The intersection of sex and religion can get very disturbing. But if you want really disturbing, forget Catholicism — that’s just old school abuse of power and guilt and ugliness, given strength by sheer numbers. The really freaky stuff is in cults, like The Family International. Don’t click on that link unless you want to get sucked into a vortex of insanity — it’s about a sex cult that used what they called “Flirty Fishing”, more commonly known as prostitution, to recruit followers to Jesus and to make money, among other things.
I got that from a link to a blog by a phone sex worker, which can also draw you in. Now that I’ve ruined all your productivity for the day, I’m going to put the internet aside and go get some work done.
And for more funny/weird cult sex check this out. (Please pardon my ignorance of HTML, I don’t know how to embed a link)
http://www.viceland.com/int/v17n4/htdocs/fuck-church-406.php?page=1
Yogurt, lol.
From the site: “…the ‘Loving Jesus revelation’ which encourages members from the age of 14 to engage in a sexual relationship with Jesus.”
At last! A legitimate religious use for the Jackhammer Jesus!
Sorry, David already did that.
From the xFamily home page:
…combined with…
… makes me think that, given the neutral goals of the .org, “The Family” has to be some seriously bad news.
Of course, the whole “use hookers to trap converts” thing should have tipped me off, too.
So, I looked at “Family art”, not only is it NSFW, but I don’t think it’s even legal.
Drawings of children having sex counts as kiddie porn, doesn’t it?
Christ. Some of their mythology sounds like someone trying to make a joke role-playing game.
Cultists: The Insanity, maybe.
Judging from what I hear (NOT FOLLOWING LINK!), it sounds more like FATAL. Don’t look it up. You will regret it. Or if you must, check on TVTropes.
Great. I wonder if I’ll be allowed to comment from prison. Thanks PZ!
It’s been often repeated that suggesting to burn the 900 page sourcebook would be an insult to fire.
From what I’ve read about it beyond its “rape rules,” I wholeheartedly agree with that assessment.
Scientology used some fairly aggressive opposite-sex recruitment on college campuses in the 1970s and 80s when they’d strike up seemly random flirty conversations with you before “sharing” the power of dianetics and offer to take you to a free seminar. Of course, not much was free after that.
So, I looked at “Family art”, not only is it NSFW, but I don’t think it’s even legal.
Drawings of children having sex counts as kiddie porn, doesn’t it?”
By a rational POV actual depictions of children having sex is a protected free speech right. It doesn’t affect anyone and the only reason to outlaw it is to try to deter a thought that is deemed unacceptable. By US law that doesn’t fly.
Mr. McCain however has fought to classify it as porn…because we REALLY REALLY need to focus on protecting cartoon characters from abuse.
“Scientology used some fairly aggressive opposite-sex recruitment on college campuses in the 1970s and 80s when they’d strike up seemly random flirty conversations with you before “sharing” the power of dianetics and offer to take you to a free seminar. Of course, not much was free after that.”
I hear Christian groups in Korea use similar methods.
@1 – That link is awesome. Cults are so strange. However, there was one quote in here that was a complete goldmine:
I’m surprised more Catholics/xtians don’t figure this out. If nothing can’t be forgiven, what incentive is there not to act out? I mean, other than the social pressures and ethics that guide atheists as well.
Ing:
Allegedly, some American Evangelicals have used the same MO to recruit teens to their youth programs. I guess it’s not all that different from using sexiness to sell used cars or bubble gum.
Andreas #14:
Well, use of sex to sell evangelical Christianity is a lot closer to fraud, and at least the Greek BMW ad, however misguided, was based around a “get over it, women are allowed to fuck too” vibe to it.
@BrianX: No idea what BMW ad you’re refering to. I was refering generically to ads suggesting that buying the product will lead to people jumping into bed with you.
As for closer to fraud, well yes, but still closer to sexy ads than to what the The Family was doing, I’d think.
There’s a fairly recent book about The Family called Jesus Freaks [Amazon link]
Not to be confused with this The Family. Not quite as crazy but probably about as much malice and far more power.
