House Of Yahweh: A Darker Sect Than FLDS

[Tracian]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/13/national/main4094446.shtml


(AP) Behind guarded, ornate gates at the end of a rural road, a self-proclaimed prophet warns his followers about the end of time and rails against a dangerous and unclean world outside their West Texas compound.

The women are covered in long skirts and long-sleeve shirts. Many of the children have different mothers and share the same father.

But this isn't the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' ranch, which authorities raided last month in Eldorado after receiving reports that underage girls were being forced to marry much older men.

This is the House of Yahweh: a different, even darker sect that the state has been investigating for years. Authorities in February charged the group's 73-year-old leader with performing polygamous weddings and forcing about 40 children - some as young as 11 - to work jobs at his 44-acre compound.

"If a bunch of adults want to get together and follow some con man and throw their lives away, that's their right in this country," said Callahan County District Attorney Shane Deel. "But to me, when you do that to children and they don't have a chance, that's where the biggest concern is."

If convicted on the most serious charges, Yisrayl Hawkins faces up to 20 years in prison.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24600197/

'We have nothing to hide'
Questions have also been raised about at least two deaths within the sect.

A 7-year-old died in 2003 after her mother and another member performed home surgery on her infected leg. Both women were convicted of injury to a child.

And in 2006, a woman bled to death after giving birth because she was prevented from going to the hospital, according to a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by her husband.

Although members deny they practice polygamy, former members say Yisrayl Hawkins has at least two dozen wives — and state records show he fathered two babies last year with women ages 19 and 22.

Yisrayl Hawkins, who has pleaded not guilty in his criminal case, told The Associated Press that he and his church are misunderstood and persecuted because of their religious beliefs.

"We have nothing to hide," said the bearded, white-haired Hawkins, who declined to address specific allegations against him and his sect.

background

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yisrayl_Hawkins

Biography
In 1974 his brother, J. G. (Yaaqob) Hawkins, returned from a seven-year visit to Israel claiming he had found proof of Yahweh's name. Shortly after he formed the first House of Yahweh congregation in Odessa, Texas. He preached distinct doctrines that his brother agreed with, such as the necessity of referring to the Creator as Yahweh and the Messiah as Yahshua, as well as following the Torah and the Jewish festivals.

In 1980 Bill, who later legally changed his first name to Yisrayl, began The House of Yahweh Abilene at his home. Hawkins says he and his brother were prophesied in both the Old and New Testaments as the Two Witnesses, sent by Yahweh to prepare the world for the Second Coming of Yahshua the Messiah.

Hawkins was recently arrested for bigamy and breach of child labour laws.


[edit] Writings & beliefs
Hawkins has written numerous books concerning Yahweh's Laws and Prophecies. Some are The Mark of the Beast Vol. 1 & 2, The Lost Faith of the Apostles and Prophets, Deception, Devil Worship: The Shocking Facts!, Unveiling Satan!, The End, In Search of a Savior, There Is Someone Out There, The Two Witnesses, and The Peaceful Solution. Hawkins was the primary editor of The Book of Yahweh: The Holy Scriptures, now in its 10th edition, which is the House of Yahweh's translation of the Bible.

Among other things, Hawkins has promoted the building of the third Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, but in a location that would not damage or intrude upon the Dome of the Rock, Islam's third holiest site. Plans of the temple detailing its construction were drafted from measurements claimed to have been revealed from the Bible. Hawkins teaches that this eventual development will herald the imminent return of Yahshua.

http://www.yisraylhawkins.com/

The above link is very scary, it is his personal website.


Nancy Grace is covering this story tonight, I will post the transcripts and the link tomorrow unless someone beats me to it

[Tracian]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another polygamist sect in Texas, this one even creepier than the last. Their prophet warns his followers about the end of the world and may have at least two dozen wives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s one pastor who`s gone above and beyond. This pastor believes that it`s our sins that are causing global warming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Authorities investigating another alleged polygamist sect. Two of the sect leaders face prison time, including leader 73-year-old Yisrayl Hawkins, who authorities claim was performing polygamist weddings and forcing young children into hard labor on the compound. While members of this different, even darker sect deny they practice polygamy, former members have said sect leader Yisrayl Hawkins had at least two dozen wives. Another sect leader, Yedidiyah Hawkins, also faces charges for allegedly sexually abusing a teenager, bigamy and Welfare fraud.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight: The feds -- the FBI -- investigating the apparent drowning of a vivacious and beautiful nurse, a mom, a mom of two who mysteriously plunges off a luxury cruise ship, the Norwegian Dawn. The apparent plunge takes place during a violent storm 45 miles off the U.S. coast, but now details emerging about her rocky relationship with her traveling companion, her long-time boyfriend. Why did he wait 15 hours to call her mom, and why did he stay on the ship? The FBI on the case, boarding the ship to investigate, Bermuda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The investigation widens into the mysterious death of mother of two Mindy Jordan (ph), the luxury cruise ship finally docking in Bermuda. FBI and Bermuda police have boarded, questioning passengers about what they saw the night Mindy allegedly fell off a balcony.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: George (ph), I said, Is she dead? What he told me on the phone was she fell over the railing and fell to something down on a lower deck and that (INAUDIBLE) ran and tried to save her, but she lost the grip and fell.

