Religion: Children of Doom

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There are other changes. In Great Britain, where disillusioned hippies seem a likely target, C.O.G. evangelists are preaching a sexual-freedom line unusual for the Jesus movement. Masturbation and premarital sex, for example, are now only sinful if indulged in "too much," like "hiking, swimming or exercising too much." Polygamy is also condoned, though not recommended. In Stoke-on-Trent, C.O.G. pitchmen greet the uninitiated temptingly: "Want to read something sexy, something that'll turn you on?" Elsewhere, they take a different line: recent C.O.G. immigrants to France, where their name is les Enfants de Dieu, have taken Berg's advice to woo Roman Catholics, whom he admires as doctrinaire soul mates. ("Kiss the Pope's foot if necessary," he advises.) It has apparently worked: a priest at Notre Dame found them lodgings near the famed cathedral, and Le Monde's religion writer lauded the spontaneity and faith of "the missionaries in blue jeans."

All this might be amusing if the Children were not so efficient in their indoctrination of converts, who still go through months of spiritual brainwashing. Those who escape often have to leave a lot behind. When David Hoyt, an early leader of the Jesus movement, joined the C.O.G. in Atlanta, he took along many of his flock-and found himself and his friends shipped out within days. "They took over our houses, our vehicles, and about $17,000," recalls Hoyt, who rose to leadership in the C.O.G. before leaving them in disgust. But Hoyt, now in Britain and one of the Children's most outspoken foes, lost more than that: his wife and three children are still among the Children of God.