Jesus Freaks
Page 24
Author’s Note on the “Mo Letters”
DAVID “MOSES” BERG released hundreds of missives known as “Mo Letters” between 1969 and his death in 1994. Many of them were based on edited audiotapes of lectures and conversations with his leading disciples. Berg continued to issue communiqués from the grave via Family members who purported to receive posthumous revelations from the Endtime Prophet. Some of the Mo Letters were secret, private communiqués only meant to be seen by top leaders in The Family. Others were intended for distribution to the general public. They were published and reprinted both individually and in various formats and collections over the years.
Family leaders later attempted to destroy all copies of certain controversial letters or expunge objectionable material from them. Early letters were not numbered, and the numbering system in later years was not always consistent.
My research was based on original Mo Letters saved by early devotees, reprints issued by The Family, and a bound collection of original letters found in the rare books collection of the Graduate Theological Union library in Berkeley, California. (The volume containing the most controversial letters had been stolen from the library.)
In recent years, many Mo Letters have been posted on various Web sites run by The Family (www.thefamily.org/ourfounder/ourfounder.htm) and critics of The Family (www.xfamily.org/index.php/Mo_Letters). Whenever possible, I attempted to check the text against the earliest available version of the letter.
Notes
INTRODUCTION
1. David Brandt Berg, 22 December 1973, Mo Letter #286.
2. Berg, 20 May 1980, Mo Letter #999.
3. Berg, Mo Letter #999.
4. Berg, 27 March 1973, Mo Letter #258.
5. Jonathan Kirsch, A History of the End of the World (2006), 245.
6. Spencer Klaw, Without Sin (1993), 11, 16, 58.
7. Berg, December 1982, Mo Letter #1357.
8. Jon Krakauer, Under the Banner of Heaven (2003), xxiii.
9. Todd Compton, In Sacred Loneliness (1997), 11. 10. Richard and Joan Ostling, Mormon America (1999), 14–18. 11. Don Lattin, Following Our Bliss (2003). 12. Don Lattin, “Children of a Lesser God,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 11–14, 2001, A1.
CHAPTER 1: REVENGE OF THE SAVIOR
1. Boondock Saints, directed by Troy Duffy (Indican, 1999).
2. Ricky Rodriguez, videotape, 7 January 2005, Tucson, Arizona.
CHAPTER 2: MAMA BERG
1. David Berg, 12 January 1982, Mo Letter #1350.
2. Virginia Brandt Berg, “From Deathbed to Pulpit,” in Deborah Davis with Bill Davis, The Children of God (1984).
3. Virginia Brandt Berg, Letter to Clara Duncan (Spring 1919; reprint 1980, Mo Letter #884).
4. “Stuns Woman Preacher: Missile Thrown Through Window in Miami, Hits Mrs. Berg,” New York Times, July 25, 1926.
5. Berg, 28 June 1977, Mo Letter #779.
6. Berg, Mo Letter #779.
7. Berg, 6 December 1980, Mo Letter #958.
8. Berg, 6 November 1982, Mo Letter #1535.
9. Berg, Diary (1941; reprint Good News! and Mo Letter #1716).
10. Reverend Charlie Dale, interview by the author, 2005.
11. Berg, Christmas 1948, Fundraising letter.
12. Betty Findley, interview by the author, 2005.
13. Berg, Fundraising letter.
14. Deborah Davis with Bill Davis, The Children of God (1984), 24.
15. Davis and Davis, Children of God, 28.
16. Davis and Davis, Children of God, 29.
17. Lord Justice Alan Ward, “The Judgement of Lord Justice Ward on the 26th May 1995” (October 1995), 33.
18. Davis and Davis, Children of God, 24.
CHAPTER 3: JESUS FREAKS
1. Kent Philpott, interview by the author, 2006.
2. Ronald M. Enroth, Edward E. Ericson Jr, and C. Breckinridge Peters, The Story of the Jesus People (1972), 103.
3. Chuck Smith, “History of Calvary Chapel,” Last Times (Fall 1981).
4. Smith, “History of Calvary Chapel.”
5. David Berg officiated at the marriage of his daughter, Faithy, to Arnold “Joshua” Dietrich in Orlando, Florida on February 28, 1967. Later that year, on November 26, Berg performed a double marriage ceremony at the Texas Soul Clinic ranch joining his son, Aaron, to Sara, the fifteen-year-old daughter of Mary Glassford, an early Berg supporter. In that same service, Art “Caleb” Dietrich was betrothed to Claudia, one of the first members of the Teens for Christ. By then, Deborah Berg was already married to John “Jethro” Treadwell. 6. David Hoyt, interview by the author, 2005.
