The Family

[Dreamtimer]

I have heard of this entity for some years now. The media has reported occasionally about it.

For those who have seen signs saying, "Jesus is Lord", but maybe don't understand, this will help.

Essentially, there is a growing belief system which says that Jesus is all that matters, i.e. no trinity. Jesus is the same thing as God, and power is all that matters.

The remaining compassionate Christian beliefs are disposed of.

Jeff Sharlet was in the Family for a while.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMxEs4xEH7E&t=324s

[Gio]

Thanks for sharing ...

An important offshoot venue of all this is this yearly event (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Prayer_Breakfast) which has been operating in plain sight and with an almost unquestioned legitimacy and intent - since the early 1950's - and has embedded itself (via its lobbyist) within the halls of the U.S. government ...

The access and influence has almost (rarely) been looked into till now?

[Dreamtimer]

The Netflix series debuted in August. The Family is "a secret hiding in plain sight". It is now being spoken about internationally, thanks to the series.

If folks think the religious abuses of the past are history, they may want to think again.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf5zK1Xw7uE

[Dreamtimer]

At 28 minutes: "This is the world that they had a huge hand in shaping."

"United States is the only developed nation in the world without powerful organized labor. They did that."

[Dreamtimer]

At 37min. the National Prayer Breakfast is discussed. It's a week-long lobbying event. Not just a breakfast.

Eisenhower recognized the line he was crossing re separation of church and state and demanded no press. Nonetheless, he established precedence. Presidents followed.

[Dreamtimer]

At 48 min. he discusses the lack of actual knowledge of Christian faith and scriptures. And basic knowledge of other religions as well.

"These are not the Fundamentalists who can quote you chapter and verse. That doesn't matter."

[Dreamtimer]

What can folks do about this? (57:30)

"People thought, well, we live in a Democracy." It was something they just had. Now people are realizing that "Democracy is something you gotta get up and bake every day. You gotta make Democracy. And if you don't, you will lose it."

Oh, and there're lots of Russians involved in the story. ;)

[Dreamtimer]

I've listened to about half of this so far. At 26 minutes Jeff and his host discuss radical islam, US funding in central asian countries, and the Family's views.

00:19 The Family: the spookiest Christian group you've never heard of
07:54 What the Family borrows from Hitler
19:53 Who's profiting from "Biblical capitalism"?
40:55 Will takes stock of religious folly
49:25 Jeff calls for transparency in Christian political strategizing
54:30 A new convergence of populist and elite fundamentalism

Will Wilkinson (Niskanen Center, Vox, The Fly Bottle) and Jeff Sharlet (C Street, The Family,
JeffSharlet.com)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whjiaLl9zr0


The Family looks to leaders like Hilter, Mao, Lenin and Stalin as shining examples of power and leadership. They don't really care about left or right in terms of politics. They act through the Republican party because that's the grass their beliefs will grow/have grown in for 70 years.

As far as mainstream media goes, a Startpage or Duck Duck Go search brings up several interviews with Rachel Maddow and one with Democracy Now (Amy Goodman). If PBS is considered mainstream.:rolleyes:

[Dreamtimer]

At 50:58, "Is your commitment to Democracy, or is your commitment to authority?"

[Dreamtimer]

At 56:30:

Every five years the American media calls the Christian right 'dead'. We're now a progressive country. They've been doing this every five years since 1920.

Just before that Jeff talks about the two sides of Christian movement after the Scopes monkey trial. One part stayed populist and 'banged at the gates'.

The other part became the elite part and it entered and infiltrated the government.

It's the slow constraint of Democracy.

[Dreamtimer]

Many folks thought Trump went over the edge when he described himself as chosen. They missed the point, and he's happy for it.

There is a Calvinist belief which says only certain folks will receive salvation. They were chosen by God. Nothing they can do themselves will affect that. They cannot pray or do good deeds in order to achieve salvation. They are the chosen.

The Family doesn't really care how depraved Trump may be. He is powerful. That is evidence of his chosen status. Therefore they will support him.

As Sharlot has demonstrated, they do not have much real Biblical knowledge or understanding. They don't quote scripture. They seek, obtain, and keep power.

They are not the outsiders, they are insiders and have been for decades.

So when folks think Trump is an outsider, they are only looking on the surface and they are missing the point.

Trump knows exactly what he's saying when he says he is chosen.

[Dreamtimer]

Looks like a lot of folks aren't equipped to comment on the Family. I can hardly find anyone who even knows. Is it denial? Is it ignorance? Do they think it's just another Westboro Baptist?

This guy took some time and actually learned something. He also did his own research rather than just regurgitating the Netflix show. He engages in critical analysis.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiOwjEPsPZs

At 11:45 he talks about Doug Coe and his fascination with Facism.

I heard about the Family when stories of C Street came out. Why should these guys only have to pay a pittance for rent in our Capital city? Why in the world should taxpayers subsidize them? Especially when they're a religious organization?

Why? It's not right.

Ignorance is a fantastic tool which is why the Family flies under the radar.

[Dreamtimer]

17:37 heads up! :blink::shocked::belief:

At 20:40 he lists Umberto Eco's abridged list of the signs of fascism.

The video has numerous links.

[Dreamtimer]

This guy was raised in the fundamentalist evangelical tradition. He recognizes the theology used by the Family, and is rather upset at himself for not discovering it earlier.

I find his personal analysis based on his experience very interesting.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3L82WNK9eo

At 16 minutes he talks about the involvement of Russia and Russians and the Family's work towards changing the American opinion about Russia.

