Jeff Sharlet's The Family Exposes an Evangelical Cabal in Washington
The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American PowerJeff SharletHarper, 2008
Jeff Sharlet's new book on the politics of Christian fundamentalism in the United States is an ambitious mixture of history and quasi-undercover journalism. After stumbling into the headquarters of an obscure evangelical organization known as the Family at a genteel estate in Arlington, VA, Sharlet found himself immersed in the lifeblood of what he calls "elite fundamentalism." He lived among the group's novices as an initiate, looking on as world leaders passed through the compound for prayer meetings. The experience led Sharlet to pursue the history of the group in various research archives that have subsequently made "sensitive" material less "available." What resulted is a book that sets itself the task of uncovering the largely hidden aspects of the rise of the religious right to political power both at home and, as Sharlet shows here, abroad. It illuminates the present by narrating the story of how, why, and when Christian fundamentalism in the United States wed itself to the radical economic ideology of the extreme right.
Though this sounds a bit like a half-baked conspiracy theory in the making, Sharlet is a careful journalist and historian who cites abundantly from reputable and publicly available sources.
The bulk of The Family is dedicated to a series of masterfully narrated, though not always clearly related, mini-biographies of some thirty members, predecessors, and associates of the Family, an amorphous grouping of religiously motivated elites founded by Abram Vereide at the height of the Great Depression. Vereide, a figure largely unknown but central to American politics of the past century, thought himself inspired by God with what he referred to as "the Idea." A predecessor to trickle-down economics, the Idea was simply that the poor derelicts and outcasts of society could be saved, not by the big-labor policies of the New Deal or Communism, but only by helping the powerful "key men" of history who had been chosen by God to provide order and prosperity for all. This was coupled with a Dominionist theology of power, according to which the Bible ought to guide every decision in public life, and the covenantal relation between man and God ought to be the model for relations "at every level of society, replacing the rule of law and its secular contracts." Above all, "the Idea" affirms as central to Christianity the oft-quoted maxim of Romans 13: "For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God."
Unsurprisingly, many of those "key men" were quite fond of "the Idea," and it spread quickly among the powerful. The book focuses a good deal on exploring the Family's relationships with a veritable who's who of the political elite of the twentieth century: from dictators like General Suharto of Indonesia to less likely associates like King Hussein of Jordan, to a range of domestic "brothers" like Henry Ford and recently ousted Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas). The list also includes some shocking names, like Hillary Clinton (not an intimate, but a "friend" of the group), who described the current leader of the Family (Doug Coe) in her memoir, Living History, as "a genuinely loving spiritual mentor and guide to anyone, regardless of party or faith, who wants to deepen his or her relationship with God."
Sharlet's important contention, successfully demonstrated in the course of the book, is that the elite fundamentalism of the Family is a distinct problem apart from fundamentalism's more populist manifestation in figureheads like Pat Robertson, James Dobson and the disgraced Ted Haggard. As Sharlet somewhat crudely sums it up, "Populist fundamentalism takes as its battleground domestic politics, to be conquered and conformed to the will of God; elite fundamentalism sees its mission as the manipulation of politics in the rest of the world."
Certain annoying elements may limit the appeal of this undoubtedly important work. The book is far too hyper-partisan in tone; a good deal is written in acid. This is on display most obviously in a constant Republican bashing that is often unnecessary, and less markedly in the faint-hearted reductio-ad-hitlerum in which Sharlet engages. Though this may work for editorial journalism, it simply doesn't for the kind of history engaged in here.
Some will also find Sharlet's frequent anti-religious jabs tendentious and unsubtle. Thought it is unclear whether or not Sharlet is a believer, he is prone to belittling legitimate theological ideas and religious sensibilities with which he obviously disagrees. Further, his usage of the term fundamentalism seems at some points so wide in application as to essentially function as a catch-all for non-liberal Protestantism.
Overall, it is to be hoped that the book will be read beyond its limitations; that its important revelations do not become just one more addition to the expansive bookshelves of subscribers to The Nation (or, if you will, New Voices) and will reach beyond its obvious target market and into the center of the public square.
Jeff Sharlet's new book on the politics of Christian fundamentalism in the United States is an ambitious mixture of history and quasi-undercover journalism. After stumbling into the headquarters of an obscure evangelical organization known as the Family at a genteel estate in Arlington, VA, Sharlet found himself immersed in the lifeblood of what he calls "elite fundamentalism." He lived among the group's novices as an initiate, looking on as world leaders passed through the compound for prayer meetings. The experience led Sharlet to pursue the history of the group in various research archives that have subsequently made "sensitive" material less "available." What resulted is a book that sets itself the task of uncovering the largely hidden aspects of the rise of the religious right to political power both at home and, as Sharlet shows here, abroad. It illuminates the present by narrating the story of how, why, and when Christian fundamentalism in the United States wed itself to the radical economic ideology of the extreme right.