"The Family" on Netflix- influential fundamentalist group

[NakedKnees]

Is anyone else watching The Family on Netflix? I'm only two episodes in, but in the first episode alone they touch on a lot of subjects I've seen come up here: very strict American fundie "gender" role expectations, resistance to The World™️, and what's so great about the story of David. I'm not big on the use of reenactments, but it's interesting to see this niche-ish interest of mine so explicitly on Netflix. 

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

[clueliss]

I binged all five episodes last night and this morning.  I’d put this on highly recommend viewing for FJers.  

[urban teacher]

Just started watching it. And you're right, definitely Free Jingerish.

[Free Felicity]

I've been watching it. Came to this part of the forums just to see if anybody else has been watching it. It's fascinating, creepy, and completely relevant here. 

[SilverBeach]

I binge watched it last night. Can't believe I didn't know anything about this. Scary stuff. The National Prayer Breakfast does kind of violate church and state.

[Dreadcrumbs]

I started watching last night, am I not the only one having trouble keeping track of who all of these guys seen and mentioned are?

[clueliss]

I googled and found Wikipedia on this group while watching ep 1 (because my mind pinged and asked if this was the group then Senator now former Governor Sam Brownback from Kansas) was part of/involved with while a Senator and living with a group of men and doing prayer meetings etc. ) - I found it helpful.  There is also a book by Jeff Sharlet on the subject (that might be my next audible read)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fellowship_(Christian_organization)

 

Oh - just noticed something in my link above.  There is a connection (and a link in the article) to this group - which I've heard of in a mainstream evangelical church.  Looks like Douglas Coe was a Navigator as well.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Navigators_(organization)

[Dreadcrumbs]

I feel like the more I learn about this organization, more evident it is that returning to the pre-2016 status quo isn't even close to enough (I already knew this, but the influence this org has in US Govt on both sides of the aisle is even more evidence that something has to change).

[dripcurl]

My husband and I started it, and I want to finish episode 2 today. I am glad there is something like this showing how fundamentalism is an agenda, not the beliefs a persecuted few like so many fundies portray it as.

[nvmbr02]

I just finished the second episode. I, too, like that it is showing the agenda of the fundamentalists and how it also shows not all democrats are not immune to the influence of various groups, this one in particular. 

[Cheetah]

Is there a thread for this show yet?   I looked under TV and did a general search and didn't see one.

I just started watching the Netflix documentary series called "The Family".  I'm one episode in and would recommend it to everyone here given that we are all interested in the intersection between fundamentalists and political influence.  It's about a shadowy group headed by a guy named Doug Coe that has influence over quite a lot of DC politicians.  A journalist wrote a book about them and now the series is based on his book.   

[Bad Wolf]

We watched it. The first episodes pointed out the dangers the later ones, not so much (IMO). Whatever happened to separation of church and state? When they crowded around Trump and laid their hands on him I thought I'd throw up. 

[Walking Cat Bed]

My family went to church with Mark Sil jander in the mid-to-late 80s. I don't remember HIM, but I remember his voice. I was too young to notice how full of himself the man is.

[libgirl2]

13 minutes ago, Bad Wolf said:

We watched it. The first episodes pointed out the dangers the later ones, not so much (IMO). Whatever happened to separation of church and state? When they crowded around Trump and laid their hands on him I thought I'd throw up. 

I have it on my to be watched list. When is the religious right going to figure out that Trump doesn't give a damn about God? Sorry if I offended anyone but as someone who does have faith, it really ticks me off!!

[Dreadcrumbs]

16 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

I have it on my to be watched list. When is the religious right going to figure out that Trump doesn't give a damn about God? Sorry if I offended anyone but as someone who does have faith, it really ticks me off!!

No, because it doesn't matter as long as he's doing their work.

[ViolaSebastian]

On 8/11/2019 at 9:38 PM, SilverBeach said:

I binge watched it last night. Can't believe I didn't know anything about this. Scary stuff. The National Prayer Breakfast does kind of violate church and state.

