The Twelve Tribes Messianic Communities, the Anti-Cult Movement, and Governmental Response

Abstract

Since 1972, in the 25 locations where the Twelve Tribes Messianic Communities live throughout the world, members have encountered state and local governments who challenge their right to live in obedience to their view of the Bible. This chapter focuses on several of the more prominent conflicts members have faced with state governments and demonstrates the influence of the Anti-Cult Movement (ACM) on government officials. The ACM is an international movement made up of organizations and individuals whose goals are to use sometimes exceptional means to exert control over new and minority faiths (Shupe & Bromley, 1980, 1994; Bromley, 1998). The ACM has infringed on the freedom of Twelve Tribes’ members to practice their faith without government interference. Having faced numerous legal battles in the courts, members have been plagued by attacks generated from the ACM, whose exaggerations and misrepresentations seem to never die, despite the fact that their claims remain unsubstantiated by credible evidence when tested in court. The examples that follow indicate a lack of adequate education to the tactics and agenda of anticultists who try to use the legal system to advance their own interests at the expense of violating fundamental freedoms of members of new religious movements. Consequently, there is often a discriminatory or at least delayed response by state government, its agents, and the courts.