Jim Roberts cult ex-member stories reviewed by  Joseph P. Szimhart (2000)

 

From Dean’s List to Dumpsters: Why I Left Harvard to Join a Cult  by Jim Guerra (Dorrance, 2000)

Free Lunch by “Elliot” (around 200 pages released for review in 1997; not published)

 

 

Both authors are former members of a new Christian sect,

known variously as “the church” or “the Brothers” by members,

and “raincoat people,” “garbage eaters,” or “Jim Roberts cult” by critics.

 The sect’s founder and leader since the early 1970s is Jimmie T. Roberts (born June 15, 1939), also known as “the elder” and “brother Evangelist.”

 

 

     The author of Free Lunch prefers to remain anonymous. He refers to himself as “Elliot” in his journalistic rendition of circumstances leading up to and ending with his departure from the Jim Roberts cult in 1986.[1] The author of From Dean’s List to Dumpsters, on the other hand, has publicly exposed his involvement in the cult since he left it in 1986. The similarities and dissimilarities in these stories are striking. Though they both defected in 1986, Guerra spent a decade with the group whereas Elliot spent a year or so. Both men dropped out of Ivy League schools to join the nomadic, Christian sect: Guerra was recruited while at Harvard whereas Elliot was attending Brown University. Guerra grew up Christian and remains a Christian today, while Elliot is Jewish and today sustains an eclectic devotion to spirituality. Both men are married, have children and have successfully re-socialized after leaving the distinctly “antisocial,” primarily celibate sect. Both men “walked away” from the group voluntarily but not without parental encouragement and support. Both men recognize the value of the sometimes incredible adventures they had in the group, yet they acknowledge the abuses of authority and the struggles with their naiveté while in the group. As of this writing the men have not read the other’s story, nor do they know one another personally, though they may have crossed paths in 1986.

    My interest in this group goes back to 1986 when I first heard of it. That is when I first met Jim Guerra among sixty other former members of thirty or more “cults” at a  conference in Kansas. Within months of his departure from Roberts cult, Guerra was at ease telling his story. Lately, I have interviewed another former Jim Roberts follower and met with six current members in separate locations. I have also interacted with many concerned families of the current group members. What I propose to do in this review is summarize many of the elements of group life in the Jim Roberts cult expressed by both authors and others. To my knowledge, the only published book by a former member about the group was Escape by Rachel Martin around 1979. Martin was reportedly unhappy with some sensationalist passages incorporated into her story by the publishers, thus diminishing the value of her testimony.

    The Guerra and Elliot stories remain the authors’ honest attempts to describe their experiences. I was impressed with their sense of humor, their efforts to report things as they happened, and their willingness to divulge personal feelings and failures. Of the two stories, Guerra’s is more descriptive of group life whereas Elliot’s offers a wider scope that includes other “cult” experiences he had, his didactic musings into personal philosophy, and a good dose of his relevant dreams. Each man has little reservation about calling their experience a cult, and both define it appropriately in terms of social behaviors, not beliefs. In fact, Elliot knew he was joining a cult, namely an exclusive, restricted, spiritual group and lifestyle, when he first encountered the Brothers. Well into his cult experience, Guerra was somewhat alarmed when he first heard that his group of Christians was labeled as another cult along with “Moonies,” but he had no trouble admitting it by the time he left.

 

Mysterious Christian Nomads

 

     The Jim Roberts cult is a somewhat mysterious sect of Christians. Members of this “Church of the Brotherhood” accept the lifestyle, direction and teachings of Jim Roberts (born in 1939), a self-appointed “elder” who initiated the sect in the early 1970s. Roberts, from Paducah, Kentucky, is a former marine, beautician and wig salesman who became disgruntled with the way churches taught the Gospel. He was raised under harsh circumstances in a poor family and by an abusive, fundamentalist Christian father. In apparent reaction, he devised his own system of worship based on his restricted interpretations of the King James Version of the Bible. Roberts’ cult numbers between 60 and 100 by most estimates [I heard 150 in 2004 but I believe that is an exaggeration], and it seems to have remained around that number for two decades.

