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The Family

http://www.thefamily.org

This is the group described in High Weirdness by Mail as the "horniest of all cults!" Old-time hippie and free-love proponent David Berg founded his own religious order in the 1960s, and it was dubbed the "Children of God" by the media in the early 1970s. They ran into all of the usual problems, complaints, and opposition – taking children from their families, controversial religious practices, god-worship of their founder and leader, and so on, etc. etc. etc. But it was the practice of what was called "flirty fishing" that won this organization its place in infamy. The use of sex as a recruiting tool and morale booster caused the ranks of this organization to swell in the late 1970s and early 1980s, bringing it to the notice of law enforcement authorities and resulting in a crackdown on its worldwide congregations. A combination of persecution from outside sources, and the introduction of sexually transmitted diseases, caused the group to "officially" abandon its path of wild sexuality in 1987. David Berg died in 1994 at the age of 75, and since then the Children of God have officially renamed themselves the Family of Love, or simply The Family. Members of The Family don't like being reminded of the days of "flirty fishing" – and they really hate comparisons to Charles Manson and his "Family."

You may also want to take a look at XFamily, a wiki site that examines The Family and tries to approach both sides of its controversy, from positive and negative points of view.