Book Review: Sex Cult Nun by Faith Jones

A compelling story that could use more historical, cultural and societal framework

I’m not sure I was prepared for what this memoir by the granddaughter of infamous religious sex cult, Children of God, brought to light, but whew what a heart wrenching shocking tale of spiritual manipulation, patriarchy and oppression.

Faith Jones chronicles shocking parts of her adolescence that include sexual abuse and physical abuse under the guise of religious devotion to God. At the very end, Faith talks about how she comes to terms with how she was living through books and education and decided to leave when she was 23 years old.

This is not necessarily a deep dive into how such masses of people can fall for such debauchery, rather, it is about the individual experience of Faith told in her voice by reflection of what she endured and saw around her through her own eyes within her own family. She writes about how her brothers were treated and groomed for sex. She spoke of how her mother would engage in “flirty fishing” which is basically meeting men at random bars and having sex with them as a way to “win them over” for Christ. She spoke about how strict her family was growing up on the farm in a remote part of china and how horrific punishments could be if they disobeyed. As she grows up she starts to explore how her upbringing affected her choices as an adult and how she ultimately sought freedom through education.

I think this book is an engaging story and good insight to this cult which had, at one point, 10,000 members across the world. It is a disturbing and frankly uncomfortable read at times. I do wish there was a little more depth to this novel that gave us the broader context to this cult and even other similar cults.

At some points the book felt never ending as it was just her recollecting horrific parts of her past and I think it could have been broken up with more perspective. It’s a compelling story, don’t get me wrong, but I think the combining her personal narrative with larger social and historical framework would greater emphasize the importance of her story and provide a richer understanding of what she went through. To her credit, she does use the prologue to chronicle the start of the cult and why the 70s was prime time for something like this, but I would have preferred it to be weaved into her story more.

There has to be some societal implications here that allow men to yield so much abusive and oppressive power basically unchecked. How can a group that promoted girls to start having sex as young as 12 with men twice their age grow to such large numbers? What if the author used her experience to explore that more?

Overall definitely recommend but please check trigger and content warnings before you begin.