Daddy started out in San Francisco...

[000zing]

Ah yes... the power of religion... and especially in the wrong hands...

A possible incest scenario. I'd be glad to hear any ideas for changes/omissions/additions.

A no-good conman skips continents and comes to England, claiming to be the Vicar on Earth of the Church of the New Beginning (or whatever). He gathers gullible families to the fold and persuades them that their current lives are worthless and they must make a new start. Possibly he travels the country, holding sevices at hired premises in different locations. Said new start consists basically of the families selling up their homes and splitting, mother/son taking one third of the proceeds and going to start life together as a married couple in a small apartment at one end of the country, ditto for father/daughter at the other. The remaining one third goes to the "Church", needless to say.

The new "couples" are instructed to produce pregnancies ASAP and never again to have contact with the others. A New Beginning. A Fresh Start. Of course, there is a preamble of several months while each family builds up to The Day. Husbands and wives are directed to gym and crash diets so as to make themselves more attractive to their offspring. The latter are only given vague hints as to what the future holds. On The Day - or perhaps the day before - the Reverend Conman exercises certain droits de seigneur by taking the wife in front of the husband... as required by the Lord, of course.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Ah yes... the power of religion... and especially in the wrong hands...

A possible incest scenario. I'd be glad to hear any ideas for changes/omissions/additions.

A no-good conman skips continents and comes to England, claiming to be the Vicar on Earth of the Church of the New Beginning (or whatever). He gathers gullible families to the fold and persuades them that their current lives are worthless and they must make a new start. Possibly he travels the country, holding sevices at hired premises in different locations. Said new start consists basically of the families selling up their homes and splitting, mother/son taking one third of the proceeds and going to start life together as a married couple in a small apartment at one end of the country, ditto for father/daughter at the other. The remaining one third goes to the "Church", needless to say.

The new "couples" are instructed to produce pregnancies ASAP and never again to have contact with the others. A New Beginning. A Fresh Start. Of course, there is a preamble of several months while each family builds up to The Day. Husbands and wives are directed to gym and crash diets so as to make themselves more attractive to their offspring. The latter are only given vague hints as to what the future holds. On The Day - or perhaps the day before - the Reverend Conman exercises certain droits de seigneur by taking the wife in front of the husband... as required by the Lord, of course.

It sounds like you could fictionalize this as a version of a certain holy man from San Francisco, namely Jim Jones. Sounds like he might have tried this if he had thought of it, or at least his alter ego would have done it. Possibly he would have waited to get to Guyana first.

That bummer of an ending, however - that might need to be rethought.

 

[SteelPoint]

Totally fantastic concept. For sure, people can be stupendously gullible and only too happy to believe anything told to them in their hope of gaining "salvation", a new life, or whatever it may be.

Knowing that it's some fairy-in-the-sky entity who will shoulder responsibility rather than their having to put in the hard work to achieve a secure family and a reasonably happy future is indeed very attractive to the irrational and weak-minded. Many of them, basically, are just waiting to be told what to do. It only takes someone with some guile and force of personality to wreak havoc.

Any number of scenarios can flow from your con man idea, but I do like the idea of the Rev. getting both rich... and sexually fulfilled... from filling such people's minds with blatant nonsense.

Like the "Sweet Charity" allusion. Always admired Sammy Davis Jnr.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Totally fantastic concept. For sure, people can be stupendously gullible and only too happy to believe anything told to them in their hope of gaining "salvation", a new life, or whatever it may be.

Knowing that it's some fairy-in-the-sky entity who will shoulder responsibility rather than their having to put in the hard work to achieve a secure family and a reasonably happy future is indeed very attractive to the irrational and weak-minded. Many of them, basically, are just waiting to be told what to do. It only takes someone with some guile and force of personality to wreak havoc.

Any number of scenarios can flow from your con man idea, but I do like the idea of the Rev. getting both rich... and sexually fulfilled... from filling such people's minds with blatant nonsense.

Like the "Sweet Charity" allusion. Always admired Sammy Davis Jnr.

We've discussed cults as a theme before. (Of course, where does a religion end and a cult begin?) Jim Jones - like David Koresh, too - probably wasn't consciously a con-man, although both had elements of that. And they both went out with a very big bang!

Probably one could fictionalize this by not by not having any connections to San Francisco. The idea of moving everybody to a foreign country is interesting, and there are many to choose from besides Guyana. Jones himself seemed a bit puritanical, although our protagonist wouldn't be.

Where was the allusion to "Sweet Charity?" I don't think I made it.

