A Conversation with Jeff Sharlet on Radio Free Kansas, beginning at 10pm (central) tonight!

The Kansas 'Christian mafia' reaches beyond C Street

Recent rulings have determined that the notorious residence in Washington DC could no longer be considered a tax-exempt "church." There are further updates to the story according to a recorded conversation with Mr. Sharlet, that Rep. Jerry Moran (R-Ks.) still resides there, and other developments, as well, that guarantees interesting listening for Kansans who want to know what their elected officials are doing.

Among the Christian fundamentalist elite, including most from the Kansas congressional delegation, they have referred to themselves, arrogantly, as the "Christian mafia" a secretive organization that for more than a half century has reached into Congress and across the world.

More than a infamous large townhouse on C Street, the network has a history of bloody relationships involving dictatorships, some cultivated by prominent Kansas officials.

From the book description:

“Of all the important studies of the American right, The Family is undoubtedly the most eloquent. It is also quite possibly the most terrifying.”
–Thomas Frank, New York Times bestselling author of What’s the Matter with Kansas?

A journalist’s penetrating look at the untold story of Christian fundamentalism’s most elite organization, a self-described “invisible” network dedicated to a distortion of Christianity they call “Jesus plus nothing”— a religion of power for the powerful.

"It's not a conspiracy ... it's worse ... it's considered 'conventional wisdom'."

He also discusses the recent difficulties and challenging work of local journalists in exposing this powerful network.

From Mr. Sharlet's biographical notes:

Jeff Sharlet, New York Times bestselling author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power (Harper, 2008) and a contributing editor for Harper’s and Rolling Stone, has been writing about the intersection of religion, politics, and culture for more than a decade. His writing on religion has earned him praise from writers such as Barbara Ehrenreich, who calls The Family “one of the most compelling and brilliantly researched exposés you’ll ever read,” and condemnation from the likes of Ann Coulter, who declares Sharlet one of the “stupidest” journalists in America.

Since 2003, Sharlet has been an associate research scholar at New York University’s Center for Religion and Media, where he has taught graduate seminars in American religious history and journalism. He has also spoken on religion, politics, and media at Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and at colleges across the country. At NYU, Sharlet created TheRevealer.org, a review of religion and the media, with a grant from the Pew Charitable Trust.

Listen in tonight, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009 beginning at 10pm (central) on Radio Free Kansas. Callers welcome after the first hour, 646 716-8652.