Sunday, November 02, 2008
'Life Goes On' for N.M. Cult Followers
By Raam Wong
Copyright © 2008 Albuquerque Journal
Journal Northern Bureau
SANTA FE — After Judgment Day failed to arrive as expected
this weekend, members of a northeastern New Mexico cult are
left to ponder one question: What now?
Members of the Lord Our Righteousness Church near Des
Moines believed they would escape their earthly bondage and
ascend to heaven Friday night. Their once-active Web site
came down, and a church representative sent the Journal an
e-mail saying he didn't anticipate having anymore contact
with the media.
But as a small crowd of people and a TV news crew looked on
from the gate to the wind-swept compound, midnight came.
And then midnight went.
"They were looking for deliverance from God," said Sarah
Montoya, an attorney for the church's leader, Wayne Bent.
Montoya spoke with Bent's son Jeff on Saturday. "They're
disappointed, but they understand that life goes on."
What that means for the time being is that Bent's 45 adult
followers at the Strong City compound have ended a two-week
fast, in which they had also stopped drinking water last
weekend. The fast was launched in protest of criminal
charges that Bent had illegal sexual contact with underage
girls.
Montoya said Jeff Bent was surprised by how weak the fast
had left some members. They're going back on food and water
slowly, she said, and a nurse is on the compound.
The church members believed Friday night ended their "Year
of Jubilee," with a deliverance by God from their "earthly
life."
Rick A. Ross, an expert on cults in Jersey City, N.J., said
leaders of such groups usually respond to the absence of an
prophesied judgment day by coming up with a new narrative.
Wayne Bent was arrested May 6 following a three-week
investigation by state police, the state Children, Youth
and Families Department and the Union County Sheriff's
Department. One teen girl told police that Bent "kissed her
lips like a husband and wife do" and that Bent touched and
kissed her breasts. Another girl said Bent also kissed her
and that she and Bent "lay chest to chest" while she was
naked.
Bent denies he has done anything wrong, saying his contact
with the girls was directed by God, was not sexual in
nature and was a healing exercise.
Bent, who considers himself the Messiah, was arrested
Wednesday after a judge issued a bench warrant when Bent
failed to appear at a court hearing. Montoya said she has
not talked to Bent and does not know if he was still
fasting.