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.