Jeff Sharlett discusses The Family on Bill Maher's Real Time

[madfloridian]

Run time: 08:48 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq20THy7Hbk   Posted on YouTube: August 01, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: August 01, 2009 By DU Member: madfloridian Views on DU: 7894

 
Here is a good write-up from Daily Kos about the interview.

Daily Kos Wake Up Call: Jeff Sharlet on "Real Time" w/ Bill Maher

This interview was frightening. I've followed the cluckerfuck of self-righteous Republican politicians who live at the tax-exempt C Street townhouse, speak of family values, and then fuck around on their wives. I didn't realize that these same hypocritical bastards actually lived by a Nietzschean philosophy that morals apply to everyone but themselves.

As I was listening to Sharlet, I almost didn't believe him. What he was describing sounded not just scummy but down right evil. Sharlet had gone undercover and lived at the C Street house. It appears he has particular insight and evidence on what goes on behind the walls of the C Street townhouse.

The "Christian" fundamentalists who run C Street refer to themselves as "The Family" in the same way the Mafia refers to itself as "The Family." This is not a coincidence. According to Sharlet, they see themselves as similar to the Mafia, in so far as "the more invisible you can make your organization, the more influence your organization can have." Doug Coe, the leader of this cabal, sees his group as the leaders of something called "Jesus Plus Nothing" or "The Totalitarianism for Christ", which models the way it wields power on the same way the Mafia, Hitler, Pol Pot, Osama Bin Laden, and Lenin wield power. They also call themselves "The New Chosen" because they believe that if you have reached a certain pinnacle of success, whether financially or in terms of power (in their minds Hitler, Pol Pot, and Lenin are considered successful), your success derives from the fact that God has chosen you to be successful. The founder of this group claims he had a revelation from God that said that Christianity had gotten it wrong. Christians are not meant to concern themselves with the poor and downtrodden. Instead, God wants people to serve the powerful, which they refer to as "The Up and Out."

Sharlet recounts one conversation he overheard between Doug Coe and another man. Coe asked the man, "Suppose I hear you rape three little girls. What would I think?" The man said he thought Coe would consider him awful and a monster. Coe said, "No. No I wouldn't because you're Chosen. As a member of The Family, you're Chosen and, when you're Chosen, the normal rules don't apply. Morality is for the little people."

[Dark]

1. holy fuck.

just ... fuck.

[Karenina]

20. Megachurches on military bases?

Holy cluster fuck. :crazy:

[NoQuarter]

2. He recounted all this on Rachel's show

over several appearances - a couple of weeks ago.

[madfloridian]

5. Actually he mentioned more things in this interview

than he did on the Rachel show appearances.

[xxqqqzme]

53. He revealed much more in this interview.

And there was the added impact of the audience reaction. When he recounted the overheard conversation about the 'chosen' being above the law; there was a stunned silence from both the audience and Maher. So much so Maher commented in it. Sharlet was allowed time on Maddow but he was not allowed to talk about the sinister details.

[LuvNewcastle]

3. These people belong together, all right --

in a home for the criminally insane.

[kestrel91316]

4. Excellent interview!

[Iwillnevergiveup]

6. K&R

Time to get the book - this is unbelievable. I'm curious how Jeff got onto this story and how in the heck he actually moved into the house. Talk about sleeping with the enemy.

[madfloridian]

11. Sharlet found the archives at Wheaton's Billy Graham archives.

Sharlet's research

JS: Five years of direct work, but I’ve been writing about religion, history, and politics for much longer than that. I stumbled into the Family in 2002, with no particular intentions and completely unaware of its political identity. When I left, I thought there might be more of a story, so I traveled to their archives at the Billy Graham Center in Wheaton, Illinois. What I found there both shocked and intrigued. I ended up writing an article for Harper’s, and then a book proposal, largely so that I could afford to go back to the archives and keep digging.

CW: You state on several occasions that you used primary sources, particularly archives left by the Family organization in the Billy Graham Center archives at Wheaton College. Did you have difficulty in persuading the Wheaton librarians to give you access to the Family archives, and are those archives still open to researchers today?

