15 May The Church of Synanon
“Our religious posture is: Don’t mess with us. You can get killed dead, literally dead… These are real threats … I am quite willing to break some lawyer’s legs, and next break his wife’s legs, and threaten to cut their child’s arm off … I really do want an ear in a glass of alcohol on my desk.” In 1978, LAPD reported a tape recording of Synanon founder, Chuck Dederich, stating the above in response to its investigation. Dederich, reportedly sober for decades, was arrested drunk later that year.
What happened? Synanon, like most cults, began with an inspired vision of helping humanity –this one by providing treatment for drug addicts. The founder, Dederich, had been an active member of AA who saw things differently after taking LSD and created his own program. He is said to have been the one who coined the phrase “today is the first day of the rest of your life.”
The Church of Synanon purchased prime beachfront property in Santa Monica in 1967 and occupied it until 1978. The Church thrived during this time serving drug addicts in their residential programs, at one point generating up to $10M a year (in 70s dollars, mind you).
Synanon became infamous for its highly-confrontive “therapeutic” method called “The Game.” A member would sit in the middle of a group, open up and talk about themselves, and then be vehemently criticized by the other group members, yelling and swearing, sometimes violently, for up to 72 hours. Hard to believe now, but during the heyday of the human potential movement in the 60s and 70s, Synanon techniques were treated as viable treatment methods.
Women residents were required to shave their heads, and many men were forced to get vasectomies. As in many cults, members ceased contact with their families. There were mass weddings, reported forced abortions, and married couples who were made to break up and join with new partners.
The 1965 big-budget Hollywood film “Synanon” grossed over $1M. You can still find on Ebay Synanon record albums made by prominent jazz musicians, and all kinds of Synanon swag such as belt buckles, ballpoint pens, and memoirs of growing up in the cult.
Synanon disbanded in the late ’80s amid allegations of murder and tax evasion, and Chuck Diderich’s breakdown. The Church was formally dissolved in 1991, except for one remaining outpost in Germany.
However, as with all cults, there are those who credit it with saving their lives. There walk among us people alive today who credit the work of Synanon with curing their addictions.
Hotel Casa del Mar (Church of Synanon 1967-78)
1910 Ocean Way, Santa Monica 90405
This is an excerpt from Catherine Auman’s book Guide to Spiritual L.A.: The Irreverent, the Awake, and the True
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