April 10th, 2008

Dear Reader, My name is Mike Montoya. I'm 45 and was in the Church of Bible Understanding from 1980 till 1984. I was associated with the group since 1975. Recently, I looked at some online information about cults and twisted versions of Christianity. Striking how similar these cult leaders are/were. David Berg who led the Children of God from 1968 to 1994 seemed to start out preaching the gospel to young people of the 60's and 70's. He led them into communal living. Eventually started having personal relevations from God and changed his identity from David Berg to Moses David, King David or Dad. Jim Jones started out with a bible in hand and spoke from the pulpit. He soon led his followers away from the world. He became "God" to them and "Father." Father Divine whose possible real name was George Baker put himself forward in the 1930's and 40's as "God." All of the above claim to have true interpretation of the Bible. All cast the world as the evil outside. True the world is corrupt. But there are christians in this world though not of it. Stewart Traill and his ilk throw out the world, and christians who do not believe in his doctrine. If you survey all cults, religious and otherwise, you will find same traits in the leaders, the same traits in the behavior of the members. The Children of God were into perverted sex. This sin was throughout its group. It was taught. In the case of Jim Jones, he simply took advantage of his power and slept with men and women. Stewart Traill tried to make at least one of the women in Cobu his "HALF WIFE." He inappropriately touched 3 other women. He held a "Grace Meeting" in 1989 in the hope of turning over a new leaf or distract members from his deplorable behavior. The brothers in this group have never had the courage to stand up to Stewart Traill and so the women in the group have no real protection from him. There are many similarities between Stewart Traill and all the other documented cult leaders in this country and in the world. I now believe that Stewart Traill has become a being that only God must deal with. No argument will humble him. Force will be considered and manipulated to mean persecution. Many have dreamed or prayed that someone would confront Stewart Traill. If there is a someone, I believe he or she will simply come to a meeting and pronounce the end of this sin and Stewart Traill will either leave and never come back, or drop dead. It seems like most cult leaders just die. The followers never dismiss them. They never leave on their own. I do not think any member or ex-member should try to exact judgment on Stewart Traill. I think it is truly up to God. The mercy right now is that Stewart is still alive and can still repent. I can only imagine that he only has about 15 years left. What Stewart Traill is and what he has become is no mystery to anyone who studies cults.