several books have been mentioned....Is there one out there you would consider accurate? I would actually like to see pics of previous members....if you haven't read my post I am trying to identify a Jane Doe found in 1980 who I am fairly sure was a "Christ Family" member. They were in the area, her hair was shaved <--I was told this was common especially with new female members...I would like to try and understand the way they lived, habits, travel.

kseej22008,
think it is great that you care so much about finding the name of the Jane Doe who was murdered by the patrol officer.
Was not in this group, but am wondering; in many groups, people would be more likely to go out in pairs than on their own, (less likely to be harrassed for being different) and from something someone said here, it seems that this might have been the case in the Christ family too?
Then again could be wrong; would any ex members be able to comment?

Privateperson; wow ,can so much relate. While I wasn't in your group, have been in a similar situation, and know that those less than accurate reports of group life can be really irritating. And the lack of respect for minor childrens' privacy is not that uncommon either.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/12/2009 12:51AM by yasmin.

Thank you for your compassion Yasmin, I was a child in the Christ Family, and my name is plastered in that book, swell, huh? I did not do any harm to the author, I just do not understand why she would do that.

The Christ Family did not discourage members from going on the road alone, and it was never presented as a concern, in fact if one acted concerned for their safety, they were ridiculed and told to "have faith". I looked up the internet info on Jane Doe, and the timeframe was when all members wore white robes, and carried a army blanket, not a cammo jacket, but who knows? Plus it was not a practice at that time to shave heads, to cut hair short, that sort of thing. It is just so sad that nobody missed her enough to look for her, she must have had at least one friend in life.

thank you Yasmin and Private person for the info. I had heard the same as private said..some groups of CF they could go out alone and other groups they could not. I heard the same about the hair so I just don't know what to think...I just know she was somebody. I've never done anything like this before but when I lost my job several months back and after looking hard I decided I needed something productive to do...that's when I came by the Jane Doe Story. Now I'll never stop looking....

When Jane Doe was found she had nothing....no clothes blankets or anything. The officer who "confessed" to have killed her belong to a group called "Into the Light Ministry" and had went to TX after giving everything he had to the church/cult....he was later charged with some major child abuse charges. there is thought he made the confession up trying to cut a deal to get transferred to MN prison because it would be easier and safer for him. When the deal fell through he quit talking. I have read the transcripts of the interviews and I think he was just repeating things he heard from officers who were at the scene. There are two other suspects but I don't know where that went...anyway

My main reason for thinking she was with CF was because I have established a group of them with brown camo vans came through Waverly Iowa and were said to passed through that area of MN in that time frame but I can't prove the MN part. Her head was cleaned shaved except for 4 very very small tuffs that looked like they were missed by a razor, her feet were very very heavily calloused to the point it was noted in the field when she was found and also again at the time of the autopsy, and IF the trooper was telling the truth a van dropped her off at the Briclyn,MN exit...where I don't believe anyone would drop off a hitchhiker...I've gone up there..it's a smaller town which you would have to walk a mile or so to get to and not a place a hitchhiker would have much hope of getting another ride. Don't know if this part is true but was told the CF would sometimes drop people off to go into towns to beg?? try to find a place to sleep?? Recruit others??

thank you...and sorry I sort of run off with the mouth....lol

take care,
Kseej

I have researched this cult for years (I'm in an apologetics ministry). I had one member living in my home for several months, and gathered an abundant amound of information on them.

People that are drawn to any type of authoritarian cult (and make no mistake about it, women in this cult are definitely in a submissive position, with male dominance - McHugh being the chief male who claims to be Jesus or God) often have deficits in judgment. For instance, if some man walking down the road claimed to be Buddha reincarnated, come to gather disciples and lead them to a new Nirvana - 999 out of 1000 people will process that information as "phony." But, 1 in 1000 will be attracted to the claim for some reason, even embracing the claim as truth. They have some inner need to have a "truth" that makes them special - a posessor of hidden wisdom which the world (those outside the group) does not have. As embassaries of this truth, they have a great importance in their role of "preachers of truth," which in the case of the Christ Family is No Killing, Sex or Materialism and the fact that Jesus has returned in the person of Charles Franklin McHugh.

