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December 28th, 2006 (EB News)

• Brethren set up tyre business to gain funds for schools - The Age, Australia
  by Michael Bachelard
  
  Exclusive Brethren schools have gone into the tyre business, setting up a chain of wholesale outlets, Sprinter Tyres, in four states to funnel funds into their private schools.
  
  The highly unusual set-up could challenge the Federal Government's funding rules, which stipulate that private schools must be non-profit entities.
  
  Calls to Melbourne's outlet of Sprinter Tyres, in industrial Thomastown, and Sydney's, in Ermington, reveal a wholesaler importing Maxxis brand tyres from Thailand and reselling them through apparently non-Brethren retail outlets.
  
  In Queensland and Western Australia, Sprinter's management company lists the address of the main Brethren school in each state as its principal place of business.
  
  Until last month, the Sprinter outlet in NSW was run by a Brethren NSW school entity, Eastern Education Management.
  
  Company documents reveal that Sprinter Tyres is run by some of the separatist sect's most senior Australian leaders, including school trustees.
  
  STI Tyres Australia Pty Ltd is the management company that now runs both the Victorian and NSW Sprinter shops.
  
  It includes Victorian leader John Gadsden and Sydney-based Stephen Hales (the brother of the sect's world leader, Bruce D. Hales) among Brethren directors from around the country.
  
  "This (tyre) business was specifically set up to fund their schools," a former principal has told The Age.
  
  "They were quite open about it."
  
  The Exclusive Brethren's schools, which educated 1441 devotees last year, receive more than $6.6 million in Federal Government recurrent funding.
  
  Education Minister Julie Bishop said yesterday that, "to date all Brethren schools in receipt of Australian Government funding have met the conditions".
  
  These include funding and financial accountability requirements. One requirement is that schools be not-for-profit.
  
  Education sources said if the profits of the tyre business were used for the school alone and the school itself remained not-for-profit, it was possible this system could still meet federal guidelines.
  
  STI Tyres' shareholders are Mr Gadsden and Simon Salisbury, both trustees of the Victorian Brethren school Glenvale, and the business address is the factory of Mr Gadsden's family business, water filter supplier Billi Systems.
  
  The Queensland and WA Sprinter companies, like STI, were originally registered in Victoria, suggesting Mr Gadsden, a business whiz and the organiser of recent Brethren "business seminars", is the brains behind the scheme.
  
  Mr Gadsden could not be contacted yesterday.
  
  Though some of the tyre companies appear to have been trading since 2004 and 2005, where their money is paid is a mystery.
  
  No record of income from the tyre business appears in the most recent accounts of the Brethren's MET school in NSW or the Glenvale school in Victoria and there is no mention of business activities, Sprinter Tyres or STI.
  
  In addition, in recent years the audited accounts of the school entities have not reflected any income from the millions of dollars of fund-raising the schools do, and nor do they appear to record the value of school land and property as assets.
  
  Nor do they show salaries paid to teachers.
  
  Melbourne accountant Max Newnham, who was approached by The Age to scrutinise the accounts of the Sydney and Melbourne schools, described the documents as "incredibly secretive and not very illuminating".
  
  "You can't even look at these (financial) statements and say how the money's been spent. It's hard to make any sense out of them," Mr Newnham said.
  
  "If I was the Government, I would be looking at these statements to see if (money is) being spent properly … it's clear that things are being hidden here."
  
  The Brethren's Sydney-based world leader, Bruce D. Hales, controls a massive empire that includes dozens of trusts. These own hundreds of properties, including schools and assembly halls. Many are styled as "building funds" or "library funds" for schools.
  
  Registered as charities with names such as the Trustee for Tullamarine Education Trust, they have obtained exemptions from GST, income tax and fringe benefits tax. Brethren members can claim a tax deduction for contributing to the entities.
   more >>>
• Brethren set up tyre business to gain funds for schools - PDF Version

 

• Sect's tyre business treading a fine line on school funding rules - Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
  by Michael Bachelard
  
  Schools run by the Exclusive Brethren sect have gone into the tyre business, setting up a chain of wholesale outlets, Sprinter Tyres, in four states.
  
  The highly unusual set-up will challenge the Federal Government's rules, which stipulate that private schools must be non-profit entities to receive funding.
  
  The sect's schools, which educated 1441 devotees last year, receive more than $6.6 million in recurrent funding. "This business was specifically set up to fund their schools," a former principal said. "They were quite open about it."
  
