A documentary on the Children of God can be
found on Netflix, under the same name. As a result of the documentary
containing graphic content only intended for mature audiences, I will provide a
short synopsis rather than any clips from the documentary itself. Before
getting into the synopsis, some background information is necessary.
(Photo: xFamily.org)
The Children of God (COD) cult operated in
communes, hitting a peak of 130 in the year 1972, and spreading through many
countries ("History -TFI", 2019). While the name of the cult was, Children of God, for the
main subjects of the documentary, it has gone under other names such as:
"Teens for Christ", "Family of Love", "The
Family", and currently "The Family International.” Likewise, David
Berg founder of the Children of God (1968), was known by various names such as:
"Moses David", "Father David", and "Grandpa". His
whereabouts after being the leader of this group were held very secret as he
communicated with his followers through written letters, called Mo
Letters. These letters were of comic book style, acting as both a means of
control and indoctrination of his group members; every detail of how the
members should live was outlined in these letters. For example, the letters
contained instructions for the most basic daily choices such as the amount of
coffee or tea to be consumed in a day, what types of clothing to wear, and even
incredible detail on proper procedure when wiping one’s anus post bowel
movement. Something else that was heavily emphasized in these letters was the requirement on having an open marriage. In addition, to the extreme daily regulations previously
mentioned, the letters were heavily saturated with eschatological themes—an
emphasis upon the “End Times,” or the end of the world when Jesus Christ would
return to Earth. Berg made bold claims in regard to the “end times,” going so
far as to forecast the specific date of Jesus’ return for which the cult
members to actively prepare for.
David Berg as a lion, writing the Mo Letters (Photo: xFamily.org)
Sylvia Gordon, one of the main subjects in this
documentary, and her husband, had a positive interaction with the group in
their younger years, which acted as the catalyst for their deep involvement in
the cult. Sylvia, her spouse, and their two daughters picked up everything they
had in England and moved to Costa Rica for the mission of the Children of God
to “capture it [Costa Rica] for Jesus”—this was convenient, as Sylvia’s husband
was originally from Costa Rica (Smithson, 1994). Sylvia explained that her primary
motivation for joint the COD was to give her children the best Christian group
experience possible. Unfortunately, hind sight is 20/20. Sylvia now realizes
that her family's time in the COD subjected them to immense trauma. Their traumatic
experiences in the cult will be further described as we look into the social
psychological concepts that Sylvia made contact with while being a member of
the COD.
While Sylvia was
reflecting on her 18-year experience inside the cult, it was clear that she had
been manipulated, taken advantage of, and influenced to make decisions that she
would never have made on her own. Although this documentary is solely about
Sylvia and her daughters’ experiences, it can be inferred that these feelings
are shared by people that have also left the COD. The social psychological concepts
that have been discussed in class in reference to the principle of Conformity,
were immediately recognizable to me as Sylvia describes her experiences in the
documentary. Everyone in the group consistently shared opinions, perceptions,
and behaviors, regardless of geographic location. Collectivism in the COD was
also very prevalent as the members were perfectly content putting their own
desires to the side in order to spur on the forward momentum of the COD. Two
other factors that the COD used in order to gain member collectivism and
conformity would be information and normative influence. The definitions for
these terms are found below:
Information Influence: influence that produces conformity when a
person believes others are correct in their judgments (Kassin, 2016).
Normative Influence: influence that produces conformity when a person
fears the negative social consequences of appearing deviant (Kassin, 2016)
Specific examples of
how the COD used information and normative influence are widespread throughout
the film. The use of the Mo Letters,
specifically, is a good representation of information influence by Berg to
control all aspects of the members’ lives. For instance, Sylvia stated this
when talking about Berg's writings:
"I believed his writing implicitly. I
used to read his writing and used to think they were inspired by God, and so I
would believe them, I'd obey them." (Smithson, 1994)
I find it easily to believe that this was the position taken by
the vast majority of COD members. If his members were truly in belief of this,
then it would be easy to convince others to join the group. Any individual
outside this group may easily be convinced by the persuasion of the COD members,
due to their belief that Berg’s words were inspired by God himself. Berg
also employed the Mo Letters for normative
influence over his cult members. While providing a description of how his members
were to act, he also made it known that there would be negative consequences
for people who were defiant of his rules, or had any desire to live in the
“outside” world.
