There are Secret Churches; small sects that have doctrinal and traditional differences that they hide from the public for their own survival. Every sect and faction in modern faith had it's beginnings like this, even secular humanism.
I was raised in a Secret Church that we call the Seven Families, founded by my ancestor Rev. Smith in 1831. His followers - his four brothers, sister, two cousins, and their families - are our founders. We still exist, almost two thousand of us. I still number myself among them despite the fact that I'm what you would call "lapsed from the True Faith".
Several of the Tenets of Faith are rather fundamental. Jesus is the Son of God, dying for our sins and conquering death in the Resurrection. The Trinity and Original Sin are papist inventions designed to distract man from God with endless nonsense arguments. Some parts of the Bible have been re-written by the Corrupt Church but God's Word could not be entirely suppressed by human actions; therefore when two sections of the Bible contradict each other, the oldest is always correct. Direct quotes of Jesus are divinely inspired. This makes it becomes easy to discern what parts of the New Testament were false, namely everything written by Paul, whom we call the False Prophet. These parts were actually well-received by Rev. Smith's congregation in the 1820's.
Then Rev. Smith received a revelation that got him hanged and burned by a lynch mob. The basic revelation was simple. God is the Father of All; Jesus is the Son of God; Mary is the Mother of Jesus; therefore Jesus is the product of a father and daughter union.
At first Rev. Smith could not accept this revelation as it contradicted secular beliefs and customs. Then he looked at the Bible more thoroughly. Leviticus 18 forbids and defines incest. And in every case, it defines incest by the actions of the initiator; the passive partner is not considered to have sinned.
By the definitions of Leviticus 18, the oldest section dealing with the incest prohibition, initiating sexual congress with one's mother, step-mother, sister, paternal half-sister, granddaughter, step-granddaughter, aunt by blood or marriage, or the wife of one's son or brother is incest and forbidden, an abomination unto God. Initiating sexual congress with one's father, stepbrother, son, daughter, brother, half-brother, maternal half-sister, niece or nephew, grandson, step-grandson, uncle, aunt's husband, daughter's or sister's husband, grandparent, or cousin is not listed under the prohibitions and is not incest by God's Law. So God's union with Mary, while a father and daughter union, was NOT incest.
Abraham took his half-sister Sarah as a wife and was blessed by God. Lot produced sons with his daughters and was blessed by God. Onan was ordered to produce a child with his brother's wife, refused, and was struck down by God. Moses's parents were aunt and nephew and he was blessed by God. And who did the sons of Adam and Eve marry?
When looked at with Leviticus 18:22 in mind, which specifically forbids one to "lay with mankind as with womankind" - and it becomes obvious that the forbidden acts apply chiefly to acts started by men. Exodus 21 says that a slave woman is considered the wife of her owner. So while the Man is given dominion over the household, the Woman as the one with the most sexual freedoms and the bearer of children is given dominion over the sex life.
The revelation to his own family went shakily at first, but it was soon accepted. The women of the Seven Families were the ones who made the Sacraments of Love that worshiped God. Traditions developed during this time, such as the belief that the brothers and sisters of Jesus mentioned by the Apostles were His children by His mother Mary, and that Leviticus 18:22 did not forbid oral sex between men.
When Rev. Smith tried to preach his revelation, he was martyred. The Seven Families moved West but kept close contact. Our Family Bibles traditionally list our real geneaology from 1800 onward. There were problems at first that faded away as bad genes were dropped from the gene pool. For a small group we actually have fewer defects and retardation than the general population.
I grew up in a normal home. No one watching or visiting would think there was anything odd. We were forbidden from talking about sex as it was "vulgar" to publicly discuss such things. When we went to bed, often someone else joined my parents but that was just "bundling".
Privately there was a lot of experimenting among the kids, but I don't think it was more than any other family. During the summer picnics there was a lot of open mutual masturbation and pleasuring (oral sex), where I learned who I could approach and who I couldn't and who could approach me. I also learned that I could say "no" when I wasn't in the mood. I don't even remember the first time I pleasured anyone but I was doing it from an early age. Birthday parties usually included some sexplay along with the usual games.
I had an adult party when I was 12, like a bar mitzvah among Jews, including having sex with my mother as a Sacrament of Love. I now joined the Sacraments of Love on the sabbath, which included ritual sex. As an "adult" I could invite other adults to "bundle" with me at night. I had relationships with my aunt and sister during my teens, but I also had girlfriends. When I was 14 my aunt gave birth to my son but officially he was my cousin.
I met a girl at college, married, and had a daughter. She blended in well and when we divorced she remained part of the family. I was never particularly devout and I began spending most of my time outside of family circles, leading to my "lapsed" status. I still eat kosher, though.
The Seven Families are like any other virtuous Christians. They have strictly defined boundaries in their practices, but the boundaries are different. So I've had to hide my family traditions and faith my entire life.
