{"id":204,"date":"2009-02-11T12:32:16","date_gmt":"2009-02-11T12:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/tonyjones\/2009\/02\/mike-stavlund-reviews-the-fami.html"},"modified":"2009-02-11T12:32:16","modified_gmt":"2009-02-11T12:32:16","slug":"mike-stavlund-reviews-the-fami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2009\/02\/mike-stavlund-reviews-the-fami.html","title":{"rendered":"Mike Stavlund reviews The Family"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over at Awakenings<\/a>, Mike joins the chorus of which I am a part<\/a>: Those who think that Jeff Sharlet’s The Family<\/i><\/a> is a must-read:<\/p>\n

Sharlet’s writing is so good that a quick read is almost impossible.
\nSkim this book, and you’ll miss gems like this one on page 180:
\n“…manifest destiny, the original westward thrust that erased a
\ncontinent of Native souls, burns history like coal and knows no sin but
\nthat of its enemies.” He obviously finds a lot to critique about The
\nFamily, but does so indirectly, offering instead a narrative which
\nallows the reader to draw their own conclusions. In so doing, he
\ncaptures this subtle subculture perfectly: offering a thin veneer of
\noverly-individuated Christianity that asks nothing of its adherents
\nother than to keep up appearances. In this brand of Jesus-followership,
\nJesus is depicted as the King of Kings: the most powerful of the
\nworld’s most powerful leaders. And rather than lay down their power,
\nfollowers are encouraged to simply be humble about their wealth and
\npower– to confess that they themselves are nothing, and that their
\nwealth and power come from God. So, if you are powerful, tweak your
\npower toward that which is Godly. And, the reasoning goes, what is more
\nGodly than Godly power? Such circularity would be humorous if it wasn’t
\nso self-justifying, unnerving, and dangerous.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Do yourself a favor and read the last paragraph of Mike’s post<\/a>.  As always, he asks exactly the right questions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over at Awakenings, Mike joins the chorus of which I am a part: Those who think that Jeff Sharlet’s The Family is a must-read: Sharlet’s writing is so good that a quick read is almost impossible. Skim this book, and you’ll miss gems like this one on page 180: “…manifest destiny, the original westward thrust…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nMike Stavlund reviews The Family - The New Christians<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2009\/02\/mike-stavlund-reviews-the-fami.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mike Stavlund reviews The Family - The New Christians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over at Awakenings, Mike joins the chorus of which I am a part: Those who think that Jeff Sharlet’s The Family is a must-read: Sharlet’s writing is so good that a quick read is almost impossible. 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