Into Darkness
In this article
Inside an American white supremacist cult.
From the 鈥淕od Hates F---鈥 vitriol of the Westboro Baptist Church to the white supremacist and homophobic totalitarianism of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to the violent neo-Nazi advocates of 鈥渞acial holy war鈥 in the Creativity Movement, examples of hate metastasizing via religious dogma abound.
The Twelve Tribes, a Christian fundamentalist cult born in the American South in the 1970s, is little-known to much of the country, and on first impression its communes and hippie-vibed restaurants and cafes can seem quaint and bucolic. But beneath the surface lies a tangle of doctrine that teaches its followers that slavery was 鈥渁 marvelous opportunity鈥 for black people, who are deemed by the Bible to be servants of whites, and that homosexuals deserve no less than death.
While homosexuals are shunned by the Twelve Tribes (though ex-members say the group brags about unnamed members who are 鈥渇ormerly鈥 gay), the group actively proselytizes to African Americans, yet one of its black leaders glorifies the early Ku Klux Klan.
The Twelve Tribes tries to keep its extremist teachings on race from novice members and outsiders, but former members and experts on fringe religious movements who鈥檝e helped its followers escape paint a dark picture of life in the group鈥檚 monastic communities 鈥 especially for black members, who must reconcile the appalling teachings on race with their own heritage and skin color.
Sinasta Colucci was born in Detroit in 1984 to a white 鈥渇ree-spirited hippie鈥 woman and a dreadlocked black man of Cherokee ancestry. Colucci鈥檚 parents split when he was an infant, and he was raised by his mom, who moved him and his older sister to Northern California when he was three months old.
As a mixed-race kid growing up in the conservative town of Redding, California, where barely more than one percent of the population is black, Colucci was both aware of and confused by his skin color. He remembers an incident where he tried scraping his arms with tree bark to make his skin whiter. His mom responded by telling him he should be proud of his Native American heritage.
When Colucci was 10, he was at a park with his friends and witnessed two drunk men fighting, one white and one Native American. When police arrived, he remembers that the Native American man was handcuffed, beaten and pepper sprayed, while the white man walked away. He admits he didn鈥檛 know the context of what he saw 鈥 鈥淚 could have gotten the facts wrong,鈥 he says 鈥 but the incident made a lasting impact. 鈥淔rom that time on I had been deathly afraid of being beaten or killed because of how I look,鈥 Colucci writes in the memoir he self-published in early 2018.
In Redding, Colucci was called a panoply of racial slurs by people who weren鈥檛 sure of his ethnicity: sand nigger, wetback and beaner, nigger, dirty half-breed 鈥. But when he moved to Detroit for a brief stint in college after graduating high school in Redding, and was working at a Church鈥檚 Chicken, he was called 鈥渨hite boy鈥 by some black customers. 鈥淚 was too white for Detroit and too black for Redding, California,鈥 he says.
A few years later, at age 21, Colucci first encountered the community of the Twelve Tribes at their farm in Weaubleau, Missouri, where he had traveled hoping to find a simpler, idealistic communal lifestyle. He was heartened that the first person he met was an older black man working on the farm who called himself Joshua.
鈥淚t was relieving,鈥 Colucci recalls. 鈥淭hey all lived together, they didn鈥檛 seem separate in [a racial] way.鈥
Just a couple of years later, at another Twelve Tribes community in North Carolina, Colucci would find himself with a black leader of the fringe religious movement who goes by Yohannan Abraham (real name John Stringer). Abraham extolled the virtues of Nathan Bedford Forrest, an early member of the original post-Civil War Ku Klux Klan, and tried to impress on Colucci the inherent biblical subservience of the black race to white men, slavery being a prime example of that holy dictum.
As he recounts in his memoir of his seven years with the Twelve Tribes, Better Than a Turkish Prison: What I Learned from Life in a Religious Cult,聽the cult鈥檚 teachings about race are revealed slowly to converts as they鈥檙e indoctrinated into a lifestyle of microscopic control dictated by its leaders.
