C Street religious cult
22 July 2009 by Stardust
I don’t have time tonight to write much about this, but you can read it for yourselves, here at Buzzflash.com
Kudos to Rachel Maddow for latching on to the captivating and chilling story about not just the lascivious and potentially illegal activities of some of the “C Street” Family, but — more importantly — focusing on their belief that they are chosen by God to lead and infiltrate our governnment.
And she hasn’t stopped pursuing this startling story, defying the normal news cycle of a nano-second of coverage unless it’s Michael Jackson’s death or a blonde white girl disappearing in Aruba.
What gets lost in the disgusting details of Ensign’s adulterous affair, Mark Sanford’s (an associate member of the Family) lust for an Argentine, and former Congressman Chip Pickering’s adulterous bonking on-site at the C Street “Christian fellowship house” is something that Maddow has repeatedly come back to: these men don’t believe they are responsible to moral or governmental laws. If they deviate from the “righteous path,” God is only testing their strength, because they are the ones divinely chosen to lead — and it is weakness to succumb to remorse about one’s “misbehavior.” That is why Mark Sanford said he won’t resign and compared himself to King David, who slept adulterously with Bathsheba and then had her husband killed.
Jeff Sharlet, of “The Family:The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power” writes:
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.” That’s true — which is why we have laws requiring lobbyists to identify themselves as such.
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.
I have not heard much about this Christian dominionist organization in the Washington D.C. area until now. These monsters are a very serious threat to our Democracy. Vjack at Atheist Revolution posted some information about the Family that he found at Religion Dispatches:
* The Family is the oldest conservative Christian organization in Washington D.C.
* The Family runs (but does not own) the notorious “C Street House” as a church to provide assorted politicians with inexpensive living space, Christian bible study, and “spiritual counseling.”
* “C Street House” is owned by an organization, Youth With a Mission D.C., headed by Loren Cunningham, a man with a vision for worldwide Christian dominion. Cunningham links to Campus Crusade for Christ and Christian Embassy, a D.C.-based ministry that tries to convert Pentagon officials.
* The Family is responsible for the annual National Prayer Breakfasts and runs assorted prayer groups in which both Republican and Democratic members of Congress participate.
* According to Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power (added to my to-read list), the Family is “committed to a political theology that views democracy as a form of secular humanism, to which they’re deeply opposed.”
I thought this was something that is extremely important to bring to everyone’s immediate attention.
22 July 2009, on 9:28 pm
Star,
Are you psychic? This is the story I wanted on GiFS!
22 July 2009, on 9:29 pm
“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.
…Okay, wow. These people cater to those who believe morality is objective and absolute? Objectively evil, obviously.
22 July 2009, on 9:45 pm
Bronze,
You know, if you’re chosen by gawd to rule, why not get ALL the perks, too? You DESERVE it, you crazy kid! Later, we’ll have a scrumptious meal of live puppies and baby duck brains. Then, for our after dinner entertainment, we’ll kill one o’ them there slaves- er, I mean darkies. What do you think, impalement or burned at the stake?
Don’t you see? They’re entitled because they’re chosen! We should all just bend over, spread our cheeks, and let them sodomize us whenever they want. We should be grateful that they chose our rectum to molest.
Chosen by the chosen. They have a tradition to uphold, all the way back to the Hellenistic period.
Fucking Nazis. I bet they’d bomb an American city if they thought it was populated solely by Atheists.
22 July 2009, on 9:54 pm
But I digress. Since I “won” a bet, Star said I could choose a story. Alas, I was a lazy little heathen, and in a bit of a quandry. I was torn between the heinous implications of “The Family”, and that of the fine upstanding members of our military.
Memebers of the military who pass out bibles translated into the indigenous languages of Afghanistan:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/202734?from=rss
I’m not out to take away from the very important story of the Family. Far from it.
I’m going to drop a bit of a bombshell; I actually wrote Sharlet, and he actually replied. I asked him if there were any connections between the Family and these punks in the military who flout the law and rules of engagement in Afghanistan.
He said, unequivocally, yes. The officers running the fundie program in the military are. I took that as they work together.
So you see, this is why I had a hard time picking which story to choose for GiFS.
22 July 2009, on 10:10 pm
Stardust;
Like DRB asked; are you precient? I heard an interview with the author a couple weeks ago on “The Morning Show” on Pacifica radio (KPFA.org) . They archive all their shows, so you might be able to find it there. Sorry, I can’t recall the exact date.
I really wanted to make a recommendation for a post about this book, but really didn’t see the opportunity–thank you for latching onto this! And thanks to Maddow for exploring this book and it’s subjects. This is definitely on my “to read” list.
