By Joan Jones
I became aware of the man known as Nature Boy nearly a year ago. I was following a YouTube channel whose objective was exposing an impostor pretending to be a psychologist. Periodically, I would receive a recommendation for videos featuring someone named “Nature Boy.” I ignored them. But eventually I clicked on one of the videos. What I saw was discomfiting.
I would describe Nature Boy as tall, somewhat unkempt, and erratic. He was shirtless and wearing a sarong. He seems not particularly bright or articulate. In fact, his vocabulary was street. But he has the skills of manipulation often associated with a good charlatan or charismatic con man.
Beliefs of Carbonation
Nature Boy preaches that the “end times” are near, and that he is the messiah. His rhetoric includes a theory about people of color living close to the equator. According to him, this is imperative for maintaining health and peace of mind. One must leave what he calls “Babylon” (America) and live a natural lifestyle in the Tropics. There, people must eat his version of a B6 diet, and defecate at the base of trees. There will be no need for a doctor or medication. In the world of Nature Boy, all disease is psychological.
As I listened, it all sounded like some bizarre mixture of organized religion, astrology, and new age concepts. A rational person might conclude that Nature Boy is spouting moronic nonsense to be believed by no one. However, our history with groups called “cults” founded by charismatic authoritarian leaders, reflects otherwise. And Nature Boy has been called a “cult leader.”
Names change of Nature Boy and his followers
Originally, Nature Boy called his group the Etherians. Then, it became Melanation. Later the name was changed again to Carbonation.
Nature Boy’s real name is Eligio Lee Bishop. He has also used the name Eligio Prada.
Bishop’s background and criminal record
Arrest records from the state of Georgia show his birth date as April 29, 1982. He is now 37 years old. Bishop’s past criminal charges include forcible entry, theft, aggravated battery, and driving with a suspended or revoked driver’s license.
By his own admission, Bishop is a former barber, model, gay escort, stripper, and porn star.
Nature Boy is not his only title. His spiritual awakening also propelled him to become, Father Tehuti/ Master TeacherTehuti/ Father Nature, Most Honorable Chief Eligio the Christ/ Commander and Chief of the Earth Plane/, Master Chief Eligio the Christ, Immortal Chief, etc.
Nature Boy’s idyllic place to build his nation was Latin America. But Bishop does not speak Spanish. Nor do most of his followers. He insists that it is the warm climate that led him to Central America. However, I think it had more to do with getting away with deeds you could not get away with in America. Mainly, the abuse of women and children.
Cult moves through Central America
So far, Bishop has set his group up, which can be seen as a personality-driven “cult,” in Honduras, Belize, Costa Rico, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. However, if he thought these nations would look the other way at what seems to be essentially a sex cult, he was wrong; because, it seems he was kicked out of every single country he landed in.
A new identity
When one joins Carbonation, all assets must be turned over to Nature Boy. Members then receive a new identity. They discard their birth names or as Bishop says, their “Babylon” name. Bishop then bestows upon his followers new names. Bishop’s followers must also release what he calls “attachments.” These “attachments” are families left in America. When referring to those families, his followers are taught to dismiss them as their “Babylon Family.” Their new family is Carbonation.
People have left partners and minor children to join Carbonation. One woman left her four children in America to become a wife of one of the members. Though Nature Boy has fathered children with women in the group, he also abandoned children in America. Does this all sound familiar?
Women in Carbonation
A woman’s place in Bishop’s group will not surprise those familiar with male authoritarian leaders. Women are classified as inferior to men. Women gaining a measure of equality is what Bishop says is wrong with Babylon/America. Women are to be subservient, docile, and bear children. This is their only purpose in life. Women must also be willing to accept the true nature of a man and that true nature is polygamy. Bishop says that it’s man’s destiny to have as many wives and father as many children as he can.
Nature Boy loves to boast of where he learned his concept of manhood, which is within prison. Think about that for a minute.
When discussing sex Bishop uses pornographic terms. He gloats about the sex he has had with his wives and other women in the group. He’ll speak about their genitals using detailed, explicit and often vulgar terms.
With the sex, there is often violence within this group. There is a video of Bishop abusing one of his wives while she was holding a baby. There is a video of him bragging about beating another wife.
