C Street: The Family

Described as a Church or Christian Fellowship House, this place on “C Street” in Washington D.C. also serves as a residence for numerous members of Congress. The members of this organization tagged as “The Family” regard it as Refuge; a place to be able to, be their self, and get relief from the aggressive agendas of Washington, D.C. Evidently having been in existence for quite some time, outside of public knowledge, Secrecy seems to be a critical component of this organization. Strangely, it is also rumored that the Members believe that they are “Chosen Ones” appointed by God to see over the rest of us peons or “less than”, people of the United States and maybe even the entire world.

Several extra-marital affairs of Congressional leaders, that have recently made the news, were reportedly disclosed to the members of The Family, long before becoming public knowledge. The way that they handled the cover-up and the disclosure of their inequities, was with counsel from The Family. This in itself brings question to what the philosophy and general beliefs of this “Covert” Klan may be. Some with knowledge of the inner workings of The Family declare that it is structured like a “Mafia”. This meaning that loyalty to The Family comes before job, career or even blood family, and that the members are bound by oaths of Secrecy. It also implicates, for lack of better words, that this could be considered a pseudo-religious “Cult”, mostly consisting of the wealthy, public figures, and government officials.

Some hypocrisy surfaces in the fact that the members of our Congress that had extra-marital affairs were zealous advocates of family values, integrity and fidelity. The Family comes to bear on the issue in that they have been quoted as advocating that “Morality” does not apply to them, and is a fabrication for use in regard to we who are “less than” and not they who are chosen by God. I find it somewhat frightening that elected leaders are involved with something like this organization. There are even implications by the wife of one of the cheating Congressmen, in her divorce suit, that some of the infidelity actually took place at the C Street complex. This further implicates that the members of The Family really do not consider morality to be any kind of requirement in their daily lives or general philosophy. Sadly, if true, this is taking place in a building that has referenced itself as being a Church or Christian Fellowship!

Jeff Sharlet, who covertly research them, has recently published a book, “The Family”, the Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power. He has stated that the members at C Street take an oath to protect each other’s Secrecy. He further states The Family calls itself a Christian Mafia. He also stated that one former member’s wife was quoted as saying that she had become completely comfortable in recognizing that her husband’s Brothers came before her or even their children. He claims that another former member’s former wife said that her complaint of not being sexually satisfied by her husband was considered by The Family to be evidence of Demonic Possession. Mr. Sharlet assessed the complex as being and having the feeling of a Fundamentalist Frat House. What exactly is this place or thing?

This seems to be the realization of the greatest fears of some. By and large, as best we know at this time, these “Family” members are largely followers of the far-right faction of the Republican Party and their political agenda. As knowledge of this organization becomes public, its very existence is a rather troubling story. Just how off track with our Democracy is this group? How many elected officials are parts of this “cult”? To what extent is the Secrecy Oath binding? Would they hide a crime committed by a member? Is there an agenda in regard to the future of our country? How much influence on our governing has this group already had? Who, by name, are its members? I expect that the cat may be out of the bag and we will be finding out a lot about them in the future. I have just ordered the book by Jeff from Amazon.com, where you also can find it at a very modest price. Maybe we all need to know what's up with The Family and the secretive "C Street" complex.