The Family: the secret organization that pull the strings of international politics in the name of Jesus

This review was already published in spanish in Urgente 24

How many times did we ask ourselves what is behind the political power, their ideological bases and the organized and exclusive system they seem to have? But if all political systems and governments have behind the scenes, which should be the one in Washington DC, the scenario of American politics and the most important decision-making centre in the world? Taking into account that it is the greatest power globally. Everyone draws their conclusions and assumptions, but almost no one, or only very few people, in our daily lives, relates politics to religion. Every leader, or most of them believe in something transcendental, called Jesus, Jehovah or Allah. But we never thought that Jesus is the one behind democracy. This is, among other features, what the Netflix serie, The Family presents: a group of powerful people who not only pull the strings of Washinton DC, but also of international politics. All in the name of God.

The relationship between the Church and the State… what a difficult thing to define. In many parts of the world, as in Argentina, citizens fight and claim for the separation between the two entities. But in others places like Brazil for example, is well known by the population that President Jair Bolsonaro is a faithful follower of Evangelism. He demonstrated this in his campaign speeches and continues to do it now as president. But after all, we ended up seeing it as normal because: what is wrong that a president being devoted to a religion? The problem comes when the relationship with faith goes further and becomes the one that controls the political decisions of the country.

This is what Netflix’s documentary, The Family, reflects. Based on the facts and events of Washington DC, the American political scenario, where almost all the decisions that are a breaking point for the international community, take place.

The Family came to Netflix on August 9. However, it caught so much the attention of users, analysts and even the American politicians, that is still a trending topic. The film in just 5 chapters unveils a plot that highlights the true values and most important characters behind the scenes in the United States, those who common people don’t see but who are embodied in a group: The Fellowship. With interviews to the main participants, fictional images and photographs to the documents, a more than clear and surprising reconstruction of the investigation and two books by Jeff Sharlet is carried out in the serie.

The organization is called: The Fellowship or The Family. It was founded in 1935 by an immigrant from Norway called Abraham Vereide. The main objective was to bring religion to politics and that those who were leaders, whether they were presidents, congressmen or vice-presidents were the ones “chosen by Jesus”. This means that those who are in power can never be the wrong ones because God chose them to occupy that position and be able to bring God into the world.

The story begins with the narrative of Jeff Sharlet, who began to investigate this community for what he had to live for a long time in a mansion called Cedras, located in the city of Arlinton, Virginia. In this house, there was a group of young people who were from 20 to 30 years old and who were connected through God: The Family. Their activities were based on cooking, singing and praying of course, always praising the Lord.

But the most interesting thing is the sense of belonging that this group developed: Each of the members dedicated their lives to The Family. That’s why at the beginning of the first chapter Jeff is asked if he has a partner, parents, a career: all those things he would be force to abandon when he joined the group. This is reflected when one of the members finds out that his girlfriend was sexually abused and decides to leave but the others members accused him of being a traitor and compare him to the devil.

Politicians and world leaders used to enter and leave the great mansion daily and once, when Jeff asked about all that coming and leaving, he was dismissed. Simply because everything was secret. It is not until the end of the first chapter that he learns what existed behind.

But this was not the only mansion owned by the group. In Washinton DC centre there was the “C Street Center”, which was registered as a nonprofit organization operated by The Fellowship and where congressmen from both parties (Democrats and Republicans) would meet to pray and ask God guide and join them in “this hard work we have”. However, when investigations began around the organization it was discovered that the property did not pay the corresponding taxes.

One of the things that surprised the most was the role that religion occupied in the group: it is above political parties, range and political charge. That is why many congressmen are used to say that “Wednesday breakfast” or “Thursday dinner” was the best time of the week.

Although then, the most important person of the network emerged in the storyline, the one who really was behind meetings in Congress or among global leaders: Doug Coe, the head of the Community that was born in Oregon and little by little, he climbed to be the most powerful man in the world. Thus, in 2005 he was named by Time magazine as one of the most influential evangelic person of the century. He was the one who most encouraged the idea of keeping The Fellowship as a secret. “The more secret your organization is, the more influence it will have,” says Coe.

He presented himself as a friend of Christ. As the episodes go by, we find out how this man is not only behind a sect but also who organizes the “National Prayer Breakfast”: It is an annual event that usually takes place on the first Thursday of February. All politicians in the United States and other parts of the world gather to listen to the president’s speeches and go through a series of reunions between dinners, lunches and secret and unofficial meetings. As the documentary explains: “If you were invited, you are someone.”

But this event was also the place to pray and to connect with everyone, no matter if they were Democrats, Republicans, a dictator or the greatest enemy of the United States. The most surprising and even alarming thing was that in the documentary testimonies, nothing is questioned, not even the fact that a Russian spy, Marina Butina, has attended to the event, since she is also a person who prays and connect trough that.

This brings us to another chapter in which they conduct an in depth analysis on every movement of the network through the international community. The Fellowship had connections all over the world: Uganda, Argentina, Uruguay, Russia, among others. The main objective was to bring Jesus around the globe, their idea of Jesus of course, and use it to reach diplomatic agreements that would later become part of history. As for example, the agreement between Egypt and Israel that was signed in 1979 under the watch of Jimmy Carter, and the secret organization of Coe.

But as the scenes of the documentary also explain, The Fellowship carried out what they named in official documents as “The World Spiritual Offensive”. With the concept of spirituality behind, they reached conversations with people like the dictator of Uganda, or of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi.

“Doug thought it was important to connect with people with problems. The more diverted, the better” they explain in the documentary to justify the meetings and support they delivered from the United States. For example, the dictator of Uganda who named himself the “black Hilter” for being responsible for the homosexual genocide in the country, since he believed they were sick and needed correction. Even though Coe and other members of The Family did not identify with fascist ideas, they believed that people like the Uganda´s dictator were the most suitable to meet God.

However, it is important to highlight what these ideas and political behaviours mean for American society, considering that these leaders who always bring up the “founding fathers” and the need of protecting the United States Constitution, are the same who attempt against the values of democracy, such as transparency and free elections because, according to the Constitution, the president and the leader are chosen by the people, not God.

As explained in the series, the idea of Christianity that the organization holds is elitist. It means that God only cares for those who can become leaders, not those who don´t have access to opportunities. In the end, they interpret Jesus as this strong and leading man who seeks your success, not your kindness, surrender and love to your neighbour, as Catholicism believes.