  In Queensland and Western Australia, Sprinter's management company lists the address of a Brethren school as its principal place of business, and until last month, the Sprinter Tyres outlet in Ermington, was run by a Brethren NSW school entity, Eastern Education Management. Company documents reveal Sprinter Tyres is run by some of the sect's highest leaders, including school trustees.
  
  Calls to the Melbourne outlet and Ermington reveal a wholesaler importing Maxxis brand tyres from Thailand and reselling them through apparently non-Brethren retail outlets.
  
  The federal Education Minister, Julie Bishop, said yesterday that "to date all Brethren schools in receipt of Australian Government funding have met the conditions". These include requirements they be not-for-profit.
  
  Education sources said if the profits of the tyre business are used for the school alone and the school itself remains not for profit, it is possible this system could still meet guidelines.
  
  STI Tyres Australia Pty Ltd is the $2 management company that now runs both the Victorian and NSW Sprinter shops. It includes Victorian leader John Gadsden, and Sydney's Stephen Hales (the brother of the sect's world leader, Bruce Hales).
  
  The shareholders are Mr Gadsden and Simon Salisbury, both trustees of the Victorian school, Glenvale, and the business address is the factory of Mr Gadsden's family business, water filter supplier Billi Systems.
  
  The Queensland and WA Sprinter companies, like STI, were originally registered in Victoria, suggesting Mr Gadsden, a business whiz and the organiser of a recent set of Brethren "Business Seminars", is the brains behind the scheme. Mr Gadsden could not be contacted yesterday.
  
  Although some of the tyre companies appear to have been trading since 2004 and 2005, no record of income from them appears in the most recent accounts of the M.E.T school in NSW, or the Glenvale school in Victoria, and there is no mention of business activities, Sprinter Tyres or STI Tyres.
  
  In recent years, the audited accounts of the school entities have also not reflected any income from the millions of dollars of fund-raising the schools do, and nor do they appear to record the value of the school land and property, nor pay to their teachers.
  
  The accountant Max Newnham, who was asked by The Age to scrutinise the accounts of the Sydney and Melbourne schools, described them as "incredibly secretive and not very illuminating".
  
  "You can't even look at these statements and say how the money's been spent. It's hard to make any sense out of them," he said. "If I was the Government I would be looking at these statements to see if it's being spent properly … It's clear that things are being hidden here."
   more >>>
• Sect's tyre business treading a fine line on school funding rules - PDF Version

 

• Doctrine and law collide in a curious test of faith - Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
  
  But down here business is booming - that's the business of cutting-edge fundamentalists bending the ear of politicians and judges to see if they can skew things their screwy way.
  
  Over the past few days the Herald has carried reports of the special pleading by the Exclusive Brethren to the federal Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, and to the former chief justice of the Family Court, Alastair Nicholson. The brethren want the law to reflect their customary beliefs. It's a debate we've been having in this country in relation to customary Aboriginal law and the extent, if any, it can be accommodated by whitefella law.
  
  The Federal Government says there is no place for the recognition of minority customary law by the one true law. And it has a point, especially when it comes to special pleading by elderly male Aborigines who claim a "right" to take young girls as their wives and rape them.
  
  The brethren are claiming a right to keep children away from parents who have been excommunicated from the sect. Its members have gone to extraordinary lengths to subvert Family Court orders, moving a sister, brother and mother 700 kilometres from an excommunicated father who had right of access.
  
  A member who falls out with the brethren will have their family broken up and their life turned into a fresh kind of hell. This flows from a motley collection of rules and superstitions leaping straight from the early 1800s. There are bans on members going to universities, the beach, cinemas, watching TV, using the internet, mobile phones or listening to the radio.
  
  Members are not allowed to wear shorts (a sensible prohibition) or marry anyone not approved by the higher authorities. Married woman are not allowed to have jobs outside the sect. Members cannot eat with non-members or, mysteriously, share a common wall with someone who isn't of the faith. Members are banned from voting, apparently because God selects governments, not men. This must come close to transgressing the law because it is a requirement in Australia that at elections everyone on an electoral roll should attend a polling booth.
  
  The ban on voting is confusing, especially as the head of the church is called the Elect Vessel. The present Elect Vessel, Bruce Hales, is an office equipment supplier from West Ryde who inherited the leadership from his father, so the electing may not have been all that rigorous in this family enterprise.
  