    Most new recruits, like Elliot, defect within a year, but many have left after more than a decade. There might be a few dozen core members among who are “elders” who relay Roberts instructions to the group. Roberts has been seen in New York at times but little else is known about his life, possessions or movements save that he will stay with members in camps or their makeshift homes. Members often find sympathetic landlords who allow then to stay for free or in trade for labor in empty houses, tenements or barns. Roberts often travels alone to meet with segments of his flock, although in 1985 Elliot noticed that a “sister” named Johanna was always with him. In the past he has hitchhiked, gone by  bus, and has accepted rides from newer members who still have a car. His clothes are somewhat better than the average brother’s, but he always appears in a distinctive drab-colored, thigh-length shirt sewn for brothers by the sisters.  

    Members, called brothers and sisters, are generally nomadic, travel in the United States, Canada or Mexico, eat and use only what others have discarded, and wear “costumes.” The brother wears drab clothes that include, as mentioned above, a thigh-length tunic-shirt. Brothers do not trim their beards, but wear their hair relatively short. Sisters wear long skirts, similar shirts or blouses, no make-up or jewelry. Sisters sew shirts, backpacks, tents, sleeping bags, etc. At one time they had a small shop equipped with sewing machines in New York. Members wear sandals, sneakers or casual shoes and they all carry huge backpacks when they travel and small ones when they are running errands or proselytizing.

    Roberts controls members’ behavior by convincing them to “uphold the standard,” a concocted web of rules based on Biblical passages and Roberts’ “leadings” or instructions from dreams, feelings, or sacred impressions. The non-group milieu is called “Egypt” and everything from libraries to technology to modern medicine--normal life-- is eschewed by the “standard.” A Christian, in imitation of Moses and the early Jews, must “come out of Egypt.” Members with bad eyesight do not use glasses or contacts in faith that “Elohiym” (God) and “Y’shua” (Jesus) will guide and heal them. They may keep a watch, if only in their pockets. Some elders wear them. Watches aid in keeping appointments with pay-phone contacts, elders and new recruits, and especially, with brother Evangelist. Elliot reports that an elder told him that the group spends over “twelve thousand dollars a year” on pay phones. Phone cards are currently in use among many of them as they are easier to carry than change. The use of computers primarily at libraries is varied with some prohibitions. New members are baptized or re-baptized by full immersion in a stream or lake.

     All “graven” images like family photos or holy cards are forbidden as “idolatrous.” They often use bicycles with a basket attached. Sometimes they travel by van, but often they have been spotted hitchhiking alone or in twos or threes. Sisters reportedly never go anywhere unescorted by a brother or two. Sisters are subservient to the men. Celibacy is required and few if any marriages are recognized by the sect. Many members change their names for Biblical names.

    Jim Roberts and his sub-elders communicate with members by pay-phones and general post. At any time members locate in small groups throughout the states. They are always checking for instructions from Roberts who seems to know where all significant members are. There is no central location or “church” building, but the group gathers for general meetings wherever Roberts directs them. Members often camp in rural or wooded areas but will stay in free lodging, or trade labor for it, when they can. Only the King James version of the Bible is valid for members. The group mission is to preach the Gospel because the “end” is near. They recruit new disciples usually from college campuses, and avoid “Egypt” or all “worldly” associations, activities and possessions including TV, regular jobs, blood family, or pleasure reading. Members generally avoid and distrust all modern knowledge in technology, medicine, and education.

   “Dumpster diving,” or finding food and apparel that is thrown out, is a strict practice all group members follow. Experienced members learn to eat quite well from dumpsters. We should keep in mind, according to a recent study, that Americans “dump” nearly a quarter of their purchased food supply—an enormous amount that includes much that is perfectly edible. The “garbage” that the group eats, according to Elliot and Guerra, is nowhere near the methane producing stage, and more often than not it is of a very satisfying amount and variety. One might call it “fresh” garbage. I have met not a few homeless people and Deadheads (the former Grateful Dead groupies) who excel in the science of “garbology.” The “garbage eater” moniker has been the most popular with Roberts sect’s critics—it is the one most likely to receive disgust from the general public—but that is because the popular standard is different than the sect “standard,” and not because it is always better. In any case, sect members try not to get caught at the practice as it attracts unwanted attention.

