The Greatest Threat to Democracy Across the Globe: A Jesus Cult Known as “The Family”

When I was in my 20s, I spent a lot of time with a man who called himself “born again.” I wasn’t familiar with the evangelical movement, so I thought it just meant he was religious.

I am a bigger fan of Mother Nature than of “God”—this patriarchal figment that is all powerful and all seeing but who apparently chooses egotistical, amoral, cowardly, greedy, and power-hungry men (with a common pledge to ignorance and an astonishing resistance to self-awareness) to do his “good works.”

One evening this friend invited me to join him for a big dinner event in North Beach, the Little Italy of San Francisco. The group hosting the dinner was known simply as “The Family.” They rented an entire restaurant for this elaborate event, and my friend talked about it like it was a really big deal. Invitation only—he behaved as if he had “arrived.” I have never been a fan of elitists, and the obvious self-satisfaction he got from being included in this group bothered me.

There is an inherent contradiction between democracy and elitism; you can’t have both.

This secretive group is a Jesus cult, known as The Family or The Fellowship. It took me two decades to realize that it was the same group highlighted in the Netflix mini-series, The Family. This cult does not resemble any version of Christianity I have ever known. Nor does it follow the teachings of Jesus. They simply commandeered the name and are using it to pull people in. After all, who would say “no” to Jesus?

Surprisingly, good behavior doesn’t factor at all. In fact, one of The Family’s foundational tenets is that members cover for each other no matter what. As stated on their wiki page: “’All approaches to ‘loving Jesus’ are acceptable.’” Translation: say you love Jesus and we’ll believe you. Say you love Jesus, let us pray with you, and you can become one of us. Well, sort of. First we have to deem you worthy—and that’s our call, not yours.

This docudrama tells the true story of an investigative journalist who infiltrates the group and lives with them for a time in what he describes as a ”religious frat house.” While key scenes depicting his personal experience at Ivanwald, (the name given this particular house) are re-enacted, the docudrama is littered with real footage of the men who created this cult environment, as well as conversations with current and former members of their secret society.

If you have been wondering how the religious right can justify supporting Donald Trump, given all his moral short-comings, crimes, and general depravity as a human being, watch The Family. One of the more chilling scenes shows Donald Trump sitting at what I believe is the Resolute desk while a dozen or more of the Christian Right are laying their hands on him and praying. A blueprint of their plan is superimposed on the human figures, making it crystal clear that Trump is the “chosen one” and nothing he says or does can change that.

Politically, this group, which repeatedly stresses that they are “not an organization” is the powerhouse of America today. You will see in this series the beginning of this cult, how the leaders brainwash their followers into believing that using the tactics of Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and the like are justified by the belief that their God is working through each of them as “chosen” men. They tell their followers to forget everything they know about Jesus. Then they push their own version, in a little book titled simply “Jesus.” They believe that God has a direct line to their members, making them all akin to Jesus. (I guess that’s why they are instructed to forget the Jesus they thought they knew.)

As their most recent leader, Douglas Coe, states clearly in the documentary, the secret to their success (by which he means power) is the secrecy with which they operate. Despite the general lack of self-awareness they all seem to share, they do understand that if they publicized their values, it would not go over well with the rest of us. However, footage of their conversations confirms the true nature of their beliefs: that the poor are meant to be poor, and everything that happens, even if their members perform evil acts, is simply their “God” working through them—the superior ones—the ones meant to rule the rest of us.

A prayer is all they need to be forgiven; there is no talk of repentance or changing behavior. This is stated, unequivocally, in their own words. Interestingly, at no point in the entire series did a single member of this cult express any understanding of just how dangerous that thinking is.

There is no oversight, no Congressional approval, and no democratic process involved in any of the power brokering they do in the name of Jesus. According to them, it’s all part of God’s plan. One has to wonder how they’re in possession of this plan, but that’s a secret. Apparently, we are meant to believe these men are channeling Jesus. But I do not believe that. I believe they are channeling their dead leader, Douglas Coe.

Coe’s history of leadership in The Family is well documented in the series. Though he died in 2017, it’s clear that The Family is intent on carrying out his plan, which appears to include making every country on earth, Jesus-led. I wish I could tell you what that means, but aside from a bunch of mostly wealthy white guys running the show, I am at a loss.

