 |  |  |  |  |
| | | | |
After this monumental life transforming experience, Spriggs worked briefly with the
homeless and witnessed to people around the country, including Marsha
Ann Duvall, who would become his wife in 1972. They moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee and
Elbert Eugene immediately began his mission work with local teens, drawing many to Christ.
"Since that beginning Spriggs has never made any money for preaching or teaching the
gospel."
For a while Spriggs attended various churches, and then settled on
regular attendance at First Presbyterian Church. In 1972 Spriggs started the
"Light Brigade" for teens, "a loose fellowship of disaffected youth trying
to obey the Jesus of the Bible."
Participants in the Light Brigade were from many different cultural, social class and racial groups. Because of this diversity, Spriggs experienced conflict with the established churches. This was no doubt partially responsible for his growing disillusionment with what he perceived to be a low level of regard for the Gospel in local churches.
A final blow of disillusionment came when he went to a church service
to find that it had been postponed for the Superbowl.
Their vigorous activities and the controversial life style of the group drew attention and
criticism. Some local preachers began questioning Spriggs' authority to
baptize.
During this period the Community tended to withdraw from mainstream religious
groups in favor of its own fellowship (which included "teaching and speaking the Word,
singing and dancing").
"aim for a peaceful co-existence with society by following the guidelines laid out by American patriot Roger Williams, on the separation of church and state. On the other hand, they regard society as dominated by sin..."13
Spriggs was invited by a group of disaffected Christians to become their
pastor in northern Vermont. He declined that offer, but as a result of that
contact, concluded that it was appropriate that the Vine Community should move
to the small town of Island Pond, Vermont.
Upon arrival in Island Point, the church started anew several industries, including Strictly Vermont Candle, Futon Vermont, and the very successful Common Sense Wholesome Food Store and Restaurant. In addition to providing sustenance for the group, these businesses served also evangelical purposes.
If there was any sense that the move to this isolated rural district
of Northern Vermont would provide shelter against the kind of conflict they
had faced in Tennessee, they were mistaken. Opposition to the church came early.
Part of the opposition is understandable as townspeople were confronted with
the arrival of a few hundred persons who had the potential, at least, of disrupting
the status quo of this beautiful and serene community. A second source of
opposition came from attacks by religious and secular critics -- most who were
also outsiders -- who took it upon themselves to monitor doctrines and practices of
unconventional religious communities.
Religious leaders further helped arouse uneasiness about the new group by calling attention to several of the Churches' beliefs that were regarded as unconventional. In addition to very traditional views regarding women, the "lightning rod" that would trigger strong opposition to the group was its belief and practice regarding the Biblical injunction to "spare the rod and spoil the child." They believe that spanking children is God's remedy for dealing with disobedience and they make no effort to hide this practice. We shall discuss this opposition in below in the section on Controversies. For now we simply note that this opposition has been fierce, unrelenting and, further, the charges leveled against the Northeast Kingdom Community Church remain largely unsubstantiated.
In spite of ongoing harrassment, the group found a home in this idyllic
environment and created a life-style that matched their identity as
simple people obeying God's call. Among other things, the group
gravitated towards more defined life-styles. For clothing styles,
"modest, comfortable and loose-fitting. Men have beards and tie their
hair back. Women remain modest, wearing loose fitting and cuffed pants
or long skirts and headcoverings at times of gathered worship."
They also developed more wholesome and nutritious diets consisting of
"whole grains, fruits and vegetables, healthy fats and herbal remedies."
In the early 1990's the Church expanded beyond Island Pond and formed several communities in New England, each composed of several households. They also became known as The Twelve Tribes, in keeping with the aim of imitating the tribal life of Abraham and the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Currently there are upwards of 25 communities worldwide. Most of the communities are in the Northeastern United States, Missouri, and Colorado, but there are also locations in France, Spain, Germany, England, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and Canada.
The Twelve Tribes await the coming of the Messiah, whom they call Yahshua.
They ascribe this belief in the second coming to 2 Thessalonians 1:8, "He will
come to rescue His people and inflict vengeance on those who refuse to obey
the good news." In preparation for the coming of Christ, the members adhere to
certain lifestyle beliefs and practices, such as using the correct name for
Jesus, "Yahshua," keeping the Sabbath, and practicing dietary restrictions.