I said, Are you trying to tell me that (INAUDIBLE) didn`t even find her body?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will the FBI find potential witnesses? Will video evidence from on-board surveillance cameras crack the case?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Tonight, a new and dangerous threat to women and children allegedly rears its head 120 miles to the northeast of the last compound bust. It`s another isolated compound, allegations of polygamy, child sex abuse, bigamy and Welfare fraud.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another cult revealed. Texas authorities are investigating the different, even darker sect, the House of Yahweh, charging leader Yisrayl Hawkins with performing polygamist weddings and forcing children, some as young as 11, to perform hard labor on the compound. Another leader of the sect was also recently arrested. Yedidiyah Hawkins faces charges of sexually abusing a teenager, bigamy and engaging in organized crime. Although the group is not affiliated with FLDS, former members say 73-year-old Yisrayl Hawkins has at least two dozen wives, and records show he fathered two babies last year with women ages 19 and 22.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s a former police officer who was kicked off the force up there in Abilene when they found beer in his police car. And he decided, Well, I guess police force isn`t for me anymore. I`m going to start making prophesies about the end of the world, and you know, the great nuclear baby (ph) and how there`s a section of our world`s going to be blown up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: You know, if grown adults want to follow this guy who preaches nuclear war, that`s their business. But when children are forced into child labor or are objects of child sex abuse and forced marriages on young girls, that`s when the state becomes involved.

Out to Michael Board with WOAI Newsradio. What now?

MICHAEL BOARD, WOAI NEWSRADIO: Well, it`s going to be on trial this summer for Yisrayl Hawkins. He is going to face some charges, could face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty of performing polygamist marriages. We`re going to have to see how that pans out. But this group is so much darker, so much more deadly than the other group. You know, this group, this House of Yahweh...

GRACE: Wait. Are you telling me that this compound, which is just about 120 miles northeast of the last compound bust, the biggest one in U.S. history, and we`re just now hearing about it and it`s actually worse than the FLDS?

BOARD: Well, this group is more along the lines of a Jim Jones. They`re more along the lines of a David Koresh, the end of world, Kool-aid cowboys who are going to kill all themselves because that`s what their master leader prophesized about the whole thing. This group is a lot closer to that than the FLDS, which is further south in Eldorado. The FLDS, they lived on a compound. They were much closer to maybe the Mormon group, maybe the old school Mormons. Nothing like this group. This group...

GRACE: OK. What is this group?

BOARD: It is the House of Yahweh. It was founded by a man in Abilene, Texas, that believes that Abilene, Texas is actually the Jerusalem of the world. This is the only safe place to be in the world. He`s made these prophesies over time, these end of world nuclear prophesies, which actually started back in the year 2000, that if you paid him some money, he would tell you how to be safe and how to live through the Armageddon. It was...

GRACE: OK. Hold on just one moment. With me is Michael Board with WOAI Newsradio. Now another threat to women and children rearing its head just 120 miles from the last big child protective bust out there in Texas.

Take a listen to this guy in his own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YISRAYL HAWKINS, SECT LEADER: The famine now that is taking a place is taking place throughout the world. It`s spreading throughout the world. Now, this is one of the things that the prophesies predict for this time period, along with this nuclear baby that will kill a third part of man, over a fourth part of the earth in and around the great river Euphrates with nuclear activity and famine as we just saw in the last prophesy we did on the last show. It`s a combination of prophesies showing what I named the nuclear baby in my book called "The Nuclear Baby."

The savior also said that nation would rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There would be famine, disease epidemics and wars that would darken the sun. But he`s holding back the wars and the famine where they will not last any longer than enough time to kill four fifths of the earth`s population. He`s going to save one fifth of the earth`s population, and he shows that that one fifth of the earth`s population will have repented, come out of great tribulation, will have repented and started keeping the laws of Yahweh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: OK. That`s Yisrayl Hawkins on his Web site, YisraylHawkins.com.

Back to Michael Board. So when is the nuclear holocaust? When is that supposed to happen?

BOARD: It was supposed to happen back in the year 2000, but apparently, it didn`t happen then. It got pushed back a couple of years, but once again, it didn`t happen again and...

GRACE: How did a nuclear -- as he says -- I believe we`re more familiar with the phrase nuclear baby -- how does that fit into the whole - - whole end of the world theory with him?