CHAPTER 4: GOSPEL OF REBELLION
1. Christian and Missionary Alliance, Alliance Witness (April 14, 1968), 18.
2. Berg, “Hear the Teens for Christ,” Handbill, 1967.
3. Berg, 8 March, 1970, Mo Letter “E.”
4. Pamela Powell, “Hippies ‘See the Light.’ Huntington Ceremony ‘As Good as Marriage,’” Daily Pilot (1968).
5. Thomas Edwards, “Hippies Suffer Sermon for Feed-In,” Huntington Beach Haven, (1968).
6. Berg, 29 December 1979, Mo Letter #897.
7. Shula Berg, interview by the author, 2006.
8. Berg, 4 January 1978, Mo Letter #1358.
9. Berg, Mo Letter “E.”
10. Berg, Mo Letter #1358.
11. Rosemary Kanspedos, interview by the author, 2006.
12. Berg, Mo Letter #1358.
13. Berg, Mo Letter #1358.
14. Kanspedos, interview.
15. Berg, Mo Letter #1358.
16. Berg, Mo Letter #1358.
17. Berg, August 1969, Mo Letter #89.
18. Berg, 11 April 1975, Mo Letter #381.
19. Anonymous, interview by the author, 2005.
20. David Hoyt, interview by the author, 2006.
21. Philpott, interview.
22. Virginia Brandt Berg, “A Sample, Not a Sermon” (reprinted in Letters from a Shepherd, 1972), 1.
23. Ted Patrick, Let Our Children Go! (1976).
24. Berg, 1 November 1971, Mo Letter #125.
CHAPTER 5: FAMILY CIRCUS
1. Shula Berg, interview.
2. Shula Berg, interview.
3. Hosea Berg, “The Pioneering of North America,” Book of Remembrance (1983).
4. Herbert J. Wallenstein, Final Report on the Activities of the Children of God (1974).
5. Thomas Moore, “Where Have All the Children of God Gone?” New Times, October 4, 1974.
6. Moore, “Where Have All the Children of God Gone?”
7. Shula Berg, interview.
8. For much of his life, the Endtime Prophet was known as Mo (short for “Moses”) Berg. Later in the seventies, his letters were used as an initial recruitment tactic, but only some of them were made available to the general public. Others—including some of the most shocking letters—were marked “D.O.,” meaning they were to be seen by trusted “disciples only.” Eventually, The Family would publish and distribute more than 3,000 Mo Letters.
9. Jim LaMattery, Stealing God (unpublished novel).
10. Shula Berg, interview.
11. Berg, May 1973, Mo Letter #234.
CHAPTER 6: MY LITTLE FISH
1. Sara Davidito, The Story of Davidito (1982), 25.
2. Rev. 11: 3–13.
3. Davidito, The Story of Davidito, 47.
4. Davidito, The Story of Davidito, 33.
5. Berg, 5 June 1978, Mo Letter #699.
6. Anonymous, interview by the author, 2005.
7. Lattin, “Children of a Lesser God.”
8. Davidito, The Story of Davidito, 57.
9. Davidito, The Story of Davidito, 38.
10. Davidito, The Story of Davidito, 108.
11. Davidito, The Story of Davidito, 138.
12. Davidito, The Story of Davidito, 335.
13. Davidito, The Story of Davidito, 200.
14. Davidito, The Story of Davidito, 302.
15. Berg, 27 March 1973, M
o Letter #258.
