Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2005, Page 11
castration (and several others ―underwent chemical treatments to reduce their sex
drive[s]‖) (Balch and Taylor, 2002:220). Among followers of Rajneesh,
sterilizations were strongly encouraged ...because children were ―a
distraction from the path of meditation‖ and ―very few people had the karma
to have children in this lifetime.‖ If you were here with Bhagwan, why be
distracted from that and go off on a different tack? the reasoning went. The
better choice would be to be with him totally (Strelley, 1987:151-152
emphasis in original).
Hundreds of followers of both sexes underwent sterilization procedures, including a ―few
girls as young as fourteen‖ (Gordon, 1987:83).
Before the sterilizations, many pregnant Rajneeshee women had abortions (Guest,
2004b:30 Strelley with San Souci, 1987:149-150), and Rajneesh was able to ―boast that
not a single child was born in Rajneeshpuram, his sannyasin city in Oregon, USA between
1981 and 1985‖ (Guest 2004b:31). Nor were any children born to members of a deviant,
California-based group called the Center for Feeling Therapy during its ten-year life that
ended in November 1980—a feat achieved through successful therapeutic pressure on
numerous women to abort (Ayella, 1998:28, 15, 73, 86-87 Mithers, 1994:262, 281).
Evidence exists that Scientology transfers women out of its Sea Organization if they go
through with pregnancies, but that pregnant women undergo significant coercion into
getting abortions (Tabayoyon, 1994:para. 7-23). Apparently Scientology claimed that ―the
Sea Org simply did not have the time, money, and resources to raise children properly‖
Tabayoyon, 1994:para.7). In the late 1980s, while doing interviews with former members
who had followed a Canadian sectarian leader named Robin Carlsen, I heard accounts of
numerous abortions that Carlsen himself actively encouraged (Kent [Interviewer], with
Dunston and Dunston [pseudonyms], 1989:8-11). In the late 1970s, the American drug-
treatment-turned religion program, Synanon, initiated a program of vasectomies for all
males who were at least eighteen years old and had been members for at least five years,
in conjunction with abortions for numerous women (Olin1980:251, 265, 273, 275).
Sometimes, in these circumstances, their leaders convinced potential parents that abortion
was best because of their low levels of spirituality or mental health. The fact remains,
however, that these leaders pressured and usually convinced pregnant women that their
fetuses would become hindrances to either the groups‘ goals or the adults‘ quests for
spiritual development.
A related solution to the ―problem‖ of children, especially ones born before parents were
group members, simply was to abandon them, which many parents have done for reasons
similar to those people who aborted used. An unspecified number of women in the Center
for Feeling Therapy gave up their children (Ayella, 1998:86). Likewise, In Ontario, Canada,
five or six mothers who followed the brutal cult leader Roch Theriault chose to remain with
him at the price of losing their children—fourteen in total—to a child-welfare agency in 1985
(Kaihla and Ross, 1993:176, 162). As one former Rajneeshee said, ―‗I made the
abandonment of my children into a moral principle, clothing it in spirituality‘‖ (quoted in
Lattin, 2003:105).
The most vivid account of child abandonment about which I am familiar came from a former
Canadian member of an American group, the Christ Family, whose members believed that
their leader, Jesus Christ Lightning Amen, was the messiah. She had a young son and
daughter whom she brought with her into the group, and not long after joining she was at a
camp with older, more seasoned members. She got into a conversation with an older
―sister‖ who quoted Matthew 10:34 to her: ―He who loves father or mother more than me is
not worthy of me and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me....‖
The older sister continued, saying something like ―You have to choose between Jesus,
castration (and several others ―underwent chemical treatments to reduce their sex
drive[s]‖) (Balch and Taylor, 2002:220). Among followers of Rajneesh,
sterilizations were strongly encouraged ...because children were ―a
distraction from the path of meditation‖ and ―very few people had the karma
to have children in this lifetime.‖ If you were here with Bhagwan, why be
distracted from that and go off on a different tack? the reasoning went. The
better choice would be to be with him totally (Strelley, 1987:151-152
emphasis in original).
Hundreds of followers of both sexes underwent sterilization procedures, including a ―few
girls as young as fourteen‖ (Gordon, 1987:83).
Before the sterilizations, many pregnant Rajneeshee women had abortions (Guest,
2004b:30 Strelley with San Souci, 1987:149-150), and Rajneesh was able to ―boast that
not a single child was born in Rajneeshpuram, his sannyasin city in Oregon, USA between
1981 and 1985‖ (Guest 2004b:31). Nor were any children born to members of a deviant,
California-based group called the Center for Feeling Therapy during its ten-year life that
ended in November 1980—a feat achieved through successful therapeutic pressure on
numerous women to abort (Ayella, 1998:28, 15, 73, 86-87 Mithers, 1994:262, 281).
Evidence exists that Scientology transfers women out of its Sea Organization if they go
through with pregnancies, but that pregnant women undergo significant coercion into
getting abortions (Tabayoyon, 1994:para. 7-23). Apparently Scientology claimed that ―the
Sea Org simply did not have the time, money, and resources to raise children properly‖
Tabayoyon, 1994:para.7). In the late 1980s, while doing interviews with former members
who had followed a Canadian sectarian leader named Robin Carlsen, I heard accounts of
numerous abortions that Carlsen himself actively encouraged (Kent [Interviewer], with
Dunston and Dunston [pseudonyms], 1989:8-11). In the late 1970s, the American drug-
treatment-turned religion program, Synanon, initiated a program of vasectomies for all
males who were at least eighteen years old and had been members for at least five years,
in conjunction with abortions for numerous women (Olin1980:251, 265, 273, 275).
Sometimes, in these circumstances, their leaders convinced potential parents that abortion
was best because of their low levels of spirituality or mental health. The fact remains,
however, that these leaders pressured and usually convinced pregnant women that their
fetuses would become hindrances to either the groups‘ goals or the adults‘ quests for
spiritual development.
A related solution to the ―problem‖ of children, especially ones born before parents were
group members, simply was to abandon them, which many parents have done for reasons
similar to those people who aborted used. An unspecified number of women in the Center
for Feeling Therapy gave up their children (Ayella, 1998:86). Likewise, In Ontario, Canada,
five or six mothers who followed the brutal cult leader Roch Theriault chose to remain with
him at the price of losing their children—fourteen in total—to a child-welfare agency in 1985
(Kaihla and Ross, 1993:176, 162). As one former Rajneeshee said, ―‗I made the
abandonment of my children into a moral principle, clothing it in spirituality‘‖ (quoted in
Lattin, 2003:105).
The most vivid account of child abandonment about which I am familiar came from a former
Canadian member of an American group, the Christ Family, whose members believed that
their leader, Jesus Christ Lightning Amen, was the messiah. She had a young son and
daughter whom she brought with her into the group, and not long after joining she was at a
camp with older, more seasoned members. She got into a conversation with an older
―sister‖ who quoted Matthew 10:34 to her: ―He who loves father or mother more than me is
not worthy of me and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me....‖
The older sister continued, saying something like ―You have to choose between Jesus,