This guy says that the Family has taken over the US government and governments all over the world.

How many Americans really want a theocracy, I wonder?

He says that if you're an American, a Christian, an atheist, you should watch the series.

He hasn't addressed the Separation of church and State. I wonder how much he cares? Many folks will put church before the Constitution. How many is what I'd like to know.

[Dreamtimer]

This fellow does care about the separation of church and state. He is also a religious man. I hope his Caribbean accent isn't too strong. I understand him just fine.

He explains how working secretly is not Christian work but the work of the devil.

He points to prophecy which warns of this sort of secret work.

At 29:45 "This investing the powers of the church with the state will bring evil results."

He opens and closes with music and prayer. Responsible, imo, opening and closing the circle.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHfMXX43y4I

[Emil El Zapato]

I missed it completely, DT ... I was in the 1st two weeks of a new project and probably didn't have the time to visit here. It is for sure an important topic to expose. These are some pretty sick puppies. Their symbol has to be the upside down crucifix.

[Aianawa]

Family, ?, families not in survival mode is great start, families still dealing with past pain n suffering plus future bleak = once again survival mode, the elders were the anchors, energy holders n dream givers plus focusers.

Family has to start with death n birth then planning, your family served you well DT, mine also, mind you i was black sheepped for few years, always welcome, always a bed, we got masks sillyness starting again in NZ so have a wee bit more sheepy with fam to go, love is the answer, not our fear.

[Emil El Zapato]

Classic perversion of high value principles can easily and has been many times applied to 'Family'.

I worked with an african-american lady that was completely obssessed with the denigrations that white america had placed on her people. Obssessed and vengeful. She had a group that she had organized at work called the 'Family'. They loved to 'exclude' people from their in-group. Mostly me, for no reason that I could determine I was excluded. It was a bit unsettling. A new girl came to work, african-american and she was seated next to me. We developed a good relationship and at one point she was asked to join the 'family' and asked me for advice as to whether or not she should accept the invitation. I told her that I thought it really was a matter of what she wanted. We had talked about how the 'Family' leader was destroying herself with her absorption with the negative aspects of life. My cubie declined the invite. There was a rumour that after my other cubie had voluntarily stepped down from his manager's position, a black gay dude took over and it was his appointed mission to remove the 'Family' leader from her job. I left and heard later that the strategy had worked.

So 'Family' is not always Family.

[Emil El Zapato]

To finish the above story I'll add that there is always a silver lining to every cloud. A member of the 'family', a cute Hispanic lady that everyone was always ogling (I thought she was sexy but not all that) during workhours would call me back to her desk to talk and then show me pictures of herself in her underwear. This was shortly before I got married, of course, end of story. :)

[Dreamtimer]

I feel it would be naive to think that members of the Family aren't involved with this sort of thing.


The phone call came in at about 9:30 AM MST on Monday, November 16, 2020, on our home landline.

"We're Coming For You in a White GMC Truck to Blow You and Your Wife's Heads Off With a 12 Gauge Shotgun”

The Voice was male, unaccented, earnest, eager, and almost gleeful.

The Voice repeated the sentence over and over again during the 37-second duration of the call.

We get a lot (http://militaryreligiousfreedom.org/mrff_mail_reports/Hatemail%20Compilation%20MAR08-APR19.pdf) of this.

The above link is to a document called Military Religious Freedom Foundation, Hate Mail Compilation March 2008–April 2018



Let me see if I can try to explain.

I am not a Christian but I call many Christians my dearest of brothers and sisters.

I was born and raised Jewish.

Although I’m not very religious, I am proud of my religious faith’s ethnicity, cultural heritage, and contributions to the human condition.

Nevertheless, what I do professionally (https://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/about/michael-l-mikey-weinstein/) for work, brings me in extensive contact with many Christians.


I am a lawyer and civil rights activist.

I lead an organization, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), which has helped well over 71,000 U.S. military members and veterans fight against the ravages of religious discrimination for 15 years now.

The clearly distinct villains in about 99% of these cases of abject bullying, prejudice, and bigotry are military superiors who use their professed version of their Christian faith to profoundly hammer their otherwise helpless military subordinates into submission so as to force them to accept their armed forces bosses' fundamentalist Christian faith.

(bold is mine)


As a result of MRFF’s successful interventions to preserve the Constitutionally-mandated separation of Church and State in the United States military, we have made many powerful enemies among some large fundamentalist Christian parachurch organizations, right-wing national news outlets, and the many individuals who support them both.


My wife has written two books (https://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/hatebook/) about it all. (Read them with caution!)


This abuse is immeasurably repugnant, ugly and – above all else – constant.

Consequently, we are forced to invest nontrivially in substantial security measures to protect ourselves, our MRFF staff, and our MRFF mission.

We work extremely closely with law enforcement and our own MRFF security team.


Why am I writing about all of this?

It is...to meaningfully comment.

If vigorously supporting our United States military members’ basic Constitutional rights to be free from the constancy of Christian proselytizing by their superiors generates the never-ending torrent of hateful threats directed at me, my own family, and the MRFF family of staff and supporters…well, what does that genuinely say about us ALL as fellow American citizens?

His concluding appeal:


We, as a country, must rapidly find the treasured mechanisms to reach out to our neighbors in purposeful fellowship, understanding, and love.

We must come together as a whole American people; we must do so NOW.

We must recognize and celebrate that which we share and not fatally obsess over that which separates us.

The responsibility to reasonably and rationally reconcile in friendship falls upon each of us.


I second that sentiment. :fire::group hug: