In our list of dream jobs, "cult leader" ranks pretty high. As the voice of God (or whatever kooky idea you trot out to your adoring flock), you can get away with just about anything, plus you don't pay taxes. Many prophets, preachers and other cult leaders have used their unholy influence to indulge the pleasures of the flesh as well as the spirit. In this feature, we'll tour the world spotlighting ten insanely weird cults that mix knocking the boots with their religion.
The Family
![The World's Weirdest Sex Cults]()
There's no denying that the promise of "free love" can be a potent motivator, but no cult put it into practice quite like the Family (also known as the Children of God), the Huntington Beach, Calif. religious movement that started in 1968. The group's leaders invented the concept of "Flirty Fishing," where distaff members took to the streets with instruction to use their feminine wiles to draw in new converts, by any sexual means necessary. The group conducted the practice from 1974 to 1987, and during that time it's alleged that Family women slept with nearly a quarter of a million people! The looming AIDS crisis finally forced cult higher-ups to put a stop to the madness.
![The World's Weirdest Sex Cults]()
Sathya Sai
![The World's Weirdest Sex Cults]()
The stereotype of the Indian "guru" who can perform miracles with his body has enabled a number of unscrupulous cult leaders to get away with all kinds of weird stuff. Sathya Sai Baba, the figurehead of the Sathya Sai organization, claimed to be able to do all kinds of paranormal feats, from reading minds to vomiting eggs made from solid gold. He created a huge network of meditation centers in 126 countries and used the group's money to fund a number of public health programs. Unfortunately, he also used the group to find young boys to fondle. Baba was a bad boy, luring teens and younger into his private chambers for "healing sessions" that turned into molestation. He passed away in 2011 dogged by controversy.
Oneida Community
![The World's Weirdest Sex Cults]()
We tend to think of cults as a 20th century phenomenon, but religious lunatics were setting up shop in the United States from the beginning. This big new country offered fertile ground for apostates to spread their ideas. In 1848, John Humphrey Noyes set up a commune in Oneida, N.Y. based around the principle of "complex marriage," which held that any two consenting adults could have sex with each other at any time. This wasn't just for pleasure, though -- Noyes felt that free humping would strengthen bonds within the community, and often paired off members to deepen their emotional commitment to Oneida. When the community's archives were opened to the public in 1993, scholars were shocked to find out how much schtupping was going on.
Rajneeshees
![The World's Weirdest Sex Cults]()
If you lived in the Pacific Northwest in the 1980s, you know all about Rajneeshpuram, the massive outpost of followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, an Indian-born guru who also carried out the single biggest bioterror attack on American soil when he ordered his followers to contaminate restaurant salad bars with salmonella. Rajneesh was just as sloppy in the bedroom, often forcing his devotees to get it on in front of him to "break down their inhibitions." In addition, teenage girls in the group would be made to give their virginity to higher-ups, but younger kids who sucked their thumbs had to wear rubber gloves to protect against AIDS -- some real "logical" stuff here.
Nuwaubianism
![The World's Weirdest Sex Cults]()
New Yorkers in the '90s were often treated to sidewalk setups of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, a bizarre Nation of Islam spin-off that incorporated lots of Egyptian symbology. The group was led by Dwight "Malachai" York, a charismatic R&B vocalist who taught that African people were originally green but rusted to brown in Earth's atmosphere and aliens invented both the polio vaccine and the Hula hoop. York eventually moved the group to a compound in Putnam County, Ga., where he made men and women live apart from each other, even if they were married. York himself didn't stick by those rules, and in 2002 he was arrested on over a thousand counts of child molestation. His conviction swiftly followed and York was sentenced to 135 years in jail.
Little Pebble
![The World's Weirdest Sex Cults]()
Japan is not a nation known for its raw and open sexuality, so the fact that a tiny cult where the founders have sex in front of the congregation on a yogurt-covered altar can exist there is a little surprising. The "Little Pebble Dohsyuku-kai" takes its inspiration from an Australian man named William Kamm, who convinced a small group of people that he was the future leader of the Roman Catholic Church. One of those people was Jean-Marie Thornbush Little John, who emigrated to Japan and started his own thing in Akita. Services at the Little Pebble often involve Jean-Marie rubbing other congregants with yogurt and honey, 69ing them and more. Oh, and they're Catholics that also perform gay marriages.
