The Fellowship

The Fellowship, more commonly referred to as The Family (no, not the Don Corleone kind—though they do refer to themselves as "The Christian Mafia"MSNBC's Maddow Show Propels Growing DC "Christian Mafia" Scandal) is a politically connected Christian fundamentalist organization formed in 1935. Its original purpose was to oppose Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal policies and spread fundy-ism. It didn't gain serious traction until the Cold War as it attracted fundies in opposition to the Reds. It's also notable for being a hotbed of racism, homophobia, and gross hypocrisy. There is a branch of The Family in the UK called the International Christian Leadership Association, which had connections with the Archbishop of Canterbury at one point. Its members are sworn to a vow of secrecy and it attempts to keep itself out of the public eye. Its only public event is the National Prayer Breakfast it holds annually, which every sitting US president from Dwight Eisenhower to Donald Trump has attended. According to their IRS tax exemption form, their mission statement is:
 
Their mission is the exact opposite of this, if you wanted to know.
==Jeff Sharlet and Doug Coe tape==
In 2008, Jeff Sharlet, a former intern for The Family, wrote an exposé of the organization and brought a taped lecture series made by current Family leader Doug Coe during the 1980s to public attention. NBC aired an excerpt of the tape in which Coe made some controversial statements about, well, just read…
This set off a round of internet crankery in the extreme moonbat conspiracy circles that The Family was the crypto-fascist movement they knew had ruled the US all along. In fact, they're just run-of-the-mill theocrats with a massive amount of political pull.
==International and Domestic Involvement in Major Political Affairs==
The Family has been implicated in a number of incidents involving diplomacy, Federal politics, and foreign relations:
*Being behind Jimmy Carter's international call to prayer during the Camp David Accord meetings with Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat.
*"Networking" with dictators such as Indonesia's General Suharto, Somalia's Siad Barre, and the generals of Brazil's military dictatorship.
*Convincing Ford to pardon Nixon for the Watergate break-in.Sharlet, Jeff. 2009. The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power HarperCollins Publishers. New York, NY
*Procuring the release by Allied forces and immigration to the United States of former Nazis after WWII.
*Its involvement in Uganda. Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania redirected millions in foreign aid for sex education into abstinence-only programs. David Bahati, who proposed the bill in Uganda that would make being gay punishable by death, is associated with The Family.
==C Street controversy==
As lobbyists have K Street, fundies have C Street. The C Street complex is supposedly a "church," but is actually a residence for Congresscritters who belong to The Family, notable fundies, and visiting foreign dignitaries. While complaints had been made about its tax-exempt status before, a number of sex scandals in 2009 put it in the public eye. Senator John Ensign and South Carolina Governer Mark Sanford both admitted to using the C Street residence as a place to boink their mistresses while hiding the affairs from their wives. Former Representative Chip Pickering has also been slapped with a lawsuit by his wife for having a C Street affair. (Those with excellent memories will recall Pickering from his cameo in Borat at a pro-creationist meeting.)
Due to continued complaints, the C Street residence had its tax exemption partially revoked in 2009. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington continues to accuse it of allowing below market rents for Congressmen. A number of mainstream Christian churches have also called it out for not being a real church as well as distancing themselves from The Family as too political or just nutty.
C Street is owned by the dominionist organization, Youth With a Mission.Ensign's "C Street House" Owned By Group Touting Plans For Christian World Control
==Notable members==
==External links==
*All in the Family, World Magazine
===Videos===
*The Family. A five-part limited series created by Netflix in 2019.
==Sources==
*The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power by Jeff Sharlet. Excerpt and interview at NPR and spin-off article at Harper's.
==References==
Category:Crimes against humanity
Category:Fundamentalist Christian organizations
Category:Homophobia
Category:Organizations
Category:Political action groups
Category:Purity culture
Category:Theocracy