JS: No. It’s a first-rate professional, scholarly archive, and absolutely essential to any serious research on American evangelicalism. But it was a strange experience living, basically, on the campus of Wheaton, the “evangelical Harvard,” for six months. One day I was taking a break and a student came up to me and asked me if I’d heard the Good News about Jesus. I thought the kid deserved a gold star, so to speak — he’d id’d the only Jew on campus. Turned out he was majoring in missiology.

As for the archives, the historical papers are still open, but the more contemporary stuff is closed, restricted following my Harper’s story, a major investigative piece for the LA Times, and research by some foreign journalists.

Here is more about the Wheaton archives.

Sharlet's research

"The Family" is, for the most part, a history, based in large part on an incredible archive of documents housed at the Billy Graham Center Archives in Wheaton, Illinois. But The Family, or "The Fellowship," as they're sometimes known (after one of The Fellowship Foundation, one of several non-profits in their sphere) continues to exert influence today. "The Fellowship's reach into governments around the world, observes David Kuo -- a Casting Stones regular and former Bush official who has written favorably about The Family -- "is almost impossible to overstate or even grasp.""

That statement becomes especially alarming in light of The Family's political theology. There are three essential points:

1) God cares more about the "up and out" -- the elite -- than the down and out. Help the "up and out," and they'll take care of the rest of us. I call this trickle-down religion.

2) God loves a strongman. Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, preaches The Family's leader, Doug Coe, understood Christ's teaching better than almost any other leaders of the 20th century. He's quick to add that they turned those teachings -- in his view, total commitment, authority, and obedience -- toward evil. He admires their methods, not their ends. For some of us, the methods were pretty lousy, too. His defenders say Coe uses Hitler only as a metaphor. What, he couldn't think of a better metaphor for Jesus than Hitler?

3) An effective organization doesn't seek publicity, like James Dobson's Focus on the Family, but sticks to the shadows. Here's Coe preaching on the subject in a sermon posted online by The Navigators. "The Body of Christ functions invisibly like the mafia... They keep their organization invisible. Everything visible is transitory. Everything invisible is permanent and lasts forever. The more you can make your organization invisible, the more influence it will have."

And The Family does have influence. Rice University sociologist D. Michael Lindsay, deeply sympathetic to mainstream evangelicalism, surveyed more than 300 top evangelical politicians in Washington. One in three said The Family (The Fellowship, in his usage) was one of the most influential Christian groups in the capitol. That was more votes than any other group received. Time magazine, listing Family leader Doug Coe among its 25 most powerful evangelicals, dubbed him "The Stealth Persuader."

[AlbertCat]

30. But Billy Graham was a GOOD evangelical! Not one of those nutty ones.

This is what I'd hear from some of my family members. When my Uncle married (again) into this SC rich fundie family ...my (latest) Aunt is chummy with the Bush family... because she raised money of course... I started hearing this crap. Graham believed in angels for Christ sake. He was a fruitcake.

Once at Xmas, they gave my very young cousin a children's book by Graham. Indoctrination y'know. I was reading it aloud to my young cousin and my niece, interjecting my own irreverent jokes and side comments as I read this crap. The kids were laughing their heads off. We were having a great time! The "grownups" were all huddled around the TV drinking and complaining about blacks and liberals when, because of the children's' loud a raucous laughter, my Aunt turned to my Uncle and said, "Go see what they are up to." When my Uncle, who only went to church for social reasons... and is a serial adulterer... saw what was going on, he literally RAN over, his hands waving , whispering " NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!". I had never.... and to this day haven't ever seen him so scared. It was hysterical.

[rhett o rick]

66. GOOD........evangelical? Contradiction of terms. nm

[Paula Sims]

37. I travel through the area of Wheaton College every day

That area truly is freaky. It's like a veil surrounds the place and people are just walking robots. Once you go across the street, it's OK again.

Once little-known issue is that Wheaton College used to be known as the Wheaton Crusaders are now Wheaton Thunder. There is an article about why but interesting that it happened around the time when the backlash was happening about Bush's crusade against Islam.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

7. This needs

a ton more recs and kicks!