River Road Fellowship
![The World's Weirdest Sex Cults]()
America is, in many ways, the Promised Land for cult leaders. Our bizarre respect for Christianity and guns provides fertile soil for self-proclaimed holy men to set up shop (see David Koresh for an example). Victor Barnard was one such man, a Minnesota native who proclaimed himself the resurrection of Jesus Christ and presided over the River Road Fellowship. Because Barnard was a supernatural being, he argued, he could have sex with any of the group's women -- even if they were married -- and it wasn't rape. And when parishioners started to have female children, he extended that edict to them as well. In 2014, two members of the group went to the police and Barnard fled to Brazil, where he was eventually arrested.
Self Improvement Foundation
![The World's Weirdest Sex Cults]()
Leave it to Russia to have a totally insane sex cult and call it the "Self Improvement Foundation." Led by psychologist Vyacheslav Vesnin, the 200-member group was located in the city of Orenburg and would regularly meet for massive orgies that parents were encouraged to have their children watch. When the police raided his compound, they found over 100 totally nude people of all ages, as well as videotapes in which Foundation children were made to sing profanity-filled songs while their parents stripped on stage. Investigators are still trying to document all of the screwed up sex stuff the group got up to.
Providence
![The World's Weirdest Sex Cults]()
The expansion of Christian theology into Asia took root hard in South Korea, and with it came people looking to exploit that fervent belief to their own benefit. Providence was founded by Jung Myung-seok, originally as an offshoot of the Methodist Church (which later expelled Jung). The group's basic beliefs are close to the Unification Church, but with some additions -- most notably, that Jung is the Messiah. And with Messiah status comes lots of free sex. Starting in 1999, allegations that Jung used his position to bang female followers started to hit the media, and the beleaguered "prophet" fled the country. He was eventually picked up in China and convicted in 2009. Startlingly, the cult continues to groom "brides" for him for when he gets out of jail.
The Banana Cult
![The World's Weirdest Sex Cults]()
Religions since the dawn of time have tried to connect sexual activity with the fertility of crops, but a recent religious leader in Papua New Guinea took things to a whole 'nother level. A man in Port Morobe province assembled a good-sized congregation for his religion that had just one simple promise: every time parishioners had sex in public, the banana harvest would increase. The group gathered around 30 members and even jailed the mayor of the small town of Yamine when he tried to stop them. When cops came to shut down the group, the leader fled naked into the jungle with a retinue of followers.
And in another case of devotion & lust: Devout Christian Bodybuilders Ironically Have A Website For Swingers
The Family
There's no denying that the promise of "free love" can be a potent motivator, but no cult put it into practice quite like the Family (also known as the Children of God), the Huntington Beach, Calif. religious movement that started in 1968. The group's leaders invented the concept of "Flirty Fishing," where distaff members took to the streets with instruction to use their feminine wiles to draw in new converts, by any sexual means necessary. The group conducted the practice from 1974 to 1987, and during that time it's alleged that Family women slept with nearly a quarter of a million people! The looming AIDS crisis finally forced cult higher-ups to put a stop to the madness.
Sathya Sai
The stereotype of the Indian "guru" who can perform miracles with his body has enabled a number of unscrupulous cult leaders to get away with all kinds of weird stuff. Sathya Sai Baba, the figurehead of the Sathya Sai organization, claimed to be able to do all kinds of paranormal feats, from reading minds to vomiting eggs made from solid gold. He created a huge network of meditation centers in 126 countries and used the group's money to fund a number of public health programs. Unfortunately, he also used the group to find young boys to fondle. Baba was a bad boy, luring teens and younger into his private chambers for "healing sessions" that turned into molestation. He passed away in 2011 dogged by controversy.
Oneida Community
We tend to think of cults as a 20th century phenomenon, but religious lunatics were setting up shop in the United States from the beginning. This big new country offered fertile ground for apostates to spread their ideas. In 1848, John Humphrey Noyes set up a commune in Oneida, N.Y. based around the principle of "complex marriage," which held that any two consenting adults could have sex with each other at any time. This wasn't just for pleasure, though -- Noyes felt that free humping would strengthen bonds within the community, and often paired off members to deepen their emotional commitment to Oneida. When the community's archives were opened to the public in 1993, scholars were shocked to find out how much schtupping was going on.
