Children of God

This British show about the cult, The Children of God, was made for TV back in the 1990s. Unlike most exposees on cults I've seen, this one only interviews one family and tell their experiences within this weird group. So, when a well-spoken representative of the cult is interviewed near the end, a person not acquainted with the organization might just think that perhaps the family was wrong or had an axe to grind. Interviewing other ex-members really, really would have helped...and I have no idea why they didn't do this. So what you get is a several family members (and the male family members, inexplicably, were NOT in the documentary) complaining about the weird behaviors within the group. The sexual abuse of children, the weird sexual antics of the followers and the reclusive nature of their leader, David Berg, are all nice to hear about but more documentation really could have helped them make a much more convincing case. About the only really convincing stuff they had, apart from some of this family, were the weird sex videos apparently made by the cult. And, you do see a fair amount of nudity from the clips...so be forewarned.

Excellent and tragic portrayal of a particularly destructive group that still exists. Thank you to the Padillas for such openness. Truly.

How did this Mother and father escape prosecution? This was an admission by the Mother allowing her underage children to be abused. The Mother laughed while telling her story. I seen nothing funny about it.

Hearing some of the things that this family endures is heartbreaking. Losing a child because your religion makes you feel that taking medication proves you're weak?? The interview at the end with the cult's representative was mildly entertaining considering the fact they had video evidence for every question they asked him to prove he was either lying or distorting the truth. I understand that it's frustrating that they only interviewed this one family, but the documentary was about this one family and their experiences. There is enough literature out there from other former members to read if you need more proof beyond this one family's story.

If you are expecting a sensationalized documentary this isn't the documentary for you. Facts and interviews are presented and narrated telling the horrifying story of the Padilla family's life in "Children.of God". It's a sad story of sexual abuse and control behind an already precarious doomsday cult. This cult exists now as The Family.

It's understandable if you aren't familiar with trauma to look at the mother and this family and think they don't care. The way the mother keeps anxiously fiddling with her sleeves and nervously laughing is due to the fact that she is uncomfortable talking about her time in the cult. She is uncomfortable with the feelings it brings up. The human brain does amazing things to protect itself from trauma and distancing yourself is one of them. At the time of the documentary it had only been 3 years since they left the cult the whole family may have not processed everything. Having PTSD doesn't automatically mean you will be in hysterics when telling your story especially when you may still be in survival mode as this family was clearly in, trying to deal with the outside life. That can also happen when someone has told their story more than a few times.

So if this family seem callous it's simply because they didn't have time to deal their trauma yet. Not to mention feeling vulnerable enough to process an emotion on camera with a stranger for someone who isn't always in front of one would be rare.

*Trigger Warning for SA and child abuse and Child SA* for this documentary.