Miss Gibraltar Kaiane Aldorino was crowned Miss World 2009 on Saturday, outshining 111 other hopefuls, including Miss Indonesia.
Before the contest a local, South African newspaper had highlight the latter’s connection to a religious cult. The Miss World organization lost its legal attempt to prevent the paper from publishing the article.
Family International, the cult formerly known as The Children of God, is gearing up for a massive come-back.
Known for anything from sex scandals to offbeat doctrines that are far removed from the teachings of Biblical Christianity, the cult announced its plans for the future at the recent conference of CESNUR — and organization known for its defense of religious cults.
Following last week’s story about The Family International’s controversial sexual and religious practices, Gideon Scott, of the Family liaision office in South Africa, talked to Esther Namugoji. He said that the Family apologised for the sexual abuse and such mistakes will not be repeated …
Because of its liberal attitude to sex, the Family International, has been baptised ‘the sex cult’ by the Western media. But the group insists it is a religious movement living according to the law of love.
Also disturbing, former members who spoke to CNN say they witnessed Ricky Rodriguez having sex with his mother, Karen Zerby, the leader of the sect now known as “The Family International.”
Jesus Freaks: A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge, by Don Lattin, chronicles the abuses that took place in the Children of God cult.
In the late 1960s David Berg — the self-proclaimed prophet and Children of God founder — began preaching a bizarre brew of sex and scripture. In writings and preaching, Berg advocated free love among his disciples, including adult-child sex.
In an attempt to process what happened to him, to his siblings and to the many former Family members he has tracked down and interviewed, filmmaker Noah Thomson has created the chilling documentary Children of God: Lost and Found.
You couldn’t beat it for tabloid fodder: Anointed prophet of a secretive evangelical mission-cum-sex cult slits the throat of an ex-nanny, and then kills himself, in protest against the cult leaders, his parents, for years of sex abuse he says he and many other children suffered. And he made a video first.
Almost three years after Children of God cult member Richard Rodriguez murdered Angela Smith and then committed suicide, a San Francisco journalist and a cult escapee are publishing books to spread awareness about the dark side of cult life.