Flirty fishing 3 shadow warrior 23/18/2024 ![]() Many female disciples established long-term relationships with wealthy or influential men. Even before 1978, FFing had become a primary source of financial support and political protection. Witnessing and disciple winning were by no means the only focus of Flirty Fishing. "They would target special people - in the media, lawyers, in the government." According to James Chancellor, The "first child conceived through 'flirty fishing,' was born to Berg’s common-law wife, Karen Zerby", but was fathered by "a waiter she picked up in the Canary Islands." Įx-member and critic, David Hiebert, states the practice was "used to curry political favor" in countries CoG had migrated to. According to Don Lattin, between 19 "more than 13,000" children were born to followers of David Berg “women with six, eight, 10, 13 kids were not uncommon” in the Family. The practice also resulted in numerous pregnancies, the offspring of which were termed Jesus babies by the organization. ![]() Sources differ on whether birth control was forbidden or simply discouraged. Though the cult had no problem ignoring Christian norms on fornication, it did follow "Christian fundamentalist underpinnings" when it came to birth control. As the women were expected to keep exact records of their "fruits" (successes), a 1988 statistic showed that more than 223,000 men had been "fished" since 1978 -and that FFing had nevertheless continued into 1988. ![]() Researcher Bill Bainbridge obtained data from TFI suggesting that, from 1974 until 1987, members had sexual contact with 223,989 people while practicing Flirty Fishing. The Children of God practised flirty fishing and escort servicing from 1974 until 1987, when it was officially abandoned, in part because of the AIDS epidemic. Flirty Fishing was defined as using sex appeal for proselytizing.Īccording to The Family's history, "Father David arrived at the rather shocking conclusion that Christians were therefore free through God's grace to go to great lengths to show the Love of God to others, even as far as meeting their sexual needs." While acknowledging that this interpretation scandalized "many religious institutions," The Family maintained that "many people, most of whom would never even go near a church, were reached and won to Christ through this very humble, honest, open and intimately human approach to witnessing." A Family spokesman John Francis describes the main "fish" involved as "lonely traveling businessmen" staying in hotels. The cult published several documents with exact instructions. Cult leader David Berg extrapolated from this that women in his movement should be "flirty fishers" (also called "bait" or "fisherwomen"). The term is derived from Matthew 4:19 from the New Testament, in which Jesus tells two fishermen that he will make them "fishers of men". The practice was curtailed as sexually transmitted diseases spread through the cult, and then abandoned in 1987, reportedly because of the spread of AIDS. According to some sources, over two hundred thousand men were "fished" and over 10,000 babies were born to cult women between 19. Ĭhildren of God have defended it as a way of "bearing witness" for Jesus to people who would not otherwise be open to it. Female members of Children of God, or "fisherwomen", would apply their sex appeal on "fish" - men from outside the cult (often, but not always, having sex) - using the occasion to proselytize for Jesus and seek donations. ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)įlirty Fishing ( FFing) is a form of evangelism by sexual intimacy practised from around 1974 to 1987 by the cult Children of God, currently known as The Family International (TFI). ( October 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. This article possibly contains original research.
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