Love Sex Fear Death: The inside story of the Process Church of the Final Judgement

I picked this up when it came out a few years ago. Snagged it in a cool bookshop in NYC. I was in the mood to revisit it so I gave it a second read. I have a notoriously poor memory so why not...

The Process were a cult that formed in the 60's in England, set up chapters across the world, and raged on til the early 80's in various forms. They eventually disbanded and formed Best Friends animal sanctuary in Utah (which has its own reality TV show right now).

They wore capes. They were intelligent people. And they loved German Shepherds.

It's an interesting tale of how a charismatic leader can get smart people to do dumb shit. Thankfully nothing legitimately bad happened as a result of the cult. They weren't bad people. It was the 60's and people were looking for answers. They were afraid of nuclear annihilation. Shit was heavy. The Process seemed like a good idea. In fact, it's kinda funny how people in modern cults with historic backgrounds (like Christianity) would probably laugh at the Process, but the similarities are everywhere. They created their outlook, they had writings, they played music during gatherings, they gave up their belongings (except the leaders, who of course lived like kings), and they travelled the world. It was all a load of bollocks, just like all religion, but the good things that transpired were no less valuable to the participants. And there aren't any Processeans (according to the author) who grew up maladjusted or worse off for their time with the Process. Many of them went on to lead 'normal' lives afterwards, but with those life-defining moments helping to build their character. So it's all good in the end.

It's just bizarre to me that so many seemingly smart people could be so self-assured and alpha on certain levels, yet be complete followers. Fuck that.

This insider insight into the Process by one of the original founders is definitely a good read. No one dies. They do some pretty cool shit. And it's a great study of mind-control.

Great visual aesthetics.