The Source family and The Children of God are two religious communes that are similar.
The Source family are criticized for how open
and liberated hey are on the sex. That
is familiar of The Children of God. Both
new religious movements use sex as instruments of their spirituality, and are open
with how they portray sex. For example,
the album cover for Yahowha 13’s I’m gonna take you home is an image of Father Yod practically in the act of
copulating. In the side of the album
there are quotes that add a spiritual description. This imagery can be compared
to the comics produced by the Children of God which depict their views on what
love and sex is in their faith. Both new
religious movements used the media they produced as vehicles to impart their
faith to a wider audience. Yahowha 13’s
music was a tool to preach to those who listened, while the Children of God
comics were a tool to preach to those who read. They both used media to attract an audience,
but their messages are different. The
Source Family’s teachings are rooted in the Age of Aquarius and the philosophy
of Yogis. The Children of God are a
Christian sect. Both had leaders who took different ways of leading. The Source Family had Father Yod who was completely apart of their daily lives and lived in the commune. The Children of God had David Berg who lead his communes without living with them. Both leaders set the spiritual foundations and routine of their communes.
The Source Family has disbanded yet they fill a niche
in society. Their music is inspiration to
modern musicians and their way of living/style is a staple of hippy culture. The Children of God continue today, re-branded
as “The Family International.” They
serve the purpose as a continuation for their members and an alternative to traditional
Christianity. The source Family today is
just a meet-up/reunion of people in Hawaii.
The Children of God re-branding has lead them to try to integrate with
society by de-radicalizing their ideas.
The success of The Children of God re-branding makes me ponder if The Source family could do the same. The Source Family is experiencing a sort of
revival in pop culture through music and style. If their ideas
could be reinvented for a new generation, could The Source Family make a comeback?
This post was really interesting because it clearly shows how similar those two communes are. Also, it was interesting for me to find out that reconverting a religion can work, as long as they do it before they completely die out. I am very interested to find out if the Father Yod commune will be able to reconvert itself. Do you think it will be possible? Or that it will be too late for them to start again? I wish you had mentioned how the Father Yod commune fell apart, as I would like to know.
ReplyDeleteIt would be a longshot to recover the Source Family, but stranger things have happened. The only feasible way I see their revival play out is through social media. If a large enough community could be gathered, a new generation of Source Family could be started. The source family dissipated after Father Yods death, they tried to continue for a few years but realized they couldn't continue.
DeleteI like the way you connected the two religious communes. I think it was great to see the difference in the way the two groups used the media and how the media portrayed them. The Source Family used media in their power and really used it as a way to preach their teachings and to connect with their higher power. This was very different for my commune, Synanon. The media was a bad thing for them and they were more concerned about not wanting to be in the media.
ReplyDeleteMedia was an integral part to how the source family evangelized. Without Yahowha 13, we wouldn't have a way to listen to the teachings of Father Yod. Its unfortunate that synanon couldn't get good press. The Source Family escaped this scrutiny by being apart of the hippy movement.
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