:kick:

[lutherj]

8. Hillary Clinton has been involved with this group since 1993, according to

an article by Barbara Ehrenreich in The Nation.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080331/ehrenreich

From the article:

Clinton fell in with The Family in 1993, when she joined a Bible study group composed of wives of conservative leaders like Jack Kemp and James Baker. When she ascended to the Senate, she was promoted to what Sharlet calls the Family's "most elite cell," the weekly Senate Prayer Breakfast, which included, until his downfall, Virginia's notoriously racist Senator George Allen. This has not been a casual connection for Clinton. She has written of Doug Coe, The Family's publicity-averse leader, that he is "a unique presence in Washington: a genuinely loving spiritual mentor and guide to anyone, regardless of party or faith, who wants to deepen his or her relationship with God."

[whathehell]

9. Hideous...i'd love to see her in an interview or a press briefing

and have someone spring that on her..along with the "morality is for little people" expose.

[mod mom]

42. Here is a diary about her involvement and the dangers of "cell-churches"

Hillary Clinton member of "cell church" run by "The Family"
by dogemperor


Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 12:24:13 PM PDT

There has been quite a lot of writing recently on Talk to Action (and today in regards to a secretive political dominionist group known as "The Fellowship" or "The Family"--especially in relation to an upcoming book by Jeff Sharlet (titled The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power--you can pre-order here) which threatens to blow the "Family Secret" wide open.

Frederick Clarkson here on DailyKos has recently reported on an NBC News report--along with a recent Mother Jones article re Sherlet's book--which give disturbing confirmation to something I've suspected for a time: Namely, that "The Family" uses a particularly abusive "discipling and shepherding" model common in neopentecostal dominionist cell churches.

The abusive tactics could have major implications politically--especially as Sharlet's book has noted that no less than Hillary Clinton is a member of one of the cell-churches linked to "The Family".

-snip

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/4/133640/8678/994/490211

[ihavenobias]

10. K & R n/t

[XXXMADAM]

12. C Street brothel

I'll bet the C Street address was well known in DC madam Palfrey's black book of hookers. In Texas we book married Republican Christians 85% of the time and business is brisk.

http://fbicorruption.250free.com

http://www.defraudingamerica.com/robin_head.html

[whathehell]

13. Great interview.....These fascists (who have, for their own convenience)

turned Christian teachings COMPLETELY on their head (effin A..This is SO transparent)sound a lot like another group of supposed "Christians" called the Christian Dominionists, who according to some, have all but taken over the Air Force..

I saw an interview on C-SPAN about a year ago with this 2nd generation Air Force Officer named Mikey Weinstein...He reported unbelievable harassment of ANYONE who, not only were not "Christian" but were not of THEIR particular sect. He said that his Catholic daughter in law, for instance, was in the air force along with his son, and she was being harassed as well...As for any sort of tie with the old "peace and love" concept of Christianity, he said "forget it"..They, sounding like the C-Streeters, believe in some sort of holy "war"...It's hideous and just another cover for fascism and sociopathy.


BTW, I would have to agree with Sharlet and disagree with Maher regarding the Bible, it being no more "evil" than any other religious book be it the Talmud, the Koran, or the Tibetan Book of the Dead...A book is as good as the people "interpreting" it.

[Uncle Joe]

14. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, madfloridian.

[valerief]

15. Scary bastards. nt

[madfloridian]

16. Just realized I spelled Sharlet wrong in the subject line.

The two t's are easy to get wrong. Should be just one t.

[rhett o rick]

22. That ruins everything. Now we must discount the complete post. Damn you.

jk

[madfloridian]

23. heh heh

Yes, you must.

[AsahinaKimi]

17. There has to be...

Some events that are against the law, here. This is like watching a camp fire in a dry, tinder box forest get too large. You just know eventually the whole forest will burn down.

[Serial Mom]

25. For elected officials to be part of something like this SHOULD be against law!

They are like lobbying group - so they lobby themselves!

"... There's a level when you are at the C Street house, It's almost like a fundamentalist frat house," says Sharlet. The members of "The Family sees their oath to one another as more important than their accountability to the public."
And for their loyalty to lie first with each other?? Where do the constituents fit in?

This is just WRONG!

[rhett o rick]

57. Problem is the crooks are the ones that make the laws. What's your second choice? nm

[Serial Mom]

64. The rest of the ones making the laws, a higher %, should get spines and do something about IT!

But, as sure as they want to get re-elected, they want campaign money from corporations that probably like these secret power hungry cults that want to keep the elite!

