“Look at the Mafia…The more invisible you can make your organisation, the more influence it can have”, says Doug Coe, the ‘Wizard of Oz’ of the US Christian right. It’s one of many memorable quotes in the new Netflix series The Family, about a secretive network of American religious fundamentalists.
The series, which dropped on 9 August, is based on a book by journalist Jeff Sharlet, who says it’s the story of “a fundamentally anti-democratic movement at the heart of religious conservatism in the United States”. The five-part documentary is often gripping, and disturbing.
Its insider interviews offer first-hand information about a club where strong men are worshipped as leaders that are ‘chosen’ by God. Experts explain the extent of The Family’s ‘off-the-books’ lobbying, working with US politicians as ‘ambassadors for Christ’ in a “worldwide spiritual offensive”.
