‘In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal’: Kim Ki-Soon’s Baby Garden Cult, Mistreatment, and Death of a Young Boy

Published March 4, 2023 By admin with Comments 1

Audiences of Netflix’s In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal are advised that the docuseries goes into detail about the crimes committed at Kim Ki-soon’s Baby Garden cult. While the crimes of JMS leader Jeong Myeong-seok seemed appalling, Baby Garden involved the death of a young boy. Here is a deep dive and breakdown of Kim’s rise to cult powers, the mistreatment of her followers, and more.

Before getting into the murder cases, audiences have to understand Kim’s backstory. Kim did not rise to power on her own. She was an avid follower of pastor Lee Kyo-bu. But he was arrested and sentenced to prison for dancing naked during a religious ceremony. Lee explained that Kim had lost her parents at a young age and wanted to reach glory and honor. But when she married a pastor and had a child, her dream was a distant memory until it was not.

After Lee went to jail, many believed the holy spirit had moved to Kim. She had a unique doctrine advocating for love to enter heaven and live an eternal afterlife. Baby Garden began in 1982, and everyone believed it was heaven on Earth. In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal uses first-hand accounts from fellow Baby Garden members about giving Kim everything they had to buy land and build a compound. The real mistreatment soon began. Kim would force her followers to work day and night to make money.

The money accumulated into wealth for Kim and Baby Garden. After buying land, the members became laborers and built their perfect Eden. But Kim’s doctrine led to mistreatment, sexual abuse, and fraud. First-hand accounts stated they had to follow three rules to enter the “Millenial Kingdom.” They had to sever ties to compassion, material goods, and sexual desire.

The Netflix crime docuseries explores how the follower’s children had to cut ties with their parents and could not address them as mother and father. Siblings also could not acknowledge each other as family. Married couples did not live together and could not have sexual relations. Baby Garden’s followers became entrapped and enslaved people. Children were forced to beat their parents for wrongdoings. Kim also viciously beat her members.

Content retrieved from: https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/in-the-name-of-god-a-holy-betrayal-kim-ki-soons-baby-garden-cult-mistreatment-death-young-boy.html/.