ISSN: 2710-4028 DOI: https://doi.org/10.54208/0003 11
the abuse as an “affair” (Heimlich, 2011, p. 169)
demonstrating the pastor’s ability to bestow a level of
legitimacy (McGuire, 2008) on his abusive behaviors.
This story highlights a grooming process that went on
for an extended period of time. Having successfully
elevated his religious status in her eyes, he escalated
his advances as he justified and sanctified his actions
by invoking God. Such “moral persuasion” (Shupe,
2007, p. 6) indicates both his religious power and her
obedience to it.
Taylor20andAronson(1995)reportthatthesexualabuse
1 of children in Seventh-day Adventists likely is more
prevalent than one might assume. They identify that
because of the extremely high level of loyalty that this
religion requires, coupled with the focus on forgiveness,
many abused children do not come forward (even
when they reach adulthood). Indeed, they found that
those individuals who did report their abuse to their
pastors were met with a reminder of the importance
of forgiveness to the faith (Taylor &Aronsen, 1995).
Due to the group’s very closed environment and the
fact that the religious community is experienced as
an extended family, victims remain silent (Taylor &
Aronsen, 1995). Compounding this situation, religious
leaders and other Seventh-day Adventist adults instill
complete, unquestioning obedience in children from a
very young age (Taylor &Aronsen, 1995). The family-
like structure (Cartwright and Kent, 1992), deferral
to the absolute authority of male figures at all levels
of the hierarchy (Heimlich, 2001 Shupe, 2007) and
the relative conservatism result in the potential for
abusers to religiously legitimate (McGuire, 2008) their
actions. Taken together, these features of the religious
organization and community contribute significantly
to the ability for offenders to groom already obedient
and compliant children for their sexual advances. The
tight knit nature of the community affords offenders
frequent access to children over an extended period,
allowing them to exploit the religion’s structural
conditions during the grooming process.21
20 Taylor is a Seventh-day Adventist and a therapist.
21 The Seventh-day Adventist website, AdventSource, includes a page
identifying the need for parishioners to be vigilant against sexual abusers,
stating that child sexual abuse is not just a “Catholic problem” (AdventSource,
2019). Given a lack of more recent research, it is impossible to estimate the
extent to which this warning has had any impact. In March 2018, a former
Seventh-day Adventist sued the faith for failing to dismiss one of its pastors
after he had been accused of child sexual abuse. Instead, the pastor was
transferred to lead one of the biggest Adventist congregations in Oregon in
the United States (Shepherd, 2018). Abuse Guardian is an American legal
organization that specializes in assisting victims of sexual abuse. Its website
recounts similar Adventist cases in numerous global settings, indicating
an institutional pattern. Furthermore, it identifies that child sexual abuses
1
4.5. Cult: The Children of God
Emerging in the 1960s, The Children of God (COG
hereafter) headed by leader and prophet David Berg
(1919-1994) offered a profoundly different image of
Jesus. Departing from mainstream Christianity Berg
(who had been a Christian and Missionary Alliance
pastor) proposed a revolutionary Jesus–one that spoke
to the goals and needs of the disenchanted youth of
the American counterculture (Kent, 2001). Despite
requiring chastity in the group’s early incarnation,
Berg developed a belief system over many years that
encouraged open sexual relationships among adults,
among children, and eventually among adults and
children (see Chancellor, 2000 Kent, 1994 Williams
Boeri, 2005). The COG differs from most other religions
because of its focus on “sexual liberation” (Williams
Boeri, 2005, pp. 165-167, 174). The grooming and
abuses of children were open (within the movement)
and actively encouraged.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Berg wrote and
transmitted thousands of publications— known as Mo
Letters—to his followers around the world (most of
whom lived in communal group homes in the United
Kingdom, Europe, Australia, the United States, South
America, the Philippines, and elsewhere). These
illustrated letters contained Berg’s theology on many
subjects including sexual practices. Some publications
documented adult/child and child/child sex in
Berg’s own home, including his sexual abuse of his
granddaughter (Kent, 1994 Lord Justice Ward, 1995
Williams Boeri, 2005). The Mo Letters sanctioning
sexual relationships with children offered followers
legitimations (McGuire, 2008) for these and other
behaviors.
In the Mo Letter, “The Devil Hates Sex, ” Berg (1980)
discusses his incestuous relationship with his daughter,
Deborah (Davis with Davis, 1984, pp. 204, 244). In it,
he includes a dialogue between himself and his adult
lover, Maria, in which they discuss societal taboos
against incest. Maria stated, “‘Well, we’ll just have to
tell the kids that it’s not prohibited by God ...’” (Maria,
quoted in Berg, 1980, p. 7696). Later, Berg added “I
DON’T KNOW WHAT THE HELL AGE HAS GOT
frequently have occurred not only in Adventist communities but
also in Jehovah’s Witnesses, Amish, Mormon, and Hassidic Jewish
groups where a common theme is covering up abuse and a specific
rejection of law enforcement interventions (Abuse Guardian, 2017).
the abuse as an “affair” (Heimlich, 2011, p. 169)
demonstrating the pastor’s ability to bestow a level of
legitimacy (McGuire, 2008) on his abusive behaviors.