[dhill926]

18. he has no doubt pissed off some very powerful folks.......

stay safe Jeff, and thanks for your service. Gotta get this book.

[Shallah Kali]

24. Start reading it now on Google books which has a good section of it - link

http://books.google.com/books?id=NVmcx-8zdGEC

Sharlet's website with most of his previous articles on The Family and religious infiltration of the military:
http://jeffsharlet.com/content/articles

Video: Rachel Maddow: C Street - Wife Unsatisfied w/ Sex Life Was 'Demonically Possessed'
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=338358&mesg_id=338358

& more links to articles here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=340921&mesg_id=340921

[dhill926]

55. thanks for the links!

[rollingrock]

19. Worse than any horror movie

like the saying goes, fact is stranger than fiction.

[GinaMaria]

21. kick eom

[Serial Mom]

26. Scary!

Book has be around since Feb 2008!?!?

Possibly even more scary
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5249775

I like HC a lot - anybody know if she still has this Doug Coe as her spiritual advisor?

[fasttense]

27. Morality is for the little people, like taxes.

The problem is the elite keep all the good for themselves. They get the wealth, the luxury, the wild sex rides, the sumptuous food, the protection, the doctors, the vacations. And we get the work, the poverty, the run down deteriorated leftovers, the guilt, the obesity, the fights, the crime, the punishment, the bills, the misery. And for what? In the end we all end up dead.

The elite are no different from us in the end. All their wealth will not buy them eternity, no matter what their overpriced preachers say.

[AlbertCat]

31. The elite are no different from us in the end.

And I assure you, they are no happier in the now.

[Douglas Carpenter]

28. kick and recommended for the truth !!!!

[Turborama]

29. Damn! It's been pulled, anyone got another link to it?

I was saving watching this until now and it's gone, had a search on YouTube and haven't been able to find another upload.

"This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Home Box Office, Inc.."

[mod mom]

32. I watched it then when I went to send it to others it was gone. Mahers needs to make this important

interview available for all to see! I hope if someone finds a link to it they will post it!

[fascisthunter]

33. very telling that this would be censored

[Turborama]

34. That's what I thought, Maher's stuff usually sticks around on YouTube for a lot longer.

:thumbsdown:

[mod mom]

36. Maher should see that it is released from copyright. It's important for all to see!

[MindPilot]

38. Censored? No, just pulled to avoid a copyright violation.

This group is so deeply ingrained into the power structure that if they wanted Bill Maher gone, Bill Maher would be gone. He is already confined to HBO.

And given their wealth and influence, they don't have to care about exposure because not only are they very wealthy and very powerful in a very real sense, they are also convinced that god has chosen them to be very wealthy and powerful.

[madfloridian]

39. There are many still left at You Tube.

Why are they not deleted?

What is fair use, how many minutes?

[MindPilot]

45. I don't know the details.

But I seriously doubt there is a concerted effort to silence Maher.

[madfloridian]

60. I did not say that I thought that. I hate posting a video that goes dead.

And it happens a lot once they are posted here.

[madfloridian]

35. Nearly all of the Maher videos in this forum are deleted now.

Yet they seem to be fair use, just one segment.

Go to You Tube, search for Bill Maher. There are many there of his show.

I wonder why all of the ones here were deleted?

[Joanne98]

40. Here's one that hasn't been pulled

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3npWdChcGo

[Turborama]

41. Thanks a lot, Joanne. n/t

[madfloridian]

49. Thanks.

Let's see how long it lasts.

