Whiskey Fire Book Club

By Monica_A

You must read "The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power" by Jeff Sharlet. Once you have read this book, the past eight years will make sense. The banality of Bush. Scary, but informative.

Comments

[M. Bouffant]

Just reading the stuff Sharlet has had in Harper's & his media appearances has been more than enough to inform & frighten me.

[Mr. Wonderful]

I'm reading it now. Beautifully written. Which doesn't, alas, make it any less infuriating.

[ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©]

Bump!
~

[Davis]

So this book will tell me that the religious nuttiness in the GOP is worse than I had ever imagined. Sounds depressing. I've seen Sharlet several times on TV and got an inkling. Oh well, I'll read it anyway.

[muldoon]

The book is a stunner. The Family: a religion designed to confirm narcissists' beliefs that they truly are special because God loves them best.

[Monica_A: Aesthete]

So this book will tell me that the religious nuttiness in the GOP is worse than I had ever imagined

Not that it's worse. It's, as muldoon points out, narcissistic. God loves them because they're rich? Come on. But you can see how George W. Bush would buy into that message. It's stunning.

[Apphouse50]

Hilarious. Kirkus remains unconvinced. What would it take? An act of Congress requiring all women to wear burqahs?

[Older]

Seriously, no. I must not read it. I can tell from here that reading it would not make me happy.

[ice9]

Oh, it's a must read. It does not intensify one's fear of the far right so much as diversify it. But also, oddly, it is a reassuring, almost satisfying read. First, the people who are described in the book, both past and present day, subscribe to a philosophy that is simply untenable in its vagueness, its wild divergence from Christian doctrine, and its violently anti-American political philosophy. I was amazed by the weakness of them--kind of like the notion that Ronald Reagan was such a formidable character for the republicans but in fact he accomplished very little relative to his philosophical goals and is now remembered for the damage he did and the deficit he tripled and a key-shaped cake.

Practically speaking, the organization is delicate. So long as the cabal is hidden, it is powerful, but as it enters the light it is, quite frankly, ridiculous. I'm convinced that wherever it exists information technology will kill it. The kind of shenanigans operated by John Ensign, for example, could have been kept secret in the previous generation--even when we had a press. But now? Ensign is a figure of fun and the Family is tainted by his association; he will not long survive as an important American politician. Furthermore, the Family is badly damaged by the simple fact that they can't change and they can't disavow the bizarre autofellatio that marks the philosophy--they openly accept the idea that it doesn't matter if you are a philanderer, for example. Even with the gifted spinners and contortionists of the Fox Right, you can't condemn Bill Clinton and not condemn John Ensign and expect to gain any traction with people who ALREADY CALL THEMSELVES cHRISTIANS.

Sharlett's book is lovely reading mainly because he's a good old-fashioned sentence crafter. Reminds me of Shelby Foote--he maintains a narrative thread, inserts persuasive analysis in appropriate places and depths, but still manages to craft elegant sentences.

I have some other conclusions coming and will share them as I can.

Ice9

[Rihilism]

Thank you so much for recommending Sharlet's book. I just finished reading it the other day. As one of the blurbs on the cover said, "don't read this book alone at night", or something to that effect.

Truly frightening and bizarre. The psuedo-Christianity these people practice is breathtaking in it's "black is white", "down is up" take on the New Testament. Leave it to a bunch of closeted white men to presume that Christ has been sissified by the liberal elites and needs to be "beefed-up" for "real men" to accept and surrender in "obediance". Why can't these morons just hit a gay S&M bar and get it out of their system? They can always attend one the many fine "homo-curing" "rehab" centers afterword and get "right" with God again. What a bunch of insane, yet amazingly networked, weirdos (weird referring to their whacky Jesus, CEO, beliefs and not their sexual predilictions...)

Anyhoo, everyone must read this book and not only the last 8 yrs, but the last 80 yrs will start to make sense. Thanks again Monica for reccommending it...

[wd]

I highly recommend it. You watch these people in power and the wingnuts who support them and wonder where the hell they came up with all this crazy bullshit. The Family gives you some good background on where the bullshit comes from.