16. Berg, Mo Letter #258.
17. Bernd Doerler, “Sie betteln und beten für einen Mann den sie nicht kennen,” Stern no. 287 (July 1977), 14–21.
18. Doerler, “Sie betteln und beten für einen Mann den sie nicht kennen,” 14–21.
19. Davidito, The Story of Davidito, 393.
20. Davidito, The Story of Davidito, 411.
21. Davidito, The Story of Davidito, 426.
22. Davidito, The Story of Davidito, 426.
23. Anonymous, interview by the author, 2006.
24. Anonymous, interview, 2006.
25. Davida Kelley, interview by the author, 2005.
26. Davidito, The Story of Davidito, 709.
27. Davida Kelley, interview.
CHAPTER 7: TEEN TERROR
1. Daniel 5: 25.
2. Sweeney was known in The Family as “Timothy Concerned.” He died of cancer in the early nineties.
3. Joseph Hopkins, “Children of God Cult Records Higher Numbers,” Christianity Today (November 26, 1982).
4. Ricky Rodriguez, 4 June 2002, “Life with Grandpa—the Mene Story.”
5. Ward, “The Judgement of Lord Justice Ward” (October 1995), 48.
6. Don Irwin, interview by the author, 2005.
7. Berg, March 1987, Mo Letter #2306.
8. Ward, “The Judgement of Lord Justice Ward,” 51.
9. Ward, “The Judgement of Lord Justice Ward,” 66.
10. Ward, “The Judgement of Lord Justice Ward,” 67.
11. Ward, “The Judgement of Lord Justice Ward,” 68.
12. Karen Zerby, “False Accusers in the Last Days!” 1992.
13. James Penn, “No Regrets, Why I Left The Family—February 2000.”
14. Davida Kelley, interview.
15. Davida Kelley, interview.
16. Davida Kelley, interview.
17. Daniel Roselle, interview by the author, 2005.
18. Roselle, interview.
19. Celeste Jones, interview by the author, 2005.
20. Berg, 1988, Mo Letter #2525.
21. Irwin, interview.
22. Rodriguez, “Life with Grandpa—the Mene Story.”
CHAPTER 8: JOY
1. Angela Smith, Memorial Web Site, 2005.
2. John Kauten, interview by author, 2005.
3. Anneke Schieberl, interview by author, 2006.
4. Berg, 18 November 1978, Mo Letter #1673.
5. Berg, Mo Letter #1673.
6. Berg, 30 October 1981, Mo Letter #1841.
7. Anonymous, interview by the author, 2005.
8. Berg, 3 February 1977, Mo Letter #619.
9. Berg, Mo Letter #1673.
10. Davidito, The Story of Davidito, 681.
11. Rodriguez, “Life with Grandpa—the Mene Story.”
12. Kauten, interview.
CHAPTER 9: EXPERT WITNESS
1. David Millikan, interview by the author, 2006.
2. James R. Lewis and J. Gordon Melton, Sex, Slander, and Salvation (1994), 246–47.
3. Ed Priebe, “My Apology and Accounting,” 4 April 2004.
4. Gary Shepherd, interview by the author, 2006.
5. Lewis and Melton, Sex, Slander, and Salvation (1994), 50.
6. Carol Buening, “Critical Commentary on ‘Psychological Assessment of Children in The Family’” (December 2003). 7. Melton, interview by the author, 2005.
8. Lewis and Melton, Sex, Slander, and Salvation, 4.
9. Lewis and Melton, Sex, Slander, and Salvation, 25.
10. Ward, “The Judgement of Lord Justice Ward,” 118, 122.
11. Peter Amsterdam, Good News! #653 (October 1995).
12. Amsterdam, Good News! #653.
13. Amsterdam, Good News! #653.
14. The Family, “Our Founder: David Brandt Berg,” http://www.thefamily.org/about/davidberg.php.
CHAPTER 10: ELIXCIA
1. Elixcia Munumel, interview by the author, 2005.
2. Michael “Tiago” Rugely, interview by the author, 2005.
CHAPTER 11: LOVING JESUS
1. Amsterdam, Good News! #653.
2. Karen Zerby, June 2005, Good News! #1137.
3. Penn, “No Regrets,” 18.
4. Zerby, Good News! #1137.
5. Karen Zerby, 5 July 1995, Maria Letters #306 and #307.
6. Millikan, interview.
CHAPTER 12: MOVING ON
1. Jonathan Thompson, interview by the author, 2005.
2. Don Lattin, “IRS Documents Show Ties Between Charity, Sex Cult,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 6, 2005.
