Is Hillary Clinton a closet Fundamentalist?

So yesterday one of you intrepid people sent me a 2007 Mother Jones story that I had never seen before. 

It ties Clinton to a secretive religious organization that has strong connections with, and influence over, numerous political leaders.

This from the Mother Jones article:

In fact, Clinton's God talk is more complicated—and more deeply rooted—than either fans or foes would have it, a revelation not just of her determination to out-Jesus the GOP, but of the powerful religious strand in her own politics. Over the past year, we've interviewed dozens of Clinton's friends, mentors, and pastors about her faith, her politics, and how each shapes the other. And while media reports tend to characterize Clinton's subtle recalibration of tone and style as part of the Democrats' broader move to recapture the terrain of "moral values," those who know her say there's far more to it than that. 

Through all of her years in Washington, Clinton has been an active participant in conservative Bible study and prayer circles that are part of a secretive Capitol Hill group known as the Fellowship. Her collaborations with right-wingers such as Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and former Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) grow in part from that connection. "A lot of evangelicals would see that as just cynical exploitation," says the Reverend Rob Schenck, a former leader of the militant anti-abortion group Operation Rescue who now ministers to decision makers in Washington. "I don't....there is a real good that is infected in people when they are around Jesus talk, and open Bibles, and prayer."

The article goes into incredible detail concerning the organization, much of which sounds like a description of a slightly watered down version of Jerry Falwell's ministry,  and Hillary's involvement. 

It ends with this sobering assessment:

Then, as now, Clinton confounded secularists who recognize public faith only when it comes wrapped in a cornpone accent. Clinton speaks instead the language of nondenominationalism—a sober, eloquent appreciation of "values," the importance of prayer, and "heart" convictions—which liberals, unfamiliar with the history of evangelical coalition building, mistake for a tidy, apolitical accommodation, a personal separation of church and state. Nor do skeptical voters looking for political opportunism recognize that, when Clinton seeks guidance among prayer partners such as Coe and Brownback, she is not so much triangulating—much as that may have become second nature—as honoring her convictions. In her own way, she is a true believer.

For an Atheist who is desperate to get religion out of politics this makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up.

It should also be noted that among those who have been confirmed as belonging to the Fellowship are Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Sen Ken Salazar, Rep. Jeff Session, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, Rep. Louie Gohmert, and several Watergate conspirators.

They are also, it appears, behind the infamous National Prayer Breakfast, which every President seems honor bound to attend.

Author Jeff Sharlet wrote a very revealing book about this group in 2008. 

This is from an Alternet article about that book: 

The roster of current and former Family members includes senators, congressmen, Fortune 500 CEOs, generals and at least one Supreme Court justice. The Family does not publish membership lists, and its members are sworn to secrecy, so a full accounting is impossible. 

Sen. Hillary Clinton has been involved with the Family since 1993 when, as first lady, she joined a White House prayer circle for political wives. Clinton has also sought spiritual counseling from the current head of the Family, Doug Coe. Sharlet argues that Clinton's longtime association with the Family has helped her forge working relationships with powerful religious conservatives such as Family member and anti-abortion crusader Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas. 

The Family nurtures the next generation of prayer warriors in suburban dormitories. Sharlet spent nearly a month living at Ivanwald, a dormitory in Virginia where sons of the Family are sent to immerse themselves in Jesus and clean the toilets of congressmen and senators. 

The Family also runs a house on C Street in Washington, D.C. The C Street Center has housed a number of federal legislators, including Sen. John Ensign of Nevada. Residents allege that the center is just a cheap place to live, but as an Ivanwald brother, Sharlet saw firsthand that the center is a religious community. As far as the IRS is concerned, the C Street Center is a church. 

Members will tell you that the Family is just a group of friends. As Sharlet discovered, 600 boxes of documents at the Billy Graham Center Archives tell a different story.

There is quite a bit more in the article that will bring you pause, such as the fact that several members have demonstrated admiration of Adolph Hitler.

I have to be honest and tell you that I find this incredibly disturbing, and just the idea of Hillary Clinton and "prayer warriors" being mentioned in the same article makes me nauseous.

Believe me I want to support Hillary in 2016, and indeed I doubt seriously that we have anybody that could challenge her for the nomination.

But I may have to sit down and take stock of my reasons for supporting her, and do a little soul searching.

Fuck! Why isn't this ever easy?