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Love Sex Fear Death: The Inside Story of the Process Church of the Final Judgment -- Expanded Edition
The Process Church of the Final Judgment was the apocalyptic shadow side of the flower-powered ’60s and perhaps the most notorious cult of modern times.
Love, Sex, Fear, Death is the shocking, surprising, and secretive inside story of The Process Church, which was later transformed into Foundation Faith of the Millennium, and most recently as the Utah-based animal sanctuary, Best Friends.
Hundreds of black-cloaked devotees, often wearing a satanic “Goat of Mendes” and a stylized mandala, swept the streets of London, New York, Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, and Toronto, selling magazines and books with titles like Fear and Humanity is the Devil. And within the group’s “Chapters,” members would participate in “Midnight Meditations” beneath photographs of the Christ-like leader.
Process’ “Death Issue” interviewed the freshly-imprisoned Charles Manson leading to conspiracy hysteria in such books as Ed Sanders’ The Family and Maury Terry’s The Ultimate Evil . A lawsuit against Sanders’ Manson book led to the removal of its Process-themed chapter by publisher Dutton.
A short narrative history by Timothy Wyllie, a formative member of the Process and Foundation Faith organizations, interviews with other former Processeans, never-before-seen photographs
New to this edition will be select court transcripts from the 1972 suit where the Process Church sued Ed Sanders for libel in England. The expanded edition also features a new introduction and update about the Process Church and key contributors to the Church and its history.
Love, Sex, Fear, Death is the shocking, surprising, and secretive inside story of The Process Church, which was later transformed into Foundation Faith of the Millennium, and most recently as the Utah-based animal sanctuary, Best Friends.
Hundreds of black-cloaked devotees, often wearing a satanic “Goat of Mendes” and a stylized mandala, swept the streets of London, New York, Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, and Toronto, selling magazines and books with titles like Fear and Humanity is the Devil. And within the group’s “Chapters,” members would participate in “Midnight Meditations” beneath photographs of the Christ-like leader.
Process’ “Death Issue” interviewed the freshly-imprisoned Charles Manson leading to conspiracy hysteria in such books as Ed Sanders’ The Family and Maury Terry’s The Ultimate Evil . A lawsuit against Sanders’ Manson book led to the removal of its Process-themed chapter by publisher Dutton.
A short narrative history by Timothy Wyllie, a formative member of the Process and Foundation Faith organizations, interviews with other former Processeans, never-before-seen photographs
New to this edition will be select court transcripts from the 1972 suit where the Process Church sued Ed Sanders for libel in England. The expanded edition also features a new introduction and update about the Process Church and key contributors to the Church and its history.
400 pages, Paperback
Published December 13, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 27, 2023
Depending on who’s telling the story, the Process Church of the Final Judgment is either a dramatic offshoot of Scientology or a sinister cabal that uses its Satanic influence to inspire murder and terror across America. Spawned in the great swamp of mid-20th Century metaphysics, the Process remains one of the more fascinating relics of that hallucinogenic era. Thanks to Ed Sanders, Maury Terry, and the group’s own penchant for satanic symbolism, the Process has transcended the fleeting notoriety of most cults and become a modern myth.
This excellent collection of memories and mementoes goes a long way to dispel the legend while providing a fascinating window into the group’s structure and beliefs. The former members emerge here as smart, clever proponents of a novel way of analyzing human behavior, still fond of their Alsatians and bemused at their own devilish reputations. The book also includes many reproduced pages of the striking artwork and journalism the Process created in its heyday, collages from a mad era calculated to outrage the grey legions of mediocrity.
Recommended.
This excellent collection of memories and mementoes goes a long way to dispel the legend while providing a fascinating window into the group’s structure and beliefs. The former members emerge here as smart, clever proponents of a novel way of analyzing human behavior, still fond of their Alsatians and bemused at their own devilish reputations. The book also includes many reproduced pages of the striking artwork and journalism the Process created in its heyday, collages from a mad era calculated to outrage the grey legions of mediocrity.
Recommended.
July 7, 2023
what i expected: a series of essays about the process cult
what i got: a treasure trove of cult artifacts and a lengthy account of a central members life, as well as some unbelievably irrelevant detritus from other people
there’s a lot good here. the process cult’s aesthetic was fucking incredible and it still hits vividly now, even rendered in low quality black and white. the insight into a former cultists life is fascinating and pacey, and tends to undermine the general attitude towards cult survivors
what’s bad is really bad though. the editing is non-existent, with multiple typos, randomly dispersed punctuation, and multiple sentences which simply do not make sense, it’s hard to not see the book as something of a confessional, which is kind of interesting, but probably required more editorial intervention to make it truly enjoyable
the stuff with p-orridge is kind of infuriating. he’s donated a lot of the archival material i mentioned above, but the section where he whinges for 20 pages about how his attempt at a cult was also doomed is frustrating and boring. i’m not here so that he can relitigate arguments against long dead judges, i’m here to read about the cult
what i got: a treasure trove of cult artifacts and a lengthy account of a central members life, as well as some unbelievably irrelevant detritus from other people
there’s a lot good here. the process cult’s aesthetic was fucking incredible and it still hits vividly now, even rendered in low quality black and white. the insight into a former cultists life is fascinating and pacey, and tends to undermine the general attitude towards cult survivors
what’s bad is really bad though. the editing is non-existent, with multiple typos, randomly dispersed punctuation, and multiple sentences which simply do not make sense, it’s hard to not see the book as something of a confessional, which is kind of interesting, but probably required more editorial intervention to make it truly enjoyable
the stuff with p-orridge is kind of infuriating. he’s donated a lot of the archival material i mentioned above, but the section where he whinges for 20 pages about how his attempt at a cult was also doomed is frustrating and boring. i’m not here so that he can relitigate arguments against long dead judges, i’m here to read about the cult
June 22, 2023
Feels incomplete- took me to the court transcripts to get details on beliefs/aims (though still no closer to real understanding of how anything was accomplished).
June 22, 2024
Interesting look into a subject with little credible information available.
January 8, 2025
Joining a cult can be fun, creative and rewarding, but it would be better if the leader is not a CIA asset. Robes/scary dogs/iconoclastic symbolism = Swag.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews