RACE WAR
Ben Yahweh went one step further in his test of the Temple members’ allegiance. At meetings he repeatedly instructed them that they should be prepared to fight and die for God and the Nation of Yahweh, and they responded by shouting back their enthusiasm and complete acceptance of both these requirements. Ben Yahweh’s insistence on his members’ acceptance of these requirements began to increase at the same time as his beliefs and prophecies were becoming more and more radical, violent and racist. He prophesied a race war – the will of the one true, terrible, black God. Members were told that God had cursed ‘white America’ and that it was the mission of the blacks, the ‘death angels’, to wipe the ‘white devils’ from existence. Perhaps some of them agreed in principle, but thought that it was something they would never actually be asked to do. Others however, who had been in attendance at secondary, sinister, and strictly confidential meetings of an elite group called ‘The Brotherhood’ held a very different, and much more informed, opinion.
THE BROTHERHOOD
The Brotherhood were Ben Yahweh’s private assassins, and they performed every task he gave them. Initiation into the Brotherhood involved the slaughter of a white person, and the consequent presentation to the group of evidence of this murder – usually the head. Although the white devils were the primary target of The Brotherhood, they were also charged to kill any of the misguided, sinful blacks who stood in the way of Ben Yahweh or the collection of funds for the Temple. This deathly force was sent out into Miami on countless occasions to do Ben Yahweh’s bidding.
Conflict grew between the Temple of Love and the residents of Miami, who viewed Ben Yahweh’s activities with suspicion. Ben Yahweh was now in charge of a multi-million dollar enterprise and there were rumours of fire-bombing, extortion and murder. Eventually, on November 7, 1990, 300 law enforcement agents raided the Temple and arrested Ben Yahweh and a group of Temple members.
One of the most fearful members of The Brotherhood was former National Football League player, Robert Rozier. His Hebrew name was Neariah Israel, meaning ‘Child of God’, and Ben Yahweh placed him in charge of the Newark Temple. He was eventually captured in 1992 and convicted of the murder of a homeless white man whom he had stabbed to death in a ritual sacrifice in preparation for Ben Yahweh’s visit.
IMPRISONMENT
Ben Yahweh was convicted of the murders of 14 individuals. Twelve other Temple members were charged with the same offences, and it was also alleged that they were planning to bomb federal buildings.
On imprisonment, Ben Yahweh demanded that he be allowed access to sacred texts and literature of the Nation of Yahweh. That he was not allowed to read such texts was, he claimed, a denial of his religious freedom. The authorities disagreed, arguing that these were dangerous, criminal and racist documents, and if circulated within the prison could threaten prison security.
Ben Yahweh’s followers consider the government entirely corrupt, and guilty of tampering with evidence and providing untruthful reports. They see his conviction and punishment as reminiscent of that of the white Christ, and they draw parallels between Judas and Robert Rozier, who betrayed their black Christ for a reduced sentence himself. Rozier, who was released after serving time for four murders (having actually admitted to seven) and placed on a witness protection programme, committed cheque fraud and consequently his new identity was revealed. He now, justifiably, fears for his life.
The future of the Temple of Love is uncertain, but Ben Yahweh’s followers await his release. Once a week, from within the prison walls, he sends a three-minute message to his followers on the outside. The message, which he sends via telephone from the prison cafeteria, is broadcast as a voice-over against the backdrop of a still portrait of him and is a feature of a weekly 30-minute programme which is aired in most of the US’s main cities. The programme also includes advertisements for texts and tapes to educate his followers.
Section Three: Cause For Concern?
Twelve Tribes
Messianic Communities
The Twelve Tribes began as an essentially well-meaning, religious group, but over time evolved into a far more sinister organization, responsible for the devastation of many lives. The founder, Elbert Eugene Spriggs, believed, or at least preached to his followers, that he had a direct link to God. Those who accepted this as the truth were in a very vulnerable position.
ELBERT EUGENE SPRIGGS
Elbert Eugene Spriggs was born in East Ridge, Tennessee on 18 May, 1937. He married in 1957, but was divorced three years later, and thus entered the ’60s at a turbulent time in his life. He married again in 1962, and had a son, but this marriage lasted only three years longer than the previous one. During the last couple of years of the marriage, Spriggs’s father died, and the young man was thrown into turmoil.
Only a year after his second divorce, Spriggs married for a third time. During the past few years he had been employed in a number of different jobs, including a stint in the Army, and now found himself working in a carnival. It was while working there that Spriggs claims the Lord spoke to him for the first time, asking him, ‘Is this what I created you for?’ He witnessed sin first hand, and decided to leave in order to find a life in which he could avoid it.
Against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War and the assassination of their president, many other young Americans were equally unsettled at this time, and began to question the customs and principles of their society. To help them in their search for answers, many turned to religion. Elbert Eugene Spriggs was amongst them.
CALIFORNIA
Spriggs travelled to California, where he became involved with the Jesus Movement. His family had always been religious and he had been raised religiously, often going to church three times a week as a child, but his encounter with this group, also known as the Jesus People Revival, stimulated him more than he had ever been before. He realized the need for Jesus in his empty life, and committed to Christ on a beach in Carpenteria. By this time, his third marriage had failed.
With his devotion to Jesus Christ reaffirmed, Spriggs began working with the homeless at the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission but after only a short time he left to preach his Christian beliefs around the country. While doing this, he met Marsha Ann Duvall, who was to be his fourth wife. She became a Christian and they married in 1972. They moved back to Tennessee together, and settled in Chattanooga.
In the years which followed, Spriggs spent his time preaching the word of God to teenagers in the local areas, and encouraged many of them to turn to Christ themselves. He had soon drawn in enough young people to begin his own church group, which he called the ‘Light Brigade’, aimed specifically at teens. Spriggs acquired a house on Vine Street in which to hold prayer meetings and before long, many of the young people had actually moved in, and were living communally at the house.
Young people from all walks of life were welcome at the Vine Street house. Race, class and culture were of no consequence to Spriggs, but as a result he was becoming the target of much criticism from the local churches. He therefore began to turn away from these established religions, whose commitment to Jesus he had already begun to question. He felt that the churches did not hold the Gospel in the high regard which it deserved, and was particularly disgusted on one occasion when he learned that his church service had been cancelled due to the Superbowl.