Well, as someone who was raised in the evangelical church myself, I find it oddly strange that at my age this is the first time I've ever heard of this group. After watching it all, I can't decide if it gives me the creeps or what. I will say one thing..... how evangelicals have somehow chosen to 'fawn" over Trump makes me just want to vomit and realize just how easy it will be for the Antichrist to come to power. Sorry, that's how I feel. Trump cares no more for them than he does the kids he's caging. On a sidenote, I found it both disturbing and destracting that one of the interviewers in the documentary was just this past year thrown out of our church as the senior pastor for sexual harassment. I also agree with one of the professional reviewers that the entire thing was too drawn out for 5 episodes; it should have been a documentary film instead.
107 Reviews
For those railing against a perceived bias....
matt-716-66102113 August 2019
I keep seeing reviews claiming this series conscientiously omits Barack Obama's involvement with the organization: this is a complete and utter falsehood. He is frequently pictured at various annual prayer breakfasts, and so are numerous other democratic presidents and congressmen. It's absurd to claim that this series is some sort of hit piece targeting republicans and republicans alone.
Wolves In Sheeps' Clothing
HermanNebelwerfer14 August 2019
Made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Confirmation of what many have long suspected but never knew for certain. It's time to pay attention to separation of church and state. Vote religion OUT of government.
It's a mixed bag
joesoundman11 August 2019
Warning: Spoilers
For those wanting to tune in to this for either an excoriation or a vindication of this ultra-powerful group, you may be disappointed. The doc does provide examples of the misuse of power, but it also provides an interesting take on the literal words of Jesus as culled from the King James version of the Bible; it is a take that may not exactly be incorrect for one's personal quest for spiritual redemption, but for the case of the world condition, it is woefully inappropriate, though perhaps that aspect is over some of their heads.
The issue is that what is good for the one cannot be the same as what is good for the many. Trying to create a standardized 'one way fits all' approach to solve every ill in so many disparate nations has never worked. The very fact that this collective of powerful politicians has done nothing to advance any nation, whereas individual acts of work and charity apart from this group have greatly improved many individual lives - individually but not as a nation - showcases the "Family's" impotence, when it comes to raising a nation spiritually.
What it does do, whether it is the true secret motive or not, is to motivate segments of a nation's population toward a much more Puritan attitude, and hence, ends up dividing a nation. This causes the nation to weaken, and sets it up for political infiltration designed to corral that nation into the pathway for the Western religious/political/military stratagems to assert themselves. As such, the doc does frame out what appears to be another spoke in the wheel of American adventurism for political gain of power.
But as said before, strictly in terms of individual self, not en masse, the "Jesus + none" mantra of the "Family" can indeed work. The failure of this attempt to push it on entire nations either goes over the heads of otherwise dedicated people, or it presents these people as purveyors of deadly nefarious motives: in such a view, the Second Commandment is a vastly broken one - for they are all taking the name of the Lord their God in vain - in this case their own vanity via the zeal for a decidedly un-spiritual motive.
I will leave the decision up to the viewer; the doc presents the case for both sides of the proverbial coin: the profound and the profane in full view. Although, keep in mind, the 'defense' of the "Family's" agenda is mostly seen in the final installation.
It has been said that one of the Bible's chief points of contention is in the contradiction of statements attributed to God's harbingers and spokespeople, and even to God Himself. You can read anything into the Bible, and read it right out again. A look at history shows that a universal theology is an impossibility, even when some of the main tenets are agreed upon. After all, the three Abrahamic religions all use the Old testament, and all three even acknowledge Jesus as the master prophet at the least, yet even within each of the three religions there has been great tribalism, let alone the strife of the three with each other. But at the end of it all in this doc, there is no getting away from the simple fact that the "Family" are missionaries: proselytizing one way - their way - for all the world, and as said before, a universal theology is impossible.
So is this coterie what it says it is, or is it a camouflage for acquisition of power? Or is it both, depending on the person, and how dedicated, or piously gullible, or darkly motivated they are? You can be the judge; the facts are presented.