This story highlights a grooming process that went on
for an extended period of time. Having successfully
elevated his religious status in her eyes, he escalated
his advances as he justified and sanctified his actions
by invoking God. Such “moral persuasion” (Shupe,
2007, p. 6) indicates both his religious power and her
obedience to it.
Taylor20andAronson(1995)reportthatthesexualabuse
1 of children in Seventh-day Adventists likely is more
prevalent than one might assume. They identify that
because of the extremely high level of loyalty that this
religion requires, coupled with the focus on forgiveness,
many abused children do not come forward (even
when they reach adulthood). Indeed, they found that
those individuals who did report their abuse to their
pastors were met with a reminder of the importance
of forgiveness to the faith (Taylor &Aronsen, 1995).
Due to the group’s very closed environment and the
fact that the religious community is experienced as
an extended family, victims remain silent (Taylor &
Aronsen, 1995). Compounding this situation, religious
leaders and other Seventh-day Adventist adults instill
complete, unquestioning obedience in children from a
very young age (Taylor &Aronsen, 1995). The family-
like structure (Cartwright and Kent, 1992), deferral
to the absolute authority of male figures at all levels
of the hierarchy (Heimlich, 2001 Shupe, 2007) and
the relative conservatism result in the potential for
abusers to religiously legitimate (McGuire, 2008) their
actions. Taken together, these features of the religious
organization and community contribute significantly
to the ability for offenders to groom already obedient
and compliant children for their sexual advances. The
tight knit nature of the community affords offenders
frequent access to children over an extended period,
allowing them to exploit the religion’s structural
conditions during the grooming process.21
20 Taylor is a Seventh-day Adventist and a therapist.
21 The Seventh-day Adventist website, AdventSource, includes a page
identifying the need for parishioners to be vigilant against sexual abusers,
stating that child sexual abuse is not just a “Catholic problem” (AdventSource,
2019). Given a lack of more recent research, it is impossible to estimate the
extent to which this warning has had any impact. In March 2018, a former
Seventh-day Adventist sued the faith for failing to dismiss one of its pastors
after he had been accused of child sexual abuse. Instead, the pastor was
transferred to lead one of the biggest Adventist congregations in Oregon in
the United States (Shepherd, 2018). Abuse Guardian is an American legal
organization that specializes in assisting victims of sexual abuse. Its website
recounts similar Adventist cases in numerous global settings, indicating
an institutional pattern. Furthermore, it identifies that child sexual abuses
1
4.5. Cult: The Children of God
Emerging in the 1960s, The Children of God (COG
hereafter) headed by leader and prophet David Berg
(1919-1994) offered a profoundly different image of
Jesus. Departing from mainstream Christianity Berg
(who had been a Christian and Missionary Alliance
pastor) proposed a revolutionary Jesus–one that spoke
to the goals and needs of the disenchanted youth of
the American counterculture (Kent, 2001). Despite
requiring chastity in the group’s early incarnation,
Berg developed a belief system over many years that
encouraged open sexual relationships among adults,
among children, and eventually among adults and
children (see Chancellor, 2000 Kent, 1994 Williams
Boeri, 2005). The COG differs from most other religions
because of its focus on “sexual liberation” (Williams
Boeri, 2005, pp. 165-167, 174). The grooming and
abuses of children were open (within the movement)
and actively encouraged.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Berg wrote and
transmitted thousands of publications— known as Mo
Letters—to his followers around the world (most of
whom lived in communal group homes in the United
Kingdom, Europe, Australia, the United States, South
America, the Philippines, and elsewhere). These
illustrated letters contained Berg’s theology on many
subjects including sexual practices. Some publications
documented adult/child and child/child sex in
Berg’s own home, including his sexual abuse of his
granddaughter (Kent, 1994 Lord Justice Ward, 1995
Williams Boeri, 2005). The Mo Letters sanctioning
sexual relationships with children offered followers
legitimations (McGuire, 2008) for these and other
behaviors.
In the Mo Letter, “The Devil Hates Sex, ” Berg (1980)
discusses his incestuous relationship with his daughter,
Deborah (Davis with Davis, 1984, pp. 204, 244). In it,
he includes a dialogue between himself and his adult
lover, Maria, in which they discuss societal taboos
against incest. Maria stated, “‘Well, we’ll just have to
tell the kids that it’s not prohibited by God ...’” (Maria,
quoted in Berg, 1980, p. 7696). Later, Berg added “I
DON’T KNOW WHAT THE HELL AGE HAS GOT
frequently have occurred not only in Adventist communities but
also in Jehovah’s Witnesses, Amish, Mormon, and Hassidic Jewish
groups where a common theme is covering up abuse and a specific
rejection of law enforcement interventions (Abuse Guardian, 2017).
