Secret Fundie Cult Pulls Strings of Brownback, Sanford, Tiahrt, Many Others in Power

On today’s Fresh Air on NPR, I was shocked to learn what has been transpiring in the halls of power since I’ve been away from the blog. But it is deeper than that: this organization has been influential in Washington since 1935. Here’s some links you need to check out.

The Fresh Air Story

'Family': Fundamentalism, Friends In High Places

July 1, 2009

In the book The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, author Jeff Sharlet examines the power wielded by a secretive Christian group known as the Family, or the Fellowship.

Founded in 1935 in opposition to FDR's New Deal, the evangelical group's views on religion and politics are so singular that some other Christian-right organizations consider them heretical

The group also has a connection to a house in Washington, D.C., known as C Street. Owned by a foundation affiliated with the Family, C Street is officially registered as a church; in practice, it serves as a meeting place and residence for politicians like South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, Nevada Sen. John Ensign and Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn…

From Counterpunch

Sex Scandals, Moral Hypocrisy and the Far Right Agenda in Central America

C Street Band

By Nikolas Kozloff

July 10-12, 2009

As the Republican Party implodes the public is becoming aware of a secretive Christian society known as the Family or the Fellowship.  The group was founded in 1935 in opposition to FDR's New Deal and its adherents subscribe to a far right Christian fundamentalist and free market ideology.  A minister named Abraham Vereide founded the Family after having a vision in which God visited him in the person of the head of the United States Steel Corporation (no, I’m not making this up).  The Family has a connection to house on C Street in Washington, D.C., known simply as C Street.  Officially registered as a church, the building serves as a meeting place and residence for conservative politicians…

Lawmakers who live there include Reps. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn.; Bart Stupak, D-Mich.; Jim DeMint, R-S.C.; Mike Doyle, D-Pa.; and Sens. John Ensign, R-Nev., Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, and Sam Brownback, R-Kan.  The lawmakers, all Christians, live in private rooms upstairs and pay an incredibly low rent --- a paltry $600 --- to live at C Street.

And from Channel 12, KWCH, Wichita, Kansas

By Kim Wilhelm

It's known as C Street - a three story building two blocks from the Capitol in Washington D.C.  Until recently, most people had never heard of it.

But C Street and the politicians associated with it are now in the spotlight because of recent political sex scandals. In June, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford admitted to having an affair and referred to C Street during a press conference. Sanford said he had received counseling there. He described it as "believe it or not - a Christian bible study."

Nevada Senator John Ensign revealed he also had ties to C Street. Ensign admitted to having an affair with Cynthia Hampton, the wife of a top staffer in his office. Hampton's husband said he went to the members of C Street to ask them to intervene so Ensign would end the affair. 

Then, the ex-wife of former Mississippi Congressman Chip Pickering claims he had an affair while living at C Street….

The building itself is registered as a church with the IRS. The group rents out rooms to members of Congress. Kansas Congressman Jerry Moran's staff confirms he stays at C Street. His office refused to answer questions or comment further. Sharlet's book has no mention of Moran, but it does list Senator Sam Brownback and Congressman Todd Tiahrt as members…

On the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, Tiahrt asked whether President Barack Obama and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' mothers would've sought abortions if it was publically funded:

"If you think of it in human terms, there is a financial incentive that will be put in place, paid for by tax dollars, that will encourage women who are -- single parents, living below the poverty level, to have the opportunity for a free abortion," said Tiahrt. "If you take that scenario and apply it to many of the great minds we have today, who would we have been deprived of? Our president grew up in a similar circumstance."

"If that financial incentive was in place, is it possible that his mother may have taken advantage of it?" Tiahrt asked. "Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court Justice, if those circumstances were in place, is it possible that we would be denied his great mind? The opportunity to have tax-funded abortions, a financial incentive, is something that I think most of us want to oppose in America and it's certainly deserves a clean up or down vote."

When Sharlet heard this, he recalled a time he saw Tiahrt in C Street talking with The Family's leader, Doug Coe…

Sharlet claims Tiahrt asked Coe "The best way for the Christian to win the race with the Muslim...because the Muslim has too many babies while Americans kill too many of theirs."  Sharlet says Coe urged Tiahrt to form a covenant - like the Mafia. Coe listed "other men who had changed the world through the strength of the covenants, including Hitler, Lenin, Ho chi Minh, and bin Laden."

But when Eyewitness News contacted Tiahrt, he denied all of Sharlet's claims…Brownback's office would not comment to Eyewitness News.

This is All Blowing Up Now: from WBUR

You may recognize these names from recent headlines: Sen. John Ensign, Rep. Bart Stupak and Rep. Joe Pitts. Stupak and Pitts have become familiar names through the media's health care overhaul coverage; their abortion funding amendment introduced an 11th-hour twist as the House of Representatives approached a vote on a landmark health care bill.

Ensign was the focus of media attention over his affair with a campaign staffer. Just last night, a Nevada man disclosed that he found out about his wife's affair with the state's junior senator — his best friend — via a text message.

The common factor among these political players is their involvement with the Family, a secretive fellowship of powerful Christian politicians that centers on a Washington, D.C., townhouse. Investigative journalist Jeff Sharlet has written extensively about the influential group in his book The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power.

Today's Fresh Air Broadcast

Obviously, this is longer than my normal post… a duty which I have been absent from lately. It reflects my shock at this conspiracy which has been going on under our noses for years. I’m nominally a Christian myself, but, sad to say, here is another example – the most egregious in my memory – of a perversion of the faith.