A disturbing example of
the effects of Berg’s strong influence over the cult members: Sylvia’s oldest
daughter contracted lupus, an immune systems disease, at the age of 15. Due to
this disease she was unable to perform regular duties and spent a lot of time
reading books from the outside world, which was not allowed. Medicine was also
heavily frowned upon from the higher ups of the COD and fellow members, making
anyone who took it a deviant to the collective. Although it was not directly
prohibited, it was said to be a reflection of something being wrong with the
individual who must consume the medicine; this reflection also made them
question what they did to deserve the reliance on medication. Due to the guilt
that Sylvia’s daughter had felt and struggled with because of the cult’s
aversion to medicine, she convinced her parents that she should be taken off of
medication for her disease. After three days of being off the medication and
being unconscious, Sylvia’s daughter passed away.
This example shows the incredible expense that was paid for belief in
Berg’s writing. It also displays how well the COD was able to guilt trip people
into believing that issues were rooted in defects within themselves, rather
than Berg’s outrageous demands. The degree to which normative information must
have been distributed and regulated to totally convince a family to take their
daughter off of important medication, is immense. Sadly, in this case, the
social pressure to conform was heavy enough to take a life.
Another example of
normative information in the COD was when another daughter of Sylvia’s, born in
the commune, was asked why she didn’t just leave the commune. She explained
that at age 17 she felt claustrophobic in realizing what her future may look
like as a member of the cult: a mother of several babies from a man that she
doesn’t love. Furthermore, she said,
“Because I didn’t know anything else”,
“Because you don’t just do that. Where would I go? That thought didn’t even
enter my head. You know, it wasn’t because I was stupid, no. It’s because
you’re programmed into thinking that if you ever leave, something really
terrible is going to happen to you. A car is going to come by and hit you.
You’re going to get raped, mugged.” (Smithson, 1994)
From an outsider perspective, the power in this statement is
overwhelming. Through normative influence, the COD and Berg were able to
convince members that leaving is not even a mental option. Not only in fear of
the ridicule they would experience, but also because they were only fed
negative information about the outside world. She also clearly stated that the
probable consequences of having an interest in the outside world were as
follows: get hit by a car, be mugged, or even be raped.
While these are only a
few of the examples of normative influence through the film. I believe that the
information influence had to be present first for this control to be so
effective. The “trust” of the members had to be built on the level of expertise
that David Berg had. Once he was well regarded as an expert, he was able to
take advantage of that to effectively use normative influence on his members.
He was then able to instill fear in two regards: 1) the fear of sticking out of
the group if one chose not to conform; 2) the fear of the consequences from
leaders for their disobedience, as well as Berg’s disappointment in their moral
failure. How could they ever do something that would disappoint their glorious
leader/community, when the COD’s alleged “one desire” is to better the
community through filling more lives with Jesus?
While this is a very radical case in which people have manipulated
others to conform through information and normative influence, it is a rather
profound example of the power they can have.
Several questions have
plagued my mind since viewing this documentary: How do these social
psychological principles affect each of us? Do they even have an effect on us
at all? If they do affect us, how can we better protect ourselves from this
type of influence? What could be some positive ways the principles of
conformity affect us?
References:
Cult. (2019). Merriam-Webster. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cult
History - TFI. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.thefamilyinternational.org/en/about/our-history
Kassin, S. Social Psychology. [Chegg]. Retrieved from https://ereader.chegg.com/#/books/9781305888340
Smithson, J. (Producer), & Smithson, J. (Director). (1994) Children of God [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.netflix.com
Even though I have heard of several cults, religious and otherwise, I haven't actually heard of COD before. There are some very interesting aspects to cult dynamics and questions we can ask, like whether or not there are certain attributes that make people more susceptible to yielding to a cult and joining it.
ReplyDeleteI do wonder.... if those same attributes, are found in people who join MLMs and other pyramid-esque "too good to be true" groups and businesses? (Statistically, you have a much, much higher chance of turning a profit by simply gambling than you do joining an MLM). Part of this no doubt has to do with confirmation bias, and if not that, a desire to continue to believe that something one is so dearly invested in is true, because if they are wrong, well.... they've messed up gravely. But if they're right! Oh if they were right, surely they'd be a genius for joining whatever group or cult they did.
Hey Jon, thank you for taking the time to read my blog post! I do think these same principles have an affect on people for joining MLM's. The power of these schemes is also quite profound. Other than confirmation bias, what principles do you think MLM's have in common with cults?