The issue is that what is good for the one cannot be the same as what is good for the many. Trying to create a standardized 'one way fits all' approach to solve every ill in so many disparate nations has never worked. The very fact that this collective of powerful politicians has done nothing to advance any nation, whereas individual acts of work and charity apart from this group have greatly improved many individual lives - individually but not as a nation - showcases the "Family's" impotence, when it comes to raising a nation spiritually.
What it does do, whether it is the true secret motive or not, is to motivate segments of a nation's population toward a much more Puritan attitude, and hence, ends up dividing a nation. This causes the nation to weaken, and sets it up for political infiltration designed to corral that nation into the pathway for the Western religious/political/military stratagems to assert themselves. As such, the doc does frame out what appears to be another spoke in the wheel of American adventurism for political gain of power.
But as said before, strictly in terms of individual self, not en masse, the "Jesus + none" mantra of the "Family" can indeed work. The failure of this attempt to push it on entire nations either goes over the heads of otherwise dedicated people, or it presents these people as purveyors of deadly nefarious motives: in such a view, the Second Commandment is a vastly broken one - for they are all taking the name of the Lord their God in vain - in this case their own vanity via the zeal for a decidedly un-spiritual motive.
I will leave the decision up to the viewer; the doc presents the case for both sides of the proverbial coin: the profound and the profane in full view. Although, keep in mind, the 'defense' of the "Family's" agenda is mostly seen in the final installation.
It has been said that one of the Bible's chief points of contention is in the contradiction of statements attributed to God's harbingers and spokespeople, and even to God Himself. You can read anything into the Bible, and read it right out again. A look at history shows that a universal theology is an impossibility, even when some of the main tenets are agreed upon. After all, the three Abrahamic religions all use the Old testament, and all three even acknowledge Jesus as the master prophet at the least, yet even within each of the three religions there has been great tribalism, let alone the strife of the three with each other. But at the end of it all in this doc, there is no getting away from the simple fact that the "Family" are missionaries: proselytizing one way - their way - for all the world, and as said before, a universal theology is impossible.
So is this coterie what it says it is, or is it a camouflage for acquisition of power? Or is it both, depending on the person, and how dedicated, or piously gullible, or darkly motivated they are? You can be the judge; the facts are presented.
Obviously Christians won't like this
alexsamples7 July 2020
Not bad.. boring at times ,all bad reviews are religious.. I figured by now people would realize Christianity is false hope for the fear of life after death but whatever it's worth watching if your not offended when people blame stuff on Christianity .. super novas create amino acids which creates life wake up people
Could have been so much better
johnnydale15 August 2019
I was really disappointed in this. The facts behind the family/C-Street have been public knowledge for a decade now, so this wasn't really telling us much that was new. Having said that it is still good to get this information in front of a wider audience.
The depressing thing is not so much the activities of this nefarious cult, it is the way that supposedly intelligent people seem to think that spouting some inane superstitious drivel from the Bible or just saying "Jesus" somehow provides a justification.
The depressing thing is not so much the activities of this nefarious cult, it is the way that supposedly intelligent people seem to think that spouting some inane superstitious drivel from the Bible or just saying "Jesus" somehow provides a justification.
Slow and could've been better
thesuf10 August 2019
Interesting subject matter on how evangelicals are majorly influencing US and world politics however I feel the makers should've released this as a feature length documentary. As a docuseries it was way too long and too slow. Most of the material in the series did not really add any value from a learning perspective in my opinion and could have been cut out completely. The show starts to pick up pace midway through the second, right to the end of the third episodes but then slows down again right to the very end. I feel the show didn't uncover really juicy or politically shocking information considering it's trying to come off as a 'secret society' / 'world conspiracy' docuseries, which is disappointing. Also the case the makers were trying to make where they were likening or connecting The Family's activities with that of Nazis failed miserably in my opinion. As a Alex Gibney produced documentary I had high expectations but sadly it did not do it for me.
