They haven't changed, they still hold to Berg being God's Endtime Prophet, even though I have met one or two members who say that he was wrong. which would make him a false prophet even by their own admission.

They may not practice some of the really wild stuff, but they still "share" (wife swap--or to put it biblically--Fornicate and commit adultery--both of which are condemned by the Bible). They still practice occultism, ie Sun Signs, spirit guides and necromancy (which are also condemned by the Bible).

I am completely satisfied that adult/minor sex is not only officially condemned (within and without) but that it is largely non-existent these days. That is, if it happens anymore it is rare and without the approval of the group's leadership. I am also satisfied that, if they were to discover an adult engaging in sex with a minor, this individual would be immediately excommunicated. As far as I know, however, they will not report this individual to the proper authorities. I am perfectly willing to be proven wrong here, as I left this group over 11 years ago. What I am stating here is what I personally witnessed while I was a member of this group (note: I was born into this group).

The fact remains, however, that sex with minors did occur quite often in the 70s and 80s. This practice was not only condoned, it was suggested and endorsed by the highest levels of leadership (ie, Berg, Zerby, and Kelly).

Occultism?? Isn't the Family totally against it? In the Mo Letter "Illuminati" it's totally bashed.

You're right. I wouldn't call it Occultism. It's actually closer to Gnosticism, given their doctrinal emphasis on the conflicts between mythological characters.

Yeah that sounds more like it.
There's way too many "spirit helpers" to keep track of, but a majority of them are in the Bible, so that much I believe.

Well "occultism" is a very general term, and Gnosticism can easily fall under it. The Family and normal Christians use/believe in "things" (to put it as unspecifically as possible ) which one could say belong to the occult.
Likewise one could say that the occult borrows alot from Christianity.

I really dislike using the term "occult" though because of its vagueness and the negative associations it will typically draw from the majority who are unversed in esoteric studies.


Anyhow if you're in the mood for a laugh, it doesn't get much better than that Illuminati letter. Absolute lunacy! Unfortunately conspiracy theories abound in TFI.

Oh and n00b, I'd be interested in what you mean by "a majority of them [spirit helpers] are in the Bible". I may have been out of TFI for a few years, but I do remember the absurd amount of new "spirit helpers" that were being "discovered" in every new GN. And of course a new demon to accompany him/her/it. Or vice versa.

Now I do know the Bible pretty well, and if there's a single mythological book with a notable absence of named spirits, it'd be the Bible.

Yep, they're in the Bible OK:- NOT!

Such as the Abominable Snowman (Who, according to Berg, is Heidi's Grandpa from Switzerland).

The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

Abrahim an old Bulgarian gypsy king.

Mokumba, Otan, Rasputin, Cromwell, amongst numerous others.

You can't find anywhere in the Bible are we taught to communicate with "Spirit Guides".

That belongs to Divination, Necromancy and Sorcery.

Call it "new age" if you will.


AFAIK, no they will not report offenders to the police or social services, etc. There has also been quite a bit of sexual abuse of minors in the 90s - without excommunication. To this day I see and hear of sexual abuse within the age restrictions set down in the Love Charter. If adults abuse each other, it is very sad. It's when teenagers or "JETTs" molest younger children that it's even more damaging. The LJ revelation only helps to pervert the children and set them on course for a life in a twisted sex group.

Re: Is the Family International still like that??
I grew up in The Family International during the nineties, and I was never subjected to any kind of sexual abuse or forced sexual activity. As for necromancy and occultism, if you really want to accuse TFI of that, you'd need to accuse just about any group or individual that believes in prophecy or asking Jesus/God/Mohammed/whoever for guidance and/or help. Since the literal Biblical definition of 'necromancy' is communing with the spirits of the dead, you would need to accuse all of the twelve apostles of Christ, not to mention Jeanne d'Arc or almost any of the other Catholic Saints of necromancy, since nearly all of them claimed to have spoken with either Jesus himself or Angels or whatever.

Re: Is the Family International still like that??


Right. I don't think too many people here would doubt that. However, if you had paid attention to what we have been saying (and for many years now), you would know that it all happened in the 70s and 80s (and even a bit into the very early 90s). If you grew up in the early 90s, then you were too young (or not even born yet) to witness what we, who were older children and teens, went through. You would probably also not know about it, because they purged it all out of their documents and videos and told everyone "it never happened". Don't believe me, just peruse our wiki.

Re: Is the Family International still like that??
I'm not doubting you at all. I have older brothers and sisters who grew up in TFI and I know for a fact that sexual abouse has occured within the group. I'm simply stating that, to my knowledge, TFI is no longer like that. In fact changes made to The Charter, the principle document of TFI stating the rules and regulations of the group, are now in effect, as far as i know, which make any sexual contact with minors a permanently exommunicable offense.

Re: Is the Family International still like that??


A cursory evaluation of the Family's policies, as outlined in its "Love Charter" and other publications, regarding the rape of children reveals that these "rules and regulations" do virtually nothing to protect children in The Family from the risk of being raped or experiencing other types of child sexual abuse that do not involve sexual contact between and adult and a child. It is not particularly groundbreaking or impressive for a cult, under scrutiny from law enforcement and child protection agencies and in a society where behavior such as murder, cannibalism and child rape are generally regarded as both criminal and morally wrong, to publicly state that it has enacted a policy forbidding its members from continuing to rape children. To determine whether or not children are safe living in communities that are part of an organization whose members openly practiced child rape and child sexual abuse for decades, one needs to know whether the organization has demonstrated that it has a strong commitment to protecting children and whether it has and will do everything it possibly can to make sure that that child rapists and other abusers are both held accountable for their crimes against children and not allowed to have any access to more potential victims.