The Twelve Tribes grew out of an early 1970s youth Bible study group led by Elbert Eugene Spriggs and his wife Marsha in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is now an international network of several dozen religious communes that consider Spriggs, who is known as Yoneq, a modern-day聽apostle,聽and follow his teachings explicitly lest they risk being ostracized by the cult and damned to an apocalyptic lake of fire.
Followers who belong to 鈥淭he Community,鈥 as members refer to the Twelve Tribes, surrender their earthly possessions to the group and live communally, often working at the Tribes鈥 restaurants or tea shops 鈥 called The Yellow Deli and Mate Factor, respectively 鈥 or simply laboring on the communes or for one of the other cult-owned businesses. The internet is highly restricted, and secular music, books and other 鈥渨orldly鈥 influences are verboten.
Spriggs and the other leaders of the Twelve Tribes kept the bulk of the cult鈥檚 鈥渢eachings鈥 private, and largely succeeded until Bob and Judy Pardon encountered the group in the mid-1990s.
Bob Pardon holds a Master of Divinity degree and a Master of Theology with a concentration on ethics, and with his聽wife聽Judy founded the New England Institute of Religious Research. Together they run MeadowHaven in Lakeville, Massachusetts, which Pardon says is the only long-term transitional facility in the world for former members of destructive cults and fringe religious movements.
The Pardons first came across the Twelve Tribes when a former member contacted them about what she perceived as child abuse 鈥 a young child whipped with a long, thin rod like those used to hold balloons, which left ugly marks and bruises. Though she had brought child abuse charges that were eventually dropped for lack of evidence, the Pardons were intrigued by the group, which Bob Pardon says he initially thought was being unfairly maligned. 鈥淭hey had a pretty low profile, and we had never heard of them before,鈥 he says.
Because of their initial skepticism about whether Twelve Tribes was a destructive group, the Pardons were granted access to many of the communities in the聽Northeast,聽and conducted extensive research with leaders, members聽and聽ex-members. They also studied their printed materials 鈥 the 鈥淔reepapers鈥 members distribute in order to proselytize 鈥 and any teachings they could get their hands on.
But even with access to Spriggs and other leaders, the official teachings weren鈥檛 shared with the Pardons. 鈥淭hey said that we wouldn鈥檛 understand,鈥 Pardon says, 鈥渢hat we were not under 鈥榯he anointed,鈥 which means underneath Spriggs. I have two theological degrees and I have extensive training in biblical languages and Christian history, so I was always a bit dumbfounded by that.鈥
Eventually, though, the Pardons met ex-members who had been at the highest levels, right underneath Spriggs, and they took all of the teachings and shared them with the Pardons.
鈥淥nce we got those teachings, we knew there was a very seedy underbelly to the group,鈥 Pardon says. 鈥淲e began to realize that this was a really heavy thought reform environment; there was a lot of behavior control over the members鈥 lives.鈥
Indeed, as Colucci recounts in his book, the group exerted control over everything from when single men should masturbate (鈥渦sually about every other day or every few days,鈥 Colucci writes, 鈥渁nd you鈥檙e supposed to try not to think about anything as you鈥檙e doing it. It鈥檚 to be a 鈥榤echanical release.鈥欌) to how to wipe one鈥檚 ass (鈥渢here really is a teaching about taking three to four squares of toilet paper, folding it to the size of one square, then wipe, fold, wipe, fold, and repeat until you have this tiny, poop-stained square that you flush鈥).
Among the teachings, the Pardons discovered the rationale behind the extensive accusations of child abuse in the Twelve Tribes. 鈥淚t鈥檚 part and parcel of the theology that the child has to obey authority and if the child doesn鈥檛 obey authority, then the child needs to have that [physical discipline],鈥 Pardon says. 鈥淚t used to be that only parents did that, but early on it began to shift over so that anybody that came into the group who thought your child was disrespectful could discipline them, and that would normally happen.鈥
Also revealed were Spriggs鈥 teachings on homosexuality. 鈥淭hey must be put to death,鈥 the teaching reads. 鈥淗omosexuality is a capital offense.鈥
Colucci would encounter these teachings during his seven years as a member of the Twelve Tribes (though he says he personally never witnessed child discipline that he considered abusive). But the teaching that would cause him the most confusion and internal struggle regarded the role of the black race, known as the Cham teaching.
