Leader of 'House of Yahweh' Faces Criminal Charges of Bigamy

Yet another leader of a 'prophetic' quasi-Judaic / Christian sect (cult) faces criminal charges stemming from the treatment of women and children in his care—Yisrayl Hawkins, of the 'House of Yahweh' defends himself on Nancy Grace (CNN Headline News).

On May 20, 2008, CNN's Nancy Grace exerted the full force of her many years as a prosecuting attorney and hard-hitting journalistic style on the leader of yet another religious sect, who allegedly engages in activities that are harmful to the women and children in his congregation. Yisrayl Hawkins (formerly 'Buffalo Bill' Hawkins), the leader of the 'House of Yahweh' located in Abilene TX, did his best to defend charges of bigamy, promoting bigamy and forced child labour during his interview with Nancy Grace. Although he is the self-proclaimed 'prophet' of his congregation, he has managed to escape notice until these charges came to light. A video excerpt from the interview provides the following observation:

"Yisrayl Hawkins could face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty of performing polygamist marriages. It is the House of Yahweh. This group is so much darker, so much more deadly. This group is more along the lines of a Jim Jones. They`re more along the lines of a David Koresh, the end of world, Kool-Aid cowboys (ph) who are going to kill all themselves because that`s what their master leader prophesied about the whole thing."—see full transcript here.

In her signature style, Nancy Grace barely commented on the odd mix of prophecy, biblical teaching—strictly from the Old Testament, and agrarian lifestyle enforced by Mr. Hawkins on his followers. Her concern was strictly about the charges, which had until her broadcast not received much media attention. When asked directly about keeping young children out of school in order to work in his compound, Mr. Hawkins answered:

"The children, they do go to school in the House of Yahweh. They go to school the full time. I think it`s from 8:00 to 4:00 every day, except in summer months, when the schools are out. And yes, they have fund-raising projects in the House of Yahweh. They have agriculture taught. They have -- they can raise their own garden, you know? But it`s never child labor, as they have pictured it to be."

He went on to provide some rationale for the requirements of children and families in his compound by referencing revelation—both in the Old Testament and received by him—that foresaw the end of days and gives explicit instructions as to how the worthy are expected to live their lives. At times he was quite forceful in his statements; when questioned directly about the indictments, he relied on the advice of his attorney, John Young. Although he often evaded questions regarding past marriages and the charges of bigamy, which he described as "living in sin' and errors of his youth, he did make a possible admission of bigamous acts, with Rosa Bell, in his past:

GRACE: Would that be Rosa Bell, Dawn or Kay?

HAWKINS: Rosa Bell, you know, she disappeared and I don`t know -- you know -- we were living in sin at that time and there`s, you know, that was --

GRACE: Then why did she file for divorce?

....

HAWKINS: Why did I file for divorce?

GRACE: A divorce means you have been married.

HAWKINS: We couldn't find her and I didn't want to be married to two women at the same time and I did want to get married. And that`s the reason --

The remaining portion of the interview with Ms. Grace resulted in equally vague and evasive answers as to Mr. Hawkins choice to wear traditional Judaic head-coverings, his particular mix of religious teachings, and further interpretations of prophecy. One can rest assured that as Nancy Grace has now brought this story to light, further developments will face more intense media coverage, speculation and discussion than they have in the past.