I heard an interview with Jeff Sharlet on the Diane Rehn show yesterday.  Sharlet is the author of a new book called The Family: the secret fundamentalism at the heart of American power.  The Family aka The Fellowship aka many other names is composed of cells of powerful unorthodox Christian fundamentalists. 

The organization began in the 1930s or 1940s. It's founder received a revelation from God telling him that the Christians had been preaching the wrong message for 2000 years.  God told him that He doesn't actually care about the poor and weak and ill.  His concerns are with the powerful.  The powerful people are the receivers of of His beneficence and the powers will then award what they want to the poor, the weak and the ill. It's a trickle down effect...sound familiar?

The Congressional prayer breakfasts we've all heard about are part of The Family.  The only name Sharlet named on the program that I recognized was Senator Brownback of Kansas. 

The Silk Road project was mentioned. This is/was a movement to make friends with the dictators of the "stans", the states of the old Silk Road and the object was to either convert make sure the power Christians and American companies were welcome there.  It's not directly related to either of the parties, but from what Sharlet said it has influenced politics, especially conservative politics it seems to me.  There are members from both Parties though, I believe, and it sounds as if Dobson might be one of them.

I have requested the book from my library, but haven't received it yet.  I'm eager to learn more about this group. It's very very scary, although I'm not sure it's any scarier than the republican party has been for the last 20 years.