International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 3, 2012 71
At core, however, are the child violations, which
religious assertions and beliefs never can justify.
By no means is the approach that I take in this
article, which is an examination of the religious
justifications that perpetrators use to sanctify
their deviance, sufficient for understanding
abuse in closed, cultic environments.
Researchers must combine it with an
examination of the social structural realities in
which cults and their leaders apply these
rationales and excuses. Outlining these social
structural realities that facilitate cultic child
sexual abuse remains a future project.
Bibliography
Alberty, Erin. (2012, April 19). Texas appeals court upholds sex-assault
conviction of FLDS member. Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved from
http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=20686730&itype=storyID
Altman, Irwin, &Ginat, Joseph. (1996). Polygamous families in
contemporary society. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical
manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text revision). Washington, DC:
American Psychiatric Association.
Berg, David [Moses David]. (1973). Revolutionary sex. Mo letter no.
258 (March 27). In David, Moses [David Berg] (Ed.), The basic Mo
letters (pp. 1331–1358). Geneva, Switzerland: Children of God.
Berg, David. (1985). Grandpa goes to heaven! (October). In David
Berg, Heaven’s children (pp. 225–240) (1987). Zurich, Switzerland:
World Services.
Berry, Jason. (1992). Lead us not into temptation. New York, NY:
Doubleday.
Berry, Jason, &Renner, Gerald. (2004). Vows of silence: The abuse of
power in the papacy of John Paul II. New York, NY: The Free Press.
Bromley, David G., &Silver, Edward D. (1995). The Davidian
tradition: From patronal clan to prophetic movement. In Stuart A.
Wright (Ed.), Armageddon in Waco (pp. 43–72). Chicago, IL:
University of Chicago Press.
Bryman, Alan. (2004). Social research methods (second edition). New
York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Burton, Greg. (1997, December 14). Older men finding teen brides
in Utah. The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved from
http://www.skeptictank.org/utahpedo.htm
Capps, Donald. (1992). Religion and child abuse: Perfect together.
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 31(1), 1–14.
Capps, Donald. (1995). The child’s son: The religious abuse of
children. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (1985). The book of
Mormon: Another testament of Jesus Christ the doctrine and
covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the pearl
of great price. Salt Lake City, UT: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (1985). Doctrine and
Covenants. Salt Lake City, UT: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
Cohn, Norman. (1970). The pursuit of the millennium (first edition,
1957 reprint of the revised and enlarged edition). Oxford, England:
Oxford University Press.
Collier, Kiah. (2011, November 8). Polygamist ex-bishop gets 10-year
sentence for Jeff marriage.” Thomson Reuters. Retrieved from
http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USTRE7A80J020111109
Court told of beatings at church. (1985, June 28). Philadelphia Daily
News, p. 15.
Daner, Francine Jeanne. (1976). The American children of Krishna.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
David, Father [David Berg], &Davidito, Sara. (1979). Sex questions &
answers! Part 1. Family Services presents (pp. 6232–6239) (no. 815
reprinted in David, Father Moses [David Berg], The Mo letters Volume
VII 801–900. Zurich: World Services (1981).
Davis, Deborah [Linda Berg], with Davis, Bill. (1984). The Children of
God: The inside story. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Engelstein, Laura. (1999). Castration and the heavenly kingdom: A
Russian folktale. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Erooga, Marcus, &Helen Masson (Eds.). (1999). Children and young
people who sexually abuse others. London, England: Routledge.
Explosive revelations of founder Berg’s daughter &granddaughter.
‘He raped me when I was still a child.’ (1992, July 30). Translated by
Alpha Omega, Tokyo. Shukan Bunshun, 19 pages.
Family of love. (1988, October). Good News, No. 37.
Feuerstein, Georg. (1991). Holy madness: The shock tactics and radical
teachings of crazy-wise adepts, holy fools, and rascal gurus. New York,
NY: Paragon House.
Fitzgerald, Sandy. (1988, November 11). Krishna Surrenders to police.
Intelligencer (Wheeling, West Virginia), p. 19.
Fogarty, Robert S. (1981). The righteous remnant: The house of David.
Kent, OH: Kent State University Press.
Fontes, Lisa Aronson, (Ed.). (1995). Sexual abuse in nine North
American cultures: Treatment and prevention. London, England: Sage
Publications.
Formanek, Ray, Jr. (1991, March 12). Swami trial witnesses tell of sex
abuse, molestation. News-Register (Wheeling, West Virginia), pp. 1, 6.
Founder of sex-based sect is charged with abuse of girl, 14. (1994,
December 9). Philadelphia Inquirer, p. B10.
Goldwert, Lindsay, &Whitcraft, Teri. (2008, August 14). Child sex
‘cult’ leader freed from prison. ABC News. Retrieved from
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=5575131&page=1#.UMINSn
fNmSo
Goodstein, Laurie. (1998, October 9). Hare Krishna movement details
past abuse at its boarding schools. New York Times, pp. A1, A14.
Haferd, Laura, &Outlaw, William. (1993, February 21). The cult (Out
of the Wilderness). Beacon Journal (Akron, OH), p. 4ff.
Herman, Judith Lewis, with Hirschman, Lisa. (1981). Father-daughter
incest. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Hoffman, Lisa. (1983, February 27). Beatings, sex inflicted on faithful,
6 charge. Miami Herald, pp. 1b, 4b.
