Tonight the Los Angeles affiliate of Fox News will broadcast a deeply disturbing report about a “cult” that flogs its own members publicly as penance after a bizarre mock trial.
Dave McKayThe Fox News 11 report tonight about the group called “Jesus Christians” will air at 10 PM on the West Coast exclusively in the greater Los Angeles area.
American-born Dave McKay, a self-styled holy man that has been called a “cult leader,” created “Jesus Christians” after leaving the group “Children of God,” a notorious “sex cult” known for sexually abusing children and sending its female members out to raise money as “hookers for Christ.”
The so-called “Jesus Christians” is a much smaller group of less than a hundred, but McKay has managed to grab attention around the world through sensational stunts, such as encouraging his followers to give up a kidney as an organ transplant to total strangers.
The British press accordingly has called “Jesus Christians” the “kidney cult.”
60-year-old McKay seems to have an insatiable desire for attention and will apparently do almost anything to feed his ego.
The Fox News report about “Jesus Christians” tonight includes coverage of its staged mock trial, which culminates in the sentence carried out of public fogging.
The trial features a family that struggled to free a teenage son from McKay’s influence.
“Jesus Christians” has a history of recruiting minor children, a practice that has gotten the group into serious trouble.
McKay appears to be following in the footsteps of Claude Vorilhon known as “Rael,” leader of the “Raelians,” another group with a penchant for staging publicity stunts to garner attention for its leader.
The often-ridiculous Raelians are best known as the “clone cult,” due to the claim that they had somehow cloned the first human. A story that got the group worldwide attention, but turned out to be little more than a joke.
However, former members of the “Jesus Christians” see McKay as anything but amusing and say they were manipulated and exploited within the group some now consider a ”cult.”
Some former members have been posting comments about the group on an open forum message board provided by the Ross Institute of New Jersey, which is the sponsor of CultNews.
McKay himself, endlessly concerned about his public image, has at times posted at the board too.
One thread at this forum is titled “Australian Cult” and has been open for more than a year, with posts added as recently as today.
McKay gets beatingOther threads discuss the recent public whippings and various other egocentric antics of the man labeled a “sick cult leader“ in California.
McKay apparently planned the beatings for months, which are included in the report tonight on Fox 11.
This drama can be seen as little more than retaliation against the family in Los Angeles that opposed him. Their teenage son, an outstanding student and athlete, deserted his goals and family to follow McKay.
Perhaps the only visibly positive portion of the Fox 11 report tonight, is that Dave McKay is one of those being beaten, a man that many feel deserves some punishment for the many people he has hurt.
The Fox 11 report is a unique and startling inside look at one of the most bizarre and potentially dangerous ”cults” in the world today. A compelling lesson about how controlling such groups can be, which is probably not quite the message McKay imagined or wanted.
CultNews doubts that anyone can beat some sense into Dave McKay, but this news event underscores the damage that can be done to individuals and families at times, “in the name of God.”