    As a result of all these rules, or as they put it, “upholding the standard,” the typical brother tends to be relentlessly judgmental about anything outside of his lifestyle or doctrine. Members view their blood family’s love as a devil’s attempt to lure them away from God. Sisters follow brothers in doctrinal interpretation. On the other hand, brothers and sisters, once initiated and absorbed by the doctrine and group life, are deeply dedicated on a day to day basis as they have little investment in an earthly future.

      Criticism of the group began in earnest by the late 1970s. It was lumped into the general milieu of  “cults” and bizarre sects that flourished at the time and continue to come and go. A sensational accident occurred in 1975 when thirty-five members were on a battered flatbed truck that ran into a motorcycle and rolled over. Many members were cut and bleeding, some had broken bones and one five-month-old baby died. Despite the injuries the Roberts group refused medical treatment and chose to pray about it (Michael Sneed. “America’s bizarre cult of nomads” Chicago Tribune, June 10, 1979). Several news articles covered the group, its abuses of members and children, and the deprogramming of members. By then Jim Roberts grew more paranoid and separated the group into progressively smaller bands, even down to two in a place, by the mid-eighties. After that period members were often unaware that other members were in the same city unless an elder or Roberts informed them. Brothers were not to record the names of places and people in their notebooks anymore, nor were they to reveal their full names to one another.

     Former members complained of authoritarian control by Roberts who encourages an atmosphere of “paranoia.” Women complained of abusive suppression, always under the rule of the men. Many ex-members complained of sickness and diseases that were not properly attended to or understood by the elders. The sect encourages a “faith” approach to all medical problems. Since marriages were rare there have been relatively few children involved in the sect. Both Guerra and Elliot, as well as Martin, report witnessing harsh beatings of disobedient children with “rods” or switches. Like many fundamentalist sects, Roberts group believes in the dictum “spare the rod and spoil the child.” [There are few children in the evasive group today---2007]. Many families tried to deprogram members from the sect, especially in the 1970s and sometimes successfully, but most ex-members broke away from the lifestyle on their own or with a little family help. The kidnap/deprogram option has practically ceased in the United States since the early 1990s, but many cultic group members yet “fear” the possibility. Former members report that the group maintains around seventy to eighty members despite constant defections. Roberts has been known to “abandon” certain troublesome members. The sect is wary of “fowls” or police, detectives or agents hired to arrest or deprogram them. Members are known to carry an ID and enough money to avoid vagrancy charges. They also live in an apocalyptic or end times mind-set, continually readying themselves for the “second coming” of  Y’shua (Jesus). It is not clear how the members view Roberts, as a prophet, elder, messiah figure, or preacher but it is clear that he has an edge on every decision they might make.

In Jim Guerra's epilogue he sums up how he felt when he defected and why he joined:

"Over ten years have passed since I boarded the plane in Boise to start a new life. Much has happened since August 30, 1986, when I stepped off the plane at D.C. National and rode silently home with my mother and her best friend Kris. My mother was both forgiving and very angry at the way I had disappeared with hardly a peep for ten years. I was not ready to face their pain as I felt I had enough to deal with of my own. A psychologist wanted to get the family together for therapy, and this I felt to be too threatening. I didn't want to sit in a room with my brothers and sisters and have them spew their rage against me. I was tired of guilt and needed a rest. Besides, being a cultie just out of the group, I had little respect for the mental health industry. I wanted them to understand how badly it hurt for me to forsake them and that it was nothing personal, I was just obeying what I thought the Bible was teaching."

It was not just the Bible. It was the force of conviction by well-meaning men that tipped Guerra's choice in the direction of romantic totalism posing as the Gospel. 

____________________________________

Joseph P. Szimhart

jszimhart@dejazzd.com

For more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brethren_(cult)