Several weeks ago, Bishop reverted back to his days as a stripper. While dancing, he began to simulate sex acts with his wives. Later, Bishop displayed his wives face down on a bed wearing only a thong.
Women in Carbonation may find that sex acts may be videotaped and uploaded on porn sites. This is what Nature Boy did with two of his so-called wives.
Click here to see Bishop talking about physical abuse of woman.
Does this describe the new messiah?
Social media rants
Social Media is the cornerstone of Carbonation. Bishop exploits all of its platforms. He utilizes them to preach his dogma, beg for donations, and attract new wives. He has thousands of followers online, and has collected thousands of dollars.
The seemingly psychotic behavior Eligio Bishop so boldly exhibits online contributed to his deportation from Latin America. It appears that no nation or rational person would want him in their midst.
There are times online while professing to be Christ, Bishop will give an impassioned sermon laced with profanity and racist expletives. Christ is not the only identity he’ll assume. He may emerge in what looks like a Shia Muslim turban claiming that he is Muslim. Bishop can also be seen lecturing drunk online wearing what amounts to a cheap knockoff of an American Indian War Bonnet.
Click here to see some online rants by Eligio Bishop
Carbonation death
The physical and sexual abuse of women is not the only evil within Carbonation. Though most of the cult members are in their 20s and 30s there was a middle-aged woman who joined the group. Her name was Magdalena “Maggie” Sevilla. Nature Boy changed her name to Mamma Dia. She appeared to be in her late 40s or early 50s. She had a heart condition that was stabilized with medication. It is alleged that Nature Boy told her to stop taking her medication. Bishop claims that all diseases are psychological. Two months after joining the cult, Magdalena Sevilla died. Her family had to solicit donations online to return her remains home. There are other allegations of deaths associated with the Bishop cult.
Child abuse
One of the most disturbing videos online is of Nature Boy abusing his son. There is also video of him boasting of having sex in front of children. There is a video of Bishop explaining that he allowed his son to touch his penis after having sex with the child’s mother.
Click here to see Eligio Bishop share his thoughts about women and children.
Cabonation diet and health
The so-called B6 diet the group lives on has left them looking sickly and malnourished. It seems to me that if the parents are sickly, then the children are unlikely to be healthy.
There are allegations of sexually transmitted diseases within the group. There are two members that admitted online that they have Herpes. There are allegations that have circulated since the beginning of Carbonation, that Nature Boy is HIV positive. Bishop recently uploaded a video of him taking a home HIV test. According to him, there results were negative.
Online followers and the media
When you view Carbonation online, you will see a group of about 12 to 17 people. But Eligio Bishop has thousands of online followers. In addition to his wives in the group, Bishop also has virtual wives online.
There is a video of one of his female followers abusing her son based upon the ideology she learned online from Nature Boy.
The BBC has reported about Carbonation. In 2017, they did an entire documentary on the cult. CBC in Canada also reported on Carbonation in 2017 after a Canadian citizen joined the cult.
The Latin American press has posted numerous articles. The only press that has somehow largely overlooked Bishop is the American press.
Bishop deported
Finally, on or about December 5, 2019, the Panamanian Police arrested Eligio Bishop and the members of Carbonation. They were deemed a threat to Panama’s national security, and were immediately deported.
Guess where they’ve been deported to?
Back in the United States
On December 6, 2019, a video was posted on YouTube of Bishop/Nature Boy ranting about those he perceived had reported him to the Panamanian Police, which led to his deportation. Bishop then claimed to be in Texas. But now, it appears that he is living in Atlanta, Georgia.
Social media petitions
Numerous attempts have been made to remove Nature Boy and Carbonation from social media. There is an online petition concerning this.
There was some success in getting Nature Boy expelled from Facebook.
Bishop was briefly suspended from Instagram.
However, Bishop the uses the accounts of his followers.
Despite Carbonation’s long and continuous condemnation of the United States, Bishop mocking people who live in the US, his perverse online behavior and the fact that the group was kicked out of six Latin American countries. Eligio Bishop and his followers apparently are able to return to the United States unscathed and operate unfettered by authorities.
Beware. Eligio Bishop and his followers within Carbonation remain online and they are recruiting new members.
