06-10-2008, 04:26 PM
This is a great book and Jeff Sharlet is a great writer. Insightful. Sharp. A traveler into a secret society. He bring a story we should learn from most carefully. Jeff wrote an article some years ago in Harpers magazine http://harpers.org/archive/2003/03/0079525. It is from this article that this book came about.
Through serendipitous circumstances Jeff was able to become part of The Family. To live with them, pray with them, build networks with them. Then he wrote about them. Shortly after leaving them he discovered that The Family had dumped 600 boxes at the Billy Graham centre archives in Illinois. So he moved there, got an apartment and spent every day going through this archive, photocopying as much as he could get as quickly as he could because he just knew they would eventually restrict the archive. And they did.
While the Pat Robertsons and Jerry Falwells of the world take our attention others have been quietly and silently working behind the scenes. Reaching into the highest levels of power in every institution in the US and internationally. The Family have chosen themselves to be the chosen ones believing that God has broken his covenant with the Jews and formed one with them. The Family has been around since the 1930's. Started in the US by a Norweigian immigrant who heard God 'speak' to him The Family is now led by Doug Coe.
Labor disputes are seen as an affront to God. The workers must submit to the bosses who God has chosen to lead. In its early years Hitler and other fascists were much admired by The Family and other elites for their organisational efficiency. They have befriended almost every criminal, shyster, exterminator and dictator in the world these last 70 years. They still do. Democracy is also an affront to God. God chooses the elite to lead. Not the masses to be in charge of their own lives. Democracy has run its course.
Why haven't we heard of them? They themselves wish it that way. All the easier to infiltrate, indoctrinate and subordinate. When Jeff wrote this book members of The Family were not upset by what he wrote but that he wrote at all. It was seen as a betrayal but they do not dispute his truth. But another reason we haven't heard of them is the media and its supine reverence for authority and the unquestioning role of religious ideas in public life in the US.
It was, however, noticed by some in the media.
Jeff says "In 1974 Playboy has a long investigative piece that shows money moving around in fishy ways. Nothing happens. Dan Rather challenges Nixon's press secretary about why Chuck Colson, the Nixon dirty-trickster who'd been given the boot, was still showing up at the White House? Press secretary says, "He's there for prayer meetings." But then no follow-up. So this goes on every so many years. And in the '90s a Florida paper noted that Taiwan was forking over big chunks of change in order to get good seats at the National Prayer Practice because they understood this was a backdoor into American power. In 2002, The Los Angeles Times did a year-long investigation. Should have been a huge follow-up. Nothing."
Just some of the members of The Family include Senators Don Nickles (R., Okla.), Charles Grassley (R., Iowa), Pete Domenici (R., N.Mex.), John Ensign (R., Nev.), James Inhofe (R., Okla.), Bill Nelson (D., Fla.), and Conrad Burns (R., Mont.) are referred to as “members,” as are Representatives Jim DeMint (R., S.C.), Frank Wolf (R., Va.), Joseph Pitts (R., Pa.), Zach Wamp (R., Tenn.), and Bart Stupak (D., Mich.). Regular prayer groups have met in the Pentagon and at the Department of Defense, and the Family has traditionally fostered strong ties with businessmen in the oil and aerospace industries. The Family maintains a closely guarded database of its associates, but it issues no cards, collects no official dues. Like the Mafia which they resemble in many ways its members are asked not to speak about the group or its activities. It is a multi national business has a multi million dollar income and pays no tax. G.W. Bush is said to be one. They have their finger on the red button and they hear voices from God.
Through serendipitous circumstances Jeff was able to become part of The Family. To live with them, pray with them, build networks with them. Then he wrote about them. Shortly after leaving them he discovered that The Family had dumped 600 boxes at the Billy Graham centre archives in Illinois. So he moved there, got an apartment and spent every day going through this archive, photocopying as much as he could get as quickly as he could because he just knew they would eventually restrict the archive. And they did.
While the Pat Robertsons and Jerry Falwells of the world take our attention others have been quietly and silently working behind the scenes. Reaching into the highest levels of power in every institution in the US and internationally. The Family have chosen themselves to be the chosen ones believing that God has broken his covenant with the Jews and formed one with them. The Family has been around since the 1930's. Started in the US by a Norweigian immigrant who heard God 'speak' to him The Family is now led by Doug Coe.
Labor disputes are seen as an affront to God. The workers must submit to the bosses who God has chosen to lead. In its early years Hitler and other fascists were much admired by The Family and other elites for their organisational efficiency. They have befriended almost every criminal, shyster, exterminator and dictator in the world these last 70 years. They still do. Democracy is also an affront to God. God chooses the elite to lead. Not the masses to be in charge of their own lives. Democracy has run its course.
Why haven't we heard of them? They themselves wish it that way. All the easier to infiltrate, indoctrinate and subordinate. When Jeff wrote this book members of The Family were not upset by what he wrote but that he wrote at all. It was seen as a betrayal but they do not dispute his truth. But another reason we haven't heard of them is the media and its supine reverence for authority and the unquestioning role of religious ideas in public life in the US.
It was, however, noticed by some in the media.
Jeff says "In 1974 Playboy has a long investigative piece that shows money moving around in fishy ways. Nothing happens. Dan Rather challenges Nixon's press secretary about why Chuck Colson, the Nixon dirty-trickster who'd been given the boot, was still showing up at the White House? Press secretary says, "He's there for prayer meetings." But then no follow-up. So this goes on every so many years. And in the '90s a Florida paper noted that Taiwan was forking over big chunks of change in order to get good seats at the National Prayer Practice because they understood this was a backdoor into American power. In 2002, The Los Angeles Times did a year-long investigation. Should have been a huge follow-up. Nothing."
Just some of the members of The Family include Senators Don Nickles (R., Okla.), Charles Grassley (R., Iowa), Pete Domenici (R., N.Mex.), John Ensign (R., Nev.), James Inhofe (R., Okla.), Bill Nelson (D., Fla.), and Conrad Burns (R., Mont.) are referred to as “members,” as are Representatives Jim DeMint (R., S.C.), Frank Wolf (R., Va.), Joseph Pitts (R., Pa.), Zach Wamp (R., Tenn.), and Bart Stupak (D., Mich.). Regular prayer groups have met in the Pentagon and at the Department of Defense, and the Family has traditionally fostered strong ties with businessmen in the oil and aerospace industries. The Family maintains a closely guarded database of its associates, but it issues no cards, collects no official dues. Like the Mafia which they resemble in many ways its members are asked not to speak about the group or its activities. It is a multi national business has a multi million dollar income and pays no tax. G.W. Bush is said to be one. They have their finger on the red button and they hear voices from God.
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.