They say they are all about religion, yet they are laser-focused on recruiting the politically powerful. In fact, they have such a large contingent in Russia (including Putin, who converted to Russian Orthodoxy when he realized, presumably, that the way to gain the trust of Americans is to pretend to follow Jesus). And though Putin’s attendance at church services appears to have fooled The Family, his governance often contradicts his public support of Christianity. Yet in spite of Putin’s actions,  the powerful Republicans in our country are now willing to align themselves with Russians while resisting any kind of unity with their own democratic brothers and sisters here in America.

If you have wondered how Trump and his allies could be so unconcerned about the bounties that have reportedly been paid by Russia for dead U.S. soldiers, here is the answer: the military are expendable. They are supposed to die so the children of the elite who run this country don’t have to.

In the series, The Family, you will also see the rationale for why the Republicans in Congress refused to concern themselves with the Muller report or take any action to call witnesses during the impeachment of Donald Trump. Who are we to punish the crimes of Donald Trump, their chosen one? That’s God’s job. The Family are here to protect the chosen, not correct them.

Likewise, who are we to judge the Saudis for murdering Jamal Khashoggi? Or Putin for invading Ukraine or for interfering with our elections? The Family’s covenant requires total allegiance, and that allegiance is what gives them power. It doesn’t matter what they do, what matters is that they utter the code word “Jesus” at appropriate moments and they pray together. That’s pretty much it. They pick the people they want to be aligned with, they offer to pray with them and presto! They are all in the Family.

What they may not realize, is that with Trump, loyalty doesn’t go both ways. For this reason, I suspect that The Family’s political domination is about to end.

Another reason they will ultimately fail, is that they groom their followers to avoid information. The men living at Ivanwald were trained to support and enable the powerful politicians who represent The Family. As part of that training, they were told not to read newspapers or watch TV news. They were meant to simply “serve”—which means cleaning toilets, mowing lawns and otherwise becoming the army of drones the powerful need to maintain their positions.

The fallout of this systematic dumbing down of their recruits is that their critical thinking skills atrophy. Over time, such a person will become, well, like Mike Pence: an empty void of a man who can recite rhetoric without content and lie without compulsion. (Interestingly, Pence did not get trained by The Family, but he has been co-opted by them because he has his own very powerful evangelical coalition, which insisted that Pence be VP to Trump—a deal The Family appears to have made to ensure additional support for Trump).

People who lack critical thinking skills are also pretty useless at solving problems. So is it any wonder that Trump is waiting for a miracle to make Covid-19 disappear?

If you’ve been questioning the competence of the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, or any other part of the current administration, consider this: Trump has systematically removed experienced people who possess highly developed critical thinking skills with lemmings who can’t think their way out of a paper bag. We have in power now, in the greatest country on earth, a team of people who can’t solve problems, can’t make intelligent decisions and refuse to accept reality. This cannot end well.

Our relationship with Russia was one of the first casualties of this incompetent administration, but it’s not the only one. I believe The Family are playing into the hands of the Saudis, Kim Jong-un, Xi Jinping and any other authoritarians who rightly see these jello-brained Jesus freaks as nothing but easy targets, or as the Russians might say “useful idiots.” Not only have they entirely disregarded the separation of church and state, as required by the Constitution, they are leaving our country vulnerable to attacks of all kinds, as they purport to represent us while doing nothing to protect us.

At least one member of The Family has regularly used government funds to spread their Jesus talk, but each time the ties to The Family have been documented, there is always plausible deniability due to the fact that the only evidence of their conspiracy is the constant repetition of the code word “Jesus.” When it’s used, doors open and powerful people make deals, but they are done in secret, with no clear trail of evidence and without anything resembling a democratic process.

When it comes to international dealings, the acceptance of lies and covering up of misdeeds (including everything from leaders killing their own to increase political power, to confiscating public goods to pad the pockets of the powerful) are ignored. They don’t judge; that’s God’s job. It’s just prayer, that’s all. Prayer and sticking together, no matter what. There is no moral code, no behavioral standard here. It’s the men at the top pledging to keep themselves at the top. They call it “Jesus plus nothing.”

This is the mentality of the people currently in power in the United States. These are the morally bankrupt, denial practitioners, and white supremacists who put Trump in power, and this is who we must beat in November. These are not God-fearing men, these are men who see themselves as gods. They say they are humble, but their actions prove otherwise.

I urge you to watch the Netflix documentary series, The Family. I believe that if we want a return to democracy in America, we need to understand the people who destroyed the one we had. And we need to expose them for what they are.
They cannot be allowed to remain invisible, they need to be called out. But don’t take my word for it. Watch it yourself; you be the judge.