Behind the Bastards

Part One: Bishop David E. Taylor: Jesus Christ's Best Friend

October 28, 2025

Key Takeaways Copied to clipboard!

  • The discussion opens by contrasting the rapid, almost farcical speed of authoritarian consolidation in the West (US and UK) with the need for people to maintain mundane concerns like making rent, leading into the topic of cultic behavior becoming normalized. 
  • The central subject of the episode, Bishop David E. Taylor and his cult, 'Jesus Christ's Best Friend,' was recently busted by the FBI for operating a sophisticated call center cult involving forced labor and sexual trafficking. 
  • David E. Taylor's self-published accounts of his early religious experiences feature an unusually erotic description of his face-to-face meeting with Jesus and Jesus giving him cult-like instructions, such as cutting off his best friend. 
  • The hosts express empathy for victims of scams like Bishop David E. Taylor's ministry, noting that desperation caused by fear for a loved one's health makes people susceptible to nonsensical treatments. 
  • Bishop David E. Taylor's cult propaganda heavily featured claims of raising people from the dead, exemplified by stories of a cousin revived via a text command and a shooting victim brought back after being declared dead for 20 minutes. 
  • The core appeal of Bishop David E. Taylor's ministry was the promise to save loved ones from death, which later morphed into threats against members and their families if they failed to meet donation quotas. 