"They practice giving Hebrew names in some instances where the name given more
accurately describes the essence of who that person actually is."
Followers are often called The Body, or The Bride. Children play an
integral part in the preparation for Yahshua and the Last Day, because it is
the children, the second and third generations, who can be made the "pure and
spotless bride" for the second coming of Yahshua.
If a child disobeys these rules, does not respond on first command to an adult,
or commits any other sinful act, he or she is spanked by his or her parent with
a wooden rod which is an "eighteen inch, thin, flexible balloon stick meant to
sting but not injure."
The Twelve Tribes advocate the use of physical discpline
for their children, in accordance with Proverbs 22:6; 13:24. However, this
disciplining must be done in love and with self control. "The Community has a
uniform code of discipline that does include corporal punishment."
Children are also home-schooled four days a week in structured classes, and
during the remainder of the time are taught in "hands on" settings. They are
taught reading, writing, math, history, and geography. Darwin's theory of
evolution is disregarded.
Members, upon entering the Community, renounce all possessions, in the
spirit of living together communally and sharing all goods as did the early
Christian disciples of Acts 2:37-47 and 4:32-35.
They profess many Christian beliefs in common with other groups, but remain
"unrelated to any particular denominational family."
The Freepapers are an evangelical tool of the Twelve Tribes. They are
distributed widely by members for the purposes of evangelizing and promoting
the Community, as well as educating those who are already members. With the
dawn of the millenium approaching, the Twelve Tribes published the Last Day
Freepaper. This was a call to the people to listen to God's prophets, claiming
that the last day is on the horizon. However, it will not happen for at least
50 years, at a time when people are living together in harmony, demonstrating
God's love for mankind. Yoneq stated that "The one that you call Jesus
(Yahshua) doesn't want the world to end right now. He wants you to help Him
bring about the end."
The Alien Ant, a Freepaper published in April 2000, discusses the question,
"Are we alone in the Universe?" These teachings express a need for love of
God's creations, and, as well, address the issues of crime on earth as an
explanation for why humans are, in fact, alone in the universe.
The most persistent issue of controversy with the Twelve Tribes over the past quarter-of-a-century has been their belief and practice of corporal punishment. Long regarded as a taken-for-granted form of punishment, contemporary child rearing practice has come to view spanking as both unnecessary and an ineffective means of gaining child compliance with the wishes of their parents or teachers. Opponents of spanking have gradually succeeded in defining this form of child discipline as cruel and abusive.
Swimming against the stream of popular public sentiment, the Twelve Tribes' steadfast and open adherence to the Biblical justification of spanking has both placed them at odds with the broader culture and rendered themselves vulnerable to charges of child abuse. Two groups, often acting in concert, have repeatedly accused the Twelve Tribes of child abuse.
The first group consists of non-member spouses usually persons who have left the group and been in conflict with spouses, who have remained in the group, over custody of the children. The second group consists of members aligned with anti-cult organizations who have viewed the child abuse issue as a strategic weapon to discredit both the group and the parent in the group.
In a sordid tangle of events occuring over several years, the anti-cultists have presented themselves as champions of children they alleged were abused, and have succeeded in gaining the cooperation of state law enforcement officers on behalf of their goals. They also been effective in finding a sympathetic hearing with the mass media. They have enlisted the parents outside of the group to offer testimony of alleged abuse.
The issue of child abuse first surfaced in the early 1980's when a former member, Juan Mattatall, whose spouse remained in the group with custody of their five children, charged that the group engaged in child abuse in the form of regular beatings and that he feared for their safety.
Jean Swantko, legal counselor and member of the group, writes as follows in Social Justice Research:
In the Mattatall case, the alleged and misrepresented religious beliefs of the Community mother were weighted against her more than the substantiated pedophilia of the father. Affidavits of three alleged victims of Mattatal were available to the Court, but were not considered during the custody hearings, which resulted in custody being granted to the father.34a
In another paper Swantko wrote:
[When] it was found that he [Mattatall] had made sexual advances toward more than one of the children there...[but that he was] not...willing to admit to his transgressions or even confess that he needed help, he left...saying that he would destroy the Community however he could.34
Two other cases emerged in the same year and, in each case, the judge awarded custody to the fathers residing outside of the community. In yet another case in 1983, Eddie Wiseman, a
community leader, was accused of beating the 13 year old daughter of a member for seven hours
with a wooden rod. Both the child and the father later withdrew their testimony and the case
was formally dismissed for lack of a speedy trial.
