The Commercial Appeal
September 10, 1994
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“A sentencing hearing for the convicted preacher-clothes designer Tony Alamo is expected to conclude Thursday before U.S. Dist. Judge Jon McCalla.
Former wives of Alamo called by government prosecutors testified that they were beaten and raped while part of his religious group.
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Southwest Times Record
June 6, 1994
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Southwest Times Record
June 19, 1994
by Dan Borengasser
In: Humor
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Target Magazine
February 1994
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Southwest Times Record
June 4, 1994
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Tony Alamo being arrested outside of his home in Tampa, Florida (1991)
In: Tony Alamo
Below are several (but not all) of Tony Alamo’s alleged wives. He has written and spoken favorably about polygamy over the years. However, he denies he has more than one wife but several victims have escaped and come forward with the truth. Alamo has fathered three children by different women who live in his home as “secretaries”. The total number of wives he has accumulated is unclear, to be sure. However, one thing is clear, only one of his children (Sion) is born from his legal wife, Sharon. The other children (Tabor and Antoinette) were conceived during Alamo and Kroopf’s marriage and the biological mothers (Lydia Willis and Elizabeth Mercado) are in the group and currently living with (or near) Alamo.
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Tony Alamo has sired many children over the years but denies being a polygamist. There are three children, in particular, of interest to the public. Sion, Tabor and Antoinette. These three children were all conceived during Alamo’s legal marriage to Sharon Kroopf. Sharon is the biological mother of one of the children, Sion, but the others have been born to different mothers who reside with (or near) Alamo under the guise of being “secretaries”. Lydia Willis is the mother to Tabor and Elizabeth Mercado (aka “Lizzy” Gutierrez) is mother to Antoinette. Former wives have come forward with the truth about Tony Alamo and his many wives and the children born of his polygamist lifestyle.
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Antoinette – Tony Alamo and “Lizzy” Gutierrez’ (Mercado) daughter. born June of 2001.
Shown here on the homepage of Alamo’s non-profit organization Arm Full Of Help.
Location: Arm Full of Help website
History: In Arkansas in January 1994, Elizabeth Mercado (aka “Lizzy” Gutierrez) became Tony’s “wife”. She had just turned 16 years old.
In: The Children
Newhall Signal
1990
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Jeremiah Justin Miller, 13, testifies in Newhall Municipal Court Thursday how he was held down and beaten bloody with a wooden paddle at the Holy Alamo Foundation’s commune in Saugus. Miller, who was allegedly struck about 140 times, recalled the January 1988 incident during a preliminary hearing for two defendants arrested in the beatings.
In: 1990-1999
Christian Research Newsletter
by Ron Rhodes
Volume 3: Number 1, 1990
Alamo Sues Jewish Federation Council
The December 21, 1989 Los Angeles Times reports that “an ongoing dispute between the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles and followers of fugitive preacher and clothing designer Tony Alamo moved to the courts this week, as the Alamo faithful filed suit against the federation, which has launched a successful campaign to stop the sale of Alamo jackets.”
The sequined, airbrushed jackets have been good sellers in Southern California boutiques. But sales have dropped off drastically ever since the Jewish Federation’s Commission on Cults and Missionaries began urging retailers to stop selling the product, “charging that money from jacket sales finances cult activities.”
Federation officials said they have been trying to educate retailers about the criminal charges facing Tony Alamo, who — along with three others — was charged with felony child abuse after the alleged beating (to the point of bloodshed) of an 11-year-old boy. Alamo and his cohorts have evaded arrest since October, 1988.
Alamo Designs has responded to the Jewish Federation’s efforts with a lawsuit, seeking $250 million in damages for libel and slander.
In: 1990-1999
Los Angeles Times
June 25, 1990
The Mattel Toy company has sued religious cult leader Tony Alamo and
two of his companies for having damaged the image of Mattel and
Barbie by marketing an unapproved T-shirt with a “religious symbol.”
Alamo has called Pope John Paul II a “Nazi war criminal,” and has
been evading arrest for felony child abuse. Alamo Designs obtained
two licenses in 1989 to make and sell denim jackets with Barbie
images.
