike. The publisher’s description adds a sinister note to the activities of “the Family” (also known as the Foundation):
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?”
The tone is also set by Barbara Ehrenreich’s quote on the bookjacket:
Just when we thought the Christian right was crumbling, Jeff Sharlet delivers a rude shock: One of its most powerful and cult-like core groups, the Family, has been thriving. Sharlet’s book is one of the most compelling and brilliantly researched exposes you’ll ever read — just don’t read it alone at night!
Got that. “Don’t read it alone at night!” Oooh, frightening! What those Christian Right people are really after will chill you to the bone. It would keep even Stephen King awake.
And the hype continues from other reviewers. Witness this quote from author Thomas Frank:
Of all the important studies of the American right, The Family is undoubtedly the most eloquent. It is also quite possibly the most terrifying. This story of a secretive and unmerciful church of ‘key men’ goes way beyond Jesus Christ, CEO—it’s Jesus Christ, lobbyist; Jesus Christ, strikebreaker; and maybe even Jesus Christ, fuehrer.
(Historical point: fuhrer was Hilter’s commandeering of the Lordship due to Christ. No less a worthy than Karl Barth—who was hardly a close associate of the Christian Right—noted that Hitler could not be fuehrer since Christ already was. It was a term that meant “leader” or more specifically “Lord.”)
However, even more pointed is the recommendation from Pulitzer Prize winner Debby Applegate:
Forget what you think you know about the Christian Right; Jeff Sharlet has uncovered a frightening strain of hidden fundamentalism that forces us to revise our understanding of religion and politics in modern America. 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.
So the linkages in the book are made. Sharlet’s The Family is a secretive organization of the sinister Christian Right. Fundamentalism equals Evangelical equals Christian Right equals the nefarious “Family.” The public now has their Protestant version of Dan Brown’s Opus Dei. The problem is that the Family, by Sharlet’s own admission in his writing and subsequent interviews is none of these things; at least not as these descriptions are commonly interpreted by the public. It is not secret; it is not part of what the public perceives as the Christian Right (for instance, the hated-by-the-Left James Dobson has no part in the organization), nor is it sinister—unless your total goal is the elimination of religious expression from all public life.
I must admit that I have read only portions of the book; but even so, it was enough to throw doubt on what Sharlet proposes. Logic as well as Sharlet’s own admissions in interviews destroy his entire thesis. He must redefine what most people mean by the the terms “secret,” “Fundatmentalist/Evangelical,” and even “power” in order to push his thesis forward. I shall in future posts examine The Family and refute Sharlet’s above adjectives for that organization one by one.
Yet, despite my efforts I fear Sharet will be effective in ways even he could not predict. After all, unlike The Da Vinci Code, Sharlet’s book is not supposed to be a work of fiction. Most will not get beyond the title and the book jacket when they examine his work. It is a shame. “You can’t tell a book by its cover” may be more accurate for this work than in any other. The problem is that the “cover” is inflammatory and may incite more suppression of Christian expression than is taking place currently in Canada and even closer to home.
To Be Continued…