Mattatall's efforts to "destroy the Community" involved seeking out the help of an anti-cult
group then known as the Citizen's Freedom Foundation. A small group of anti-cultists became actively involved in an effort to discredit the Island Pond Community. Among other things,
they supplied the Vermont Attorney General's Office and the Vermont State Police with the names of former members who had been deprogrammed. The state then proceeded to gather negative information about the group that would form the foundation of broad sweeping legal action again the group.
Several persons contacted by Vermont law enforcement authorities offered testimony
corroborating the alleged child abuse. This "evidence," in conjunction with the outcome of
the custody trials, lead to a plan to conduct a massive raid of the Community in Island Pond, Vermont. The State of Vermont, influenced by the Citizen's Freedom Foundation, obtained a warrant. "The warrant read 'In Re:CC' to stand for certain children, because the warrant was so general that it had no names."
Before dawn on the morning of June 22, 1984, a total of ninety state troopers and fifty social workers raided 19 homes at Island Pond and seized 112 children. The children were then transported to the State courthouse 20 miles away.
Jean Swantko told us that the raid was the result of falsities and unsubstantiated claims generated by apostates and anti-cultists with the cooperation of the media who had uncritically written stories that were highly negative of the group. Explains Swantko:
The anti-cult activists influenced defectors, the media, government officials and eventually the Attorney General and the Governor of Vermont to execute a "grossly unlawful and unconstitutional scheme" against church members because of their religious beliefs and not based upon evidence.32
This may sound like propaganda for the defense, but Judge Frank Mahady didn't
think so. In a marathon session on the bench, Judge Mahady heard forty claims,
and then released all of the children to the custody of their parents citing
the warrant as "grossly unconstitutional." The judge found no evidence of abuse
of the children. The clear implication of the ruling would seem to be that the group
had been victimized by a witch hunt by those who would punish the group for their
religious convictions. It was a triumph for the Twelve Tribes, but it would not
be the end of efforts to discredit them as an abusive and dangerous "cult."
These initial child custody disputes, framed as cases of child abuse, have created an environment of suspicion that continues to keep the Twelve Tribes on the defensive wherever they go. This cloud of suspicion is possible for two reasons: (1) those who were responsible for this abuse of the judicial system have not acknowledged responsibility for their actions, and (2) active anti-cultists continue to "poison the well" by ignoring the facts in the litigation and custody disputes, repeating allegations that have been found not to be true.
John Buchard, the Commissioner of Social and Rehabilitation services at the time of the raid, continues to defend his actions against the Community. He has accused the parents of being disagreeable at the time of the raid. Swantko claims they truly complied with all of the officials' orders. Notwithstanding Judge Mahady's conclusion that the raid was "grossly unconstitutional," Buchard justifies his actions by stating that he saw no other means of
achieving a possible rescue of the children.
Rev. Robert Pardon, a long time principal in the effort to delegitimize the Island Pond group, continutes to do battle. Founder of The New England Institute of Religious Research, Pardon maintains a substantial web page that serves to promote information that has the effect of discrediting the Twelve Tribes. There are also several anti-cult pages that repeat misinformation and reprint newspaper articles that are slanted by reporters who listened to the stories of apostates and anti-cultists without ever bothering to investigate the allegations first hand. We have created links to Pardon's page, as well as several other anti-cult pages for the purpose of information.
Members of the Twelve Tribes are aware of the fact that winning the propaganda
wars is a tough assignment. Beginning in the late 1990s, Jean Swantko wrote
several papers that seek to tell the story from their perspective. Swantko
attributes many of the ongoing problems of the Twelve Tribes to the unrelenting
commitment of anti-cult groups to spread false, misleading and unsubstantiated
claims about the group. "Religious freedom is jeopardized," notes Swatko,
"when governments rely upon the mere subjective opinions of anti-religious
zealots as true, and act upon them."
