"The Family"

[realFedUp]

As a Christian, I don't want these people
replacing democracy with theocracy. These
fringe groups have been given way too much
financial support and legitamacy in our
corridors of government and laws and are
becoming not so fringe.

Go to the site to click on the links to
more information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fellowship_Foundation

The Family (also known as The Fellowship or The Fellowship Foundation) is the name of an U.S. Christian organization based in Arlington, Virginia. The group, which has a membership that includes several prominent members of the United States Congress, is best known for its organization of the annual National Prayer Breakfast, at which the President of the United States usually makes an adddress.

History
The organization was founded in Seattle in 1935 by Abraham Vereide, a Norwegian immigrant and traveling preacher. It organized breakfast prayers among politicans and businessmen, where the political agenda was anti-Communism and anti-union. By 1941, the organization had spread to Washington, DC. Throughout its existence, the group has operated under various subsidary groups and titles, including the National Committee for Christian Leadership, International Christian Leadership, the National Leadership Council, the National Fellowship Council, and the International Foundation.

The organization, which strives to be "invisible", has been the subject of recent media attention as being overly secretive. The organization operates a group residence near the United States Capitol, where six Congressional representatives are living. Prayer groups have met in the Pentagon and at the Department of Defense. The headquarters is a building called the Cedars, donated in 1978 by, among others, Tom Phillips, CEO of arms manufacturer Raytheon, and Ken Olsen of Digital Equipment Corporation.

Current Congressional membership of the group is overwhelmingly from the Republican Party. Senators who have been cited as members of the organization include Don Nickles and James Inhofe of Oklahoma, Charles Grassley of Iowa, Pete Domenici of New Mexico, John Ensign of Nevada, Bill Nelson of Florida, Conrad Burns of Montana and Senator-elect (as of 2004) Jim DeMint of South Carolina. Congressmen who have been cited as members include Frank Wolf of Virginia, Joseph Pitts of Pennsylvania, Zach Wamp of Tennessee, and Bart Stupak of Michigan.

The organization has been active in anti-Communism globally, and has had ties to Brazilian dictator Marshal Artur da Costa e Silva, General Suharto of Indonesia, Salvadoran general Carlos Eugenios Vides Casanova, as well as Honduran general Gustavo Alvarez Martinez.

[realFedUp]

1. Harpers Magazine - Jesus Plus Nothing

http://www.harpers.org/JesusPlusNothing.html

This is long, but worth the read.

Jesus Plus Nothing
Originally from Harper's Magazine, March 2003.
By Jeffrey Sharlet.

SourcesAnd a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
—Matthew 10:36

This is how they pray: a dozen clear-eyed, smooth-skinned “brothers” gathered together in a huddle, arms crossing arms over shoulders like the weave of a cable, leaning in on one another and swaying like the long grass up the hill from the house they share. The house is a handsome, gray, two-story colonial that smells of new carpet and Pine-Sol and aftershave; the men who live there call it Ivanwald. At the end of a tree-lined cul-de-sac, quiet but for the buzz of lawn mowers and kids playing foxes-and-hounds in the park across the road, Ivanwald sits as one house among many, clustered together like mushrooms, all devoted, like these men, to the service of Jesus Christ. The men tend every tulip in the cul-de-sac, trim every magnolia, seal every driveway smooth and black as boot leather. And they pray, assembled at the dining table or on their lawn or in the hallway or in the bunk room or on the basketball court, each man's head bowed in humility and swollen with pride (secretly, he thinks) at being counted among such a fine corps for Christ, among men to whom he will open his heart and whom he will remember when he returns to the world not born-again but remade, no longer an individual but part of the Lord's revolution, his will transformed into a weapon for what the young men call “spiritual war.”

snip

Ivanwald, which sits at the end of Twenty-fourth Street North in Arlington, Virginia, is known only to its residents and to the members and friends of the organization that sponsors it, a group of believers who refer to themselves as “the Family.” The Family is, in its own words, an “invisible” association, though its membership has always consisted mostly of public men. Senators Don Nickles (R., Okla.), Charles Grassley (R., Iowa), Pete Domenici (R., N.Mex.), John Ensign (R., Nev.), James Inhofe (R., Okla.), Bill Nelson (D., Fla.), and Conrad Burns (R., Mont.) are referred to as “members,” as are Representatives Jim DeMint (R., S.C.), Frank Wolf (R., Va.), Joseph Pitts (R., Pa.), Zach Wamp (R., Tenn.), and Bart Stupak (D., Mich.). Regular prayer groups have met in the Pentagon and at the Department of Defense, and the Family has traditionally fostered strong ties with businessmen in the oil and aerospace industries. The Family maintains a closely guarded database of its associates, but it issues no cards, collects no official dues. Members are asked not to speak about the group or its activities.

The organization has operated under many guises, some active, some defunct: National Committee for Christian Leadership, International Christian Leadership, the National Leadership Council, Fellowship House, the Fellowship Foundation, the National Fellowship Council, the International Foundation. These groups are intended to draw attention away from the Family, and to prevent it from becoming, in the words of one of the Family's leaders, “a target for misunderstanding.” <1> The Family's only publicized gathering is the National Prayer Breakfast, which it established in 1953 and which, with congressional sponsorship, it continues to organize every February in Washington, D.C. Each year 3,000 dignitaries, representing scores of nations, pay $425 each to attend. Steadfastly ecumenical, too bland most years to merit much press, the breakfast is regarded by the Family as merely a tool in a larger purpose: to recruit the powerful attendees into smaller, more frequent prayer meetings, where they can “meet Jesus man to man.”

continued

[realFedUp]

2. Beliefs

Is this the same group?

http://www.religioustolerance.org/fam_love.htm

Church Beliefs

In common with other Evangelical Christian groups, they believe that a person can be saved and spend eternity in heaven if they repent of their sins and accept Christ as Lord and Savior. But they differ from other conservative Christian groups in their belief all will eventually be saved and attain heaven.

Moses Berg is regarded as the end-time prophet sent by God

The Family represents, in their view, "a return to the roots of the true church." All other Christian faith groups are false.

They condemn "The System", which includes governments and the rest of society. The System is regarded as evil; society generally is seen as near collapse.

David Berg originally prophesied that the "End of the Time of the Gentiles" would occur in 1968. The War of Armageddon would occur in the mid 1980's, when a coalition of Israel and the United States would be defeated by the USSR. A great socialist leader would arise from Egypt and become dictator of the world in 1986. 4 About 1989, the leader would reveal himself as the Antichrist and require that everyone worship him. Jesus Christ would return in 1993. All of the saved will then take part in the rapture and ascend to heaven. Satan would be overcome, and Christ will rule over the earth for 1000 years, with the assistance of COG members. It didn't happen. The timing of his subsequent predictions were more vague.

Their religion is based on their unique interpretation of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. A secondary source is the writings of their founder. Two sources state that Berg's writings are considered to override scripture in cases of conflict; another says the opposite.

Sexual enjoyment, from masturbation to intercourse is considered a gift of God. It is an activity that is to be thoroughly enjoyed as a major focus of one's life.

They believe that Jesus had sexual relations with Martha and Mary.

Some members believed in "the Gabriel doctrine" that the angel Gabriel engaged in sexual intercourse with Mary at the time of Jesus' conception.

The Holy Spirit is perceived as feminine in nature, and is referred to as a "Dream Queen" or "Holy Queen of Love" 7

They believe that people can sometimes be adversely affected by deceased people from the spirit world. Exorcisms are occasionally performed to rid people of evil spirits.