Rajneeshees
If you lived in the Pacific Northwest in the 1980s, you know all about Rajneeshpuram, the massive outpost of followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, an Indian-born guru who also carried out the single biggest bioterror attack on American soil when he ordered his followers to contaminate restaurant salad bars with salmonella. Rajneesh was just as sloppy in the bedroom, often forcing his devotees to get it on in front of him to "break down their inhibitions." In addition, teenage girls in the group would be made to give their virginity to higher-ups, but younger kids who sucked their thumbs had to wear rubber gloves to protect against AIDS -- some real "logical" stuff here.
Nuwaubianism
New Yorkers in the '90s were often treated to sidewalk setups of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, a bizarre Nation of Islam spin-off that incorporated lots of Egyptian symbology. The group was led by Dwight "Malachai" York, a charismatic R&B vocalist who taught that African people were originally green but rusted to brown in Earth's atmosphere and aliens invented both the polio vaccine and the Hula hoop. York eventually moved the group to a compound in Putnam County, Ga., where he made men and women live apart from each other, even if they were married. York himself didn't stick by those rules, and in 2002 he was arrested on over a thousand counts of child molestation. His conviction swiftly followed and York was sentenced to 135 years in jail.
Little Pebble
Japan is not a nation known for its raw and open sexuality, so the fact that a tiny cult where the founders have sex in front of the congregation on a yogurt-covered altar can exist there is a little surprising. The "Little Pebble Dohsyuku-kai" takes its inspiration from an Australian man named William Kamm, who convinced a small group of people that he was the future leader of the Roman Catholic Church. One of those people was Jean-Marie Thornbush Little John, who emigrated to Japan and started his own thing in Akita. Services at the Little Pebble often involve Jean-Marie rubbing other congregants with yogurt and honey, 69ing them and more. Oh, and they're Catholics that also perform gay marriages.
River Road Fellowship
America is, in many ways, the Promised Land for cult leaders. Our bizarre respect for Christianity and guns provides fertile soil for self-proclaimed holy men to set up shop (see David Koresh for an example). Victor Barnard was one such man, a Minnesota native who proclaimed himself the resurrection of Jesus Christ and presided over the River Road Fellowship. Because Barnard was a supernatural being, he argued, he could have sex with any of the group's women -- even if they were married -- and it wasn't rape. And when parishioners started to have female children, he extended that edict to them as well. In 2014, two members of the group went to the police and Barnard fled to Brazil, where he was eventually arrested.
Self Improvement Foundation
Leave it to Russia to have a totally insane sex cult and call it the "Self Improvement Foundation." Led by psychologist Vyacheslav Vesnin, the 200-member group was located in the city of Orenburg and would regularly meet for massive orgies that parents were encouraged to have their children watch. When the police raided his compound, they found over 100 totally nude people of all ages, as well as videotapes in which Foundation children were made to sing profanity-filled songs while their parents stripped on stage. Investigators are still trying to document all of the screwed up sex stuff the group got up to.
Providence
The expansion of Christian theology into Asia took root hard in South Korea, and with it came people looking to exploit that fervent belief to their own benefit. Providence was founded by Jung Myung-seok, originally as an offshoot of the Methodist Church (which later expelled Jung). The group's basic beliefs are close to the Unification Church, but with some additions -- most notably, that Jung is the Messiah. And with Messiah status comes lots of free sex. Starting in 1999, allegations that Jung used his position to bang female followers started to hit the media, and the beleaguered "prophet" fled the country. He was eventually picked up in China and convicted in 2009. Startlingly, the cult continues to groom "brides" for him for when he gets out of jail.
The Banana Cult
Religions since the dawn of time have tried to connect sexual activity with the fertility of crops, but a recent religious leader in Papua New Guinea took things to a whole 'nother level. A man in Port Morobe province assembled a good-sized congregation for his religion that had just one simple promise: every time parishioners had sex in public, the banana harvest would increase. The group gathered around 30 members and even jailed the mayor of the small town of Yamine when he tried to stop them. When cops came to shut down the group, the leader fled naked into the jungle with a retinue of followers.
And in another case of devotion & lust: Devout Christian Bodybuilders Ironically Have A Website For Swingers