DeleteI have never heard of COD before, but reading about it in your well-written post once again made me realize just how powerful one person can be if they say and do the right thing. I think we all have heard of cults such as the one started by Charles Manson and also the People’s Temple. It’s terrifying to know that all of it was real. Reading your post just about gave me chills considering how strictly people followed the rules set in place by Berg than lead to the death of some people. It’s pretty crazy how one person can influence hundreds of people into believing something and having them follow their every command. I watched a Netflix episode from the series Inside the Criminal Mind, and the third episode was on cult leaders. The show talked about several cult leaders and how pain and suffering is like their oxygen and how they victimize the members. Thinking about your questions at the end of your post, I think just about everyone is affected by either informative or normative influences at one point in their lives (but not to a point as extreme as those in COD). In class, we did that exercise where we answered questions and the answers chosen were pretty unanimous considering we felt some people at our tables seemed confident in their answers. For me personally, I have been in situations involving informative influence when I was younger where the teacher would have you hold a card up showing what we thought the answer was, and some people would change their answers after seeing what the “smart” kids in the class had. Likewise, I think many normative influences occur in the household when we are told not to do certain things by our parents otherwise there will be consequences. I find it interesting how people can be pulled into something, and do things they probably would have never done had they not been under the influence of someone else’s actions and words.
ReplyDeleteHey Morgan! Thanks for taking the time to read my post. Your examples of other cults leaders really do emphasize the power some single individuals can have, such as Manson.
DeleteYour examples of information and normative influence are excellent! I am sure that others reading the blog or the comments have had very similar experiences to these. While I reread your normative influence sentence, I am shocked to think that both cult leaders and parents use the same influencing technique to get people to do things. While I assume that the majority of parents do it for the sake of their children, it is still a rather unnerving thought.
For the in-class activity, did you find it easy to go with the people that "knew" the answers, or were you a confederate? I was rather shocked at my ability to go with the answers of someone who was confident in their own answer. It made me think how easy it must seem to go with the group in total isolation, like that of the COD cult. Did you notice how easy it was during the activity?
I was one of the people that knew what the answers were supposed to be during the in-class activity, so I don’t know exactly how easy it was for people to go with the experts. However, I know from personal experience that it is so easy to tell yourself, “Well they must have the right answer since they seem to know so much about it”. I feel like people are so easily influenced by those that appear to know more. Cult leaders take on this knowledgeable and all-mighty image. David Koresh memorized the Bible to be seen as an expert in God, so people believed all that he said to be true. I think it’s really easy to fall in this trap, as I believe it was for everyone that was not given the answers for the activity. As you said, the effects of this are probably a lot more severe when you are isolated from all outside ideas.
DeleteWow, I had never heard of David Koresh before but I just looked into him. What another great example of information influence!! Thank you for sharing that Morgan.
DeleteI first came across this cult from watching the TV series American Horror Story: Cult. They briefly bring up the Children of God as an example of how "successful" a cult can be in achieving group conformity and manipulation.
ReplyDeleteWhen you ask the question, "What could be some positive ways the principles of conformity affect us?" I think that it depends on how we look at it. Ultimately, we conform to be like a group and thus leaving behind something else. We do this to build up our self esteem as others will potentially see us as being one of them a kind of belonging. However, having a group that we affiliate with means that there are others that we do not, creating a tension, possibly favoritism towards your group.
Thanks for the response David! I am glad that you had some information on this cult before reading my blog post. However, I have one question. When you say that our ingroup favoritism creates a tension towards outside groups, is that always bad? I am looking at it from a cult point of view, but I would be curious to hear of your perspective.
DeleteFrom a cult's point of view I would say that conformity is absolutely a good thing. Its what makes a cult succeed if you will. The tension that is created from the cult vs those not in the cult I would say is generally bad (From the cult's point of view) as violence has been a result of said tension (David Koresh). Perhaps some cults want the tension between society/the norm, I don't know.
DeleteDavid and Jason, do you guys think that conformity is just a way that people try to feel safe and avoid conflict or perhaps create an identity? With ingroup favoritism, an identity is already created for people to follow and outlines what is good and bad (specifically for cults).
