Deconversion Therapy Who's Gonna Be in Heaven? David Berkowitz, Son of Sam
Son of Sam, David Berkowitz, is now the self-proclaimed Son of Hope.
Karen tries to get David to come to the studio, but he’s too shy. And imprisoned. We should have gotten the actor who portrays him on Mindhunter on Netflix. He's amazing!
Bonnie joins the rank of 22 year-old guys who live on Reddit by putting a Bible in the Historical Fiction category at a Barnes and Noble. And Karen admits to saving up her money one year to buy her husband a Zune for allll his music. Holds 50 songs!
We were thrilled to receive a letter from a listener saying they had been to the Young Life camp that used to be the Rajneesh compound in Oregon. Thanks for the letter. We love these insights.
Bonnie describes the 70s. Disco. Bell bottoms. Leisure suits. Not a lot of bras. Lots of rainbows on things before the gays appropriated them.
Karen gives the run-down of David Berkowitz’s crimes. He randomly shot people, mostly couples while they were in their car. It scared New York and the nation.
When Berkowitz was a kid, his birthmother gave him up for adoption. He was adopted and was a bad, bad kid. When he was caught after all the killings, people were upset at his last name and Jewish people were happy to find out he was adopted but then it was revealed his birthmother was also Jewish. Then Karen tells an old reverse racist Jewish joke.
Berkowitz might or might not have been involved in the occult. It depends if you ask, Bonnie or Karen. Karen goes by the story that he’d been getting into the idea of demons from the Kentucky church he got initially saved in. Then he parlayed this into a story once he was arrested.
Berkowitz got a lot of attention when he converted in the clink and was interviewed by Larry King and anyone else who wanted to nab a juicy subject but got Berkowitz's testimony instead. David even wrote a book! And you can find it somewhere online. He isn't supposed to make money off it, but it will definitely help build his ministry.
Berkowitz also has an organization. Ok, he doesn't, but his "friends" have made on for him. You can read his journals and see all the people who visit him. He has more of a reach from prison than most people on the outside.
If you were in prison, why wouldn't you want to become a Christian? You get forgiveness, a community, meaning, something to do away from other prisoners. Bonnie and Karen discuss how disproportionate Christian chaplains are to other religions in prison. Plus, Bonnie tells Prison Jesus, which is an actual psychological disorder.
We'll give it to Berkowitz, although we do feel he sincerely believes, he has carved out a pretty successful life since slaughtering 6 people.
- Our sources were Wikipedia and Berkowitz's website.
- Books we recommend to listen to on Audible: Ricky Gervais' podcast and Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. Support us by getting a free book and 30-day trial when you sign up at www.audibletrial.com/Deconversion