The Four Bearded Cult Leaders and Cults (Besides the Peoples Temple) that Inspired “Dark Messiah”

Founded in southern California in 1968 as an offshoot of “The Jesus Movement” by David Berg (a man known by his followers as Father David), Children of God offered its members a blend of evangelical Christianity, communal living, and end-of-the-world talk. Famous members included River and Joaquin Phoenix (and their entire family) and Rose McGowan.

David Berg maybe didn’t look like it, but he was a scary dude. 

He told his followers that his writing superseded the existing religious interpretations of the Bible, making his word, whatever it was, the final word. He believed that he had been put into place to lead the world into the apocalypse. 

His insights—published in pamphlets and distributed by members on the streets—were a mishmash of Biblical quotes and sermon-like interpretations,  and often read as interpretations from “the hip young priest” rather than fire-and-brimstone armageddon. 

And like many on this list, he had a lot of rules about sex: who in the group could have it and who couldn’t. The cult engaged in rampant sexual abuse of children. The organization also had a practice called “flirty fishing,” in which female members were encouraged to attempt to convert men into the organization by having sex with them—a spiritual honey trap. 

What interested me most in this organization was how a potential member’s first interaction with the organization would be with relatively uncontroversial content, only to have the organization’s truly radical and cruel practices revealed later.

Deeper Dives: 

Brave: A Revealing and Empowering Memoir by Rose McGowan

Leaving Isn’t The Hardest Thing: Essays by Lauren Hough

The Ant Hill Kids are a small (12 adult members and 22 children), less familiar but terribly disturbing cult that centered around a self-proclaimed savior named Roch Theriault and his Seventh-day Adventist-derived beliefs. 

The group would settle in the isolated Hope, Quebec, which enabled Roch to run roughshod over his devotees. 

Theriault—who would eventually be arrested and convicted of the murder of one of his members in 1989—engaged in totalitarian rule of the organization, and administered disturbing, violent punishments to his members. 

In order to control them, he impregnated all of the female members of the organization, eventually becoming the father of 26 children. 

Like many cult leaders, Theriault struggled with substance abuse, and his instability led to his enacting deeply abusive tests of his members’ loyalty. 

I have had more than one nightmare about Theriault, who also killed a child and whose medical treatments (he was, needless to say, not a doctor) resulted in the deaths of two other members. 

Deeper Dives: 

Cults podcast: “The Ant Hill Kids” - Roch Theriault 

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (also known as Osho) launched the Rajneeshpuram organization in Pune, India, in 1974. After catching sight of the U.S. Constitution, the organization, mostly led by Ma Anand Sheela (Osho’s personal secretary), decided to move operations to 80,000 acres in Wasco County, Oregon. 

Their neighbors moved from mildly puzzled by the orange robe-wearing emigrants to deeply concerned as the group developed an entire city—population 7,000. Tensions escalated in a number of wild ways before the organization is ultimately undone by a massive bio-weapon attack: Salmonella spread through 10 restaurant salad bars. 

When I first came across this organization, I couldn’t believe that I’d never heard of them. 

The utter commitment of the membership—along with the organization’s ability to attract deeply accomplished individuals who would plan and construct a full-scale community on unfarmable land—fascinated me and was influential in my writing process. 

Also important was their ability to manipulate local politics in order to gain power and control in their community. 

Deeper Dives: 

Wild Wild Country on Netflix

Cult Favorites podcast: Wild Wild Country Part I and Part II

Keith Raniere’s overinflated sense of self and his blown-up talents inspired me from the first page of my book. He was, according to himself, a master pianist and martial artist, a polymath who was a Mensa-level genius… the list of exceptional qualities and gifts he possessed is endless. And total fiction.

NXIVM started as a carefully disguised multi-level marketing program that was promoted as executive training. 

What NXIVM became was a marriage of the worst of motivational, rise-and-grind nonsense with the traditional hallmarks of cults—sexual and emotional abuse, embezzlement, confusing double-speak, and more—based in Albany, New York, of all places. 

Raniere—who is now in prison for sex trafficking, wire fraud, and racketeering—seduced his followers with doublespeak and had a gift for turning his victims into conspirators, something that fascinated me. He managed to ensnare actors like Alison Mack (who would also serve time in prison for racketeering) and wealthy individuals like Seagram's heiresses Clare and Sarah Bronfman and venture capitalist Emiliano Salinas (son of a former Mexican president), 

Because NXIVM happened in modern times, we have so much footage and content available from this organization as it grew, including in the documentary series The Vow. This content makes it possible to see this organization unravel in real time – while also getting an intimate understanding of how insidious the coercive control techniques Raniere employs, including extreme dieting, branding, sleep deprivation, and shaming, are within the organization. 

Additionally, survivors like Sarah Edmonson and India Oxenberg have dedicated their energies to sharing about their experiences in powerful memoirs. 

Deeper Dives: 

Scarred: The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult That Bound My Life by Sarah Edmondson 

Still Learning by India Oxenberg