The Twelve Tribes have a web page, but have only recently begun to use it to post information, including legal documents, that document their claims of abuse by the anti-cult movement. One finds some interesting documents that are not available either in the general press or the web pages of the anti-cultists. As of this writing, their site is not well organized with the result that interested parties might miss these documents altogether. We have created links to several of these documents and recommend that interested persons explore these materials.
Custody battles are almost never pleasant occasions. Both sides usually play hard ball. The claims that parties make one against the other are usually exaggerated, if not outright false. And the children are almost always the real losers. The custody battles between members and former members of the Northeast Kingdom Community of Island Pond profoundly impacted the religious group as well.
No case had a more profound impact than the struggle between Juan and Cindy Mattatall. As noted above, Juan Mattatall won custody of their five children. We noted above that Twelve Tribes counsel Jean Swantko alleged that the group had substantiated that Mattatall had a problem with pedophilia and, further, that he had refused to seek help. As it turned out, these were not trumped up charges by a former spouse or group that sought to discredit Juan Mattatall.
Here is a brief synopsis of what happened after Mattatall won custody of his children:
Nor is it a case of personal family tragedy, although it is certainly that, too. The life and history of the Twelve Tribes for more than a quarter-of-a-century has been profoundly affected by this incident. Further, the incident continues to affect the life of the Twelve Tribes community around the world. Wherever they go, the claims of the anti-cult movement follows them casting a shroud of suspicion over their right to exist as a religious community.
It is understandable that these comments will be interpreted by some as a defense of the Twelve Tribes. This is not the intent. Rather, we seek to call attention to what seems to us to be unequivocal evidence of a campaign to manufacture and disseminate misinformation about the group. Our intent is merely to try and put the record straight. If we should learn that any of the information presented here is wrong, we shall certainly correct any error.
Almost every new religion experiences some level of tension with the broader society. How they balance the tension between their unique message and the suspicions of the broader culture, will play a large role in determining whether they survive beyond a first generation of believers.
The Official Website of The Twelve
Tribes
During the last couple of years of the 1990s the Twelve Tribes
have gradually expanded the content of this page. In addition to information
about the group -- beliefs, activities and a directory of locals, it now contains
a number of legal documents and scholarly papers, including some authored by
Jean Swantko, a group member and their legal counselor. While the history of
the group remains thin, this is still the most comprehensive source for information
about the group.
http://www.twelvetribes.com
CESNUR (Center for Studies on New
Religions)
This Italian-based web page offers several articles of interest
about the Twelve Tribes. Use the search engine to locate information.
http://www.cesnur.org/testi/12tribes.htm
The New York Times on the Web
The NYTs archives, which can be searched from the front page, contain six
articles at present (1/17/01). Readers who have come to expect the NYTs to be a
reliable and unbiased resource may be surprised by the usually negative tone of
articles that affirm popular cultural prejudice against new religious movements.
The most recent article that appeared in mid-2000 is a notable exception, reflecting
objectivity and balance. There is a fee for accessing the archives, so if you have
access to Lexis/Nexis you may wish to search for the articles by this method.
http://archives.nytimes.com/archives/search/fastweb?search
Most of the information about the Twelve Tribes on the Internet is the product of anti-cult groups and individuals. While the creators of these pages are well intended -- from their perspective -- in their desire to warn people about "dangerous cults," our review of these pages would suggest that much of the information is unreliable. We offer links to these pages because it has been the policy of the Religious Movement Homepage, since it was founded in 1996, to present all points of view regarding controversial matters about religious movements.
New England Institute
of Religious Research (NEIRR)
This is the most extensive collection of offerings about the Twelve Tribes aside from the group's home page noted above. The New England Institute of Religious Research was founded in 1991 by the Reverend Robert Pardon "to combat the rise of cults, the occult and aberrational Christianity in New England." He first encountered the Twelve Tribes in 1994. A good bit of the information on the site consists of Tribe documents that he has uploaded without the groups permission. Until late 1999, the banner-logo of the Twelve Tribes appeared as the signiture page of Pardon's material on the Tribes, deceptively creating the impression that visitors were on the Twelve Tribes homepage. There is valuable information on this page for a serious scholar of the group, but the general impact and intent is highly unflattering toward the Twelve Tribes. To learn more about Pardon and his role as a self-proclaimed expert who focuses on New England religious
groups, we recommend an article by Andres Walsh, "Cult Fighting in Massachusetts" which
appears in the Fall 2000 issue of Religion in the News, a publication of The Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life at Trinity College in Hartford.
