Topic : 08/24 The Family Cult

Kristi, you might be unfair to your father when you call him self-serving. You have been through something traumatic and you will go through a myriad of emotions. Anger is one. You might find yourself being angry at a person you know will still love you.

If I wanted to expose something that had hurt my child, I might turn to the pen, it being mightier than the sword. Your father has to deal with knowing someone hurt his child. He is trying to work through this, too.

You lived through an atmosphere that didn't give you the basic good emotions. All you probably know is negative emotions.  Your salvation might be throwing in with your father and helping him expose these monsters. So what if he gets paid for the book? That will give him the wherewithal to keep fighting.

Give your father the benefit of the doubt.

The teen-age girls being forced into marriage with older men and the young men being turned out of  the community shows exactly what the men worshipped.

I, too, was a member of organized religion - The Southern Baptist- Calvary.  When fourteen-year-old Emmett Till was beaten to death in Mississippi, a bio of the perps was printed in Life Magazine. The murderers got off in the racist community. They were members of the Southern Baptist Church and one was still allowed to be a deacon and pass the sacrament. Then other stories about the KKK burning crosses and lynching on Saturday and singing hymns on Sunday started coming out. I resigned an institution which I started seeing as closer to satan than God. Can you imagine Christ putting his hand on the leader of the lynch mob's shoulder and saying, "Well done?"

Church was getting in the way of my religion and I resigned.

Watched the show and was glued to my chair.

As a parent, a Christian (Catholic) and former high school teacher, I can say I was SO PROUD to see the young couple (with a young son) on their own and making it the best way they know how....all for the sake of their child. What responsible, mature and loving this couple is; their son has great role models in his parents!

No child abuse should ever be acceptable. And there is NO excuse for it. But these guests MUST go on in their lives and put their pasts behind them, regardless of the horrible nature of the physical, sexual and emotional abuse that occurred.

They MUST take back control of their lives and then learn to forgive. We don't forgive for the sake of the other person. We forgive for OUR SAKES. It gives us back our power while it forfills God's command. Once they learn to forgive (to let go), they will be so much healthier. Hopefully Dr. Phil can help get them to that place.

It took me 33 years to forgive emotional abuse at the hands of my father. I am now 43 and he's now 81. We have a great father-daughter relationship and I no longer harbor all that anger and resentment that kept me from experiecing true happiness for over 3 decades.

God bless all the victims of this cult and God bless all the horrible perpetrators who did harm to their children and the children of others. May God forgive them (and stop them with the help of former cult members).

Please, I beg you (and others). PLEASE do not post pictures of your children, etc. I have attended enough law enforcement trainings in my former career to know just what can happen to these innocent pictures!

These pictures often get "morphed" with sexual objects (etc) and then passed around the Internet. I wish Dr. Phil would not allow photos of children to be posted on his website. It is simply too tempting for perverted people who come upon the photos.

Please consider not posting your beautiful girl's photo on ANY website. I would hate for you to become just another in a long line of victims. God bless you.

I appeared on the show with Jim, Kristi and my wife and I have to agree with my cousin Nina’s post. Jim has always shown us a tremendous amount of love and respect. He never abused his children and has gone to great lengths to help them re-socialize and create a normal life for themselves. Jim has always been more than good to my little family of 3 and has always come to our aid when we needed him.

I hope Jim has the opportunity to publish his book as we all need more information out in the community on groups like The Family and the Colorado city cult. I feel it’s important that people understand why their children, friends or relatives join secret societies and cults and one of the only ways this will come to light is with the help of the Jims and others that have these experiences and can share them with others. I also agree with the other viewers that any pedophile or parent that abused children, whether in a cult or not, should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, this is why we are working with the FBI and other agencies. Jim was never an abuser, Jim was not in The Family while abuse occurred. Kristi was born 2 years after Jim left the group and was never abused by him. Nina and Kristi were kidnapped by their mother and STEP father and The Family made them untraceable just as they did with me and my sisters from my mother. My cousins were abused by their mother and by their step father unknown at the time to Jim.

Most culties don't originally join cults. They join benign groups that turn into cults. They join for all different reasons but generally to find acceptance, a good cause, or to escape addiction or problems at home. Many believe that they are helping to better society and themselves and that’s the hook for soliciting them. The Family started as a “typical 60’s commune” according to Dr. Phil, that eventually went south and Jim left at the start of that shift as did many others. I do not fault a teenager in the 60’s for experimenting with their spirituality and faith by joining what appears to be a “Christian Youth Movement” that provided alternatives to drugs and their troubles. Because of the turbulence of the teenage years, teens are easy targets for cult recruiters.  Studying cults is fascinating and in my studies and experience I have found that cults generally start out one way but end up a whole different ball game altogether after their members cut themselves off from the world and after their leader gains more control of their conscious.

Jim is an uncle to be proud of and a man of ethics. The show was unable to capitalize on this point but I hope that in the future he will have an opportunity clarify it. My prayer is that Kristi and Jim will continue to heal from years of separation and exploitation and that all the parents and children that experienced The Family will find a way to mend their broken relationships and shattered lives. It’s also my hope that this nightmare will cease and that the authorities will find the evidence they need to bring the abusers to justice.  

This week I watched the episode on the Children of God.  I was shocked to say the least.  I started looking further into this horrendous cult.  I watched the British documentary about Ricky and the cult.  I watched the Anderson Cooper interview, other shows about the cult, and read many articles, including the excellent article in Rolling Stone regarding Ricky.  I have also viewed several websites that contained the vile literature that this group put out.  Having had a normal childhood, I can't begin to imagine the horror these second generation survivors are dealing with, but I can understand why you want justice.  It's almost become an obsession for me, so I can't imagine how you deal with what has happened to you.  My question is why haven't people like Sara Davidito and Karen Zerby been brought to justice?  Are any lawyers trying to go after the cult leaders for a civil lawsuit?  Isn't having the "Book of Davidito" and the other photos and writings enough?  I can't agree that these people will "get their just rewards at the end of their life."  They need to be brought to justice now!!  I know it won't take the pain away from these second generation victims, but it may help them begin healing.  I know it's not just these two women but many others (like "King" Peter).  It sounds like the FBI is investigating, but I can't figure out why they haven't arrested these child rapists.  I would so appreciate hearing from a survivor why justice has evaded you.  Also, I find these second generation survivors to be so articulate and passionate about their cause.  The "movingon.org" website is excellent.  Please know people are listening! 

Bopperella,

Thank you for your response.  That must be so strange to have your mother be one of the first members of this cult.  Your parents were smart enough to get out and then tried to help these people.  It must have been very frustrating to them.  As a parent, I can't believe these other parents didn't grab their children and run.  Was it the depravity that caused them to sacrifice their children?  Were they so enamored with "Dad" that they were blind to what was happening?  I try to imagine being a cult member and starting to receive these missives from Berg.  I would hope I would have the strength to go to the authorities and try to stop it.  If it had been stopped when it began, it would be a much better world.  The negative repercussions that this group has brought on the second generation will last many generations.

If someone tried to sell a fictional story about Ricky's life, it wouldn't sell due to being too unbelievable.  Ricky was raised as the Messiah to eventually run the cult.  How bizarre and fitting that he gave his life to try to bring his evil mother and the cult down.  Even though Berg is dead, I still think there is plenty of evidence to bring some of these other monsters to justice.  I understand that it's easier said than done.  As I said, I hope these wonderful people find justice.