The Helios Biblios Hour : PIMPIN FOR GOD

Sex cults are different to doomsday, evil or other religious cults in one aspect: the leader of the church generally sleeps with as many of the flock as possible.A surprising number of sex cults have been founded in the United States (maybe because of the freedom of religion enshrined in the First Amendment), and 1968 seems to have been a popular year for their gurus. This may have had something to with the “free love” ethos of the time.Almost all leaders are male, none are classically attractive, but all exercise a strong hold over their followers.The Rajneesh Movement was founded by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, who called himself the “rich man’s guru”. He wore flashy watches and reportedly owned a fleet of 93 Rolls Royces.All members of his cult had to wear orange, take Hindi names and wear a mala: a necklace of wooden prayer beads with a locket holding a portrait of Rajneesh.Rajneesh bought a large property in Oregon in the US in 1981 and built a city with its own fire and police departments, restaurants, malls, and even a casino. They invited thousands of homeless to stay in their city to increase their number of voters.The Children of God was started in California in 1968 by David Berg (later Moses David), who was the son of a preacher man.Women in the cult were encouraged to have sex with strangers to try and get more people into the cult in a practice Berg termed “flirty fishing”.In 1972 there were 130 communities around the world. At its height the cult had about 10,000 members. Celebrity members have included the Phoenix family (including River and Joaquin) and Rose McGowan.Berg fled the US due to allegations of paedophilia. He communicated with his flock through Mo Letters, basically ographic comic book messages. These continued until his death in 1994.