Yet, 'playing God' with his followers lives is exactly what Father Yod did. Which is why I cannot understand why anyone can profess the man to have been either wise or holy, because he believed that medical treatment would hinder rather than heal, and so using modern medical procedures was discouraged by our 'earthly spiritual father' to such a degree that he included it in his 'ten commandments for the age of aquarius.' So, any family member who went against one of Father Yod's commandments was seen as being a 'non-believer' or being 'ye of little faith' or being negative towards our illustrious spiritual leader; who wanted everyone to calmly accept the deaths of infants because he believed we should all live in an imaginary 'garden of eden' existence similar to that in biblical times cut off from the rest of society shunning the use of modern medicine.
A couple of other babies also didn't survive The Source Family -- one woman who lost her baby during childbirth might have been prevented with some prenatal care, where another woman's unborn child did not survive after her receiving an electrical shock from a coffeemaker, but who knows perhaps medical intervention of some kind may have saved her baby's life. I don't believe there is one parent reading this who would not sacrifice themselves in order to save the life of their child, yet normal and healthy reactions and responses in life and death situations within The Source Family were muted and subdued and replaced with compliance to the groupthink that flourished that nobody use medical help of any kind. I saw men and women become emotionally impoverished in The Source Family feeling helpless and powerless, due to many of what I considered to be harmful edicts of Father Yod. Which is why the few who are desperately trying to spread the 'teachings' of Father Yod to have the general public accept him as being worthy of sainthood or as being some kind of cultural hero are determined to dismiss, deny or ignore and explain away the deaths of infants using scripted phrases like, 'it was the soul's journey not to remain for long in this earthly existence' or 'it was their time' or 'it was meant to be', or any of the other inane and countless ways to hide or explain away the fact that babies who were in dire need of medical help were denied their chance at a happy and healthy life, as my son and many other babies went on to have who were able to survive The Source Family.
The refusal to use any modern medicine or medical procedures was simply because one religious zealot believed at the time that using modern medicine was more harmful then using whatever means possible to preserve human life--medical treatment that we are so lucky to have in our pampered Western lives. If Jim Baker had chosen to seek medical help himself, after plummeting from the sky in a hang glider rather than choosing to just lay there and die, he might have survived to watch his own children grow, but instead he became a victim/casualty of his own beliefs. Oh, but by all means let's try and spread around and perpetuate Father Yod's example of how to die: that 'it's God's will so let's all just stand around and do nothing' apathetic belief.
There are women with babies and children in poor countries all around the world who are facing sickness, disease and death who would give anything to have the medical facilities that are so readily available to us in our Western culture, and yet there are many 'new agers' who risk their own children's health and well-being by completely shunning modern medicine replacing it with only wishful thinking and herbal salves alone. But, sitting there and doing nothing because of some deluded belief or fear that modern medicine is something to be feared and entirely avoided is really stupid and careless in my mind. For me, there is just no way to attach any kind of spiritual meaning or purpose to the deaths of two babies who never received any kind of medical intervention which might have saved their tiny lives. Like other former 'source family' members, initially when the whitewashed and sanitized book of one former member was released and then the consequent film that was made based on that book came out; I tried to get on the bandwagon and engaged other former family members sharing our thoughts and memories from that experience commiserating over the deprivations and hardships that many of us experienced where I kept hearing more and more sad, heartbreaking and heartwrenching stories of personal loss and residual emotional and physical damage that being in 'the source family' had in their lives---to the point that I found I could no longer pretend or feign that it was all some wonderful paradise on earth or that I held any kind of respect or reverence for Jim Baker.
If you saw your own child lying there screaming and crying wouldn't you do everything in your power out of sheer desperation to save your child's life and either rush them to the emergency room or call an ambulance, or would you just sit there and watch them suffer believing that it was 'God's will' and that medical intervention was far worse for their soul's journey and that their possible death would be seen as a 'liberation' of their soul, because that is exactly what Jim Baker was able to convince the members of his 'cult of personality' (his personality) was the 'Aquarian' way and using modern Western medicine went against one of his 'Aquarian' commandments. So, I urge people to think about what I have just written and then consider if going along with the promotion of 'Father Yod and The Source Family' is still worthy of the hyper-inflated media coverage of the group being 'the darlings of the Sunset Strip.' I especially urge any former family members who might be reading this blog, to really think about and consider what you are doing by showing support or encouragement in the continued promotion of 'Father Yod/Yahowha' or The Source Family as being exemplary examples of some kind of 'new age' healthy lifestyle, when babies were allowed to suffer and die under the direction and guidance of a man who lost perspective about what really mattered in order to maintain the illusion of being an 'earthly spiritual father' and having his 'Aquarian' directives followed and obeyed.
Using the excuse, 'Well, that was just what happened in that time frame' in order for some to mentally distance themselves from all of the misguided and harmful things that took place in the Source Family is the attitude that some have adopted, but forty years really does not change things enough to dismiss or overlook them simply by assigning them to the seventies. Which is why I encourage former members to please stop and consider what they are doing by continuing to show their support and belief in the 'teachings' of Jim Baker, because they are sending a message to their own children and grandchildren that infant deaths were acceptable, along with the other unhealthy practices that were a result of following him.
Would you really want your own children to join a 'Source Family' and surrender themselves to a man like Jim Baker and participate and obey his every command, even if that command might result in the death of their own child? I don't think so; so why do you continue to feign that the 'Source Family' still exists, and bolster up/show support for the small handful of people who only want to profit from the story for their own self promotion, and who continue to pander to the interests of others who want to profit off either the music or the story?
The Source Family was a failure and ended for a reason---not to be resuscitated 40+ years later, dusted off and have a new spin put on all of it in order to gather and gain new followers or believers in Father Yod, and that former members like me are seen as 'airing dirty laundry' rather than exposing the tragic circumstances that were the result of following a cult leader's derelict and irresponsible belief system. The Source Family failed and thankfully ended, because a cult formed around the personality of Jim Baker, whose belief system impoverished people from responding and behaving in rational, healthy ways.