 

[SteelPoint]

We've discussed cults as a theme before. (Of course, where does a religion end and a cult begin?) Jim Jones - like David Koresh, too - probably wasn't consciously a con-man, although both had elements of that. And they both went out with a very big bang!

Probably one could fictionalize this by not by not having any connections to San Francisco. The idea of moving everybody to a foreign country is interesting, and there are many to choose from besides Guyana. Jones himself seemed a bit puritanical, although our protagonist wouldn't be.

Where was the allusion to "Sweet Charity?" I don't think I made it.

Care to guess which musical the "Rhythm of Life" comes from? Watch this and prepare to be educated!

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=rhythm+of+life+sammy&view=detail&mid=1F47F46D778EA5C98D531F47F46D778EA5C98D53&FORM=VIRE0&ru=/search?q=rhythm+of+life+sammy&qs=n&form=QBRE&sp=-1&pq=rhythm+of+life+sammy&sc=8-20&sk=&cvid=B8065ACCA5EB458B814FBB39E4536680&ghsh=0&ghacc=0&ghpl=

I'd guess the OP assumed everyone knew that opening line. Just shows you...

 

[gunhilltrain]

Care to guess which musical the "Rhythm of Life" comes from? Watch this and prepare to be educated!

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=rhythm+of+life+sammy&view=detail&mid=1F47F46D778EA5C98D531F47F46D778EA5C98D53&FORM=VIRE0&ru=/search?q=rhythm+of+life+sammy&qs=n&form=QBRE&sp=-1&pq=rhythm+of+life+sammy&sc=8-20&sk=&cvid=B8065ACCA5EB458B814FBB39E4536680&ghsh=0&ghacc=0&ghpl=

I'd guess the OP assumed everyone knew that opening line. Just shows you...

Yeah, I remember when the play and then the movie were being advertised in New York. Gwen Verdon and Shirley MacLaine were both pretty hot back then. (I noticed them in the ads in the Daily News that my dad brought home every day.) I didn't see the movie because I was only fourteen then and movie-going was still a family-going event in my house. Not that I had much money for them anyway. It was another couple of years before I would go to movies on my own or with friends. (I know, I was a bit slow in the the teenage assertiveness department.)

I still haven't seen the movie.

 

[LiverpoolMaster]

Ah yes... the power of religion... and especially in the wrong hands...

A possible incest scenario. I'd be glad to hear any ideas for changes/omissions/additions.

A no-good conman skips continents and comes to England, claiming to be the Vicar on Earth of the Church of the New Beginning (or whatever). He gathers gullible families to the fold and persuades them that their current lives are worthless and they must make a new start. Possibly he travels the country, holding sevices at hired premises in different locations. Said new start consists basically of the families selling up their homes and splitting, mother/son taking one third of the proceeds and going to start life together as a married couple in a small apartment at one end of the country, ditto for father/daughter at the other. The remaining one third goes to the "Church", needless to say.

The new "couples" are instructed to produce pregnancies ASAP and never again to have contact with the others. A New Beginning. A Fresh Start. Of course, there is a preamble of several months while each family builds up to The Day. Husbands and wives are directed to gym and crash diets so as to make themselves more attractive to their offspring. The latter are only given vague hints as to what the future holds. On The Day - or perhaps the day before - the Reverend Conman exercises certain droits de seigneur by taking the wife in front of the husband... as required by the Lord, of course.

Really good idea. I think the incest theme plays out well here... with the conman pushing at the limits of each family's tolerance within his protective shield of religious sanctity. I like in particular the "Taking of the Wife" ceremony in front of her husband.

Can I suggest that part of the family split up arrangement could be an enforced, dictated by the conman, gradual alienation of the husband and wife ahead of The Day?. They are ordered to speak to each other as little as possible, separate bedrooms etc., perhaps even engage in a mutual slapping-to-the-face at the start and end of each day? The possibilities for brainwashing of this kind would make for an interesting read.

 

[SteelPoint]

Really good idea. I think the incest theme plays out well here... with the conman pushing at the limits of each family's tolerance within his protective shield of religious sanctity. I like in particular the "Taking of the Wife" ceremony in front of her husband.

Can I suggest that part of the family split up arrangement could be an enforced, dictated by the conman, gradual alienation of the husband and wife ahead of The Day?. They are ordered to speak to each other as little as possible, separate bedrooms etc., perhaps even engage in a mutual slapping-to-the-face at the start and end of each day? The possibilities for brainwashing of this kind would make for an interesting read.

Interesting concept. Can that really be engineered? The tactics you suggest seem obvious, although I find the slapping thing almost comical. In fairness, I suppose that a couple who fall for this "New Start" business may have been on shaky matrimonial ground to start with.