They have a dream. They are our nightmare.
d-alston6 September 2019
None of this should come as a surprise to any informed viewer, but it's still a depressing, frustrating and annoying demonstration of how the human species can fail at having human values.
On parade in these episodes are an endless number of ignorant, hubristic, deluded sociopaths who believe that their personal vision of Jesus has given them the right to take everything and control everything.
When they're not patting each other on the back and hiding each other's crimes, the members of this worldwide cabal are plotting and scheming their way to riches and world domination where the vast majority of the human race will bow down to them as God's chosen people.
They are disgusting and pathetic creatures, hypocrites and liars, wilfully ignorant fantasists and as morally bankrupt and greedy as any group of villains who ever lived.
They're also extremely well-connected and currently hold the reigns of power throughout the world.
Their survival depends on secrecy, so I'd advise everyone to watch this series, and to cast their future votes wisely if they happen to live in democratic societies.
This entire bunch of depraved narcissists will discover that their imagined God will not protect them once the world shines a real light on their execrable activities and horrible beliefs
An ancient conspiracy goes on living in our time
cheer8811 August 2019
"God's chosen one", this ancient conspiracy has been around since the beginning of monarchy. Legend of Camelot is one great example. When we could not construe the inequality and unjust in our society , theory of God's chosen one could be well versed. It serves as a vessel to allow tyranny and dictatorship to exist since God's chosen one could do no wrong. It purely exonerates someone's wrong doings without justified consequences. This film tended to overlook manipulations of voters and flaws of electoral college contributed to today's politics. It is idiotic, idealistic and also too simple to convince me the least.
This country is governed by laws not God. Of course, too many people believing in possessing power among human beings tends not to be an easy task. Yet, there were plenty of social studies already proving that human behaviors could be predicable if preying on and exploiting right angles will often lead to results in your favors. That's why there are marketing research companies providing consumer data for companies launching new products. Similar information is also provided for political purposes. This film overly credited religious influences and the tall tale of God's chosen one contributing today's political scenes. It intended not to inquire audience to see the full view of political processes. Anyone could claim to be God's chosen one once he or she became elected but not the other way around.
Freedom of speech allows appalling statements and behaviors less disgusting and criticizing since everyone is entitled to express his or her own opinions no matter how dark they are. The only way to combat such declining civilities is through education which probably is far from where we like it to be now. Presenting such conspiracy of God's chosen one for people in power to explain today's political surroundings might just be well served to those semi under-educated crowd.
Nevertheless, I think it is still an interesting documentary just not neutral and journalistic enough.
This country is governed by laws not God. Of course, too many people believing in possessing power among human beings tends not to be an easy task. Yet, there were plenty of social studies already proving that human behaviors could be predicable if preying on and exploiting right angles will often lead to results in your favors. That's why there are marketing research companies providing consumer data for companies launching new products. Similar information is also provided for political purposes. This film overly credited religious influences and the tall tale of God's chosen one contributing today's political scenes. It intended not to inquire audience to see the full view of political processes. Anyone could claim to be God's chosen one once he or she became elected but not the other way around.
Freedom of speech allows appalling statements and behaviors less disgusting and criticizing since everyone is entitled to express his or her own opinions no matter how dark they are. The only way to combat such declining civilities is through education which probably is far from where we like it to be now. Presenting such conspiracy of God's chosen one for people in power to explain today's political surroundings might just be well served to those semi under-educated crowd.
Nevertheless, I think it is still an interesting documentary just not neutral and journalistic enough.
Pointless documentary
Calicodreamin13 August 2019
The family starts off fairly promising, a young guy joins a Christian group during his research into different ways to express faith. This group, he learns, is part of "the family", which includes prominent politicians devoted to Jesus. Much of the rest of the documentary deals with random political scandals, interviews with politicians, and the national prayer breakfast hosted by the president. For the most part, claims are unsubstantiated, conclusions aren't drawn, and the documentary just feels confused.
