Children of God was a cult formed in the late 1960s by evangelist David Berg, who preached about love, scriptures, and his own teachings. The organization grew throughout the years, forming small communities in different countries around the world. Eventually, in the 1990s, Children of God communities were raided, and it was revealed that sexual abuse of minors and incest was rampant in the cult. Per Britannica, former members of the cult — even David Berg’s own daughter — have come out to reveal the abuse they witnessed or endured during their time with the organization. One of its former members, actor Joaquin Phoenix, has also talked about his experience with Children of God in several interviews.

Phoenix’s parents joined the Children of God in its early years. Together with his siblings — River, Rain, Liberty, and Summer — he spent some of his childhood in Venezuela and Trinidad, as his parents were “archbishops” of the group and were sent there to preach. According to Joaquin, his parents thought that they had found a community within Children of God that shared their principles and ideals, per ET Online. “Cults rarely advertise themselves as such. It’s usually someone saying, ‘We’re like-minded people. This is a community,'” he shared.

Leaving the cult

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