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In: 1990-1999
by Ken Blue
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Are you a victim of Spiritual Abuse?
In: Books
by David Johnson and Jeff VanVonderen
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In a breakthrough book first published in 1991, the authors address the dynamics in churches that can ensnare people in legalism, guilt, and begrudging service, keeping them from the grace and joy of God’s kingdom.Written for both those who feel abused and those who may be causing it, The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse shows how people get hooked into abusive systems, the impact of controlling leadership on a congregation, and how the abused believer can find rest and recovery.
In: Books
by Janja Lalich
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Lalich and co-author Madeleine Tobias, a Vermont psychotherapist, make clear that modern day cults have not disappeared. “If there is less street recruiting today, it is because many cults now use professional associations, campus organizations, self-help seminars, and the Internet as recruitment tools” to entice the unwary.
In: Books
by Mary Alice Chrnalogar
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Dangerous leaders – some even in mainstream chruches – are twisting the scriptures to coerce their members into subordination. In the process, once-promising lives can become mired in a distorted religious reality that supresses human freedom and destroys lives.
In: Books
Click here to go to Moving On: Getting Support and Speaking Out
Although, MovingOn.org was created for people born and/or raised in the religious group known as The Children of God or The Family, there are many similarities to the people born and/or raised in the Alamo Foundation. While the majority of participants are people who have left (hence the name Moving On,) second or third generation young people who still live in Family communes are welcome to participate on there as well.
The purpose of their web site is to provide a forum for open and frank discussion on the unique experience of being raised in The Family, on life after the group and how they have adjusted (or not). This site benefits all people who have been born and/or raised in any similar totalistic group, such as the Alamo Foundation.
December 2006
Hal Mansfield, M.A.
Director, Rocky Mountain Resource Center on Violent, Destructive, and Hate Groups
“In this article, I want to explore the nature of critical thinking in the role of recovery for ex-members of destructive groups. Former members face many difficult changes in the recovery process including anger, intimacy, and how to just get along in life, to mention just a few. I want to focus on critical thinking for the purpose of clarifying the role it plays in recovery and try to clear up misunderstandings of what we mean by critical thinking.
To start, let’s look at what critical thinking is. There are many popular ideas about it. I have heard everything from defining critical thinking as a measuring stick to reality, and to a more base definition as a crap detector. Both of those have some validity, but I prefer to use the definition from the Dictionary of Psychology by Arthur Reber. The dictionary defines critical thinking as a cognitive strategy consisting largely of continual checking and testing of possible solutions to guide ones work. Another way to look at it is to test existing ideas and solutions for flaws and errors. Looking at this definition, destructive groups block critical thinking.
by Ron Burks and Vicki Burks
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Book Description
Damaged Disciples is the account of Ron and Vicki Burks’ search for a meaningful faith. Unfortunately, the nontraditional church they found trapped them in a branch of the charismatic movement that taught them to be subject to their spiritual “masters” in every area of life. Vicki was taught to submit herself to her husband where she was to be sustained by his spiritual life which, in essence, allowed none for her. This is also the chronicle of the beginning of their journey back to faith and wholeness.
In: Books
by Steve Hassan
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An excellent examination of the cult phenomena. Described as “The #1 Best-selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults,” Hassan’s book explains what elements are common to cults, and what defines a cult.
In: Books
by Ronald Enroth, Edward C. Ericson, and C. Breckinbridgc Peters, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan
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This trio of authors from Westmont College attempts a thorough and objective analysis of the state of the Jesus Movement as of the fall of 1971. They begin with a review of other attempts to cover the same or similar ground and indicate the shortcomings of each, which they have consciously attempted to overcome. They pinpoint the origins of the modern Jesus Movement in the beginnings of several ministries in 1967 and 1968, one of the first of which was the conversion of dope-addict Ted Wise in 1966 in Sausalito, California; Wise is now in charge of a drug prevention center in Menlo Park, California, The most striking fact about the Jesus People is this: whereas theologically they are fundamentalists, sociologically they are anything but.
In: Books
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