The Cham teaching, or the 鈥渃urse of Ham,鈥 as it鈥檚 more commonly known, stems from Genesis 9:20-25. In the story, Noah鈥檚 son Ham (or Cham, in the Twelve Tribes鈥 Hebraic vernacular), sees Noah naked and drunk in his tent and tells his brothers, Shem and Japheth. The brothers respond by walking backward so as not to gaze聽on聽Noah鈥檚 nudity and covering him with a blanket. When Noah awakens and discovers what happened, he curses Ham鈥檚 son Canaan for Ham鈥檚 impertinence, damning him to be a 鈥渟ervant of servants鈥 to his brothers.
Though the Bible does not ascribe ethnicity or race to any of the characters in this story, over history Ham/Cham has been portrayed as black by many in the furtherance of white supremacy, hence black servitude to Shem (posited as white by racists) has been biblically justified by prejudiced individuals and religious denominations over the past few centuries.
Hate group ideologies like Christian Identity and those of the Ku Klux Klan have incorporated the 鈥渃urse of Ham鈥 biblical misinterpretation into their racist theology (Christian Identity sometimes asserting that Jews are actually the descendants of Ham and Canaan). In the 19th century, Southern Christians in America used the belief to justify slavery.
The Twelve Tribes鈥 teachings regarding Ham/Cham both excuse slavery and perpetuate its bigotry, going so far as to attack Martin Luther King, Jr. 鈥淢artin Luther King was filled with every evil spirit there is to say Cham doesn鈥檛 have to serve Shem. All manner of evil filled that man,鈥 the teaching reads. 鈥淚t is horrible that someone would rise up to abolish slavery. What a marvelous opportunity that blacks could be brought over here to be slaves so that they could be found worthy of the nations.鈥
The Twelve Tribes insist these teachings are not racist. Yohannan Abraham, the black leader who praised the early KKK to Colucci, wrote an article on the group鈥檚 website titled 鈥淎re the Twelve Tribes Racist?鈥 under his given name, John Stringer. (Multiple requests by the聽Intelligence Report聽to interview Abraham/Stringer and other Twelve Tribes leaders were denied or ignored.) Addressing a New York Post article that quotes from the group鈥檚 Cham teaching (鈥淪ubmission to [white people] is the only provision by which [blacks] will be saved鈥), Stringer wrote that the quote 鈥渋s taken totally out of context and has no application within the Twelve Tribes, where blacks are saved like anyone else 鈥 by the blood of the Son of God.鈥 He concludes, 鈥淭he conclusion of the quote and teaching that the聽New York Post聽took out of context says this: 鈥楽lavery is over for those who believe and come into Messiah, but it is not over for those outside Messiah.鈥欌
The telling detail Stringer/Abraham dodges is that the Twelve Tribes believe only those baptized into their cult have 鈥渃ome into Messiah,鈥 leaving every other black person 鈥渙utside Messiah,鈥 where Stringer/Abraham admits he believes slavery 鈥渋s not over.鈥
鈥淔irst of all,鈥 Colucci says of Abraham/Stringer鈥檚 article, 鈥渁ny time a group has to have 鈥楢re We Racist?鈥 as a frequently asked question, something鈥檚 going on there .鈥 They鈥檙e saying you have to join their group to be saved by their messiah, and you have to accept that you have certain iniquities based just on your skin color alone. You only find this out after living there a long time; this is not something they鈥檙e going to tell outsiders.鈥
Carolyn Figueroa, who spent a year with the Twelve Tribes and left in 2011, wasn鈥檛 exposed to the cult鈥檚 teachings about black people until she left the group. Juan Figueroa, her father, enlisted Bob and Judy Pardon as well as cult expert Steven Hassan, author of聽Combating Cult Mind Control,聽to help extract Carolyn from the group, at which time former members of the Twelve Tribes explained to her the controversial teachings she had yet to learn.
Colucci was baptized into the Twelve Tribes after a mere three weeks living at the Stepping Stone Farm but didn鈥檛 encounter the Cham teaching 鈥 which dictated that he, as a man with black lineage on his father鈥檚 side, was cursed to be subservient to whites 鈥 for nearly a year with the cult.
