T R I L O B I T E S

the children of god aka the family of love aka the family international religious movement. a fundamentalist christian group founded by david berg aka moses david which believes in a number of unorthodox religious rites and practices. the group is now led by karen zerby, david berg's widow and the mother of ricky rodriguez, the subject of this post.

david berg and ricky rodriguez

followers believe that they are living in the time period known in the bible as the last days or the "time of the end," an era immediately preceding the return of jesus christ. before that event, they believe that the world will be ruled for seven years by the antichrist who will create a one-world government. at the half-way point in his rule he will become completely possessed by satan, precipitating a time of troubles known as the great tribulation, bringing intense persecution of christians as well as natural and unnatural disasters. at the end of this period, faithful christians will be taken to heaven during the rapture, shortly followed by a battle between jesus and the antichrist: the "battle of armageddon" in which the antichrist is defeated. jesus christ will then reign on earth for 1000 years: millenium.

paradise lost by gustave dore

the most intriguing aspect to the family international is their "law of love" that promotes promiscuous sex between members. homosexuality is forbidden but bisexuality in women where men are included is encouraged. the strange practice of "flirty fishing" where a woman of the faith intentionally seduces and sleeps with a man in the hopes of converting him and expressing god's love has led to religious prostitution with members raising money for the organization through prostitution. from wikipedia:

"According to TFI, as a result of Flirty Fishing, 'over 100,000 received God's gift of salvation through Jesus, and some chose to live the life of a disciple and missionary.' According to data provided by TFI to researcher Bill Bainbridge, from 1974 until 1987, members had sexual contact with 223,989 people while practicing Flirty Fishing. Flirty Fishing also resulted in the births of many children, including Karen Zerby's son, Davidito (aka Ricky Rodriguez). Children born as result of Flirty Fishing were referred to as 'Jesus Babies.'"

true comix, a comic book series seemingly intended for minors within the cult illustrates a disturbing mix of religion and sex with David Berg, the group's founder, consistently in a position of power.

true comix: you are the love of god

even stranger, in 1982 a childcare manual for the group was published using ricky rodriguez and karen zerby as examples.* this book was called davidito and contains pictures of older female members known as governesses (ricky rodriguez's governess was Sara Kelley) performing sexual acts on children. Orgasm and pornography are suggested at. Innumerable charges of sex abuse have been brought against the family international by former members around the world. None of these has led to a conviction.

from the children of god childcare manual: ricky rodriguez is shown with another older female member

and now, for the tragic tale of ricky rodriguez. when ricky reached adulthood, he left the family international with a predictable deep hatred and murderous resentment towards the members who had supposedly harassed him as a child, including his mother and "susan joy kauten [shown above]." in January 2005, unable to deal with the pain of the past, ricky recorded an hour-long video confession. the next day, he stabbed angela smith [formerly susan joy kauten] to death and then shot himself.

screen grab from the ricky rodriguez confession tape

"There's this need that I have. It's not a want. It's a need for revenge. It's a need for justice, because I can't go on like this"

THE RICKY RODRIGUEZ CONFESSION VIDEO LINK

*please read entries 18-20 on the right page--while it is unclear whether other children suffered from sexual abuse at the hands of older group members, it is an unfortunate and disturbing fact that ricky rodriguez was indeed abused.