Chapter Six - The Children of God

CHAPTER SIX

The Children of God

THEY CALLED IT love.

Love as salvation.
Love as freedom.
Love as the only commandment that mattered.

But inside the Children of God, love became currency.
Control.
Corruption.

And the darker it got, the more it hid behind a smile.

The group was founded in the late 1960s by David Berg, a former preacher who rebranded himself as “Moses David.”
He claimed to be a mouthpiece for God — receiving divine revelations that came as long, rambling letters known as Mo Letters.

His message?
The world was doomed.
The churches were corrupt.
And only his followers had the truth.

It started like many cults do — with idealism, communal living, and apocalyptic fervor.

But it didn’t stay there.

In the 1970s, Berg introduced a practice called Flirty Fishing — encouraging female members to seduce men as a way to “show God’s love” and recruit new members.

It was positioned as spiritual.
Evangelism through sex.

Thousands of women were sent around the world.
Some bore “Jesus babies” from these missions.
Some were trafficked.
Some disappeared.

Berg framed it all as holy.
Critics called it abuse.
History calls it one of the most disturbing recruitment tactics ever recorded.

Despite its extremism, the group had a public face.
Children of God ran communes, released music, and claimed to be just another Jesus-loving counterculture group.

Notable members included River and Joaquin Phoenix, who were raised in the cult before their family escaped.
Also linked: Rose McGowan, among others.

Internally, the system was strict.

• Total obedience to Berg’s writings
• Arranged marriages
• Child separation from parents
• Physical punishment
• Constant surveillance

Love, they said, required order.

By the 1990s, mounting allegations of child abuse, sexual exploitation, and psychological trauma forced the group to rebrand as The Family International.

They denied the worst accusations.
Claimed they had “matured.”
But survivors kept coming forward.
And the trauma remained.

Berg died in 1994.
His wife took over.
The group shrank, but never disappeared.

Today, they still exist — quieter, smaller, digital.

But the blueprint is still visible:

• Charismatic leader
• Total belief system
• Control of sex and identity
• Isolation framed as love
• Obedience dressed as freedom

They said it was all about love.
But love was the weapon.