Hello and thank you for being a DL contributor. We are changing the login scheme for contributors for simpler login and to better support using multiple devices. Please click here to update your account with a username and password.

Hello. Some features on this site require registration. Please click here to register for free.

Hello and thank you for registering. Please complete the process by verifying your email address. If you can't find the email you can resend it here.

Hello. Some features on this site require a subscription. Please click here to get full access and no ads for $1.99 or less per month.

Netflix's new docuseries 'The Family' investigates secretive Christian organization influencing the White House

[quote]Meet The Fellowship, the secret organization at the center of Netflix’s upcoming five-part docuseries “The Family,” a project that was made “with unprecedented participation from members of the organization,” which examines the “sophisticated, successful tactics its affiliates use to influence policy-making around the globe.”

“The Family” launches August 9 on Netflix.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 41October 23, 2020 9:59 PM

Official description for “The Family,” courtesy of Netflix:

[quote]Every February, on the first Thursday, at the same hotel, dignitaries and guests from 100 countries gather in America’s capital for a blessing. While more than 3,000 people attend the National Prayer Breakfast — including every U.S. president since Dwight Eisenhower — the host organization has long shrouded itself in secrecy. Technically, it’s called The Fellowship, but former “brother” members like New York Times bestselling author Jeff Sharlet know the group as The Family. As he learned firsthand and documented in The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, The Family believes the separation of church and state is unnecessary, and political affiliation is irrelevant. The Family grooms and supports leaders, teaching them that the Bible is a story about power, not mercy – that leaders are chosen by God, not elected.

by Anonymousreply 1July 24, 2019 6:11 PM

As if I needed to be even more depressed. It sounds interesting but I may give it a pass.

by Anonymousreply 2July 24, 2019 6:13 PM

5 part series? That have THAT much power???

by Anonymousreply 3July 24, 2019 6:46 PM

The Christian Religion is just as evil as it ever was, cruel and vile.

by Anonymousreply 4July 24, 2019 6:57 PM

Has anyone watched! I know I need to but it just sounds too depressing given our current circumstances. Probably essential viewing though. I may force myself to test out an episode

by Anonymousreply 5August 11, 2019 5:38 PM

R4 The problem is that every secular ideology that has rushed to fill in for religion is just as faith based and not based on reason. The woke dogma is just as repressive and unforgiving as mainstream religions. But I've become very cynical.

by Anonymousreply 6August 11, 2019 5:52 PM

What r2 said. FUCK.

by Anonymousreply 7August 11, 2019 6:13 PM

I read a book about The Family a decade ago. It is scarier than anything Stephen King ever wrote.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 8August 11, 2019 6:14 PM

R3 Yes, they do. They're hugely influential and have taken over both the Republican AND Democratic parties.

by Anonymousreply 9August 11, 2019 6:15 PM

The sad thing is that a lot of stuff that was dismissed as conspiracy theory in the past turns out to be the bitter truth.

And do people REALLY still believe that the Christian Right Wing is about traditional family values?

by Anonymousreply 10August 11, 2019 6:17 PM

That is why the establishment is so scared of the likes of AOC, they are not part of "The Family" and threaten their status quo.

by Anonymousreply 11August 11, 2019 6:18 PM

R11 Nope, they are not scared of her. She epitomizes low hanging fruit.

by Anonymousreply 12August 11, 2019 6:28 PM

Does anyone have a non netflix link to stream?

by Anonymousreply 13August 13, 2019 10:51 PM

Worst of all: they are eschatologists and for them ‘the end times’ (World War III, ecological disasters) equal the glorious return of Jesus.

by Anonymousreply 14August 13, 2019 11:00 PM

Any non Netflix link for streaming?

by Anonymousreply 15August 13, 2019 11:01 PM

humans would be so much more progressive and evolved if we could just free everyone from the stranglehold of religion

christianity and islam in particular are so widespread and have ruined much of the world

by Anonymousreply 16August 13, 2019 11:05 PM

Religion and governments are created for the few to control the masses and the masses hand over that power of control willingly.

by Anonymousreply 17August 14, 2019 10:53 AM

The first episode was watchable, and some of the guys are handsome.

by Anonymousreply 18August 14, 2019 11:21 AM

Saw the whole series. People in the family are pretty scary. What's even scarier is seeing the Evangelicals who are totally enraptured with Trump. How these "religious" nuts can ignore his blatant disregard for Christian principles is staggering.

by Anonymousreply 19August 14, 2019 11:30 AM

Insecure, ambitious, and opportunistic people use religion as a means to gain (more) power. They act like they are passionate believers but are more than willing to do business with not only non-believers but those who are quite in opposition to the values they promote. This is usually sold as "the end justifies the means" or "the bigger picture" to the stupid masses who, most certainly, should not try this at home (that's only reserved for the elite).

by Anonymousreply 20August 14, 2019 3:10 PM

As one observer pointed out, these people use Jesus as a mascot. He's their entree into the world of powerful world leaders.