http://people.ne.mediaone.net/neirr/mcconclu.html
Rick Ross Website
Rick Ross, a leading anti-cult figure, characterizes himself as an "expert consultant and intervention specialist." This site contains hundreds of newspaper articles about many
religious groups. The selections seem mostly to reflect the presuppositions of Ross. Of
the fifteen items on the Twelve Tribes page, two offer insights and perspective about the
group. "Defender of the faith," is a Boston Globe Magazine human interest story that
explores how and why public defender Jean Swantko came to defend and eventually join the group.
The second from the Philadelphia Inquirer offers a human interest story on how the
tiny community of Island Pond, Vermont came to accept, and even embrace, the Northeast Kingdom Community Church.
http://www.rickross.com/groups/tribes.html
F.A.C.T.Net (Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network),Inc.
This link provides single text file with six newpaper articles from the period of Nov 10, 1983-April 17, 1983 that deal with the custody battles discussed above. Juan Mattatall is portrayed as a victim. We searched the F.A.C.T.Net index and found nothing to suggest any updating.
http://www.xenu.org/factnet/GEN/FILES/MEDIA01/II.TXT
Cult Awareness and
Information Centre, Australia
This newspaper article posted on an
Australian anti-cult page illustrated how stories, once told, take on a
life of their own. The lead line from this article that appeared in The
Sunday Mail of Brisbane, Australia reads as follows: "A BIZARRE bible cult,
which advocates beating children before they are old enough to walk, is
recruiting in Queensland." Jan Groenveld, one of Australia's leading anti-cultists,
and Bob Pardon of the New England Institute on Religious Research are quoted
and seem to be the primary sources for the article.
http://caic.org.au/biblebase/12tribesoz.htm
[renumber footnotes]
Swantko, Jean A. A 25 Year Retrospective on the Impact of the
Anti-Cult Movement on Children of the Twelve Tribes Communities
p1.
Swantko, Jean A. A 25 Year Retrospective on the Impact of the
Anti-Cult Movement p3.
Swantko, Jean A. A 25 Year Retrospective on the Impact of the
Anti-Cult Movement on Children of the Twelve Tribes Communities
p1.
Bozeman, John M. and Susan J. Palmer. The Northeast Kingdom
Community Church of Island Pond, Vermont: Raising Up a People for Yahshua's
Return.
The New England Institute of Religious Research http://www.ultranet.com/~neirr/mcconclu.html
Swantko, Jean. personal communication (12/00).
Swantko, Jean A. A 25 Year Retrospective on the Impact of the
Anti-Cult Movement on Children of the Twelve Tribes Communities p1.
Bozeman, John M. and Susan J. Palmer. The Northeast Kingdom
Community Church of Island Pond, Vermont: Raising Up a People for Yahshua's
Return.
Bozeman, John M. and Susan J. Palmer. The Northeast Kingdom
Community Church of Island Pond, Vermont: Raising Up a People for Yahshua's
Return.
Swantko, Jean. personal communication (12/00).
Swantko, Jean. personal communication (12/00).
Swantko, Jean. personal communication (12/00).
Palmer, Susan J. Apostates and Their Role in the
Construction of Greivance Claims Against the Northeast Kingdom/Messianic Communities
Swantko, Jean. personal communication (12/00).
Palmer, Susan J. Apostates and Their Role in the Construction of Greivance Claims Against the Northeast Kingdom/Messianic Communities
The New England Institute of Religious Research headed by the
Rev. Robert Pardon has spearheaded much of the opposition. While he presents himself as a counter-cultist, i.e., a member of the religious community who stands in opposition to unsound doctrines, he has aligned himself with, and pursued tactics of, anti-cultists. http://www.ultranet.com/~neirr/mcconclu.html
Swantko, Jean. personal communication (12/00).
Swantko, Jean. personal communication (12/00).
Palmer, Susan J. Frontiers and Families:the Children of Island Pond p155.
Palmer, Susan J. Frontiers and Families:the Children of Island Pond p159.
