When You Hear “The Family,” Don’t Think Charles Manson, Think Rich, Delusional, Fundamentalist, Christian Safe House in Washington

Why am I not surprised to learn there is a fundamentalist Christian “club” offering safe haven, counsel, and political strategy to tarnished GOP members of Congress (and one Latina-loving Republican governor).

They call themselves “the Family,” and reporter Jeff Sharlet has written a piece for Salon (published yesterday) highlighting the Family’s role in providing accommodations for multiple GOP politicians (i.e. Sen. John Ensign [NV], Rep. Chip Pickering [MS]) so they might meet with their mistresses without fear of being caught in flagrante. (Of course, running off to Argentina to boink your lover probably isn’t a good idea, but Gov. Mark Sanford [R-SC] was able to find friendly shoulders to lean on when sharing his sexual adventures with his buddies in the Family.)

That there is an actual building in D.C. where GOP politicians can park their wayward genitalia is no big deal, really. What is a big deal is that this group, this strange cabal of super-righteous fundamentalist Christians have taken their beyond-Machiavellian world view, cloaked in the holy image of a vengeful, opportunistic Christ, to the highest levels of power in federal government. The Family lobbies, and lobbies HARD without having to register as a lobby group. They move in and out of power circles in government without fear of reprisal of correction.

And this is exactly the way they like it.

Some excerpts from Sharlet’s Salon article (my bold):

If sexual license was all the Family offered the C Street men, however, that would merely be seedy and self-serving. But Family men are more than hypocritical. They’re followers of a political religion that embraces elitism, disdains democracy, and pursues power for its members the better to “advance the Kingdom.” They say they’re working for Jesus, but their Christ is a power-hungry, inside-the-Beltway savior not many churchgoers would recognize.

….

The Family likes to call itself a “Christian Mafia,” but it began 74 years ago as an anti-New Deal coalition of businessmen convinced that organized labor was under the sway of Satan. The Great Depression, they believed, was a punishment from God for what they viewed as FDR’s socialism. The Family’s goal was the “consecration” of America to God.

….

Family leaders consider their political network to be Christ’s avant garde, an elite that transcends not just conventional morality but also earthly laws regulating lobbying. In the Family’s early days, they debated registering as “a lobby for God’s Kingdom.” Instead, founder Abraham Vereide decided that the group could be more effective by working personally with politicians. “The more invisible you can make your organization,” Vereide’s successor, current leader Doug Coe preaches, “the more influence you can have.”

….

But David Coe, Doug Coe’s son and heir apparent, calls himself simply a friend to men such as John Ensign, whom he guided through the coverup of his affair. I met the younger Coe when I lived for several weeks as a member of the Family. He’s a surprising source of counsel, spiritual or otherwise. Attempting to explain what it means to be chosen for leadership like King David was — or Mark Sanford, according to his own estimate — he asked a young man who’d put himself, body and soul, under the Family’s authority, “Let’s say I hear you raped three little girls. What would I think of you?” The man guessed that Coe would probably think that he was a monster. “No,” answered Coe, “I wouldn’t.” Why? Because, as a member of the Family, he’s among what Family leaders refer to as the “new chosen.” If you’re chosen, the normal rules don’t apply.

You simply cannot make this stuff up.

The August issue of Vanity Fair features Todd Purdum’s lengthy piece on Sarah Palin, providing opinion analysis of the governor’s relentless self-aggrandizing. Many people Purdum contacted for the article said independently of each other that they suspect Palin of suffering from narcissistic personality disorder.

From the Mayo Clinic:

Narcissistic personality disorder [NPD] symptoms may include:

• Believing that you’re better than others
• Fantasizing about power, success and attractiveness
• Exaggerating your achievements or talents
• Expecting constant praise and admiration
• Believing that you’re special
• Failing to recognize other people’s emotions and feelings
• Expecting others to go along with your ideas and plans
• Taking advantage of others
• Expressing disdain for those you feel are inferior
• Being jealous of others
• Believing that others are jealous of you
• Trouble keeping healthy relationships
• Setting unrealistic goals
• Being easily hurt and rejected
• Having a fragile self-esteem

Seeing the list of symptoms of NPD, watching Palin’s crazy antics, and now learning about the Family, it seems pretty clear to me (a lowly UNchosen) that narcissism is the face of fundamentalist Christianity in America. And if it is the face of fundamentalist Christianity in America, it must be the face of the GOP’s base. I do know narcissism sure isn’t the face of Jesus.

To be fair, and Sharlet’s article is, the Family’s appeal isn’t limited to only Republicans with wandering wankers. There is a healthy handful of wacky conservative Democrats who enjoy the perks of Family protection.

Certainly fundamentalism is bad in all forms, but in the Family we see how fundamentalism fosters opportunity for, well, opportunists to manipulate the highest echelons of power to meet their sole aim of unfettered influence and personal gain and the complete destruction of perceived enemies.

(If you have read Sharlet’s 2008 book, The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, which we must now do, please tell. We’d like your opinion.)