Maybe there’s a reason that sects and sex are (almost) homonyms. Via BBC News, we learn that Israeli police busted a prostitution ring that had a religious bent:

Jewish women were allegedly forced into having sex with non-Jews by a messianic sect… Police say the victims were brainwashed into believing that having sex with non-Jews would “save the Jewish people and bring about redemption.”

Presumably that refers to winning clients over to the cause of Yahweh.

[The women] also made to become dependent on alcohol and drugs, and have sex under their influence, police say. The head of the police investigation, Superintendent Arik Mordechai, told the Haaretz newspaper that some 15 women had been recruited, some of whom were believed to be minors… Over the course of the investigation, police discovered that [the sect] was active throughout Israel.

The International Business Times elaborates:

In court, a police representative said, “This is an investigation of a messianic cult in which Jewish women were sleeping with non-Jews. The investigators discovered a shocking case in which they humiliated and trampled on these women — physically and emotionally — and it reached the lowest possible level. “There are many people involved in this case and the investigation has only just begun.”

More on “sacred prostitution” here and here.

(Thanks to Scott for the link. Image via Shutterstock)