To understand just how completely The Family International has failed to protect children from abuse and how it has gone out of its way to protect child abusers, it is helpful to review the fundamental components of what it calls its "stringent policies." While I don't have time for a full review, one of the key features of their policy is not excommunicating those who raped children before the date on which they claim to have enacted a policy mandating excommunication for the rape of children. They now claim they enacted this policy in July 1989 although they have previously claimed it was enacted in other years including 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988. Many people believe that it is incredibly dangerous, risky and highly irresponsible to allow those who have raped children to have access to children. The Family International clearly either disagrees or simply does not care.

Over the years, spokespersons for The Family International have claimed that the cult has adopted a policy mandating the "excommunication" of any adult Family found to have sexually abused a child by having sexual contact with a child. While it is unfortunate the forms of child sexual abuse that do not involve adult-child sexual contact are completely excluded from this policy, those who are unaware of the extraordinary deception practiced by this cult and its spokespersons and the lengths they will go to protect child molesters might be forgiven for thinking that this is a step in the right direction and that The Family International has made a commitment to protect its children by expelling every adult member who it knows has raped a child. However, a lengthy October 2007 series of "Mo Letters" ("The Family's History, Policies, and Beliefs Regarding Sex, " ML 3671-3673, GN 1234-1236) by top cult leader and child molester Steven Douglas Kelly (aka "Peter Amsterdam" and "Christopher Smith") that was published and distributed to members in December 2007 makes it clear that The Family International has no intention of ever expelling any of its members who raped children before July 1989.

In this publication series, it was made clear that the excommunication policy was not applied to those who raped children before July 1989:



Family leader and child molester Steven Douglas Kelly went on to offer a lengthy justification of The Family's policy of not excommunicating those who raped children before July 1989. Here are some excerpts:

Re: Is the Family International still like that??
The Family are brainwashed, fucking sick people, fanatics, you fuckin pedophilies, diee!!!

Re: Is the Family International still like that??
I was sexually abused by the family when i was 14.
I am now 16.
Life is hard.

Re: Is the Family International still like that??
icant believe that there are people in this world that would be so stupid as to believe that child abuse is ok! according to the way i was brought up in a loving but far from conventional family to hurt anyone or anything physically,mentally or emotionally was wrong. if a child crys when an adult is 'loving' them then surely they cannot be enjoying it! yes god loves everyone, NO MATTER WHAT THEY HAVE DONE, but people that have no conciences should be ashamed and not worthy of gods love!
people may say that abuse does not happen anymore but still to be associated with an organisation that condoned it is just as bad! shame on you all!
you dont have to be part of an organisation to serve god, you dont even have to go to church or pray! aslong as you treat others as you would like to be treated, do not willfully hurt or endanger anyone and make the most of your life that was so generously given by god he will welcome you to his arms when you pass away.
another thing, just because you do not like 'the system' does not mean that you can break laws and get away with it, respect laws and you would not get as much bad press as you do! simple really! you are or have been damaging peoples lives, god should not forgive you for this!
the pictures i have seen on hteis website are horriffic and anyone involves should be hung for thier sins! either that or tested on instead of animals!
i have no more time to rant about this sick organisation so i hope you all realise the consequences of your actions and prey for forgiveness!

Re: Is the Family International still like that??
How was this dealt with?

Re: Is the Family International still like that??


Firstly, I believe that you are in fact a current member of The Family Cult trying to be "clever" and using deception and guile.
Question: Why use a name like Farfetched if you're genuinely one of the thousands of 2nd Gen children who were abused?
Question: Do you think that by making a brief statement of abuse and posting it under the name Farfetched will give any credibility to The Family Cult's lies that they are now supposedly abuse free? Even going so far as to imply that there was never any abuse in the first place, or that it was a small number of isolated cases.

I was sexually, phisicaly, emotionaly and psycologicaly abused by the cult TheFamilyInternational for the first 15 years of my life,
This was Ritualistic abuse that happend 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year.

MY STORY IS NOT FARFETCHED!

P.S. If I'm mistaken about you being genuine, and you simply chose an inapropriate name, I sincerely apologise.
I do not wish any further pain on anyone unfortunate enough to have been born into that horrible cult.

Re: Is the Family International still like that??
I am appalled and sickened and shocked at the utter heartlessness of this organization and how they have been allowed to get away with this. Someone needs to do something! It's horrible and disgusting. The Family is the most disgusting cult I've ever heard of.

Re: Is the Family International still like that??
Do you think "sexual interaction with minors" is synonymous with "raped children"? I realize that in many areas it is deemed statutory rape, but in others the distinction is made between rape and 'illegal sex with a minor' in legal terminology (the Polanski case in California being a famous example). Is it possible that TFI had a separate policy to punish rapists and thus people who raped children could be excommunicated for rape instead of 'sexual interaction' as I assume they mean to infer something consensual (even though it is not legal consent). While I understand people are skeptical that they recognized cases of rape, it's hard to believe that the issue was not addressed and condemned to some degree, even if merely in verbatim.

I also note that the Old English law you quoted stated that 12 was the age of consent to marriage where it was deemed acceptable, and that this was also the age TFI considered members to be adults (until changed to 16). I do share your skepticism that they could be nearly a century behind the times seeing as how it was raised to 16 in 1885. I'm unsure the dates in the United States where this took place, but I don't think they're so new he wouldn't have heard of them.