BY KENNY BELFORD

Over the past few months more of the secretive details about the C Street group, aka “The Family,” has been brought out into the light of day. It’s both disturbing and disgusting. Personally, I have a very negative opinion of individuals that invoke the name of God as they go about creating harm to others.

There are numerous examples of that. Tony Alamo, cult leader and preacher in Texarkana, AR recently was sentenced to prison for having sex with children of his cult following, David Koresh was responsible of the deaths of 54 adults and 21 children of his cult, Jim Jones and his infamous Kool-Aid suicide pact with his followers, the Baptist Church in Kansas that torments attendees at funerals of American servicemen to showcase their hatred and intolerance of gays – these and many others come to mind. All of the above have attempted to justify their actions under the umbrella of “God’s will or purpose.” All are sick and demented.

It’s been widely reported that “The Family” teaches its cult followers that they are chosen individuals, specifically selected by God to be a leader and have certain exemptions available to them for conduct totally outside of the mainstream of public acceptance for non-cult members.

In his best selling book, The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, author Jeff Sharlet cites a conversation he had with cult leader, David Coe. Coe is attempting to explain the cult’s belief and rules about its members being above societal rules and mores. Coe relates a conversation he had with a new recruit.

“Let’s say I hear you raped three little girls. What would I think of you?” The man guessed that Coe would probably think that he was a monster. “No,” answered Coe, “I wouldn’t.” Why? “Because, as a member of The Family, you’re among what Family leaders refer to as the ‘new chosen.’ If you’re chosen, the normal rules don’t apply.”

Clearly that philosophy is un-American, and goes against the concept of “all men are created equal” authored by Thomas Jefferson in The Declaration of Independence.

One of the events that seemed to propel “The Family” into the public’s awareness was the significant level of sexual promiscuity among its cult members. Media accounts of cult member Sen. John Ensign’s sordid affair also implicated Sen. Tom Coburn, who is Ensign’s roommate at the cult’s dormitory. As was reported, Coburn performed an intermediary role in attempting to negotiate the cash payoff to the husband of Ensign’s married mistress. If that’s accurate, that’s the role of a pimp, to negotiate the price of sex. That’s what pimps do, even if it’s after the fact. Gov. Mark Sanford’s affair [he’s another member of “The Family”] remains in the news. These acts, and probably others that haven’t gained the same level of national notoriety, illustrate that traditional family values aren’t a very important component to this cult.

Now the news of the proposed law in Uganda which potentially would create a death sentence for the “crime” of being gay, and that government’s close ties to “The Family” serve up another example of the harm to others that keeps resurfacing in association to this cult. Sen. Jim Inhofe, another cult member, has made frequent trips to Uganda at taxpayer expense to promote the cult’s ideology to government leaders.

To date, there are no balancing events for “The Family” in which they’ve made life better for others, or served humanity in a positive role. What has been revealed is a group of individuals that feel they have special privileges, special status, and invoke God’s name to justify actions unseemly, even abhorrent to most Americans, and willingly harm others in a delusional belief that they’re “chosen.”

I don’t share that view, and believe the more Americans learn about the secret activities of “The Family,” and behind the scenes actions of its cult members, the more repulsive its conduct and philosophies will appear. These individuals, members of this secret cult, are not people to hold in high esteem, unless we choose to accept their belief that they’re really “chosen” people, superior to all the rest of us. If we don’t subscribe to that twisted belief then they should be rejected as our representatives.

“All men are created equal.” We believe that. Cult members of “The Family” don’t.

[More information about Sen. Coburn and Sen. Inhofe’s secret cult can be found in this informative article: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/07/21/c_street/print.html]

– Kenny Belford lives in Tulsa, OK and is a regular contributor to The Oklahoma Observer