The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power
The Breakfast Club
Do the people who run the National Prayer Breakfast also run the nation?
Reviewed by Randall Balmer
Sunday, July 13, 2008; BW02
THE FAMILY
The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power
By Jeff Sharlet
Harper. 454 pp. $25.95
In the film version of "All the President's Men," Deep Throat castigates Bob Woodward for his uncorroborated accusations against H.R. Haldeman. "You've done worse than let Haldeman slip away," Deep Throat says. "You've got people feeling sorry for him. I didn't think that was possible. . . . If you shoot too high and miss, everybody feels more secure."
The same might be said about Jeff Sharlet's book about a loose coalition of religiously conservative individuals and organizations that operates in and around the councils of power in Washington. This group, which goes by various names -- Cornerstone, Fellowship Foundation or, more generically, "the Family" -- is responsible for the National Prayer Breakfast, but it also functions as a religious, social and political network for generals and bureaucrats and politicians with surnames like Grassley, Inhofe, Colson, Brownback, Quayle, Pryor and Thune.
Sharlet finagled a month-long residence at the Family's estate in Arlington, a combination seminary, boot camp and retreat center for the powerful and those who hope to join their ranks. "You guys," one of the Family's operatives told the residents, "are here to learn how to rule the world." Sharlet, an engaging writer with a keen eye, passed himself off as a religious seeker. (He indicates that he did not lie about his intentions since, at the time, he was working on a book about religious communities and "had no thought of investigative reporting.") In meetings at the estate and conversations with fellow aspirants, the author discovered a right-leaning political ideology informed by deference to capitalism, a weakness for foreign dictators and a fascination with the leadership techniques of Adolf Hitler; according to Sharlet, Fellowship members repeatedly cited Hitler's rise as an example of the power of a "covenant" between a leader and his followers.
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Do the people who run the National Prayer Breakfast also run the nation?
Reviewed by Randall Balmer
Sunday, July 13, 2008; BW02
THE FAMILY
The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power
By Jeff Sharlet
Harper. 454 pp. $25.95
In the film version of "All the President's Men," Deep Throat castigates Bob Woodward for his uncorroborated accusations against H.R. Haldeman. "You've done worse than let Haldeman slip away," Deep Throat says. "You've got people feeling sorry for him. I didn't think that was possible. . . . If you shoot too high and miss, everybody feels more secure."
The same might be said about Jeff Sharlet's book about a loose coalition of religiously conservative individuals and organizations that operates in and around the councils of power in Washington. This group, which goes by various names -- Cornerstone, Fellowship Foundation or, more generically, "the Family" -- is responsible for the National Prayer Breakfast, but it also functions as a religious, social and political network for generals and bureaucrats and politicians with surnames like Grassley, Inhofe, Colson, Brownback, Quayle, Pryor and Thune.
Sharlet finagled a month-long residence at the Family's estate in Arlington, a combination seminary, boot camp and retreat center for the powerful and those who hope to join their ranks. "You guys," one of the Family's operatives told the residents, "are here to learn how to rule the world." Sharlet, an engaging writer with a keen eye, passed himself off as a religious seeker. (He indicates that he did not lie about his intentions since, at the time, he was working on a book about religious communities and "had no thought of investigative reporting.") In meetings at the estate and conversations with fellow aspirants, the author discovered a right-leaning political ideology informed by deference to capitalism, a weakness for foreign dictators and a fascination with the leadership techniques of Adolf Hitler; according to Sharlet, Fellowship members repeatedly cited Hitler's rise as an example of the power of a "covenant" between a leader and his followers.
--MORE--