5 April 10–16, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents ing for romance or companionship. The on- going “loneliness epidemic,” documented by psychologists at Harvard, poses a worry- ing vulnerability that charismatic leaders can exploit, the Duncans said. “We have a yearning for community,” Doug Duncan said. “It makes people vulner- able, and unscrupulous, narcissistic leaders exploit people’s vulnerabilities. That’s how they get recruited into cults. … It does not matter how educated you are, how intelli- gent you are, how much money you have.” Members who join Homestead Heritage believe their salvation rests entirely in Ad- ams’ religious teachings; those born into the group learn of the theologian’s infallibility. A person born into a cult, known as a “second generation” member, has no pre-cult iden- tity to rely on once in the outside world. “The core characteristic of all cults is that they change the personality of the per- son who’s involved,” Doug Duncan said. “And that’s why it’s so hard for second gen- erations, because they don’t even get to know what their personality is before it’s poured into the mold.” Each former member who spoke with the Observer is a second-generation mem- ber. They described Adams, who died in 2021, as “malevolent,” “terrifying” and a “supreme leader.” While Homestead says a plurality of elders rather than one individual governs the group, several former members said those elders served at Adams’ pleasure. Multiple former members told the Ob- server the church leader had a parking spot at the church separate from the congrega- tion’s parking lot, and he entered the church from his own entrance so that “he didn’t mingle with the people unless he actually wanted to.” Joseph Haugh, who left the group at 30 in 2018, said he knew Adams “the way that people know their favorite singer.” Church services, called meetings, are held multiple days a week, former members said, but it was the Sunday meeting they were most weary of. Former members said the service typically started mid-afternoon and lasted hours, and Ad- ams’ mood would dictate the message. “I remember times where he would just come and be absolutely furious; he’d pub- licly humiliate four or five people by name. And in some cases, he’d excommunicate them publicly,” Haugh said. “It was a show of force.” Homestead Heritage enforces two levels of church discipline that they believe come from Biblical teachings: disassociation and disfellowship. In a YouTube video posted to a Homestead-affiliated account, Adams’ son Asi Adams says “there is a level where someone is such a betrayer and so insolent in their rebellion against God that they are no longer considered a brother. In that case, they are outside the fellowship of the church covenant. They are disfellow- shipped.” Disassociation, he adds, de- scribes “a brother in consistent error” who remains a member of the church “while he works through his problem.” Multiple former members told the Ob- server that being disfellowshiped from the group means severing all ties with the community. Former members who have maintained some communication with family members who are still a part of Homestead described the relationships as strained. “Older teenagers and people in their 20s would leave and then be gone forever, and that was really unnerving,” said JT, who was born into Homestead and left with some family members at 17. “There was this sense that if you made the wrong move, you could be thrown out too, and that would have really serious consequences for your life. … That’s the terrifying side of the cult.” JT, who asked to be re- ferred to by his first and middle initial because of his career as an elected official, has a brother who is still a member of Homestead Heritage. While they had main- tained the semblance of a relationship in the de- cades after JT left the group, it “completely disinte- grated” after the suicide of JT’s 18-year-old niece. JT said he asked for accountability for the death and was cut off. While no one will ever know what was going through his niece’s mind at the time of her death, he says he can’t ignore that she was around the age when church leaders start pres- suring those born into the group to choose whether they were going to stay or leave. Former members recall that children began attending church meetings at a young age, and the messaging was not tempered for this audience. Yeshiah Haugh, Joseph’s older brother, recalls being only 7 or 8 when Adams be- gan prophesizing an immi- nent Islamic invasion in the United States. Adams preached about a Christian woman being chainsawed into pieces by Islamic extremists for refus- ing to convert; the leader would stand on his pulpit and warn that terrorists were go- ing to turn the nation’s shopping malls into reeducation camps where every American would be forced to learn the Quran, Ye- shiah said Adams’ obsession with the end times ap- peared in sermons during Yeshiah’s child- hood; Comet Hale-Bopp in 1999 was a sign of Earth’s end, Y2k spelled doom to come and the 2008 Beijing Olympics would bring war. The theme of martyrdom ran through many teachings, Yeshiah said, and Home- stead’s religious leaders made it clear to him there were no other “real Christians any- place else in the world.” “Brother Blair said that God told him [about the end times] so it’s going to happen, and then when it wouldn’t happen, no one cared. It was the weirdest thing,” Yeshiah said. “I mean, maybe they did [care] and just didn’t say anything. It would bug me, but I guess I didn’t say anything either. Because, you know, it’s never a good day to blow up your life.” In All Toil There Is Profit F ormer Homestead Heritage members describe a culture of financial abuse in the community. Each recounted being put to work early for little or no pay. Glueck, who left the community in 2016 at 21 years old, started making ice cream in the group’s cafe at age 7, then transitioned to a shift a week working evenings in the gro- cery store. She and a small group of children spent several years portioning out bulk or- ders of oats and flour to be sold to members, she said. She never saw a cent for the work. Alexander remembers hearing leaders repeat the phrase “work is worship,” and community leaders regulated the activities a child participated in. For girls, sewing or pottery was encouraged; blacksmithing was for boys. Former members shared experi- ences of being discouraged by church elders to pursue a passion — violin, for example — at young ages; they were instead strongly en- couraged to follow the craft-learning model on which Homestead is built. Alexander feels the emphasis on learning a trade is part of the “brainwashing” and “child abuse” Homestead Heritage relies on. “What are the things I missed out on be- cause someone decided for me what would bring me fulfillment? I wasn’t allowed to discover that myself,” Alexander said. “You have a sense of loss. … I’m not athletic. I was never going to have a career in sports, but I wish I had had the opportunity to try.” Craft village or fairs sold wares created by Homestead’s children, but none of the former members the Observer spoke to re- call receiving compensation for their work. They said that the time dedicated to crafting is a key opportunity for socialization and is often built into the loose homeschooling curriculum all Homestead children follow. Multiple former members said the emphasis on homeschooling appealed to their parents when they joined the group. While the organization says parents are allowed to choose the curriculum that best suits their family, former members say the church is not “unopinionated” about it. Ac- counts of former members’ homeschooling education vary, but all said science >> p6 As a young child, Morning Alexander sewed potholders and other products at Homestead Heritage. As a youth, Alexander also milked cows as a part of her list of chores. “The core characteristic of all cults is that they change the personality of the person who’s involved.” – DOUG DUNCAN