Segments

Political Descent and Guest Introduction
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(00:00:04)
  • Key Takeaway: The hosts note a rapid, alarming speed in the consolidation of extreme authoritarianism occurring in both the US and the UK.
  • Summary: Jake Hanrahan, host of Sad Oligarch, joins the podcast Behind the Bastards. The opening conversation touches on the speed at which political situations are devolving into authoritarianism in their respective countries. The hosts find this rapid descent boringly mundane despite its severity, noting people still prioritize daily concerns like work and rent.
Introduction to David E. Taylor Cult
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(00:04:21)
  • Key Takeaway: The episode pivots to discussing Bishop David E. Taylor’s cult, ‘Kingdom of God,’ which was recently busted by the FBI in a multi-state raid.
  • Summary: The discussion shifts focus from general political trends to a specific cult that recently attracted attention due to an FBI raid on several properties. This group is identified as the ‘Kingdom of God,’ and the host notes that he had to conduct deep research as it was not widely known beforehand. The host expresses difficulty in understanding how members could rationalize the abuse they endured within this specific group.
Cult Operations and FBI Raid Details
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(00:08:27)
  • Key Takeaway: The FBI raid uncovered at least 57 people forced to work in conditions approximating slave labor within the ‘Kingdom of God’ call center cult.
  • Summary: The cult was internally criticized by other charismatic Christians for being excessively extreme, suggesting their actions were far out of line even for that community. Members were forced to work in a call center, facing withheld food and shelter if they failed to meet quotas, constituting near slave labor. The cult leader lived in luxury, funded by tens of millions in donations generated through this forced labor and an online stalking network targeting vulnerable individuals.
Facebook’s Role in Cult Recruitment
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(00:11:42)
  • Key Takeaway: The cult utilized social media stalking, specifically targeting vulnerable users on Facebook who showed interest in topics like eating disorders, to recruit members.
  • Summary: The cult employed sophisticated social media stalking to identify vulnerable targets rather than just casting a wide net for donations. They allegedly advertised to young girls based on their interest in eating disorder pages, which the host finds to be an extremely dark recruitment tactic. The host laments that the extent of Facebook’s profit derived from such harmful content is unknown without a major investigation.
David E. Taylor’s Early Life and Visions
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(00:14:05)
  • Key Takeaway: David E. Taylor’s foundational narrative relies on his father’s heroism and his own dramatic conversion experience involving a ‘weirdly erotic’ face-to-face dream with Jesus.
  • Summary: Little in-depth reporting exists on David E. Taylor, forcing reliance on his own writings, including a 2009 self-help book. Taylor claims he was a typical delinquent teenager who had a physical, face-to-face encounter with Jesus Christ in a dream in 1989. This account is characterized by repeated descriptions of ’ecstasy’ and ‘blistering with a static eruption,’ which the hosts find uncomfortably sexualized.
Cult Leader Tactics in Divine Instruction
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(00:30:50)
  • Key Takeaway: Taylor’s Jesus spoke like a modern cult leader, immediately instructing Taylor to sever ties with his non-Christian best friend, a classic high-control group tactic.
  • Summary: The vision where Jesus instructs Taylor to cut off his best friend is cited as evidence that Jesus spoke exactly like a 21st-century cult leader, demanding isolation from worldly relationships. Taylor later codified this in his book, stating one cannot truly follow Jesus while maintaining friendships with non-believers. The hosts contrast this blatant instruction with the more elaborate, creative deceptions used by founders like Joseph Smith.
Prophecies and Presidential Award Ploy
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(00:40:04)
  • Key Takeaway: Taylor falsely claimed to have prophesied 9/11 and a war between America and Russia under George W. Bush, when his actual prophecy involved Russia attacking America on foreign soil.
  • Summary: Taylor claimed to have foreseen 9/11 and a war with Russia, but his earlier writings indicated he believed Russia instigated 9/11 and that the war would happen on US soil during the Bush administration. He later pivoted his narrative to align with current events regarding Russia. Furthermore, Taylor obtained a Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, which is easily acquired by anyone volunteering 4,000 hours for an organization, including the one that employs him.
Cult Structure and Financial Exploitation
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(00:48:31)
  • Key Takeaway: Full-time cult members must surrender all assets, including bank accounts and inheritances, to support Taylor’s mission of saving seven billion souls, facilitated by a call center.
  • Summary: David E. Taylor’s official title is ‘Apostle and the Best Friend of Jesus Christ,’ which he uses to promise direct intervention with Christ on behalf of followers for money. The organization, JMMI, purchased multiple properties across several states to house its members and operations. The call center operation was designed to pressure vulnerable individuals, often those facing eviction or illness, into donating large sums by promising Taylor’s divine intervention.
Empathy for Cult Victims
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(00:55:44)
  • Key Takeaway: Desperation and fear stemming from a loved one’s serious illness drive people to try ’nonsense treatments,’ fostering empathy for those conned by figures like Bishop David E. Taylor.
  • Summary: Experiencing fear and uncertainty when a loved one is sick makes individuals desperate enough to try unproven or foolish treatments. This vulnerability explains why people fall prey to scams promising miraculous intervention. The speaker notes that being in that ‘dark trench of just kind of machine damage and fear’ makes it easy to be conned.
Claimed Resurrection Stories
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(00:57:06)
  • Key Takeaway: Bishop David E. Taylor claimed direct intervention in life and death, citing a pastor’s cousin who supposedly died in a shower and was commanded back to life via text message.
  • Summary: Propaganda videos repeated claims that David E. Taylor commanded a dead man to ‘get up,’ resulting in his heart restarting after a phone call. Proof offered included hospital photos of the revived young man giving a thumbs-up sign. The cult used these dramatic resurrection narratives to convince followers of Taylor’s divine power.
Propaganda Video Analysis
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(00:58:22)
  • Key Takeaway: The cult produced high-quality propaganda videos mimicking network news broadcasts and movie trailers to promote Bishop David E. Taylor’s miraculous claims.
  • Summary: The video segment featured David Taylor and his wife preaching, with Taylor wearing an exceptionally flamboyant outfit described as something Michael Jackson or Prince might wear. The production style was noted as unique, blending elements of a news report and a movie trailer. This high production value was considered a ‘dark, but unique’ approach for a cult’s messaging.
Deconstructing the Resurrection Claim
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(01:01:14)
  • Key Takeaway: The actual story behind the resurrection claim involved a cult member’s cousin who had a heart attack and was legally dead but recovered naturally, which Taylor then co-opted and exaggerated.
  • Summary: The young man who recovered was the cousin of an unpaid cult worker named Joseph Butch, not a random pastor’s relative. Taylor learned of the recovery and falsely claimed he saved the man via a phone command, massaging the story to fit his narrative. The actual recovery was a natural occurrence, not a result of Taylor’s intervention.
Cult Dynamics and Threats
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(01:03:04)
  • Key Takeaway: The central appeal of Bishop David E. Taylor’s ministry was saving loved ones from death, but for core members, this evolved into threats that God would take loved ones away if donation quotas were not met.
  • Summary: For casual members, the hope of a prayer was enough to prompt donations, often coinciding with natural recoveries. However, for enslaved workers, Taylor threatened to have God curse or destroy them or their families if they did not bring in sufficient money. This shift from offering hope to issuing threats marks the darker core of this Pentecostal cult movement.
Guest Plug and Conclusion
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(01:04:55)
  • Key Takeaway: Guest Jake Hanrahan promoted the second season of his podcast, Sad Oligarch, noting the difficulty in obtaining information for the new season.
  • Summary: Jake Hanrahan plugged the release of Sad Oligarch season two, expressing pride in the difficult work done on the new season. He mentioned that obtaining information for the current season has been extremely hard since the release of season one. The episode concludes by directing listeners to part two for more information on the cult.