Seattle Holy Rollers Killings: The End to an Oregon Love Cult (2003)

[tomcam]

This is a well-written piece, and it seems almost a bit whimsical. And then you read the last paragraph.

One of the most remarkable essays I’ve ever read.

[rdtsc]

Fascinating read. The recent equivalent is probably https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NXIVM. They had all kinds of strange rituals branding, slavery, sex trafficking. Given the caliber of people involved I think it received relatively little media attention.

I wonder if they still conduct regular meetings even though the company is technically dissolved. Will they pick a new leader? If all the blackmail material was exposed at trial is it still useful to them, or they have to generate new versions of it...

[baud147258]

> Products: Seminars, female sex slaves including children

[Zimahl]

NVIXM wasn't as salacious of an organization as it has been portrayed in the media. It was a self-help organization. The leader was a loon, a non-monogamist, and built himself up as a pseudo-spiritual leader/guru. Not that it makes it right but the branding and the 'slavery' only occurred to a handful of women at the top of the organization. I don't think there was any 'sex trafficking'. Very few people saw the sexual stuff because only specific individuals were groomed to make it to that level.

The CBC produced a podcast[1] which talks with one of the women who was branded. What is intriguing is no one wants to talk bad about the teachings of the organization because they felt they got something positive out of it. But the crazy shit at the top is what crashed the organization.

[1] https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcasts/current-affairs-informatio...

[JoeAltmaier]

This guy is a perfect example of someone who 'needed killin'. Which is a valid defense in some states (but not California).

[zupzupper]

Kinda reminds me of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_McElroy

[vkou]

I can't stress this any more seriously:

This is not a can of worms you want to open.

[CalChris]

Which states and what’s the legalese?

[bb611]

Seems more like perfect examples of jury nullification and professional misconduct in the justice system.

[tictoc]

Is there a site or place where I can find more stories like this? Cults like this fascinate me, especially from like the 60s and 70s. I know about the rainbow family a little bit, but I'd like to learn more about the underbelly of the flower power movement.

[dmix]

Last Podcast on the Left is a great series on cults and serial killers, they cover some of the best stories in history:

https://www.lastpodcastontheleft.com/

Here's one on the Order of Solar Temple (3 parts)

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-341-order-sola...

(skip their alien and conspiracy stuff which they mostly do jokingly or any of their "side story" stuff which is always filler)

[Analemma_]

[1] is a 20-part article about the rise and fall of Rajneeshpuram, a city built in Oregon (why is it always Oregon?) in the 80’s to house the followers of an Indian guru-slash-cult-leader. If you’ve never heard of Rajneespuram, definitely check this out (there are other resources if you don’t have time for the long article, I think 99PI did an episode on it): the story meanders into gold Rolls-Royces, international drug and arms smuggling, and bioweapon terrorist attacks.

[1]: https://longform.org/archive/tags/rajneesh

[liability]

The Casefile podcast has an excellent series of scripted podcasts about Jim Jones and the Jonestown massacre.

https://casefilepodcast.com/case-60-jonestown-part-1/

https://casefilepodcast.com/case-60-jonestown-part-2/

https://casefilepodcast.com/case-60-jonestown-part-3/

[cmonfeat]

The legacy of this one guy and his cult of personality is pretty amazing. I think this would make a fascinating Paul Thomas Anderson movie.