Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2005, Page 30
(Paolini and Paolini, 2000: 73). The average member of the group subsisted on rice and
vegetables while expending a significant amount of energy working at church-run
businesses or on communal projects. Ironically, Prophet could afford her own delicacies,
but she forbade the same luxuries for her followers.
Prophet epitomizes the over-bearing ideological group leader likened to the anorexic. She
desired her followers‘ complete obedience so fervently that she used dietary restrictions in
an attempt to control her followers pervasively. In this case, as in other ideological groups,
Prophet‘s followers were her body and she was the anorectic who used dietary restrictions
to control it.
Rama Behera appears to be a striking example of another ideological leader who directly
imposes dietary measures and restrictions upon his followers. Behera leads a small Bible-
based congregation called the Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ in the town of Shawano,
Minnesota (Blum, 1982). In recent years, several members have left the group, and they
have reported very intense food restrictions as well as mass enforced binges.8 According to
former member Eugene Baugh, most group members fasted for the majority of the working
week. Baugh recounts the difficulty that he experienced during one particularly severe fast:
This [instruction from Behera] meant no food whatsoever during the term of
the fast. Initially fruit juices were allowed. Some of the brethren then took
to drinking large amounts of fruit juices. When Rama learned of this he
proscribed juices too. Being that we had no money to buy juice in the first
place we went without nourishment of any kind for three days. I would often
keel over and black out. This was ascribed to a demonic attack (Baugh,
2000: 41, emphasis added).
It is interesting to note that Baugh‘s physiological reaction, most likely brought on by
fasting and lack of adequate nutrition, was misattributed to a spiritual cause.
On weekends Behera held large feasts where he required every member to consume large
quantities of East Indian cuisine. Behera allegedly insisted that members consume every
morsel of food that he provided to them. After fasting all week, however, some members
were physically unable to eat the mass quantity of food that Behera forced upon them on
the weekends (Elina Lane, 2001: 3 Elliot Lane, 2001: 5). Former member Elina Lane
recounted her diet during her childhood in Behera‘s group:
Another deprivation I went through was food. Or rather lack of control of [food]. Rama
would make us fast all weekend, and then stuff us with more than we could handle in one
meal. We would work all day, then go to another meeting, and then work some more.
Finally Rama would feed us breakfast, lunch, and supper all at one meal. He would give us
these quart size bowls of soup to shove down our throats. At first, it was great. But soon
we became stuffed. Yet, we still had to keep eating whatever was left in our bowls. Not
only that, but we also had to finish off a loaf of bread along with that (Elina Lane, 2001: 3).
Reportedly, many group members vomited in reaction to consuming large quantities of food
in a short time, after which Behera reputedly forced them to eat their own vomit (Giese,
2001: 1). At first one may think that these ‗binge eating‘ events on weekends are analogous
to the activities of bulimics. Typically, however, bulimics purge themselves (Buckroyd,
1996: 20), while Behera‘s followers purged involuntarily. If, however, one were to conceive
of Behera‘s adherents as his ‗body‘ of followers, then the analogy with bulimia becomes
stronger.
On some occasions, Behera supposedly enforced a diet of bread and chili hot sauce, where
he required members to consume only bread and extremely hot chili sauce or chili sauce
and raw eggs (Giese, 2001: 2-3 Thorpe, 2001: 4). On others, Behera apparently obligated
members to eat huge quantities of food in one seating, sometimes feeding them large
(Paolini and Paolini, 2000: 73). The average member of the group subsisted on rice and
vegetables while expending a significant amount of energy working at church-run
businesses or on communal projects. Ironically, Prophet could afford her own delicacies,
but she forbade the same luxuries for her followers.
Prophet epitomizes the over-bearing ideological group leader likened to the anorexic. She
desired her followers‘ complete obedience so fervently that she used dietary restrictions in
an attempt to control her followers pervasively. In this case, as in other ideological groups,
Prophet‘s followers were her body and she was the anorectic who used dietary restrictions
to control it.
Rama Behera appears to be a striking example of another ideological leader who directly
imposes dietary measures and restrictions upon his followers. Behera leads a small Bible-
based congregation called the Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ in the town of Shawano,
Minnesota (Blum, 1982). In recent years, several members have left the group, and they
have reported very intense food restrictions as well as mass enforced binges.8 According to
former member Eugene Baugh, most group members fasted for the majority of the working
week. Baugh recounts the difficulty that he experienced during one particularly severe fast:
This [instruction from Behera] meant no food whatsoever during the term of
the fast. Initially fruit juices were allowed. Some of the brethren then took
to drinking large amounts of fruit juices. When Rama learned of this he
proscribed juices too. Being that we had no money to buy juice in the first
place we went without nourishment of any kind for three days. I would often
keel over and black out. This was ascribed to a demonic attack (Baugh,
2000: 41, emphasis added).
It is interesting to note that Baugh‘s physiological reaction, most likely brought on by
fasting and lack of adequate nutrition, was misattributed to a spiritual cause.
On weekends Behera held large feasts where he required every member to consume large
quantities of East Indian cuisine. Behera allegedly insisted that members consume every
morsel of food that he provided to them. After fasting all week, however, some members
were physically unable to eat the mass quantity of food that Behera forced upon them on
the weekends (Elina Lane, 2001: 3 Elliot Lane, 2001: 5). Former member Elina Lane
recounted her diet during her childhood in Behera‘s group:
Another deprivation I went through was food. Or rather lack of control of [food]. Rama
would make us fast all weekend, and then stuff us with more than we could handle in one
meal. We would work all day, then go to another meeting, and then work some more.
Finally Rama would feed us breakfast, lunch, and supper all at one meal. He would give us
these quart size bowls of soup to shove down our throats. At first, it was great. But soon
we became stuffed. Yet, we still had to keep eating whatever was left in our bowls. Not
only that, but we also had to finish off a loaf of bread along with that (Elina Lane, 2001: 3).
Reportedly, many group members vomited in reaction to consuming large quantities of food
in a short time, after which Behera reputedly forced them to eat their own vomit (Giese,
2001: 1). At first one may think that these ‗binge eating‘ events on weekends are analogous
to the activities of bulimics. Typically, however, bulimics purge themselves (Buckroyd,
1996: 20), while Behera‘s followers purged involuntarily. If, however, one were to conceive
of Behera‘s adherents as his ‗body‘ of followers, then the analogy with bulimia becomes
stronger.
On some occasions, Behera supposedly enforced a diet of bread and chili hot sauce, where
he required members to consume only bread and extremely hot chili sauce or chili sauce
and raw eggs (Giese, 2001: 2-3 Thorpe, 2001: 4). On others, Behera apparently obligated
members to eat huge quantities of food in one seating, sometimes feeding them large