What I kept asking myself, and what the series never answers, is who is funding all this? Where did The Family get its money in the first place?

by Anonymousreply 21August 18, 2019 8:27 AM

I've been trying to get through it, but it's quite a slog to sit through five episodes of this stuff. I'm on episode three and it doesn't seem to have much going for it other than what a big mystery it all is.

by Anonymousreply 22August 18, 2019 8:42 AM

Hillary Clinton described meeting the leader of the Fellowship in 1993: "Doug Coe, the longtime National Prayer Breakfast organizer, is a unique presence in Washington: a genuinely loving spiritual mentor and guide to anyone, regardless of party or faith, who wants to deepen his or her relationship to God."[29]

by Anonymousreply 23August 18, 2019 9:06 AM

Well, at first, it was that millionaire in seattle, kindness of rich stranger later( politically ambitious rich men,) now russian oligarchs. R21

by Anonymousreply 24August 18, 2019 9:50 AM

r23, Hillary would have said that about Satan.

by Anonymousreply 25August 18, 2019 4:26 PM

[quote] He's their entree into the world of powerful world leaders.

I have always thought of him as more of an appetizer

by Anonymousreply 26August 18, 2019 6:06 PM

I think the Presidents should stop going to the prayer breakfast, as it is not a function of Congress but of this cult-like group, which uses the breakfast as a way to meet powerful leaders and make alliances. What the show points out is how much of a front religion is for it all, yet I'm still not sure what their endgame is.

by Anonymousreply 27August 18, 2019 6:22 PM

Prayer breakfast is the least of it. Do you know how much taxpayer money is wasted on religious organizations at home and abroad?

by Anonymousreply 28August 18, 2019 6:30 PM

The taxpayers don't pay for the prayer breakfast, the Family pays for it. But the fact that religious orgs are tax exempt is, to me, absolutely scandalous.

by Anonymousreply 29August 18, 2019 6:33 PM

Speaking of family.....

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 30August 18, 2019 6:39 PM

[quote]I've been trying to get through it, but it's quite a slog to sit through five episodes of this stuff. I'm on episode three and it doesn't seem to have much going for it other than what a big mystery it all is.

I tried watching it but after 20 minutes of the first episode I was wondering did this story [italic]really[/italic] need 5 episodes? One 90 minute long documentary would've been more than enough, even with the practically pointless reenactments. I ended up fast-forwarding through a couple of the episodes and caught bits about Trump and that Russian gun-loving whore, after that it was goodbye. Clearly Netflix threw a lot of money at the production, but they succeeded way better with the documentary about the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal called The Great Hack, a 2 hour documentary I ended up watching in one sitting because it kept me interested the whole time.

by Anonymousreply 31August 19, 2019 5:20 AM

I felt it was worth it r31. It showed us deeply how the family work in different angles: how the young men are indictrinated, the origins of the breakfast, who this mysterious doug coe is, his reach on global which led to russia infiltration of gop in america. Most importantly, the family messed up belief in controlling the wolves.

by Anonymousreply 32August 19, 2019 6:39 AM

It's the 4th episode that deals with gay issues, in case you want to watch that one.

by Anonymousreply 33August 19, 2019 7:58 AM

I've now watched the first and second episodes. The basic conspiracy theory of the series was covered in another show some years back.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 34August 19, 2019 8:25 AM

R23, I remember reading an article many years ago about the group’s C street house. It mentioned that Hillary would go to a weekly get together there to network.

Their powers-that-be believe that only men should lead, but they always cover their bases by ingratiating themselves to female politicians, too, because power is power. I imagine they think they’ll put the womenfolk back in their place when they control all. Or the Rapture comes.

by Anonymousreply 35August 26, 2019 3:22 AM

I’m going to watch this tomorrow. So are these the people who are responsible for the continuous attacks on any kind of progressive agenda by screaming socialism? Obviously Pence is their dogsbody and this is the group that runs society in The Handmaid’s Tale.

by Anonymousreply 36August 26, 2019 4:21 AM

I thought about these people when Dump called himself "the chosen one" recently.

by Anonymousreply 37August 27, 2019 4:34 PM

Doug Coe: Power-hungry repressed homosexual Top

by Anonymousreply 38August 27, 2019 5:18 PM

r38, like every Jesuit priest I have ever slept with.

by Anonymousreply 39August 27, 2019 8:57 PM

It seems like a whole lot of white power bullshit and smash and grab robbery disguised as a Christian Cult. They all seem gay, but the real mystery is how they're all so gay for Coe. There's nothing appealing about him. He's not charismatic or intelligent or interesting or anything. Just bland. Even when he's openly admiring Hitler or random Chinese soldiers atrocities. Just nothing there. How's that guy the cult leader?

by Anonymousreply 40August 27, 2019 10:16 PM

I've heard the book is much, much better and goes much deeper into how evil these people are. The documentary is kind of hit-and-miss.

by Anonymousreply 41October 23, 2020 9:59 PM
Loading
Need more help? Click Here.

Yes indeed, we too use "cookies." Take a look at our privacy/terms or if you just want to see the damn site without all this bureaucratic nonsense, click ACCEPT. Otherwise, you'll just have to find some other site for your pointless bitchery needs.

×

Become a contributor - post when you want with no ads!