Editing Kerista (section)

==Kerista, Robert A. Heinlein, and ''Stranger in a Strange Land''==
Science-fiction author [[Robert A. Heinlein]], in a 1966 letter to his agent [[Lurton Blassingame]], mentioned Kerista in connection with his 1961 novel ''[[Stranger in a Strange Land]]'':
{{blockquote|I recently learned that it was considered the "New Testament"—and compulsory reading—of a far-out cult called "Kerista." (Kee-''rist''!).  I don't know exactly what "Kerista" is, but its L.A. chapter offered me $100 to speak. (I turned them down.)<ref name="Heinlein Heinlein 1990">{{cite book |last=Heinlein |first=Robert A |author-link=Robert A. Heinlein |editor-last=Heinlein |editor-first=Virginia |editor-link=Virginia Heinlein |title=Grumbles from the grave |publisher=Ballantine Books |location=New York |year=1990 |isbn=9780345362469 |oclc=556652452 |url=https://archive.org/details/grumblesfromgrav00hein}}</ref>}}
The person who invited Heinlein to speak may have been [[Kerry Thornley]], co-founder of [[Discordianism]], who at the time lived in [[Watts, Los Angeles|Watts]]. Thornley had joined Kerista in 1966 and was a lifelong science-fiction fan.<ref name="Cusack 2010">{{cite book |last=Cusack |first=Carole |title=Invented religions : imagination, fiction and faith |publisher=Ashgate |location=Farnham, Surrey, England; Burlington, VT |year=2010 |isbn=9780754693604 |oclc=694146872 }}</ref>
{{blockquote|Kerista's polyamorous sexual practice was influenced, as was that of the Church of All Worlds, by Robert A. Heinlein's (1907-88) science-fiction novel ''Stranger in a Strange Land'' (1961), in which the Martian-raised human Michael Valentine Smith founded The Church of All Worlds, preached sexual freedom and the truth of all religions, and is martyred by narrow-minded people who are not ready for freedom.<ref name="Cusack 2010"/>}}
<!-- no stated source; WP is not a soapbox: 
==Critique of the Kerista Commune==
It was obvious to many{{how many}} that the professed egalitarianism of Kerista did not apply to Jud, and that Jud was Kerista's prophet and leader. While this did not result in a different standard of living from other Keristans, Jud had special privileges that few Keristans shared. For example, it was rare for a Keristan to overtly disagree with Jud, instead Keristans more-often acted as apologists for Jud's words and behavior, even when Jud was breaking a commune standard. Jud was intensely active with many member's (and prospective member's) personal lives: including BFIC issues, relations with a member's biological family, their individual psychology, and commune work-assignments. -->