Now, you can see on this board some disciples of McHugh defending his cult as a legitimate religious group. However, this demands a certain ability to live with congnitive dissonance. The group preaches, for instance, no sex as a key to heaven, yet Christ Family "spiritual mates" engage in sex, and produce offspring. No killing has been reduced to strict vegetariansim and the unhealthy practice of allowing insects to infest a person, their bed rolls, etc., without taking action to eliminate them. How about the "killing" of a person's free will (and trust me, any person in bondage to a cult is hardly free to do anything not within the boundaries of the cult, no matter how they protest that they have free will. Their "freedom" is measured by cult standards)? For instance, many stories abound of mothers being separated from their children, which are objectified as "hobbits." Objectifying a child and teaching the mother that God (who created the mother/child bonds) demands the mother to discard the child to demonstrate detachment, is blaming God for something evil and unnatural. In the world of the conditioned disciple, evil can become good, and good evil, and everything is justifiable when it promotes the goals of the cult.

Regarding materialism, the leaders of the cult live at a higher standard than the average disciple who is walking "in the wind," or more accurately, who is left hanging to find food and shelter by begging or theft. However, cultists tend to justify this disparity by exalting McHugh as God. Apparently, they are able to attribute to McHugh the attributes of the true Jesus without any evidence whatsoever that this man is more than an ordinary human who has made gigantic claims for himself. There are many people claiming to be Jesus, fortunately many of them are in mental health centers. Has McHugh changed water into wine, raised the dead, or come out of the tomb after being crucified? Of course not, however gullible followers are willing to consider him to be Christ because of their desperate need for a father-figure in their life, a source of abolute authority who can pretty much do anything, even criminal acts, and claim to have been wrongly accused, as was Jesus. It is circular reasoning - McHugh is Jesus. Why? Because He says so. How do you know he's telling the truth? Because he is Jesus, and Jesus doesn't lie.

How do you deal with somebody living in the Christ Family mindset? It is very difficult. Most have a rudimentary knowledge of the Bible , but have been conditioned to re-interpret words or phrases to conform to cultic teaching. It is important to get cultists to think on their own, and this may take weeks or months. With the follower who lived in our home, this Bible verse triggered a sort of "awakening" from the cultic mindset:

Luke 10:18 And he (Jesus) said unto them, I beheld Satan as LIGHTNING fall from heaven.

Cultists are trained to process information thru the cult filtering system - this system rationalizes away anything which conflicts with cult claims. For instance, if McHugh is arrested, it is automatically presumed that he is not guilty, but rather being persecuted as was Jesus of Nazareth. Even though there is absolutely no relationship between the two, the cultist "believes" in the relationship, and therefore information must be interpreted within the confines of the role McHugh plays for the cultist. Once the cultist can be removed from the cult environment and provided information uncolored by the cult, there will probably come a point where the cultist begins to question THE BELIEF.

The bottom line is that cults of this sort often prey on idealistic youth who have somehow broken away from traditional societal moorings, and seek some authority source in their lives. McHugh provides that source, as did David Koresh or any number of authoritarian cult leaders. The youth is willing to believe, and eventually the cultist is trained to mold his every thought to conform to "the truth" of the cult's system. The trick is to break the mold, and allow the cultist to think on his own. This is easier said than done, and is often a thankless task. But it is possible.

One tip - when a young person is acquainted with the "real deal," in this case exactly Who Jesus was and what He did, they won't be deceived by some guy "walking in the wind" who claims to be Jesus. There are particular facts surrounding the Second Coming of Christ which reveal McHugh, or other claimants, as being liars. As Jesus once warned, "do not be deceived."

Hi there Discerner,

Yep, you make sense, that is also not allowed in the Christ Family. Neither is logic.

What amazes me is how utterly blind people can be. I do know some people who got out, but making a clean break is not so easy, there is mental baggage that is not easily erased simply by reading scripture. It is the proverbial "emotional scars" that will take a lifetime to shake. I personally am very strong-willed, and have made it my passion to recover from the mental damage caused by this cult. Living well, being happy and having inner peace is my best revenge (in my opinion).