Many "fake" reviews!
miatagreg27 August 2019
It's All True and More!
bkhazelett7 September 2019
Beware of the evil Christians trying to control the world.
Their building hospitals so they can brain wash your children into believing Christ died for their sins and they must be stopped.
They fight late-term abortions because they need Christian soldiers to help them take over!
Crosses are celestial markers so God-Fearing space aliens know where to find non-believers.
The crackers they use as the Embodiment of Christ are laced with LSD derivative forcing people to give their money to the church.
There are no such thing as Muslim Extremists, Christians use mind controlling crosses from their necklaces to trick Muslims into blowing themselves up.
Their building hospitals so they can brain wash your children into believing Christ died for their sins and they must be stopped.
They fight late-term abortions because they need Christian soldiers to help them take over!
Crosses are celestial markers so God-Fearing space aliens know where to find non-believers.
The crackers they use as the Embodiment of Christ are laced with LSD derivative forcing people to give their money to the church.
There are no such thing as Muslim Extremists, Christians use mind controlling crosses from their necklaces to trick Muslims into blowing themselves up.
Starts strong and fades fast
allstarrunner18 August 2019
The first episode is by far the best, and each episode then goes downhill and quickly! The first episode sets the stage and gets you pretty excited for a good conspiracy theory story - the problem, however, is that after the first episode makes a lot of claims, you then expect the future episodes to show the PROOF of said claims, except to actual hard proof or evidence is ever shown.
It's basically just a docuseries about a guy who really doesn't like christianity/religion in politics - which is fair enough - the problem though is that he sets the tone of this docuseries as if there is some seriously evil stuff that these Christian politicans are doing behind closed doors in a sort of secret society...except they never really do anything super evil - it's just standard politicians being politicians (adultery, bribes, etc)- no matter what religious affiliation they have.
He presents a lot of assumptions as if they are fact, and that is the main reason for my low score, but also because each episode was more boring than the previous.
It's basically just a docuseries about a guy who really doesn't like christianity/religion in politics - which is fair enough - the problem though is that he sets the tone of this docuseries as if there is some seriously evil stuff that these Christian politicans are doing behind closed doors in a sort of secret society...except they never really do anything super evil - it's just standard politicians being politicians (adultery, bribes, etc)- no matter what religious affiliation they have.
He presents a lot of assumptions as if they are fact, and that is the main reason for my low score, but also because each episode was more boring than the previous.
Re-enactments - UGH!!
Ripshin12 August 2019
Focused Documentary; Until It Was Not
mattypie11 August 2019
This documentary is very run-of-the-mill for Netflix, and that's not a terrible thing. The visuals of both individuals and media snippets (the highlighted columns suggesting investigation) are wonderful and trademark Netflix. Like Netflix's best, this documentary sticks to an important and contemporary theme. This one happens to be the human cost of religion not speaking truth to power, but influencing the powers that be. The theme held solid, but this is also Netflix. President Trump, as if by demand, needed to be implicated in the narrative of a foreign policy scheme to elevate totalitarian regimes, such as Russia. Politics aside, the documentary is not interested in helping its viewers understand the benefits the United States could reap of a Christian Russia, indeed, a Russia literally anything else than the regime is now. Besides episode 3, this is a solid and focused documentary you'll likely learn from.
Basic Washington Conspiracy Faire
quailpat30 December 2023
The problem with the series main argument is Washington DC literally has 100s of these organizations all over the area and many people belong to a multitude of these organizations. So there are a lot of this person knows this person etc. The ADA next door to the C street house probably has a bigger effect on the average American than these people. If they are so powerful why did a senator and a Governor affiliated with them have to leave their offices after minor scandal? The series never really shows any big results from all their activities, just how politicians went along with The Family for their benefit. Whole series feels like a red herring for the people actually calling the shots ,seriously the guy who wrote the book is walking around in public, no real all powerful organization is going to let the book happen, let alone a TV series Pharmaceutical companies have a 1,000 times more influence than a few religious people.
