97. False Profit

Members of the Love Family were encouraged or inspired to be industrious, generous, and creative. I knew a couple of them who visited friends around the State, offering free help with all sorts of work: building repairs, crop harvesting, firewood splitting. Aspiring to thrive in a barter economy, as often as possible the Family found ways to avoid money and use their surpluses for trade instead, hence a sign reading “FALSE PROFIT” above a dollar bill was hung in their drop-in center for visitors to see. The dollar was seen as not only unnecessary, but, as Love taught, something that people pursue in vain, like a false prophet.

There were other communal and tribal groups that were informally associated with the Love Family, and at least once a year they all gathered on a prairie in Big Sky Country for the “Gathering of the Ways.” Indian tribes, communes, Buddhists, ashrams, Christians—all together in a valley full of tepees and campfires for something I imagine was like a cross between a joyous holy festival and Burning Man.

The founder and leader of the Love Family named himself Love Israel, formerly Paul Erdmann, a very charismatic guy who was inspired to preach a unique version of Christian doctrine, to which his followers devoted their lives and surrendered their identities in what some critics called cult-like obedience.

They were outgoing and seemingly happy people, free to venture outside their community. This was one way they spread goodwill and obviously attracted new members. They were on the lookout for, shall we say, the castaway people: the disillusioned and alienated, the isolated and disinherited. Yes, some were probably on the run from something. But many were also well-adjusted and educated; those would likely move into higher levels in the group’s hierarchy, as “disciples,” the chosen few beside Love. For all members, it was a safe haven from a crazy world, and a connection to a positive, healthy and caring people. A family.

So maybe it wasn’t all so rosy. Much was and still is said about the Love Family, quite a bit of it negative. The facts that new members gave their entire possessions to the Family for the benefit of all, and renounced their given names, certainly made their families of origin very fearful. Some members walked away from sizable inheritance and important family ties.  The controversial nature of their faith of Old Testament-leaning practices mixed with New Age-New Testament love and bliss drew criticism from many religious and social conservatives who warned of a “mind-controlling” cult and distortions of Scripture.  Like modern day “Sovereign Citizens,” they renounced the Governments of Man, ignoring laws and rules that restricted them. That led to occasional run-ins with police and city officials in disputes over things like zoning violations and not having valid ID.

Rumors and accusations about Love himself flourished, that he was a manipulative fraud, on a power trip, a self-dealing con artist, an abuser.  Some parents, worried that their youngsters were being controlled, hired “deprogrammers” to go in to capture their sons and daughters to try to undo what they saw as brainwashing.  You can Google the Seattle Love Family if you want to read about lawsuits and such. I’d rather not speak to any of those matters. I’m inclined to suspect that much of the community and family outrage that contributed to the organization’s demise was fear-based and reactionary. I only know what I observed first-hand or heard from current and former Love Family members, and it was always pretty positive.

The Family decreased in numbers, giving up their battles with Queen Anne Hill neighbors and the city. The group retreated to their ranch and settled in for a slow decline over the years. Love Israel died in 2016 and the remaining members moved northeast to the shores of the Columbia River where they still operate a winery.

I have one take-away I will always be grateful for. To this day, when I look in a mirror, I often remember how one Love Family member explained why they don’t have mirrors in their homes. It was because the idea was to behold love and God in the faces of others. If you can see beauty outside, you are truly beautiful inside. If you can’t, well… you know.