What do these two groups have in common? They both advocated celibacy whether adherents were married or not. What happens to a group or religion that practices only celibacy? It dies out like all the Shakers eventually did. However, in the case of the Iamers "I AM ers" my parents were put in charge of their Los Angeles Church in 1954. Because they had already had me, "I amers" did not go the way of the Shakers. Because I was a Major group church leader's son, I was allowed to stay at church conference centers. As a result of this de facto change all sorts of members de facto decided they could have children too. However, those who had been consciously disciplined into celibacy since the early 1930s were very upset because they had sacrificed in many cases marriage and family and felt betrayed by the church hierarchy. They took their revenge on me and my parents by causing my excommunication from the church in 1969. My father left the church in 1974 in disgust. Though he was a loyal church member he could not stomach all the things he knew to be lies said about me anymore. He joined a similar church that I had joined at the time. Though I didn't stay with that church either. He was very happy there. I basically found that I was to independently minded and was too much of a "truth seeker" for me to be happy with any one church. For what I found was "God is where you find him, her, it, the being". And that search can lead anywhere because God is everywhere and everywhen.
This is one reason why I have learned the hard way not to EVER trust people who are celibate. Their intentions might be good but the end result tends to be awful 99% of the time. I think sex is like food, and breathing and going to the bathroom. Most people just aren't sane or right without it. I'm with the Greeks "Moderation in all things".
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