Evangelical's bestseller is a must-read for members of Mexican drug cartel

By Alfredo Garcia
Saturday, July 10, 2010; B02

In one Mexican drug cartel, the mandatory reading includes an American evangelical's bestseller.

Drawing from an unlikely source, La Familia Michoacana bases its ideology in part on the book "Wild at Heart" by John Eldredge, founder of the Colorado Springs-based Ransomed Heart Ministries.

And Eldredge sees the gang's use of his book in a positive light.

"At first, I was really mad that they hijacked my book for their purposes," he said. "But on second thought . . . maybe it will touch the hearts of the people who use [it]."

Nazario Moreno González, known in Mexico as "el Mas Loco" (the Craziest One), runs La Familia with rigid discipline and a pseudo-evangelical spirit. La Familia is known in Mexico, a nation plagued by drug-related bloodshed, for its extreme violence.

According to Time magazine, while Moreno González was ferrying cocaine to the United States in the 1990s, he was influenced by Latino evangelicals and images of the mafia in "The Godfather" films. Later, he returned to Mexico with a sense of religious justification -- and Eldredge's book.

The book has become central to La Familia's recruitment strategy and group mentality.

For recruits, the cartel turns to addicts in drug rehabilitation clinics, helping them overcome addiction before forcing them to join the group. Family values and religion are emphasized during the recruitment process, which includes daily group prayer sessions and mandatory readings.

Included in the readings is Eldredge's book, Spanish translations of which have been found during police raids of La Familia strongholds.

Eldridge's theology is based on a "muscular" view of Christianity, one that emphasizes an "authentic masculinity" that has been lost, he said, in modern Christian theology. He said it is meant to "champion an understanding of masculinity that is not passive."

" 'Wild at Heart' is a call for men to engage as husbands, fathers, members of their community," he said. "So there is this call to be a hero, to live a life that matters, to make a difference."

The book contains language, however, that has been misappropriated by La Familia in its mission of "divine justice." Central to "Wild at Heart" is an image of man as warrior, willing and able to fight the battle, rescue the beauty and live the adventure.

"If we can reawaken that fierce quality in a man, hook it up to a higher purpose, release the warrior within, then the boy can grow up and become truly masculine," Eldredge wrote. "A man must have a battle to fight, a great mission to his life that involves and yet transcends even home and family."

Eldredge did not find the misuse of his text to be unusual, saying that such has "been true of ideas, language, books and movements all throughout history." People have always attempted to "shroud and try to cloak or distort their practices by draping it in religious language," he said.

Eldredge said he has had mixed feelings about the group's use of his book. "You know, at first I was shocked and angry," he said. "But after I had thought about it, I thought that I'm delighted that 'Wild at Heart' has found itself into their cult because hopefully it will bring change."

La Familia couples Eldredge's book with Moreno González's self-published bible, "Pensamientos" (Thoughts), a collection of aphorisms, evangelical-style self-help sayings, and insurrectionary mottos. "Pensamientos" reveals a man who sees himself as the leader of a group of warriors on a divine mission, a theme that arises in Eldredge's book.

"Hello friends, fellow Christians. We are beginning an arduous, but very interesting, task: the building of consciousness," Moreno González says in his book. "Today, we need to prepare to defend our ideals so that our struggle will bear fruit [and] organize so as to go down the best path, perhaps not the easiest, but the one that can offer the best results."

Eldredge emphasized that the danger is not in his book but in its improper exploitation. "A knife in the hand of the surgeon can save your life," he said. "A knife in the hand of a violent criminal can end it."

"The evil is not 'Wild at Heart,' " Eldredge said. "The evil is the distortion of it."

-- Religion News Service