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HEAVEN'S HARLOTS: MY FIFTEEN YEARS AS A SACRED PROSTITUTE IN THE CHILDREN OF GOD CULT |
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Glossary: Family Lingo BABE -- a new disciple or new member in the cult BACKSLIDER -- one who has left the cult BAIT -- analogous to the bait used on a fishing hook. In the Family method of "flirty fishing" this was the lure to attract men to the hook or the message. The bait was usually women who would eventually give the men sex. BATTLE -- an internal spiritual struggle, supposedly between good and evil BROTHER -- any male member of the cult BURDEN -- a heavy, usually sorrowful, spiritual load to bear without complaint BY FAITH -- usually meant without visible means of support and used in phrases such as "living by faith," living without a salary; "healed by faith," become better without going to the doctor or using medicine; and so on FAITH TRIP -- an extended excursion made in order to witness or distribute literature and usually undertaken without money, transportation, or room reservations FAMILY -- the Children of God, later called the Family of Love, and finally just the Family FF -- verb signifying the giving of sex in order to tell the person about God's Love FFING -- short for "flirty fishing" FISH -- a person who is being witnessed to through the method of FFing FLIRTY FISHING -- a method of recruiting men or women into the group by attracting them with sexual activity or innuendos of a sexual nature; eventually used as a way to tell the message of salvation by asking Jesus into one's heart FORSAKE ALL -- to give up all worldly possessions for the community of the Family to use as needed GET THE VICTORY -- an expression used to insinuate that the person addressed was not in a good spiritual state and needed to pray or seek the Lord in order to become more spiritual minded; often this expression was directed to members who were not obeying leadership or were having doubts about what the Mo letters were saying. GOAT -- a person who does not want to hear the Word of God HALLELUJAH -- an exclamatory expression used in much the same way as "Praise the Lord" (see below), but employed more often in the sense of glorifying God INSPIRATION -- a time of songs, dancing, and telling stories and motivational speeches IN THE WORD -- reading and studying the Bible and later the Mo letters KING -- a person outside the cult who helped the group in some way, usually through money, housing, or political influence LEADERS -- sometimes called shepherds or servants, the persons with authority and final decision-making power LITERATURE -- Family publications of letters from Moses David, advice from the leaders, and testimonies from the group around the world. This was classified as DO, "for disciples only," and GP, "for the general public." GP literature was distributed on the street while asking for donations.
LITNESSING -- a method used by the Family to collect
donations. It involved distributing Family literature on the streets and
asking for money; LITNESSERS are those who go litnessing. Mo LETTERS -- the letters written by Moses David to the Children of God, which were distributed around the world and eventually bound into volumes; the sacred text of the group ONE WIFE -- term used to connote the concept of everyone being married to everyone else PRAISE THE LORD -- an exclamatory statement often heard in evangelical church meetings but which became a common expression in the Family: employed to emphasize a statement made by either the speaker or the audience, to contribute to the general inspirational atmosphere, to fill in awkwardness in speech (much as the word "like" or "uh" is used in general conversation), and also in a command-like interrogatory sense, as when a leader is asking someone to do something that is not being accepted. For example: "This is God's will. Praise the Lord, sister?" The answer in the affirmative was "Praise the Lord" (see "Hallelujah"). PROVISIONING -- asking for something for free or at a greatly reduced price; begging QUEEN -- Moses David's daughter, our top leader for a while; later a title given to any woman who was close to Mo REVOLUTION -- a term repeated often at inspirational meetings as a motivational force, which signified that the speakers were in a spiritual revolution against the society. A common expression was "Revolution for Jesus." SAVED -- having gained salvation through asking Jesus into one's heart SERVANTS -- sometimes called shepherds or leaders, the persons with authority and final decision-making power SHARE -- most often used as the verb meaning to have sexual relations SHEEP -- a person who supposedly wants to hear the Word of God SHEEPY -- the adjective describing a person who wants to hear the Word of God SHEPHERDS -- sometimes called leaders or servants, the persons with authority and final decision-making power SISTER -- any female member of the cult SYSTEM -- the world outside the cult environment, especially the capitalistic societies SYSTEMITE -- a person who lived in the system and followed a system way of life, such as having a regular job, marrying one person and raising a family in one's own home, saving money for the future, and consistently putting individual and family needs above the needs of the community; used in a derogatory sense in the COG TESTIMONY -- a personal story, often one's own salvation experience or the story of how one met and joined the group THREESOME -- the term used for relationships involving three adults who live as one marriage unit, either two women and one man or one woman and two men. As in many marriages in the COG, this was not legally binding and was often broken. TITHE -- 10 percent of all income, which should be sent to world headquarters TRIAL -- a lighter version of a battle, or an internal spiritual struggle VICTORY -- what one achieves when the good overcomes the evil after an internal spiritual struggle WITNESSING -- a method used to tell people the message of salvation and eventually the Family message of forsaking all and joining the group, usually by going on the streets or to public places and starting up a conversation with strangers; WITNESSERS are those who go witnessing. WORLD SERVICES -- the main organizing center of the group to which reports and tithes were sent and from where each home received the Mo letters, Family News, and other cult publications
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