I had heard about The Family, but knew little about it, other than they are neo-Calvinists. Obviously they have done a very good job of staying secretive. They may know no personal shame, but they still aren’t so hypnotized by their own hubris to escape the realization that most other citizens view thier lifestyles as morally abhorent. This is evil at it’s most glaring.
I knew about the contempt these moral lilliputians hold for democracy, as well as their belief they are entitled to unbridled wealth, but I was unaware of the level of privaledge they feel they own when it comes to moral and ethical “flexability.”
To add to the contempt they hold for the rest of the unsaved masses (read: everyone outside the family) they are also unrepetant anti-semites, entirely believing the family to be gawd’s new “chosen people,” as the Jews, who are clearly “so 33 AD” have obviously broken their covenant with gawd when they denied the divinity of Chrust.
Jesse Helms was a highly esteemed member of the family. ‘Splains a lot.
Anyone with this lack of moral aptitude combined with this kind of power is, quite frankly, absolutly fucking frightening. These people view everyone else as unsaved and therefore expendable. I’m glad someone is exposing them–If I was Sharlet, I would have been shit-my-pants scared to do so. Ultimate kudos to him.
22 July 2009, on 10:15 pm
‘The Family’? WTF, is Tony Soprano heading this thing?
Puts me in mind of a quote from H. L. Mencken:
“Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats. “
22 July 2009, on 10:26 pm
Ramen, KA. Ramen.
22 July 2009, on 10:32 pm
Yeah guys..this subject is WAY too important to ignore.
Naomi had a VERY relevant comment (which included a really detailed (see below) Jeff Sharlet article link) in one of KA’s recent Posts:
http://gods4suckers.net/archives/2009/07/12/allegories-gone-wild-the-theology-that-boasts-of-emptiness/
[Pardon my 'brazen effrontery', KA & Naomi, and lack of link embedding knowledge.]
Here’s the comment by…
Naomi:
16 July 2009, on 3:56 am
“Is this what the church marquee meant when it said: “The Bible — so easy, a child can understand it; so complex, scholars are still debating it”…
To muddy further the turgid waters that we can now easily walk upon it ourselves, how about Jesus plus nothing: Undercover among America’s secret theocrats, by Jeff Sharlet (published in Harper’s in 2003)? The “nothing” he references is so toxically powerful, we could be sitting on a ticking time bomb.”
Here’s Naomi’s article link:
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2003/03/0079525
22 July 2009, on 10:43 pm
I’ll be reading that Harper’s article in a minute, Chuck. I have one for you, though:
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2009/05/0082488
The title is “Jesus Killed Mohommed”. Jeff Sharlet, again. Check this out:
snip
OK, I’ll stop monopolizing the comments.
22 July 2009, on 11:46 pm
“A Christian, he (Jon Butcher) explained in full earnestness, “is someone who chooses to be a slave, essentially.”
Just that quote, alone, from that article points up, I think, what TOTAL, fucking, INSANITY comes from religions.
The worst, most dangerous, bullshit that totally fucktard humans EVER dreamed up.
Indeed, this whole “irritating madness” reminds me, also, of some fairly recent Hitchens videos…
[What!...a video break?...and even MORE links? WTF???]
1) “Why should we fight religion”:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YmQeLHCNAI]
2)”Christopher Hitchens Rocks the Christian Book Expo 2009″:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjscqKv3240]
3) Sorta related to this Post…this one shows, I think, how REALLY annoying…and totally ignorant…”fundies” can be regarding the Constitutional “Wall of Separation”.
“The End of Christian America? Christopher Hitchens vs. Ken Blackwell on Hardball”:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJNsWN-QGW8]
[I'm off, now, my dearest fellow GifSters, to catch up with my usual fare (on DVR): Keith Olbermann, and Rachel Maddow.]
22 July 2009, on 11:50 pm
^ Whoops…Sorry about the bracketed links.
I copied those from a notepad note, originally intended for an Austin Cline comment. Otherwise, the comment, often doesn’t show up. “Must learn HTML”?
What!…Copy/paste? Or maybe one the Mods can fix them?
23 July 2009, on 3:28 am
Just to simplify things [copy/paste doesn't work]…here’s those (failed) links again…
1) “Why should we fight religion”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YmQeLHCNAI
2) “Christopher Hitchens Rocks the Christian Book Expo 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjscqKv3240
3) “The End of Christian America? Christopher Hitchens vs. Ken Blackwell on Hardball”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJNsWN-QGW8
23 July 2009, on 8:56 am
Are you psychic? This is the story I wanted on GiFS!
I have secret powers, I am God. LOL!
