Leader created for-prophet industry

New York Post, Apr. 8, 2001
http://www.nypostonline.com/news/nationalnews/28147.htm
[Story no longer online? Read this]

Elbert Eugene Spriggs was working in a carnival in Chattanooga, Tenn., when he says he heard the Lord ask him, "Is this what I created you for?"

The year was 1969, and the answer was no.

Within three years, the former high-school guidance counselor had created the Twelve Tribes, a cult whose members embrace elements of Christianity and Judaism, beat their children to instill discipline and believe blacks are natural servants.

Sitting atop this strange empire is the 63-year-old Spriggs, who has been married four times and calls himself Yoneq, a Hebrew word for sapling or sprig.
His lifestyle is a cut above that of cult members. While they lead spartan lives, he jets between homes in Sus in the southwest of France, Sao Paulo in Brazil and Boston.
(...)

In 1977, after clashes with local churches, Spriggs moved his followers to Island Pond, Vt., a village of 1,500 nestled in mountains near the Canadian border.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]

See also:
» Redford catalog sold cult's goods
» Sect children are used to abuse

» More Religion and Cult News