Apocalyptic Cult Members Deported From Israel; Families Worried About Possible Mass Suicide

Fox News, December 21, 1999
By Julia Campbell

NEW YORK - If what he tells his followers is true, Monte Kim Miller will be one of two witnesses described in the Book of Revelations to herald the destruction of the Earth and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He will then be slain in the streets of Jerusalem by Satan and rise from the dead three days later.

Miller, a self-proclaimed prophet and leader of a doomsday cult called the Concerned Christians, believes these events will set off an apocalyptic end to the millennium. His followers, he believes, will be saved and sent to heaven.

"He is really rather cryptic about what he says," said Bill Honsberger, a Baptist minister and expert on cults who has investigated the Concerned Christians group. "But he has said the group has to die to make God happy." Investigators and relatives of the followers worry that Miller could make his prophecy self-fulfilling by persuading some 75 followers, mostly American men, women and children, to commit mass suicide or some other violent act to hasten the second coming of Christ.

In January, 14 members of the Concerned Christians, a group originally based in Denver, Colo., were deported from Israel after Israeli police alleged the group was planning a bloody shoot-out with police in the streets of the walled Old City. After a brief return to Denver, the entire cult moved into six villas in the seaside town of Rafina, Greece. The members have virtually cut off all family ties, their relatives say.

Earlier this month, 25 members, including nine children, were deported from Greece for having expired visas, but family members say they don't know where those members have settled.

"I used to talk to her every other day - and then she just picked up and left," said Lisa Burtis, of Grand Prairie, Texas, whose sister, Connie Blithe, 38, is believed to be living with the cult in Greece.

For hundreds of years, the Book of Revelations and its apocalyptic prophecies have been studied and interpreted. The Old Testament message has significance for Christians, Jews and Muslims. In Israel, authorities are preparing for a crush of tourists, many of them Christian pilgrims, who plan to visit the nation's holy lands, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy said. (Some are preparing for the trip in rather unique ways. In an improbable partnership with an Israeli rabbi, a Pentecostal minister has been breeding perfect red heifers - virgin cows that will be ritually sacrificed in a Jewish temple some believe must rise before the second coming of Christ. Messianic Jews believe the restored temple will bring about the first coming of the Messiah).

But as the millennium approaches, law enforcement authorities are concerned that fringe apocalyptic groups, religious or otherwise, might use the occasion to commit violent acts. In a recent FBI report, called Project Megiddo (in Hebrew, Armageddon means "the hill of Megiddo," a hill in northern Israel that has been the site of many battles over 4,000 years), the authorities outlined several groups that could potentially pose a threat.

The report cautions, however, that millennial violence is extremely difficult to predict and "just as likely to occur as not." Predicting acts of millennium violence, the FBI report warns, is a particularly "daunting endeavor" when it comes to religious cults like the Concerned Christians. "The potential for violence on behalf of members of biblically-driven cults is determined almost exclusively by the whims of the cult leader," the report said.

Miller may be such a leader. "I have worked around a lot of people who think they're God," Honsberger said. "I have never met anybody as arrogant as (Miller). Would his ego demand he go down in flames to get his 15 minutes of fame? I don't know. But if anyone ever had the personality that could do it, I would vote on him."

From Soap to Salvation: The Consummate Salesman

In 1985, Monte Kim Miller, 45, a former sales and marketing executive with Procter & Gamble, formed a group called the Concerned Christians because he was worried about the anti-Christian influence of the New Age movement. Miller reportedly also wanted to speak out against anti-Christian biases in the media.

Ironically, Miller, described as tall and thin and a charismatic speaker, actually gave seminars and preached often about the dangers of religious cults, said Mark Roggeman, a Denver police officer who studies cult activity and helps relatives of cult members when he is off-duty. "Eventually, he came full circle," said Roggeman.

By 1996, Miller had declared that he could speak for God and began channeling God's "messages" through his own vocal cords to his followers. "When he was speaking to God, he'd roll his eyes back and then close them and get real dramatic," a former 16-year-old member told one reporter. In an attempt to learn more about Miller and his trance-like hold on his followers, Honsberger and Roggeman decided to attend a Bible study at Miller's Denver home. Miller thought the men were sincerely interested in joining the group, but quickly learned their true motive when Honsberger said he confronted him about his beliefs. "He contorted his face, shifted his position in his chair and started doing God talk," Honsberger said. "He was really bizarre and he got very angry."

The two men said Miller threatened to kill them. "We watched him go into a trance and say 'I am the Lord, your God. You are here to deceive me,'" Roggeman said Miller told them.

The cult has grown steadily over the past few years, Roggeman said, attracting a diverse membership that has included three aerospace engineers, a firefighter and a millionaire. Many of the members sold what they had to give to Miller, he said, and decided to follow Miller for perhaps a variety of reasons.

"Most people who end up joining a cult think that they are joining one of the most sincere, profound groups," said Honsberger. "They might be lonely, discouraged. ... In some ways, they might be disillusioned about God. Along comes people who really seem to care about you - that's pretty seductive right there."

Miller's teachings became increasingly apocalyptic. Miller preached against what he saw as the evil and corrupt nature of mainstream churches and the evils of the federal government; he called America "Babylon the Great" and declared it an evil place.

Most important, Miller reportedly believed he was the one true prophet who could offer salvation to others. In lecturing his followers, Miller often referred to the Book of Revelation, Chapter 11, which describes the role of the two prophets who witness the apocalypse.

"If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths and completely consumes their enemies," a passage from Revelation reads.

In October 1998, Miller predicted that an earthquake would strike Denver and destroy it. The earthquake, of course, failed to happen, but Miller and his followers were, by then, long gone. They had packed their belongings and disappeared without telling family members where they were going. A month later, Israeli authorities discovered that some of the cult members had settled in Jerusalem.

Because they are so isolated from the outside world, authorities and family members say they have had a difficult time in recent months learning anything new about the cult's activities. Many say they are worried that Miller might just be capable of leading his followers to a tragic end. "This has really destroyed some families," Honsberger said. "Other families are hanging on by their fingernails. It is almost like knowing your kid is in prison and is going to be executed."