Where's Barry?
socswole11 August 2019
Interesting show and story-telling. That being said, the most interesting part for me was the omission of President Obama from the footage. He, too, like all of the others, was a speaker at the Prayer Breakfast - yet Netflix curiously omits him from the line-up of Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, and then to Trump. Where was Barack?! Oh wait . . . the Obamas are Netflix producers now, I get it. ***moves to scrub the evidence hiding ten screens down on Google and some old YouTube vids of the event***. Conspiracy theories aside, c'mon Netflix, at least PRETEND to be a little unbiased!
Disturbing and Eye Opening
zack_gideon10 August 2019
Didn't expect this to pop up on Netflix last night. In light of all the political craziness going on, the timing is perfect. There are so many dark and disturbing things going on behind closed doors in the government, this only scratches the surface. It's really well made as well, in terms of mixing reenactments with real interviews and past footage.
I wonder what other "families" exist around the world. Definitely worth a watch! 5/5 stars.
I wonder what other "families" exist around the world. Definitely worth a watch! 5/5 stars.
Doesn't really say anything
c_quintarelli-6663616 August 2019
Goes on and on with suggestions about the power of religion in politics but it never specifically says what this group did anything to influence our politics. Says powerful political figures interacted with the group but who cares. How did this religious group influence the powerful beyond having relationships? It was just weird.
It's about time
lynx196724 August 2019
I've been saying for years that Hollywood would never touch the right wing Evangelical cult that has been secretly controlling Washington DC for decades. NetFlix deserves kudos for finally bringing this into living rooms. Perhaps the (s)election of Donald J. Trump and his "God will build us a new planet if we destroy this one" Vice President Pence inspired NetFlix to dive into the book and make this documentary.
As a documentary, the style is OK. I'm not sure if I like the merging of recreated events with the historical footage. I think a Ken Burns approach may have worked better.
This country is not a JudeoChristian Theocracy. We have something called Separation of Church and State. Running the country based on Old Testament fairy tales is akin to Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia running their countries based on the Koran. Religion in politics is recipe for disaster. As we in the United States are experiencing now, with Evangelicals calling a narcissistic failed businessman the "chosen one."
Great job NetFlix. A documentary, despite its flaws, that everyone in this country should see.
All style, no substance. Morons who lack critical thinking skills will love this documentary series.
marklaird-408507 September 2023
All style, no substance. Morons who lack critical thinking skills will love this documentary series. I'm an agnostic. I'm not a fan of hypocrisy whether it's conservative Christians posing as moral leaders or liberal politicians posing as caring humanists. Documentary talked about scandals that the public already know about. The more provocative claims of politician corruption have zero evidence and are only backed up by the stylistic editing and presentational pathos. Don't bother. Netflix should do a documentary on their familial connection to the infamous propagandist Edward Bernays. Now that would be an interesting series on "The Family." 1/10/
Slow...very, very slow.
planktonrules1 September 2019
"The Family" is a documentary exposee about a Christian group which emphasizes individual service AND connections to power. The focus of the show is on one individual, the guy who wrote the book on them. So why was I left so ambivalent about this? Two main reasons. First, the pace is glacially slow--like they are taking something which can be thoroughly discussed in 90 minutes and stretching it out to many hours. This is especially the case with recreations of events....with too much emphasis on the re-creations and less on actually dispensing information to the viewer. Second, how this group is potentially dangerous is only alluded to slowly....very, very slowly. The bottom line is that I would love to see a different documentary on the same topic--one that is concise and sharper in focus.
Predictable response from right wing evangelicals.
gesges-1349121 August 2019
Of course they don't like this. They have allowed the Christian religion to be turned on its head. The term Christo-fascist is apt. If Jesus came back today, these right wing "Christians" would crucify him all over again. It's a crazy inversion of reality and history.
I read the book. This is all well-researched. The series does a good job of relating the facts.
Disturbing to say the least.
I read the book. This is all well-researched. The series does a good job of relating the facts.
Disturbing to say the least.
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