[mod mom]

59. Thank you, Joanne!

[defendandprotect]

62. Thank you!

[bermudat]

65. Thanks for posting that link.

[Joanne98]

43. Here's Jack Wamp's website.......

Military issues.....

http://www.house.gov/wamp/issues_bytopic.shtm#def

Helping Bring Our Missing Troops Home (March 10, 2009)
Questions Remain About Guantanamo Bay (January 29, 2009)
Protecting America from Shariah Law (October 16, 2008)
Honoring the U.S. Army (October 9, 2008)
Air Force Tanker Contract Under Review (July 1, 2008)
Terrorist Tribunals (June 26, 2008)
Banning Explicit Material on Military Bases (June 3, 2008)
Improving the Quality of Military Life (May 9, 2008)
Strengthening Intelligence (March 18, 2008)
Supporting Military Recruiters (February 15, 2008)
Accountability for Overseas Contractors (October 26, 2007)
House Floor Statement on Iraq (October 16, 2007)
Congressman Wamp Investigates Dragon Skin Body Armor (April 23, 2007)
History is Necessary to Understand Threat in Iraq (March 8, 2007)
Reinstating Draft Unnecessary (December 15, 2006)
Congress Reaffirms Support For Israel (August 24, 2006)
Pay Raise for Troops Included in Defense Bill (July 24, 2006)
In The Debate on Iraq, Retreat is Not an Option (June 16, 2006)
Defense Bill Protects Right to Pray (May 18, 2006)
Wamp Cosponsors Military Spouses Employment Act (May 9, 2006)
Legislation Would Help Troops Stay In Touch With Family (March 16, 2006)
Defense Legislation Includes Torture Provisions (January 19, 2006)
Finishing the Job in Iraq (January 6, 2006)
Wamp Supports the Guard and Reserve Readiness Retention Act (July 6, 2005)
Wamp Reports Defense Bill Meets Wartime Needs (June 8, 2005)
"Buy American" Provisions Critical (April 6, 2005)
Pay For Troops In Iraq and Afghanistan Increased (February 2, 2005)
Policies Are Meant To Protect Troops (January 27, 2005)
We Must Provide For Our Troops In Iraq (January 18, 2005)

[Vinca]

44. This guy was so interesting I immediately ordered his book to read.

[PassingFair]

46. This story has been out for a LONG time. I remember reading the original Harper's article....

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2003/03/0079525

From March 2003!

It was such a fascinating read, I've never forgotten it.

Also, it's NO SURPRISE that HRC was involved. THAT has
been common knowledge since BEFORE her presidential run.

[madfloridian]

48. Yes, many of us here have known it for a long time.

But most have never heard of it. Rachel is one of the first to openly discuss it on mainstream media, and many people are just hearing.

We need to post and repost.

[PassingFair]

50. Did his book JUST come out? How come the blitz NOW?

He must have blown his cover in 2002 or 2003.

[madfloridian]

51. Rachel started mentioning it in connection with Mark Sanford...

who mentioned C-Street in his apology.

Rachel Maddow has slyly slipped in the words "C Street"

[PassingFair]

52. I'm SO glad she's on the air...

tipping over their rocks.

[Serial Mom]

67. Book out Feb 2008

On Maher he said he never lied about who he was - joined them by saying he was a religion reporter and he was.

[PassingFair]

68. But the Harper's article was published in 2003, so he must have been waiting...

for what, a Democratic administration to take
root until he published?

[Serial Mom]

69. Maybe he wrote article and decided he had enough info to write book later?

And Dubya was still in office in Feb 2008 when book came out.

[Shallah Kali]

70. I know Sharlet has said he did a lot of digging in the archives at Wheaton college

http://www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/GUIDES/459.htm

[cynthia]

72. Rachel refers to the book now out in paperback

Sometimes publishers will do a second round of publicity when they put out a book in paperback, which may be why he is getting so much press.

[xxqqqzme]

56. That's where I first heard of 'The Family'

I thought I recalled H Clinton's involvement on one level, that I found particularly scary.

Thanks for the link. I was about to look it up.

[GinaMaria]

47. Time for these family members to be unchosen

by the people. We need to oust every last one of these slimeballs.

[rootbear]

54. Great (scary) read

I read the book last week. Kept having to put it down for breaks as it was both scary and enraging. As soon as I finished it I went on Amazon and bought three more copies to give to friends. More people need to know how deep the "Family's" roots reach.

[Name removed]

58. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

61. too late to rec..... This NEEDS to be seen EVERYWHERE

along with renewed determination to spread humanistic values regardless of religious preference

[defendandprotect]

63. too late to rec..... This NEEDS to be seen EVERYWHERE

[Mnemosyne]

71. Yes it does; over and over and over... K - already R'd! n/t

[defendandprotect]

73. k i c k