DeleteI am sure to some extent it is Abby. Some of the members of the COD were likely looking for a place to fit in and the COD is something they found connection in. It could be said for any cult, that the general members all belief in the majority of the same things which helps provide an identity. In this identity, they can feel secure. Do you agree Abby?
DeleteDavid, I know it wasn't a question of yours but I now have the opinion some cults do want the tension between themselves and the outside world. It was something that came clear to me when watching this documentary and it wasn't a thought I had before.
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ReplyDeleteI have actually hear of COD before but quite honestly I did not know a lot about the organization. Your post was very well written and very informative. You explained how Berg was able to maintain control even in a way how he was able to establish it. I find it fascinating how he was able to convince people to blindly follow him even though it often went against their own interests (sometimes with dire consequences). I was wondering if certain people have a predisposition to be more susceptible to this type of influence? These people found a community within the cult so they were clearly searching for something that they found within the COD. Do you think that there were other signs that the members of the COD were going to be more likely to blindly follow?
ReplyDeleteThank you for the kind words Brenna! Regarding your question about whether certain people have a certain predisposition to that specific type of influence, I do think so. But I think what makes them more susceptible is their background and personal psychology.
DeleteWhile I am sure that other factors influenced members to blindly follow the COD cult, I think the majority came down to the fact that the majority believed what Berg was saying. Not only did they believe what he was saying but they would easily do what he asked, no matter how ridiculous, because they put him on a religious pedestal. What do you think was the major reason for them following the words of Berg and the COD?
I think that the main reason that people followed the words of Berg is because people simply wanted to. All of us want something to believe in and Berg made his followers feel like they were heard and cared for.
DeleteReading about cults and how they gained so many followers is crazy. The leaders are manipulative, but charismatic people. They convince people that they are close to god or know some crazy end of the world thing and say if you join me, you’ll be saved. The more charismatic a person is the easier it is to manipulate the crowds. When you like the person, you’re more likely to agree to things. The cult leaders were skilled in persuasion and enjoyed the dependence they got from their followers.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to think about the similarities between cults and group conformity. Like with Nazi Germany and how Hitler came to power. He had a message that came at the right place at the right time (Germany had been pretty down and out since WWI and he brought a message of nationalism and whatnot). What would you say to this connection?
DeleteHey Emma and Timothy, thanks for taking the time to read my blog post. I am glad the three of us can agree how crazy it is for single leaders to be in power in such dramatic ways, such as Hitler or other cult leaders. Timothy, I would say that it is a connection. Its a message that some wanted to hear and some took belief in what was being spread due to respect for what Hitler promised. Surely there was conformity of the masses under other circumstances but I definitely see your relation to the conformity chapter in class.
DeleteAfter reading your post the main thing that came into my head was that he didn't have very much direct interaction with the members of the group. If I'm not mistaken he communicated with the members almost exclusively through the use of the "Mo Letters." I find that very intriguing due to what we learned about in the Milgram study, where it was observed that the doctor being present had a large effect on the obedience of the subjects. So I was wondering how he was able to create such a steadfast obedient culture with just rhetoric and what other factors might be involved.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting point Ian. While he was the one writing the Mo Letters, he did have other people at the communes that were "in charge", who had more direct access to Berg. One of the current communicators of The Family was a member in the COD that was a "higher up" in the organization. But it is very fascinating to understand that all this power Berg enforced and inspired was simply through written letters.
DeleteIn response to Ian's comment as well, I'm wondering if having so many people that are "in charge" around - and creating a sense of being "everywhere" in some way, may invoke the same behavior as being directly observed. Going back to historical accounts, when secret police were employed it resulted in obedience/conformity due to the fear and perceived omnipresence of people watching.
DeleteWhat a good interpretation of this cults mentality and the documentary itself. I myself find this particular cult very interesting in its extreme ways. I think it is interesting as to why the followers join in the first place and don’t see the so called “red flags” that people like to point out. To further on your question on how we can protect ourselves from this type of influence, I think it is hard to give a straight answer. Especially for a cult that brings a sense of belonging through religion. I think you can’t truly protect yourself if you are one that seeks out this type of belonging and love through a higher being. I think it comes down to those that are truly searching for an answer or some comfort as to where we go after we die. This leader in particular definitely offered a comforting welcome to his followers. I would say it all depends on the individual and their beliefs, and what they’re looking for out of life. Although, that is just my opinion. All in all I enjoyed your post!
ReplyDelete