54 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 3, 2012
Western Patriarchal Incest
We gain a better understanding of how some
patriarchal religious imagery likely facilitates
pedophilia by first identifying how patriarchy
facilitates the commission of abuse against
women and children in secular society. As the
feminist psychiatrist Judith Herman points out,
[a] patriarchal family structure secures
to fathers immense powers over their
wives and children. Traditionally, these
powers include an unrestricted right of
physical control, unrestricted sexual
rights to wives (hence rape has no legal
meaning within marriage), and extensive
sexual rights in children.... The only
sexual right in their children that fathers
do not have in any society is that of
personal use. But given all his other
powers, a father may easily choose to
extend his prerogatives to include the
sexual initiation of his children.
(Herman with Hirschman, 1981, p. 54)
In essence, patriarchal family arrangements
inhibit—if not prevent—women from
“observing” or protesting against abuse. In
addition, these arrangements “super-empower”
men by placing them beyond criticism of
spouses and children.
Indeed, instances abound in which women
facilitate the very patriarchalism that, in so many
ways, burdens them. Here, for example, were
women who participated in numerous instances
of child abuse, but who did so because they were
“partnered with someone who seem[ed] to them
to be a very powerful male perpetrator”
(Wolfers, 1993, p. 94). That “someone,”
however, was the congregational minister rather
than a husband or partner. Amidst the very real
threats of physical punishment in response to
dissension or disobedience, “involvement in
child sexual abuse may [have been] an attempt
to achieve control by some women in powerless
situations” (Wolfers, 1993, p. 94).
Perhaps the most unexpected place to finds links
between patriarchalism and sexual abuse in
Western societies is in traditionally revered
religious scriptures, along with some of the key
historical figures who created or supposedly
lived according to their teachings. Within, for
example, the patriarchalism of the Hebrew
Bible/Old Testament, parental-child incest
occurs in the well-known incidents between Lot
and his daughters (Gen. 19:30–36)—incidents
for which the Lord showed no disapproval in the
text. The story of Lot and his daughters
provides a classic example of a male excuse for
incest—drunkenness (Herman with Hirschman,
1981, pp. 36–37). In the biblical account, while
Lot was fleeing the wicked city of Sodom with
his wife and two unmarried daughters, his wife
died. The three remaining family members took
refuge in a cave, and on two successive nights
Lot’s daughters got him drunk and then had
intercourse with him (hoping through pregnancy
to continue the family bloodline). Because of
alcohol, however, he did not remember the
incidents. Elsewhere in these scriptures, the
Book of Leviticus (18:1–18) lists numerous
prohibitions involving sexual behaviours, yet it
fails to specifically mention sexual relations
between a father and daughter. As Herman
concluded, “the patriarchal God sees fit to pass
over father-daughter incest in silence” (Herman
with Hirschman, 1981, p. 61).
The Children of God
The Children of God’s founder, David Berg
(1919–1994), informed his flock of this biblical
omission, and, in retrospect, it was a justification
for his own likely incestuous activities with
many young members of his immediate family
(see Kent, 1994, pp. 157–160). In his widely
distributed missive of late March 1973 entitled
“Revolutionary Sex,” Berg asserted to his
followers,
22. THERE ARE ALSO MANY
BIBLICAL EXCEPTIONS TO SO-
CALLED INCEST, or the marriage of
certain near relatives. In fact, there
would have been no human race if
Adam and Eve’s two sons, Cain and
Seth, had not married their sisters,
because there was no one else to marry!
...And if this shocks you, such
marriages of brothers and sisters,
mothers and sons and even fathers
and daughters were very common in
ancient times and were not even
Western Patriarchal Incest
We gain a better understanding of how some
patriarchal religious imagery likely facilitates
pedophilia by first identifying how patriarchy
facilitates the commission of abuse against
women and children in secular society. As the
feminist psychiatrist Judith Herman points out,
[a] patriarchal family structure secures
to fathers immense powers over their
wives and children. Traditionally, these
powers include an unrestricted right of
physical control, unrestricted sexual
rights to wives (hence rape has no legal
meaning within marriage), and extensive
sexual rights in children.... The only
sexual right in their children that fathers
do not have in any society is that of
personal use. But given all his other
powers, a father may easily choose to
extend his prerogatives to include the
sexual initiation of his children.
(Herman with Hirschman, 1981, p. 54)
In essence, patriarchal family arrangements
inhibit—if not prevent—women from
“observing” or protesting against abuse. In
addition, these arrangements “super-empower”
men by placing them beyond criticism of
spouses and children.
Indeed, instances abound in which women
facilitate the very patriarchalism that, in so many
ways, burdens them. Here, for example, were
women who participated in numerous instances
of child abuse, but who did so because they were
“partnered with someone who seem[ed] to them
to be a very powerful male perpetrator”
(Wolfers, 1993, p. 94). That “someone,”
however, was the congregational minister rather
than a husband or partner. Amidst the very real
threats of physical punishment in response to
dissension or disobedience, “involvement in
child sexual abuse may [have been] an attempt
to achieve control by some women in powerless
situations” (Wolfers, 1993, p. 94).
Perhaps the most unexpected place to finds links
between patriarchalism and sexual abuse in
Western societies is in traditionally revered
religious scriptures, along with some of the key
historical figures who created or supposedly
lived according to their teachings. Within, for
example, the patriarchalism of the Hebrew
Bible/Old Testament, parental-child incest
occurs in the well-known incidents between Lot
and his daughters (Gen. 19:30–36)—incidents
for which the Lord showed no disapproval in the
text. The story of Lot and his daughters
provides a classic example of a male excuse for
incest—drunkenness (Herman with Hirschman,
1981, pp. 36–37). In the biblical account, while
Lot was fleeing the wicked city of Sodom with
his wife and two unmarried daughters, his wife
died. The three remaining family members took
refuge in a cave, and on two successive nights
Lot’s daughters got him drunk and then had
intercourse with him (hoping through pregnancy
to continue the family bloodline). Because of
alcohol, however, he did not remember the
incidents. Elsewhere in these scriptures, the
Book of Leviticus (18:1–18) lists numerous
prohibitions involving sexual behaviours, yet it
fails to specifically mention sexual relations
between a father and daughter. As Herman
concluded, “the patriarchal God sees fit to pass
over father-daughter incest in silence” (Herman
with Hirschman, 1981, p. 61).
The Children of God
The Children of God’s founder, David Berg
(1919–1994), informed his flock of this biblical
omission, and, in retrospect, it was a justification
for his own likely incestuous activities with
many young members of his immediate family
(see Kent, 1994, pp. 157–160). In his widely
distributed missive of late March 1973 entitled
“Revolutionary Sex,” Berg asserted to his
followers,
22. THERE ARE ALSO MANY
BIBLICAL EXCEPTIONS TO SO-
CALLED INCEST, or the marriage of
certain near relatives. In fact, there
would have been no human race if
Adam and Eve’s two sons, Cain and
Seth, had not married their sisters,
because there was no one else to marry!
...And if this shocks you, such
marriages of brothers and sisters,
mothers and sons and even fathers
and daughters were very common in
ancient times and were not even