BOARD: Well, his nuclear baby, he believed that it was -- that`s his sign of the Armageddon, the nuclear attack that he believed was going to happen. You heard him talk about killing (ph) the end of the world. That`s the nuclear baby he`s talking about, and it`s -- pushed back a couple times. Nancy, if you want to know when the world`s going to end, all you have to do is give him 25 bucks and he`ll send you a copy of his latest book.

GRACE: OK. Thanks. Michael, I want to get back to the actual allegations regarding women and children on this compound. And how many more of these are there in Texas?

BOARD: Well, there`s -- we believe that there`s a couple of these different sects, but their main headquarters, their temple of whatever church they believe in, is in Abilene, Texas. Unlike the FLDS, there`s only a couple of people that live on the House of Yahweh`s temple, a couple caretakers. Most people live in trailers around it. And they`ve convinced people all over the world to send them money so that they can find out when this end of the world is.

They also create their own food, their own clothing on this compound in Abilene. And if you want to get to heaven, if you want to survive the Armageddon, well, you better pay him some money, buy his food and his clothing, or else you`re not going to survive.

GRACE: Where do the women and children fit in?

BOARD: They`re the ones that live in the trailers around this compound. They`ve sort of formed a little city out there around the temple of Yahweh. And some of the women that have bought into his scam have been arranged in the marriages. That`s what they talk about, the polygamist marriages. The second in command, Yedidiyah Hawkins, he is the one who`s accused of, I believe, sexually assaulting his stepdaughter, and that sexual assault believes (ph) to goes back to, I guess, when she was 8 years old, and this was all believed to happen right around in Abilene, Texas.

GRACE: Where, may I ask, was her mother during all of this?

BOARD: Well, she bought into the scam, too. She was one of the many wives of this group.

GRACE: OK. So I`ve got a charge of sex abuse on a girl as young as 8. I believe she`s 14 at this juncture. What can you tell me about the child labor?

BOARD: Well, that`s one of the charges that Yisrayl Hawkins is facing. They believe that he made boys as young as 11 years old work on this compound out there in Abilene. He worked in some of the factories out there. And they would give most of their wages back to the church. We heard reports of some of these kids working there, you know, 40 hours a day, 7 days a week, and maybe getting $25, where the rest was going to the church.

GRACE: Out to the lines. We are taking your calls live. To Linda in Missouri. Hi, Linda.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: What`s your question, dear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, what I can`t understand is with all these sects, where they`re so-called bleeding the beast, why they haven`t required the women to name the fathers of the children before they can collect Welfare.

GRACE: Excellent question. Let`s go out to Loretta Fulton. She is with "The Abilene Reporter." She has covered the House of Yahweh for 12 years. Loretta, thank you for being with us. In your study on House of Yahweh, how do they get away with claiming Welfare, all of these women who are married to one man?

LORETTA FULTON, RETIRED ABILENE NEWS REPORTER: They -- they now have been -- they`re being cited for Welfare fraud. That`s the organized crime angle.

GRACE: Oh, I see.

FULTON: But up until now, it -- they`ve just gotten -- managed to get away with it.

GRACE: And let`s unleash the lawyers, Renee Rockwell out of Atlanta, Alan Ripka out of New York. Renee, when women claim government assistance, do they typically have to name the father on those documents?

RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I would think, Nancy, because the father`s supposed to reimburse for the cost of the children. But what you have here is probably only one legal wife, and then the rest of these wives, or these "spiritual wives," go buy into that. But then they`re claiming all this Welfare, and to me, that would be the easiest way to bust up these organizations.

GRACE: I do not believe, Alan Ripka, that fathers are necessarily required to be named before a single mom can get Welfare, can get federal or state assistance. What do you know?

ALAN RIPKA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, bottom line, it`s an application, and they want to know whether or not the father is providing money to you in order to see if you qualify or not. So certainly, they want to know if you`re together with him and whether or not he`s supporting you and whether or not he lives with you. So that would be a requirement.

GRACE: OK. That makes sense to me. Explain, Alan, the RICO, the organized crime aspect of this indictment. Very quickly, you know, when I think of organized crime, I think of Cosa Nostra. I think of Tony Soprano. I think of the Mob. So how are they applying that theory to these nutjobs out on this compound?

RIPKA: Well, the bottom line is organized crime is a scheme or a plan by a group of people. And in this particular case, they`re claiming this group of people got together and decided to defraud to get money for the compound.

GRACE: Let`s go out to a special guest joining us, who is going to be defending Yisrayl Hawkins and Yedidiyah Hawkins. It is John Young. He is a lawyer out of the Sweetwater, Texas, jurisdiction. Mr. Young, what is your client`s defense?

