Garbage Eaters (Jim Roberts Group)

A very secretive sect of nomadic Christians, who eat out of dumpsters and forbid laughing and playing

1971 - present

Garbage Eaters (The Brethren/Jim Roberts Group)

Jim Robert's Garbage Eater's cult is an organization shrouded in secrecy and controversy. Also known as "the Brethren," this group does not have an official name and believes in the imminent second coming of Christ. Members live a nomadic lifestyle, rejecting private property and shunning laughter and play. Instead, they dedicate their entire lives to preparing for the apocalypse.

As a result of their rejection of private property, the Jim Roberts cult is forced to get their food from dumpsters, which has led some to label them the "garbage eaters cult." Despite this, the group tends to attract highly successful students around college age, perhaps due to the allure of their esoteric beliefs.

However, the group's secrecy has caused concern for many. Several parents have had children who met members of the Jim Roberts cult, only to suddenly disappear without a trace. Worse, the group's constant travels and lack of a permanent home make it virtually impossible to find them. This has left family members in the dark, with no communication from their loved ones, and no way to know if they are alive or dead, happy or suffering.

Religion: Christianity

Denomination: Jesus Movement

Founder: Jimmie T. Roberts ("Jim Roberts"; "Brother Evangelist"; "Elder Evangelist")

Founded: 1971

Location: United States

Size: 60 (2018)

Other Names: Body of Christ; Brothers and Sisters; The Garbage Eaters; The Brothers; The Church; The Assembly

See also: Christ Family, who has similar nomadic practices

Anarchist

Jim Robert's followers believe police are their enemy (source p. 40)
Cult members refuse to work with lawyers when they get in legal trouble because they see them as the "arm of flesh" (source p. 40)

Anti-Medicine

Medicine and medical care are prohibited among the Brethren (source)
Members are discouraged from wearing eyeglasses (source p. 27, 30)

Doomsday

Jim Roberts taught that the end of the world is imminent and that members must purify themselves to enter heaven (source, source)

Murder

Members have died from curable diseases (see "Anti-Medicine" section above) (source)

Nomadic

The cult travels with no permanent home (source, source p. 20)
Members spend a large portion of their time traveling by hitchhiking and camping wherever they can find a dry spot to lie down (source)
The cult often changes location whenever members suspect someone is looking for them or knows where they are (source p. 46)

Nontrinitarian

Jim Roberts' mother went to a nontrinitarian church, and this belief became an essential part of the cult's doctrine (source 7:20, source)
The Garbage Eaters believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are different "titles" or "offices" of God rather than separate persons (source p. 53)

Renunciation of Private Property

Members are required to sell all possessions and distribute the proceeds to whoever needs them (source p. 20)
Members make their own clothes and eat out of dumpsters (source, source p. 39)

Secretive

After several incidents in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the group became incredibly secretive (source)
Family members of members have launched a support group called "The Roberts Group Parents Network," intended to help each other find missing family members (source, source)

Separation from World

Members cut all ties with family members once they join (source)

Unable to Leave

Members are promised eternal damnation if they ever leave the cult (source)

Unique Sexual Practices

Celibate: Jim Roberts forbids physical and sexual contact between members (source, source 18:29)
Men and women are discouraged from speaking to each other (source, source p. 42)

Other Info:

Laughing and dancing are forbidden (source)
Children are not allowed to play (source)
Members avoid bathing (source)
Members are forbidden from having a job or going to college (source p. 19-20)
Women are rebuked if they talk too much (source p. 50)
As punishment, Jim Roberts commands a member to go to a remote location and wait for another member to come to get him. This often takes over a year (source)
Members believe that books are of the devil and will lead people astray (source p. 50)
The International Cultic Studies Association reported that "There is no evidence of physical, sexual, or financial exploitation in the group" (source)
Members are forbidden from discussing sermons out of fear that their conversations would lead others astray (source p. 52)

From Dean's List to Dumpsters: Why I Left Harvard to Join a Cult

Jim Guerra was recruited during his sophomore year at Harvard College into the religious cult known as “The Brethren” or “The Garbage Eaters”. For the next decade, Jim was transformed from a happy, self-confident Christian college student to a highly controlled devout follower of Jim Roberts, a charismatic leader of a nomadic Bible-based ministry. Forsaking Harvard, family, career aspirations and all his possessions, he departed Harvard to join with a vagabond ministry that subsisted on food from supermarket dumpsters and fast-food restaurants.

This book captures the mind control processes that prolonged his departure from society, alienation from his family, his forced celibacy, and the rejection of all Christian churches outside this small ministry. Jim is careful to chronicle both the growth and the metamorphosis of his mindset as he isolates himself from society for ten-and-a-half years in order to be saved with a small remnant of end-time believers. Follow him from Harvard to the woods and finally back to his family, and experience it through his 20/400 vision. You will see why bright young people are sucked into cults, and how he eventually escaped.

(Order here)

Other Tags:

Anti-Marriage

Shunning

Documentary trailer

Podcast on the cult (part 1)

Podcast on the cult (part 2)