There’s also a heartbreaking documentary out about a young man, son of one of the principal female members of the The Family, who escaped its clutches, only to kill a member several years later in an effort to learn the whereabouts of his mother. (He probably intended to kill her, too.) He committed suicide before the police could get to him.
As a child, with his mother’s consent, he’d been subjected to sexual abuse by the cult’s leader and other adult members.
@Abstruseoddity (#5): Obscene drawings of minors are prohibited by the PROTECT Act of 2003. The Miller test is used to determine whether a particular piece of artwork is “obscene”. In the context of xfamily.org, I think the political purpose of publishing the pamphlets would be taken into consideration (the SLAPS test), though I’m not sure that would apply to them in their original context: there are no mitigating factors for religious purpose, and COG/TFI is shrouded in too much secrecy for its art to have serious literary value.
Anyway, although such artwork is prohibited by PROTECT as obscene material not qualifying for protection under the first amendment, there’s nothing to suggest it would be considered “child pornography” unless real children were involved in its production. The Chris Handley case is a famous recent example of the effects of this law: although he possessed no real child pornography, he was sent to prison for six months for importing several cartoon books that depicted minors engaging in sexual activity.
I’ll leave it to your discernment whether that’s a triumph for morality or a disturbing precedent for freedom of speech.
His name was Ricky Rodriguez. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricky_Rodriguez
The mix of sex with religion is noting new.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieros_gamos
Sacred prostitution: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_prostitution
FFS, it’s the Children of God!
I remember well those wackadoodles back in the ’70s. They sucked in a good acquaintance of mine before they moved off to Belize or Guatemala, or wherever the hell it was.
Those were truly *scary* people back then, and I can see they haven’t changed a bit. David Berg was someone on my “better dead” list for a long time.
I did make the mistake of following the link, and yes, it’s like someone made LARP (Live Action Role Playing) rules for FATAL.
Rarely have I ever felt so strong an urge to rip my own eyes out.
I recall the old Children of God cult and their ‘flirty fishing’ back in the 70s.
Friends and I met some of them in about 1974 when we were on the way to Bendigo and we picked them up as they were hitch-hiking.
It turned out they were also dealing dope for teh Lawd. We were neither converted to their cult, nor did we make a buy — it was mostly seeds and stems and the price was above the market rate.
How did you come across that link? It looks like the blog hasn’t been updated in six months! Such a bummer, it’s been fun to read so far.
The Family International, as others have pointed out, used to be called the Children of God, and should not be confused with the political cult in Washington, The Family. The founder of TFI, David Berg, died in 1994, but the current leaders, Karen Zerby and Stephen Kelly, are just as deranged and dangerous. I’ve written several blog articles attempting to continue to expose this cult, which you can read on my website at: http://www.perrybulwer.com/chain-the-dogma-archive/
Another blog on my site archives news articles related to religious child abuse. See: http://www.perrybulwer.com/religion-and-child-abuse-news/ Searching that archive you will find more articles about that cult.
Here’s a few of the articles I’ve written on The Family International:
“The Catholic Church and The Family International: popes and prophets who protect pedophiles”
“Kings and Queens of Cults”
“What do Pat Robertson and The Family International cult have in common?”
“This Is What Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing Look Like”
“Miss World 2009 contestant, Miss Indonesia, is a member of evangelical cult with history of child abuse”
“Child sacrifice: a review of the documentary All God’s Children – the ultimate sacrifice”
“Family International a.k.a. Children of God: Once dismissed as ‘sex cult,’ tiny church launches image makeover”
My sister is a member, has been for more than 20 years. She lives with her “partner” and their four children. My family is deeply involved with this crackpot cult – my cousin is married to one of David Berg’s grandchildren.
I can’t tell you how much pain it has caused me and my family, knowing what she has been involved with. My sister is bright, charismatic, did better than me at school. But I’m the atheist.
Sometimes life blows the big one.
Yes, Thanks, I couldn’t help myself and read WAY too much of that site. Pretty sick shit, most of it (esp the rape rules and pedophilia). David Berg was just a religious pimp.