It is possible to get past that, but one has to want it theirself, it is much like being in an abusive marriage, all the relatives can say "leave him", but she keeps going back. It is a sick, compulsive addiction. Some of us were children brought up in the cult, some were young people seeking God, or other people at a point of crisis in life, and were"ripe" for cult influence. It happens. I do not wish to heap criticism on those trying to recover, I know that it is difficult. However, I have no mercy for those who are still defending this parasitic cult.

discerner;;;;;I am just curious-- what is it that instigated your research on this one cult?at one time their were 100s of (saints) and there was a plan for doing this and that for a number of high-hatted and as always spiritual reasons that mere mortals could not hope to understand;and at the least they were attempting to move in some direction that would help mankind become closer to god.At the same time emptying each and everyones bank accounts and all of their earthly goods---to take everything from a newcomer so that they had nothing to go back too and to remove the option of doing so..these people are then fixed into the delusion that Amen is their god and they must do whatever they are told..We were dictated to that our life now revolved around living the life of christ--no killing-no sex and no materialism. witch is ,by the way. impossable to do.there for members are constintly manipulated by the guilt of not being abel to live that life.at tis point amen would sweepin and display christ like qualitys such as forgivness and other christ like eminations to further solidify the nyth that the second coming is real and happening before our eyes and in our time Now anyone with a brain has removed themselves from contact with this incidious scam or so they tell themselves, accualy it is not so easy,the longer that you subject yourself to the brainwashing process the more that it is going to effect your life in many strange ways that are (i am coming to understand),inescapable. I am left with no real way to provide for myself - A TENDANCY TO GIVE away my earthly possesions for nothing or close to it. an inability to commit to a lasting relationship So what i am saying is how does a person overcome the damage that this causes .I have tryed to shake off the effects of this but then i turn around and there it is again.crap crap crap accualy i now beleive that i am half way there. maggiesmith6789@yahoo.com

Marrgaret, there are no shortcuts to the wholeness you seek after being mixed up in an oppressive cult such as the Christ Family. You have to remember, cults do rob followers of their hopes, their ambition, their time and possessions. The cults often leave an impact that will never really go away completely, but will fade over time.

I've researched many cults, not just the Christ Family. Mind control issues exist in all cults, really, along with social pressure to conform to the rules of each group. The Christ Family, I believe, is one of the most dangerous for young women, who are pretty much at the mercy of their "brother," submitting to him in a way which clearly subordinates her self-interests, desires, etc., to the man. As many women have admitted, the No Sex is pretty well a joke, so the sister not only must submit to the rules, but is often accused to being a tool of Satan tempting the brother to engage in sex. The sister becomes an "excuse." This type of subordination is abusive, and is not so different from the mental anguish which an abused wife endures. It is cyclic, and instills fear and guilt, and in the case of a Christ Family sister, dependence.

Giving away your earthly possessions is not evil, and can be a blessing (for it is more blessed to give than to receive). Perhaps your "gift" is one of giving. As far as providing for yourself, there are job training programs out there and career counselling at various agencies. I'm sure you have developed many skills, that if channeled in the right direction, will assist you in becoming self-supporting. It's just a matter of stepping out and doing something for yourself - taking the initiative, and believing in yourself. You can do it - look what you've already been thru!

Remember, Marrgaret, you are not alone. Literally thousands have exited these destructive groups - there is life beyond the cult. Don't let the cult "own" you, you must learn to own yourself. God does have a plan for you, Marrgaret, and even though you may feel confused and frustrated, believe me, time is a healer.

I agree. The christ family leaders were a very powerful influence through the power of suggestion. If you happened to meet them while on a spiritual search like I was, it was truly like an answer from God to all your prayers because they actually walked exactly like Jesus did, the real Jesus, in a literal sense. They seemed to me to be the only people living the life just as Jesus did. For someone not involved in the cult this is hard to explain. But think about it: give everything you have to the poor and come, follow me? The money I was told went into the christ family account. I remember actually going on trips to the back where they always had someone justified to have a drivers license, which they were not really suppose to believe in. And they also said man began in the garden of eden not eating meat, and in the end will be the same. Remember, the lion shall lie down with the sheep and so on. I remember everything and it was so real to me, like you really could rise above the carnal nature of this world. It was all so real. In the wind, with the wind, testing different churches to see if we could spend the night, and if not that place would be x'ed out by jesturing an x at them and moving on to the next place. They believed they really were the 10,000 saints sent by God to be a witness of righteousness. Some things were a little suspicious though and eventually I came to my senses while alone in Mexico on a pilgrimage. When I get a little more time I'd like to share more if anyone is interested. Thanks. Glad I found this link.

Mark

saintmark, glad you figured out the link and are now on this thread. Everyone would be interested in your experiences with The Christ Family. Welcome to Rick Ross' forums!