Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 3, Nos. 2 &3, 2004, Page 108
Branch Davidians/Koresh/Waco
Video Game Based on Waco Disaster
The new video game ―Waco Resurrection,‖ a 3-D version of the 1993 tragedy that creators
call a documentary, allows players to use their joysticks to experience the event. In the
game, leader David Koresh ―can run, jump, shoot, and hide. ..players have special
weapons they use to energize themselves. Koresh‘s energy comes from massive Bibles that
rain from the sky. Those Bibles also rain bullets and turn federal agents into [Branch]
Davidian followers.‖ The game is one example of a new genre that includes Palestinian,
Israeli, and Islamic ―political unrest‖ games.
Branch Davidian survivor David Thibodeau says: ―It‘s not a game. What happened there
was real and real people died.‖ (Jeff Douglas, Kansas City Star, Internet, 7/5/04)
Brother Julius
Late Leader’s Followers Surface
Followers of the late Julius Schaknow [Brother Julius], the self-proclaimed ―sinful
messiah‖ who settled former followers‘ sexual abuse cases against him out of court, have
been visiting Fairfield, CT-area Christian and Jewish clergy, sometimes disrupting services
with verbal abuse. According to one minister, the visitors deliver a ―harangue‖ about how
their way must be followed in order to achieve salvation. (Chris Clarimiello, Fairfield
Minuteman, Internet, 4/22/04)
Casa by the Sea, Casa La Esperanza, Genesis.
Mexican Authorities Shut Down Rehab Centers
Mexican authorities have shut down three private U.S.-owned rehabilitation centers in Baja
California that try to reform teenagers who have drug addictions and behavioral problems.
Officials acted on complaints and reports that the youth were being physically and
emotionally abused at Casa by the Sea, Casa La Esperanza, and Genesis. (Sandra
Dibble and Anna Cerley, San Diego Union-Tribune, Internet, 9/11/04)
Child Abuse
Claims Freedom of Religion Allows Marriage to Children
An unidentified 52-year-old man in Montreal is being prosecuted for child abuse because of
his self-proclaimed marriage to a 10-year old girl five years ago. The prosecution says he
used his position as founder of an evangelical Christian sect that ministered to the homeless
to abuse the daughter of a down-and-out-follower whom he helped land a job and regain
custody of her kids when they were eight and six. He allegedly continued to help her,
sometimes paying electricity and phone bills, even keeping the children on weekends,
financing their dental care, taking the whole family on vacation, and attending parent-
teacher meetings at school while their mother worked long hours.
The defendant argues that he is innocent of the charges thanks to freedom of religion and
his marital rights. He refuses to say whether he consummated the marriage, declaring only:
―If you‘re married you have the right. It‘s like I‘m being charged with breaking and entering
my own home.‖ He adds that he believes the mother is being pressured into testifying
against him, and that they are threatening her with loss of the children if she doesn‘t. She
says she only heard about the ―marriage‖ from the police, and was shocked. (Allison Hanes,
The Gazette, Internet, 8/19/04)

Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 3, Nos. 2 &3, 2004, Page 109
Children of God
HBO Developing Documentary
HBO is developing a documentary on the Children of God, the international cultic group
prominent in the 1970s and 1980s — and still operating — accused of virtual enslavement
of women and children, prostitution, polygamy, rape, sexual abuse of children, and incest.
The co-producer is former member Noah Farr, who has spent many years helping his
siblings and second generation members escape the group. (Nellie Andreeva, Reuters in
Hollywood Reporter, Internet, 4/26/04)
Children, Now Grown, Tell of Raid Experience
Several young adults who grew up in the Children of God (COG, now called The Family),
some of whom are still associated with the communal organization as missionaries, recently
recounted their traumatic experience of 1992 police raids in the Australian states of Victoria
and New South Wales that took 128 children from six COG communities into temporary
custody.
COG was then infamous for sexual ―sharing‖ among couples, and literature which authorities
said was ―pervaded by lascivious and prurient obsession with matters sexual, with a
particular emphasis on young boys and pubertal girls.‖ COG was known for its ―flirty
fishing‖ doctrine, which encouraged female members to win recruits by offering sex. The
young adults say these COG sexual attitudes and practices may have characterized the
group in the 1960s, yet they saw none of it, having been born in the 1970s. But the director
of Community Services Victoria, referring apparently to the group‘s literature, said in 1992:
―These children appear to be being raised according to a number of norms and doctrines
which threaten long-term psychological damage and incapacity to perform as ordinary
members of adult society.‖
One of those taken in the raids as a youngster says the children were strip-searched for
signs of sexual abuse and asked whether they had had sexual contact with their parents or
other adults. He adds: ―They‘d ask: ‗Have your parents touched you?‘ And the kids are, like,
‗Yes.‘ What kind of question‘s that? And these guys are writing it down like its evidence.‖
Another says authorities asked her two-year-old sister what she was drawing on a slate.
―Are you drawing a man?‖ ‗Yes.‘ What kind of man? ‗Just a man man.‘ What else goes on
the man? And she‘s, like, ‗Er, eyes?‘ No, what else goes on the man? ‗Hands?‘ No, what else
...‘ It was stop, leave her alone.‖ The children were all released back to their parents after
a week in custody, although the court case to decide their ultimate fate, and the media
frenzy surrounding it, further traumatized them.
Today, the now grown up children say they were treated with suspicion for years because of
their association with The Family. One recalls her singing group being ushered out the back
door of a hospital in which they were performing when the heads of the institution found out
they were connected to The Family. ―They didn‘t want us to have any contact with the
children in the hospital. ..as if we were going to infect them.‖
In the years after the raid, said one, ―My brothers and sisters started wetting their beds.
When cars would come up the driveway, kids would run.‖ Many had nightmares, fear of the
future, and a loss of trust for authority figures. Many who tried life outside the group
returned, seeking a haven. (Peter Wilmoth, The Sunday Age, Internet, 5/9/04)
Children of Thunder
Found Sane in Murderous “War Against Satan”
A Contra Costa County, CA, jury has found Justin Alan Helzer [a member of the Children of
Thunder] sane following his recent conviction on murder and extortion charges. It was