Cults can offer both terror and curiosity. The Family International, also known as The Children of God is one of the most popular. It counts among its member’s many famous faces.
What Is ‘The Family’?
David Berg founded The Family in 1968. The California cult began as a hippie haven. It was fairly typical for that time. Berg was a preacher who developed a following before inventing his own “religion.” The Children of God continued to expand all while Berg ran a child sex ring.
The cult’s legacy is haunted by infidelity and sexual assault. Berg’s daughter, Deborah, claimed he molested both her and her sister Faith. He also encouraged children and adults to sleep with each other, and encouraged them to have sex together with toddlers. Deborah later accused her father of “religious prostitution,” all while the cult grew to over 10,000 members.
The pedophilic dogma dissipated after Berg’s death in 1994, but the scandals were only beginning to go public. Horror story after horror tale has been told by former members. The Family International exists today.
Very Famous Names
It’s not surprising that a group as large as Fleetwood Mack, especially one located in Los Angeles would have some famous faces among its followers. Jeremy Spencer, founder Fleetwood Mack, left the band to join the cult before it became popular. The Family’s been in the news a lot recently because sitting Nebraska representative Jeff Fortenberry lied to the FBIAbout the group
Other names were raised within walls of the cult, but they later left it. Scream star Rose McGowan told PeopleLearn more about her escape. Her sect in Italy went from being “really idyllic” to dangerous, so her father left for the United States. “it was not an easy assimilation” McGowan said, “my brothers and sisters, we thought everyone was boring.”
Phoenix Family
The Family is the birthplace of a Hollywood dynasty. The group included the Phoenix family, River and Joaquin’s brothers, throughout the 1970s. Berg started advocating incest. In a 1991 interview, River said “they’re disgusting… they’re ruining people’s lives.” River tragically died of a drug overdose at the age of 23, leaving an indelible legacy behind.
Joaquin Phoenix would continue to star in The MasterA film about why people are attracted in the first place. Many people believed that the film was rooted primarily in Scientology. But, it appears that Joaquin also had his own family history to draw upon.