3. Lattin, “IRS Documents Show Ties Between Charity, Sex Cult.”
4. Lattin, “IRS Documents Show Ties Between Charity, Sex Cult.”
5. Millikan, interview.
6. Karen Martin, Juvenile Dependency Petition, San Diego County Superior Court, March 5, 1998.
7. Jim LaMattery, interview by the author, 2005.
8. Don Lattin, “Mixed Memories of ‘The Family,’” San Francisco Chronicle, February 27, 2005, A1.
9. Lattin, “Mixed Memories of ‘The Family.’”
10. Karen Martin, Juvenile Dependency Petition, 5 March 1998.
11. Celeste Jones, interview by the author, 2006.
12. Rodriguez, 14 August 2004, “Still Around.”
13. Rodriguez, 29 May 2000, Letter to Karen Zerby and Peter Amsterdam.
14. Rodriguez, 26 November 2000, Letter to Gabe Martin.
15. Rodriguez, 22 December 2000, Letter to James Penn.
16. Rodriguez, 16 January 2002, Letter to Mom and Peter.
17. Rodriguez, Letter to Mom and Peter.
18. Rodriguez, 25 May 2002, “Gospel of Rebellion.”
19. Rodriguez, “Life with Grandpa—the Mene Story.”
20. Anonymous, interview by the author, 2005.
21. Irwin, interview.
22. Sara Martin, interview by the author, 2005.
23. Rodriguez, May 2002, “E-mail to Johnny.”
24. Martin, interview.
25. Jennifer Schroeder, interview by the author, 2005.
26. Rodriguez, “Life with Grandpa—the Mene Story.”
27. Rodriguez, “Still Around.”
28. Anneke Schieberl, interview by the author, 2006.
29. Roselle, interview.
CHAPTER 13: INTO THE DESERT
1. Rosemary Kanspedos, interview by the author, 2005.
2. Denise Flynn, interview by the author, 2005.
CHAPTER 14: LAST DATE
1. Alisia Arvizu, interview by the author, 2005.
CHAPTER 15: LOST
1. Rugely, interview.
2. Sarafina Martin, 15 January 2005, “Ricky’s Last Days.”
CHAPTER 16: “COME DIE WITH ME”
1. Don Lattin, “Rage Turns to Vengeance Against ‘Family,’” San Francisco Chronicle, January, 15, 2005, A1.
2. Nick Godwin and Sorrel May, “Cult Killer,” British television documentary, August 2006.
CHAPTER 17: END OF THE ROAD
1. Jeff Wade, interview by the author, 2005.
2. Munumel, interview.
3. Rugely, interview.
CHAPTER 18: RICKY.COM
1. Steve Zeitchik, “Slamdance Screening Ends in Melee: Fracas Follows Cult Film ‘Children of God,’” Variety (January 24, 2007).
2. Noah Thomson, interview by the author, 2005.
3. Christina “Techi” Sweeney, e-mail correspondence to the author, 2005.
4. Jon A., “Peter Amsterdam’s Son Speaks Out,” myconclusion.com, January 28, 2005.
5. Lattin, “Mixed Memories of ‘The Family,” A1.
6. Don Lattin, “Deaths in The Family,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 27, 2005, A1.
7. Lattin, “Deaths in The Family,” A1.
8. Yumiko Taniguchi, “Notice of My Son Abe’s Graduation,” 2006.
9. Lattin, “Deaths in The Family,” A1.
10. Lattin, “Deaths in The Family,” A1.
CONCLUSION<
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1. Zerby, June 2005, Good News! #1137.
2. Gary Shepherd, interview transcript from The Family, 2005.
3. Titus 1: 15
4. Millikan, interview.
5. Stephen A. Kent, “Lustful Prophet: A Psychosexual Historical Study of the Children of God’s Leader, David Berg,” Cultic Studies Journal 11, no. 2 (1994; reprint 2000): 135–188.
6. Berg, March 1987, Mo Letter #2306.
7. Don Irwin, 26 March, 2005, Eulogy for Ricky Rodriguez.
Bibliography
Amsterdam, Peter. Good News! #653. Zurich: The Family, October 1995.
Bainbridge, William Sims. The Endtime Family: Children of God. Albany: State Univ. of New York Press, 2002.
Berg, David Brandt. Diary. 1941. Reprinted as “The War Year? A Turning Point!” Mo Letter #1716. The Family, 1998.
———. “Joyous New Year’s Greeting to You in His Name!” Fundraising letter. Christmas 1948.
———. “Hear the Teens for Christ.” Handbill. 1967.
———. “Prophecy at Laurentide.” Mo Letter #89. The Children of God, August 1969.
———. “The Old Church and the New Church—A Prophecy of God-Mo.” The Children of God, 16 August 1969.
———. “Who Are the Rebels?” Mo Letter “E,” 8 March 1970.
———. “Persecution.” Mo Letter #125, 1 November 1971.
———. “Revolutionary Sex.” Mo Letter #258, 27 March 1973.
———. “Aaron on the Mountain.” Mo Letter #234, May 1973.
———. “Come On Ma! Burn Your Bra!” Mo Letter #286, 22 December 1973.
———. “The Last American Nightmare.” Mo Letter #381, 11 April 1975.
———. “My Childhood Sex! Doin’ What Comes Naturally.” Mo Letter #779, 28 June 1977.
———. “Prophecy for Davidito. Two Years Old.” Mo Letter #619, 3 February 1977.
———. “Our Love Story!” Mo Letter #1358, 4 January 1978.
———. “The End-Time Witnesses!” Mo Letter #707, 2 May 1978.
———. “You Are the Love of God.” Mo Letter #699, 5 June 1978.
———. “Bigger Jobs! Dad Talks to His Staff.” Mo Letter #1673, 18 November 1978.
———. “Millions of Miles of Miracles.” Mo Letter #897, 29 December 1979.
———. “The Devil Hates Sex!—But God Loves It!” Mo Letter #999, 20 May 1980.
———. “Happy Daze!” Mo Letter #958, 6 December 1980.