It was a younger man, also mixed race, who introduced Colucci to the Cham teaching 鈥 鈥渟omething to the effect that black people are cursed and their only hope of righteousness is to submit to the white man. I was like, 鈥榃hat? Are you kidding me?鈥欌 Colucci approached one of his community鈥檚 leaders and asked about what he鈥檇 heard, and the leader reasserted the teaching 鈥渋n a more graceful way,鈥 Colucci says.
鈥淚 was offended at first, and looking back, I鈥檓 not sure why I eventually accepted it. I was focused on the positive. I was listening to the teachings, and part of me really wanted everything else they said to be true.鈥
Two years after he鈥檇 first heard the teaching, Colucci was sent to the Twelve Tribes community in Hiddenite, North Carolina, where many of the cult鈥檚 leaders were living, including Yoneq, the founder, and Yohannan Abraham/John Stringer, the African American leader who penned the 鈥淎re the Twelve Tribes Racist?鈥 article.
Abraham/Stringer picked Colucci up at the airport in Charlotte when he arrived. 鈥淎t that time, I was fully inundated, I was brainwashed,鈥 Colucci says. 鈥淚t was like meeting a hero. I kind of idolized him. Here鈥檚 this strong, powerful black man who鈥檚 going to bring in more black people, because we need more diversity. That鈥檚 the way I thought about it.鈥
But as he spoke to Abraham/Stringer, and heard him speak about how Nathan Bedford Forrest and the early KKK were righteous because they鈥檇 brought order to the out-of-control Northern blacks raping women in the South after the Civil War, another image from his pre-cult past came to mind. 鈥淗e was like the black white supremacist from聽鈥The David Chappelle Show,鈥 Colucci says. 鈥淚 was kind of double-minded the whole time I was聽there,聽because I really wanted [the Twelve Tribes鈥 theology] to be true.鈥
Colucci left the Twelve Tribes in 2012, getting on a bus with his future wife the day after President Obama鈥檚 reelection. He didn鈥檛 leave because of the cult鈥檚 teachings about black聽people,聽but rather had become disillusioned with their theology.
Former Twelve Tribes member David Pike, who was part of the Twelve Tribes from 1997 to 2004, was offended by some of the cult鈥檚 teachings as well 鈥 he says he witnessed young children beaten extensively with thin balloon sticks. 鈥淚 saw some kids gettin鈥 switched till they bled,鈥 he says, but he finally escaped (and spent time at Bob and Judy Pardon鈥檚 MeadowHaven facility, which helps people recover from abusive cults) when he couldn鈥檛 reconcile their theology with his own studies any longer.
Jenny Lynn Fiore, a member of the Twelve Tribes in the early 2000s, took issue with the cult鈥檚 racism and authoritarian discipline of children and its treatment of women. 鈥淚 saw very controlling, overbearing husbands treating their wives pretty badly, and there was no real recourse鈥 they were basically kitchen slaves,鈥 she says, but she spent years in and out of the group before finally cutting ties.
It鈥檚 remarkable that people of conscience like Colucci, Figueroa, Pike聽and聽Fiore become indoctrinated to the Twelve Tribes鈥 abhorrent teachings on homosexuality, black people鈥檚 subservience to whites and extensive corporal punishment of small children.
鈥淭hey really begin to control your internal reality, how you process things, how you see reality,鈥 says Bob Pardon, who has helped many former members of the Twelve Tribes transition out of the cult over the last twenty-plus years. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of emotion control 鈥 you feel guilty about things you shouldn鈥檛 feel guilty about, and not guilty about things you should, and the same with fear, you fear things you shouldn鈥檛 and you don鈥檛 fear things that you probably should.鈥
鈥淲e were immigrants,鈥 Colucci writes in his memoir of his and his future wife鈥檚 bus ride away from the Twelve Tribes. 鈥淲e were leaving one nation 鈥 the nation of New Israel, the Twelve Tribes Communities, a nation in which women must be submissive to men, blacks and whites are not equal, homosexuality is a sin which gays must repent of if they want to be accepted, where even differing beliefs and opinions are not allowed, where your daily activities are strictly dictated鈥攁nd we were entering what is arguably the freest nation on the planet.鈥