JOHN YOUNG, ATTORNEY FOR SECT LEADERS: Well, Ms. Grace, thank you for having me on. I appreciate having the opportunity to respond. The defense -- as you know -- I mean, you were a prosecutor in Fulton County for several years. You know I can`t talk about specific aspects of the law. I can talk about the defenses generally.

GRACE: OK.

YOUNG: And the defenses generally are, We didn`t do it. The allegations against Yedidiyah we believe are overreaching allegations. And we expect to be able to have a jury in Taylor County, Texas, this summer pass on the facts, and we expect that the state perhaps has overreached a little bit in relationship to Yedidiyah. As to Mr. Hawkins, Yisrayl Hawkins, whose trial is set for the fall -- Mr. Board had the dates mixed...

GRACE: Hold on.

YOUNG: Mr. Board had the dates mixed up. I`m sorry?

GRACE: Go ahead.

YOUNG: Mr. Hawkins`s trial, Yisrayl Hawkins`s, trial is set for the fall. And as a practical matter -- as a practical matter, the allegations are that he aided and abetted bigamy. And you know, I look forward to seeing the evidence that the state has because we simply deny that that occurred. In fact, this church teaches against multiple marriages. I`m sure you`ve read the Web site and the books, Ms. Grace. This church teaches against marriage generally, much as the Apostle Paul did, but they say if you must be married, you must follow the laws of the land, and that means one husband and one wife.

GRACE: OK, John Young is a veteran trial lawyer joining us out of Sweetwater, Texas. So John, no offense, but why did your client change his name from Wild Bill Hawkins to Yisrayl Hawkins?

YOUNG: Well, Nancy, if my name was Wild Bill, I`d change it to something else, too. You know, I don`t know. I...

GRACE: Are you telling me that was his legal name, his parents named him Wild Bill?

YOUNG: I believe that is correct. I`ve not seen the birth certificate, but that is what I understand. And you know, this all revolves around a calling unto -- unto -- a spiritual calling that Mr. Hawkins believed that God laid on his heart. I don`t know the dates, but I know that -- I know him to be a devout man. My dealings with him have been -- have been spiritual and devout in nature. He has been nothing but honorable and decent in dealings with me. And I believe that the things that he does, as much as they are caricatured, I believe those things are done out of a...

GRACE: OK...

YOUNG: ... out of a sense of calling and service to...

GRACE: OK. With us...

YOUNG: ... the House of Yahweh.

GRACE: ... is John Young. And as we go to break, let`s take a listen to determine if these allegations are a caricature or not.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They told me I was not going to be allowed to be here for the birth, but CCS (ph) called me this morning and told me that they would allow me to be here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re trying to -- I don`t know how to say it particularly, but we`re trying to reunite our family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another cult revealed. Texas authorities are investigating the different, even darker sect, the House of Yahweh, charging leader Yisrayl Hawkins with performing polygamist weddings and forcing children, some as young as 11, to perform hard labor on the compound. Another leader of the sect was also recently arrested. Yedidiyah Hawkins faces charges of sexually abusing a teenager, bigamy and engaging in organized crime. Although the group is not affiliated with FLDS, former members say 73-year-old Yisrayl Hawkins has at least two dozen wives, and records show he fared two babies last year with women ages 19 and 22.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Now we learn of a new threat to women and children just about 120 miles from the last big FLDS bust there in Texas.

To Michael Board, WOAI Newsradio. I understand that this particular compound has been in effect much longer than the other one.

BOARD: Yes, it`s been around there for a long time. But unlike the FLDS compound, there`s only a couple of people living on it. It`s a couple of caretakers living there. Basically, what this prophet has been saying is that the end of the world is coming and he needs to stockpile supplies on this compound. A lot of it is semi-tractor trailers full of food and supplies. Also, he`s got plans to build another temple there because he believes that Abilene, Texas, is actually Jerusalem. That`s where they`re going to end up. That`s where the salvation is going to be when Armageddon comes.

GRACE: Take a listen to the actual preachings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAWKINS: This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of Yahweh, that is without spot, that is without sins, purge your conscience from dead (ph) works. It should purge your conscience from dead works, dead works, that not working, lollygaging around, not working. If you haven`t heard my sermon on the Sabbath, you know, I think they named it, "You must work to keep the Sabbath."

(LAUGHTER)

HAWKINS: And that`s exactly how you keep the Sabbath. You do Yahweh`s work. That`s how you keep the feast. If you want to be a part of this night and want to really understand what Yeshua is showing us this night, you will be begging to get your -- find a job that you can do this feast and do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: That is from a former member of the church who gave CNN affiliate KTAB a DVD of one of Hawkins`s sermons. In the sermon, he stresses how members should devote themselves to Yahweh.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0805/14/ng.01.html