When I was watching it, it occurred me that I had never thought about who was behind the National Prayer Breakfast. It's been around since well before I was born and it was just a status quo thing I never really thought about. With all that said, it sounds like it's more an opportunity to meet people, establish relationships, and broker deals than any sort of actual religious event. 

[NakedKnees]

1 hour ago, libgirl2 said:

I have it on my to be watched list. When is the religious right going to figure out that Trump doesn't give a damn about God? Sorry if I offended anyone but as someone who does have faith, it really ticks me off!!

 

1 hour ago, Dreadcrumbs said:

No, because it doesn't matter as long as he's doing their work.

The show really helped me see this exact dynamic. That's probably my biggest takeaway. My second biggest is how easily bad people can take advantage of an organization like this, and just how risky that is.

I had no idea that the National Prayer Breakfast was actually a series of events. I can see the appeal in having a private, honest breakfast group in a world like DC. Hopefully some enterprising individuals may be up for organizing some alternatives to The Family's meetings.

[Briefly]

I need to check this one out, I have not had a lot of time to actually watch tv where I have to concentrate.  It's often on as background noise while I'm on the computer or working on my crafts & crochet.

[JermajestyDuggar]

I was thinking about how many atheists attend these prayer breakfasts and groups. I bet there are quite a few. I am sure I would show up even though I don’t pray. 

[ViolaSebastian]

1 hour ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I was thinking about how many atheists attend these prayer breakfasts and groups. I bet there are quite a few. I am sure I would show up even though I don’t pray. 

In the documentary, they spoke about both Jewish and Muslim representatives from other countries joining in as well, which seems...odd, for a prayer breakfast run by an evangelical Christian organization that emphasizes Jesus in a big, big way. (I'm sure they do their best to make anyone of influence feel welcome, it's just peculiar to me that it would have the heavy non-Christian presence it does). I have no doubt in my mind that there are people who attend these events who do not give two shits about Christianity, Jesus, prayer, or even breakfast. They're there to wheel and deal, that much is made very clear. 

[NakedKnees]

38 minutes ago, ViolaSebastian said:

In the documentary, they spoke about both Jewish and Muslim representatives from other countries joining in as well, which seems...odd, for a prayer breakfast run by an evangelical Christian organization that emphasizes Jesus in a big, big way. (I'm sure they do their best to make anyone of influence feel welcome, it's just peculiar to me that it would have the heavy non-Christian presence it does). I have no doubt in my mind that there are people who attend these events who do not give two shits about Christianity, Jesus, prayer, or even breakfast. They're there to wheel and deal, that much is made very clear. 

Regarding the bolded, I was actually left with the impression that focusing on Jesus might actually make The Family's flavor of Evangelical Christianity more palatable to people of other faiths. The documentary says they're far from being about any sort of theology, their holy text is incredibly brief, and it seems like just acknowledging Jesus as a person who existed may be enough to fit in philosophically (on the outskirts, at least).

He was a Jew. He wasn't a bad person. I think a lot of (not all) people from other faiths can honestly say some things about Jesus to that extent.

[Cheetah]

I'm up to episode 3 (most of the way through but was falling asleep so I paused it and went to bed last night).  Anyway, I'm not as fluent in the Calvinist vs Baptist split that some of you are, but what they kept hammering on about with being 'chosen' really pinged my memory of what I've learned here about Calvinist theology.  

[feministxtian]

Thank God I'm a hippie-dippie liberal Xtian who takes the red letter words seriously, the rest, not so much. 

These fundies scare the ever living shit out of me. Not to mention, they wouldn't know Jesus if He clubbed them over the head with a hammer. (and yes my Jesus would do that...He is not the "meek, mild lamb" the fundies like to portray him as...he was/is BADASS AF)

[Marian the Librarian]

Mr. MtL and I watched episodes 1 and 2 last night, and plan to see the rest. Pretty fascinating. The phrase "separation of church and state" isn't spoken until halfway through episode 2 (I wanted to shout "THANK YOU!" - but we have company?). It's too bad George Orwell isn't still with us - "some are more chosen than others" sounds an awful lot like "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

[dripcurl]

Mods, can we merge with the thread from Quiverfull of TV?