I’m going to drop a bit of a bombshell; I actually wrote Sharlet, and he actually replied. I asked him if there were any connections between the Family and these punks in the military who flout the law and rules of engagement in Afghanistan.
He said, unequivocally, yes. The officers running the fundie program in the military are. I took that as they work together.
So you see, this is why I had a hard time picking which story to choose for GiFS.
Well, both stories are connected…it isn’t surprising that they are connected with the laws and rules of engagement in Afghanistan.
OK, I’ll stop monopolizing the comments.
My all means, keep them coming!
So it is today, “Mission Accomplished” continues, proposing that before military Christians can complete their wall, they must bring this “Lord of all” to the entire armed forces. “We will need to press ahead obediently,” the study concludes, “not allowing the opposition, all of which is spearheaded by Satan, to keep us from the mission of reclaiming territory for Christ in the military.”
How can grown men believe in this Satan bullshit, that an evil supernatural villain is controlling everyone? These freaks are as fucked up as the Muslim suicide bombers, murdering innocent people and blowing themselves up for a figment of their imaginations.
23 July 2009, on 10:22 am
^^”How can grown men believe in this Satan bullshit, that an evil supernatural villain is controlling everyone? These freaks are as fucked up as the Muslim suicide bombers, murdering innocent people and blowing themselves up for a figment of their imaginations.”
Oh, but don’t you know Stardust, there is a huge difference. After all, those Muslims are killing for the wrong gawd.
23 July 2009, on 12:43 pm
The Congressional Recess is coming. Don’t forget to sign up for the Fellowship’s Vacation Bible School.
See:
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/07/22/c-street-vacation-bible-school/
23 July 2009, on 2:14 pm
I love Maddow when it comes to civil liberties (her take on economics, however, makes me LOL). I hope she keeps pursuing this thing.
And when are we going to start taxing all the goddamn churches and church-like organizations in this country? Churches are largely crypto-political machinations anyway – squeezing their bottom line evens the playing field (and might help pay down some of that egregious $11.4 trillion debt load we’re carrying…).
23 July 2009, on 3:35 pm
Mike, OMG, that C Street Vacation Bible School link is a riot! Thanks for coming by and posting that!
23 July 2009, on 6:41 pm
Could there possibly be any more proof needed that religion is a mental illness?
23 July 2009, on 7:29 pm
OK Star, I don’t have much online time tonight, so I’ll blast away.
Think about this; Sarah Palin, everyone’s favorite governor, is a part of this sect as well.
Now, picture this: McCain wins, he promptly dies, and we have this nut job as President, taking orders from the Family, the OCJ, and whah-lah, the country is theirs.
This could’ve happened. This is what they’re out to do. And it scares the living shit out of me.
What keeps me up at night is what all these 15,000 members of OCJ are going to do when they get stateside after these two wars finally come to a close.
15,000 Tim Mc Veighs running around, out of work, with theazy ideas that Limbaugh, Hannity, Coe, and the rest of the Hitler youth feed them; that “socialists” have taken over the government.
And they WANT to be slaves!
What happens in 2012, and Obama wins again?
Denmark sounds real good right now…
23 July 2009, on 7:36 pm
This country was founded by a bunch of Freemasons. A number of recent presidents (and failed candidates) were Yale Skull and Bonesmen. I have no idea was causes powerful people to join goofy secret organizations. BTW, the Masons’ secret password is “tubelcain.” If they find me, they now have to kill me.
24 July 2009, on 1:29 am
^^I think because they have an air of both mystery and elitism, plus the all tend to foster a certain amount of “moral latitude,” which seems to appeal to a lot of people, particularly the powerful.
Shamefully, I admit having been in a Fraternity in college. They are all basically secret societies for the beer-swilling chauvanist set. I certainly cherish the life-long friendships I have maintained from this experience, but sometimes wonder whether the paradoxical homo-eroticism and drunken dick-swinging was necessary.
And yes, all of their traditions and secrets are a bunch of goofy bullocks.
Incidentally, if anyone feels compelled to crash a Theta Chi secret meeting, “Galveston” will grant you access. But sorry, no girls allowed.
24 July 2009, on 5:41 pm
DRB, don’t forget the AIPAC. So many people overlook its influence. America is Israel’s bitch, thanks to the mythology book (and, by extension, the fear of appearing anti-Semitic in a post-WW2 world).
13 August 2009, on 9:50 pm
I think these religonistas have to be stopped, they’re big evil. I watched Democracy Now on link t.v., aug 12th, saw “CHUCKY” grassley n the evil people they consort with. It shocked me even as cynical as I am. The author of ‘ The family’ was on. Watch it, these people want to murder and destroy every one (that is not one of them) . They care only of selves. You can also catch it on the net