Via Dan Gilgoff comes the not-very-surprising news that President Obama will speak at the National Prayer Breakfast next week. Not surprising because every president since Eisenhower has been a speaker, and the event is a must-attend for political movers and shakers.
While it seems bland enough on the surface (apart from the always questionable mingling of religion and state affairs), the National Prayer Breakfast is actually the brainchild of Washington's most powerful network of fundamentalist Christians, according to Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power. Last year, I sat down with Sharlet to discuss his book. In light of the current political climate, particularly The Family's political activism against labor unions and the New Deal, if you haven't read Sharlet's book, you should, or at least take a look at our Q and A.
--Sarah Posner
