Jeff Sharlet

After watching Jeff Sharlet's "The Family" and reading his book "The Family," I thought this book could not shock me. But it did. Especially the infiltration of the military -- a perfect place for the pseudo-"Christian" right to flourish with its hierarchy, its discipline, and its focus on justified killing. Apparently, the top brass is loaded with fundamentalist "Christian" officers who push their own version of religion on the recruits who are not allowed to dissent -- an army of wolves in show more sheep's clothing. Because I've studied history, this slowly creeping movement feels eerily familiar.

"First they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out..." by German pastor Martin Niemoller.

The book was published in 2010 and the infiltration has only gotten worse. The courts are now packed and ready. show less

A remarkable travelogue of post-Trumpian America that explores vast differences of ideology across vast tracts of grief-stricken land. Sharlet is a wonderfully gifted journalist whose ornate prose flows through brooks and ravines of communities in perpetual mourning. He compassionately interrogates the stormy confluence of emotion and logic, a remote and fathomless delta poisoned by blind faith and cultish urges that are fomented by charismatic charlatans and righteous avengers for an show more imagined populace who have collectively been duped by the very junkyard messiah they worship. The Undertow is a modern take on Lesy's Wisconsin Death Trip that lays bare the circling eddy of white American exceptionalism and provides creative commentary about the overfracked streams of consciousness that have carried the nation to the brink of another civil war, and that continue to roil and bubble just upriver from the next roaring cataract. Bookended by transportive chapters that explore the legacies of Harry Belafonte and Lee Hays and their respective ordeals of social justice, Sharlet effectively reminds us that the past is all-too-obviously prologue. show less

Sharlet is such a beautiful writer that you almost forget he's telling a horror story. He interviews numerous people of all races across our country who believe that Trump is God, Ashli Babbitt (who was killed in the January 6 capitol riot) is a martyr, and only through armed insurrection will the country be set right. They're already busy preaching their unique take on the Gospels, amassing multitudes of firearms, and training militias.

The only reassurance that Sharlet can provide are show more bookend chapters about activists Harry Belafonte, and folksong legends The Weavers, who kept on singing even though their causes were virtually hopeless. He admits to having started his odyssey with heart problems, and one wonders if the process of researching and writing this book may have further eroded his health. It certainly raised my blood pressure. show less

Extensive research embedded, dedicated journalist = scary product. I used to read Robert Ludlum because he spun a good yarn, but this work of non-fiction is no yarn, because The Family is real, pervasive and infecting the U.S. like a malevolent virus. And not just the U.S. - they back some of the worst dictatorships. Think of the most backward public figures in recent years - John Ashcroft, Tom Coburn, James Inhofe, John Ensign, Sam Brownback - all Family. These people scare me - they have show more money and they have a jihadist mindset with their own interpretation of Christianity. show less