At core, however, are the child violations, which
religious assertions and beliefs never can justify.
By no means is the approach that I take in this
article, which is an examination of the religious
justifications that perpetrators use to sanctify
their deviance, sufficient for understanding
abuse in closed, cultic environments.
Researchers must combine it with an
examination of the social structural realities in
which cults and their leaders apply these
rationales and excuses. Outlining these social
structural realities that facilitate cultic child
sexual abuse remains a future project.
Bibliography
Alberty, Erin. (2012, April 19). Texas appeals court upholds sex-assault
conviction of FLDS member. Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved from
http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=20686730&itype=storyID
Altman, Irwin, &Ginat, Joseph. (1996). Polygamous families in
contemporary society. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical
manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text revision). Washington, DC:
American Psychiatric Association.
Berg, David [Moses David]. (1973). Revolutionary sex. Mo letter no.
258 (March 27). In David, Moses [David Berg] (Ed.), The basic Mo
letters (pp. 1331–1358). Geneva, Switzerland: Children of God.
Berg, David. (1985). Grandpa goes to heaven! (October). In David
Berg, Heaven’s children (pp. 225–240) (1987). Zurich, Switzerland:
World Services.
Berry, Jason. (1992). Lead us not into temptation. New York, NY:
Doubleday.
Berry, Jason, &Renner, Gerald. (2004). Vows of silence: The abuse of
power in the papacy of John Paul II. New York, NY: The Free Press.
Bromley, David G., &Silver, Edward D. (1995). The Davidian
tradition: From patronal clan to prophetic movement. In Stuart A.
Wright (Ed.), Armageddon in Waco (pp. 43–72). Chicago, IL:
University of Chicago Press.
Bryman, Alan. (2004). Social research methods (second edition). New
York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Burton, Greg. (1997, December 14). Older men finding teen brides
in Utah. The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved from
http://www.skeptictank.org/utahpedo.htm
Capps, Donald. (1992). Religion and child abuse: Perfect together.
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 31(1), 1–14.
Capps, Donald. (1995). The child’s son: The religious abuse of
children. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (1985). The book of
Mormon: Another testament of Jesus Christ the doctrine and
covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the pearl
of great price. Salt Lake City, UT: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (1985). Doctrine and
Covenants. Salt Lake City, UT: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
Cohn, Norman. (1970). The pursuit of the millennium (first edition,
1957 reprint of the revised and enlarged edition). Oxford, England:
Oxford University Press.
Collier, Kiah. (2011, November 8). Polygamist ex-bishop gets 10-year
sentence for Jeff marriage.” Thomson Reuters. Retrieved from
http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USTRE7A80J020111109
Court told of beatings at church. (1985, June 28). Philadelphia Daily
News, p. 15.
Daner, Francine Jeanne. (1976). The American children of Krishna.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
David, Father [David Berg], &Davidito, Sara. (1979). Sex questions &
answers! Part 1. Family Services presents (pp. 6232–6239) (no. 815
reprinted in David, Father Moses [David Berg], The Mo letters Volume
VII 801–900. Zurich: World Services (1981).
Davis, Deborah [Linda Berg], with Davis, Bill. (1984). The Children of
God: The inside story. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Engelstein, Laura. (1999). Castration and the heavenly kingdom: A
Russian folktale. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Erooga, Marcus, &Helen Masson (Eds.). (1999). Children and young
people who sexually abuse others. London, England: Routledge.
Explosive revelations of founder Berg’s daughter &granddaughter.
‘He raped me when I was still a child.’ (1992, July 30). Translated by
Alpha Omega, Tokyo. Shukan Bunshun, 19 pages.
Family of love. (1988, October). Good News, No. 37.
Feuerstein, Georg. (1991). Holy madness: The shock tactics and radical
teachings of crazy-wise adepts, holy fools, and rascal gurus. New York,
NY: Paragon House.
Fitzgerald, Sandy. (1988, November 11). Krishna Surrenders to police.
Intelligencer (Wheeling, West Virginia), p. 19.
Fogarty, Robert S. (1981). The righteous remnant: The house of David.
Kent, OH: Kent State University Press.
Fontes, Lisa Aronson, (Ed.). (1995). Sexual abuse in nine North
American cultures: Treatment and prevention. London, England: Sage
Publications.
Formanek, Ray, Jr. (1991, March 12). Swami trial witnesses tell of sex
abuse, molestation. News-Register (Wheeling, West Virginia), pp. 1, 6.
Founder of sex-based sect is charged with abuse of girl, 14. (1994,
December 9). Philadelphia Inquirer, p. B10.
Goldwert, Lindsay, &Whitcraft, Teri. (2008, August 14). Child sex
‘cult’ leader freed from prison. ABC News. Retrieved from
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=5575131&page=1#.UMINSn
fNmSo
Goodstein, Laurie. (1998, October 9). Hare Krishna movement details
past abuse at its boarding schools. New York Times, pp. A1, A14.
Haferd, Laura, &Outlaw, William. (1993, February 21). The cult (Out
of the Wilderness). Beacon Journal (Akron, OH), p. 4ff.
Herman, Judith Lewis, with Hirschman, Lisa. (1981). Father-daughter
incest. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Hoffman, Lisa. (1983, February 27). Beatings, sex inflicted on faithful,
6 charge. Miami Herald, pp. 1b, 4b.