Swantko, Jean. personal communication (12/00).
Bozeman, John M. and Susan J. Palmer. The Northeast Kingdom
Community Church of Island Pond, Vermont: Raising Up a People for Yahshua's
Return.
Palmer, Susan J. Frontiers and Families:the Children of Island Pond p158.
The Last Day Freepaper
Melton, Gordon J. The Encyclopedia of American Religions
p609.
Melton, Gordon J. The Encyclopedia of American Religions
p609.
Melton, Gordon J. The Encyclopedia of American Religions p609.
The Last Day Freepaper http://www.twelvetribes.com/publicationsframeset.html
The Last Day Freepaper http://www.twelvetribes.com/publicationsframeset.html
The Alien Ant Freepaper http://www.twelvetribes.com/publicationsframeset.html
The Last Day Freepaper http://www.twelvetribes.com/publicationsframeset.html
Swantko, Jean. personal communication (12/00).
Swantko, Jean A. A 25 Year Retrospective on the Impact of the
Anti-Cult Movement on Children of the Twelve Tribes Communities pps.1-2.
The Affadavit of Jennifer Mattatall Cohen
http://www.twelvetribes.com/publicationsframeset.html
The Affadavit of Jennifer Mattatall Cohen http://www.twelvetribes.com/publicationsframeset.html
Swantko, Jean A. A 25 Year Retrospective on the Impact of the
Anti-Cult Movement on Children of the Twelve Tribes Communities p11.
The Affadavit of Jennifer Mattatall Cohen
http://www.twelvetribes.com/publicationsframeset.html
The Affadavit of Jennifer Mattatall Cohen
http://www.twelvetribes.com/publicationsframeset.html
The Affadavit of Jennifer Mattatall Cohen
http://www.twelvetribes.com/publicationsframeset.html
Swantko, Jean A. A 25 Year Retrospective on the Impact of the
Anti-Cult Movement on Children of the Twelve Tribes Communities p12.
Swantko, Jean A. A 25 Year Retrospective on the Impact of the Anti-Cult Movement on Children of the Twelve Tribes Communities p10.
Swantko, Jean A. The Twelve Tribes' Communities, the Anti-Cult Movements, and Government's Response p343.
See Palmer (1998) for a discussion of
the role of apostates in allegations of child abuse.
Swantko, Jean A. The Twelve Tribes' Communities, the Anti-Cult Movements, and Government's Response p349.
Swantko, Jean A. The Twelve Tribes' Communities, the Anti-Cult Movements, and Government's Response p351.
The New England Institute of Religious Research
http://www.ultranet.com/~neirr/mcconclu.html
Swantko, Jean A. A 25 Year Retrospective on the Impact of
the Anti-Cult Movement on Children of the Twelve Tribes Communities pps.1-2.
Swantko, Jean A. The Twelve Tribes' Communities, the Anti-Cult Movements, and Government's Response p351.
Swantko, Jean A. A 25 Year Retrospective on the Impact
of the Anti-Cult Movement on Children of the Twelve Tribes Communities p8.
Swantko, Jean A. The Twelve Tribes' Communities, the Anti-Cult Movements, and Government's Response p347.
Swantko, Jean A. A 25 Year Retrospective on the Impact
of the Anti-Cult Movement on Children of the Twelve Tribes Communities p2.
Swantko, Jean A. The Twelve Tribes' Communities, the Anti-Cult Movements, and Government's Response p353.
The New England Institute of Religious Research
http://www.ultranet.com/~neirr/mcconclu.html
Swantko, Jean. personal communication (12/00).
Swantko, Jean A. The Messianic Communitites in the
European Union: An Issue of Parental Authority
http://www.twelvetribes.com/publicationsframeset.html
Swantko, Jean A. The Twelve Tribes' Communities, the Anti-Cult Movements, and Government's Response p359.
The Rick Ross Website
http://www.rickross.com/groups/tribes.html
Swantko, Jean. personal communication (12/00).
The Cult Awareness and Information Centre
http://www.caic.org.au/biblebase/12tribesoz.htm
Swantko, Jean. personal communication (12/00).
Created by Alice Kreiner
For Soc 257: New Religious Movements
University of Virginia
Fall Term, 2000
Last modified 07/25/01