Lattin - Jesus Freaks: A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge

Following Our Bliss: How the Spiritual Ideals
of the Sixties Shape Our Lives Today

Shopping for Faith: American Religion in the
New Millennium (with Richard Cimino)

DON LATTIN is an award-winning journalist and one of the nations leading reporters covering alternative religious movements and figures in America. Over the past three decades he has covered Peoples Temple leader Jim Jones, Branch Davidian prophet David Koresh, and Heavens Gate founder Marshall Herff Applewhite. He has also written extensively about the rise of the Christian right in the United States and the emergence of radical Islamists around the world. Visit the author online at www.donlattin.com.

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MANY OF THE CHARACTERS in this story initially did not want to be interviewed. Some of them had something to hide, but most were simply people who did not want to resurrect the pain that comes with reliving their past. Others thought they should be paid for their stories. They felt like they had already been exploited in life. Why should they allow someone writing a book or making a movie to use them again? Their families and their church had raised them as spiritual commodities. Why should they put themselves through that again?

No one in this book was paid to tell their story, but there are people in all of the above categories whoin the endagreed to be interviewed, as well as people who chose not to talk to me. I respect the decisions of those who declined to cooperate, and I thank all of those who made a leap of faith and chose to trust me with their stories. High on the latter list are Shula Berg, Don Irwin, Davida Kelley, Rosemary Kanspedos, Elixcia Munumel, and Tiago Rugely.

Most of the current leaders in The Family International declined to be interviewed, but I would like to thank Family spokeswoman Claire Borowik for obtaining the organizations permission to publish many of the photographs in the book. Many of the source documents used to tell the story were unearthed by the diligent work of the people behind the screen at the Web sites www.exfamily.org, www.xfamily.org, and www.movingon.org.

I also thank my editor at HarperOne, Eric Brandt, for his light touch and deep insight; his colleague, Kris Ashley, who does her job with patience and grace; copyeditor Laurie Dunne; and Deputy Publisher Mark Tauber, whose friendship and longtime support of my work is greatly appreciated. I also thank my former editors and colleagues at the San Francisco Chronicle, who saw the potential in this story from the very beginning and gave me the time and space to tell it while it was still news.

Special thanks to Steve Proctor, George Csicsery, Richard Brzustowicz, Ginny McPartland, Cheryl Daniels Shohan, and to my literary agent, Amy Rennert, all of whom read early drafts of the manuscript and made helpful suggestions.

Final thanks go to my wife, Laura Thomas, who tempers the critical eye of a journalist with the loving support of a life partner.

DAVID MOSES BERG released hundreds of missives known as Mo Letters between 1969 and his death in 1994. Many of them were based on edited audiotapes of lectures and conversations with his leading disciples. Berg continued to issue communiqus from the grave via Family members who purported to receive posthumous revelations from the Endtime Prophet. Some of the Mo Letters were secret, private communiqus only meant to be seen by top leaders in The Family. Others were intended for distribution to the general public. They were published and reprinted both individually and in various formats and collections over the years.

Family leaders later attempted to destroy all copies of certain controversial letters or expunge objectionable material from them. Early letters were not numbered, and the numbering system in later years was not always consistent.

My research was based on original Mo Letters saved by early devotees, reprints issued by The Family, and a bound collection of original letters found in the rare books collection of the Graduate Theological Union library in Berkeley, California. (The volume containing the most controversial letters had been stolen from the library.)

In recent years, many Mo Letters have been posted on various Web sites run by The Family (www.thefamily.org/ourfounder/ourfounder.htm) and critics of The Family (www.xfamily.org/index.php/Mo_Letters). Whenever possible, I attempted to check the text against the earliest available version of the letter.

Amsterdam, Peter. Good News! #653. Zurich: The Family, October 1995.

Bainbridge, William Sims. The Endtime Family: Children of God. Albany: State Univ. of New York Press, 2002.

Berg, David Brandt. Diary. 1941. Reprinted as The War Year? A Turning Point! Mo Letter #1716. The Family, 1998.

. Joyous New Years Greeting to You in His Name! Fundraising letter. Christmas 1948.

. Hear the Teens for Christ. Handbill. 1967.

. Prophecy at Laurentide. Mo Letter #89. The Children of God, August 1969.

. The Old Church and the New ChurchA Prophecy of God-Mo. The Children of God, 16 August 1969.

. Who Are the Rebels? Mo Letter E, 8 March 1970.

. Persecution. Mo Letter #125, 1 November 1971.

. Revolutionary Sex. Mo Letter #258, 27 March 1973.

. Aaron on the Mountain. Mo Letter #234, May 1973.

. Come On Ma! Burn Your Bra! Mo Letter #286, 22 December 1973.

. The Last American Nightmare. Mo Letter #381, 11 April 1975.

. My Childhood Sex! Doin What Comes Naturally. Mo Letter #779, 28 June 1977.

. Prophecy for Davidito. Two Years Old. Mo Letter #619, 3 February 1977.

. Our Love Story! Mo Letter #1358, 4 January 1978.

. The End-Time Witnesses! Mo Letter #707, 2 May 1978.

. You Are the Love of God. Mo Letter #699, 5 June 1978.

. Bigger Jobs! Dad Talks to His Staff. Mo Letter #1673, 18 November 1978.

. Millions of Miles of Miracles. Mo Letter #897, 29 December 1979.

. The Devil Hates Sex!But God Loves It! Mo Letter #999, 20 May 1980.

. Happy Daze! Mo Letter #958, 6 December 1980.

. Daily Might. Booklet. Zurich: World Services, 1981.

. Church Fire Dream. Mo Letter #1841, 30 October 1981.

. Faith of Our Fathers. Mo Letter #1350, 12 January 1982.

. Sex with Grandmother. Mo Letter #1535, 11 June 1982.

. Influences! In My Life! Mo Letter #1357, December 1982.

. The Last State? The Dangers of Demonism. Mo Letter #2306, March 1987.

. Our TeensThe Devils Target. Mo Letter #2525, 1988.

Berg, Hosea. The Pioneering of North America. Book of Remembrance. The Family, 1983.