  Correspondence from supporters of the vessel to Nicholson asked that the Family Court refuse custody or access to a parent who has left the Exclusive Brethren. To do otherwise would only cause "trauma". It asserted that children want to "refrain from contact" with the parent who has been expelled from the sect.
  
  The Herald has reported there was abundant evidence the organisation flouted access orders and denied the rights of parents to see their children.
  
  The Family Court has the power to enforce its orders by citing disobedient parties for contempt, or changing custody and access orders. But enforcement can be difficult if it involves confrontation with ferocious zealots.
  
  Ruddock was asked last year by the brethren to amend the Family Law Act to require the court to reflect the sect's special mode of living. They received a lot of polite waffle from the Attorney-General about the family relationship centres to be rolled out across the land.
  
  Nonetheless, there has been a marked contrast in the understanding the Government has afforded the brethren's desire for special recognition of its customary law. The Tasmanian Liberal senator Eric Abetz said Senator Bob Brown's criticisms of the brethren's political interference were "ridiculous assertions about people who are genuinely Christian Australian citizens".
  
  The Exclusive Brethren does not grow by recruitment. It grows by breeding - hence the frantic efforts to keep children of the faith locked away from the outside word, and especially from parents who have seen the light.
  
  Brown is having another crack at getting the Senate to investigate the subterranean political meddling of the brethren. He's got a fat chance of getting this evangelical-friendly Government to support a clean-out of the stables.
   more >>>
• Doctrine and law collide in a curious test of faith - PDF Version

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December 28th, 2006 (EB Commentary)

We have the unusual opportunity of posting some fresh Exclusive Brethren commentary on the excellent reporting recently in the Australian press by Michael Bachelard. Some have seen this organized reaction before when the 'squirming' starts.

We can expect a great deal more commentary over the next few weeks ...

From The Age Letters - http://www.theage.com.au/letters/index.html?page=2

Devious take on the Exclusive Brethren

Michael Bachelard's article "Brethren chief tells girl to disown dad" (The Age, 26/12) is riddled with false and devious statements.

The article states "the world leader of the Exclusive Brethren church intervened personally to break up a family". This is a gross untruth. This family was broken up by the father transgressing the sanctity of the marriage bond.

The article further states that "the Family Court granted him (the father) joint guardianship and guaranteed weekly access — conditions which have been ignored". This is an untrue statement. The truth is, the father is not prepared to abide by the legal conditions of the agreement and is not even attempting to take up access. Exclusive Brethren do not break up families; sin breaks up families when one parent transgresses the sanctity of marriage and refuses to repent, as in this case.

Furthermore, Exclusive Brethren leaders have never taken the title "Elect Vessel". The apostle Paul is the only leader given this title by Christ (Acts, 9:15).

Bachelard seems determined to take every opportunity to vilify the Brethren with no regard for the truth. "Let him that is without sin cast the first stone." (John, 8:7)
C. W. John, Engadine, NSW

Despicable

The attempt to denigrate the Exclusive Brethren continues. As one enjoying Christian fellowship with them, I can bear witness to the family-oriented care and protection extending from cradle to grave — the envy of many. The 180-year practice of "separation from evil being God's principle of unity" is morally right and personally fulfilling, and even statistically produces results that are in stark contrast with today's marriage breakdowns.

To publicly denigrate leaders of the Brethren based on twisted allegations, fuelled by persons who have consciously chosen to destroy their own families, is despicable.
D. Burgess, Diamond Creek

God's Word

I wish to state that Michael Bachelard's article on the Exclusive Brethren is basically a lot of lies, and Scripture says that "the part of liars is in the Lake of Fire, which is eternal" (Revelation, 21:8). This is very serious. It is God's Word. And God has the last say in all things.

I would urge you to give this matter your most serious consideration. God in His love has provided, in the Lord Jesus Christ, a saviour so that if we believe he has laid down His life for us, we will spend eternity in Heaven with Him.
Angus M. Crick, Invermay Park

When Hypocrites speak, it is often as a whine. The statements above, interspersed with meaningless out-of-context scriptural quotations, are typical Exclusive Brethren responses. Those not familiar with 'Brethren-Speak' are probably already confused!

The "morally right" Exclusive Brethren doctrine of Separation is at the very heart of this strange seperatist sect. Over the past few years observers have watched the deterioration of a religious group into a business-orientated machine. A genuine cult is in the process of being formed before our eyes. This is certainly a rare opportunity for sociological observation and continued investigation.

EB Separation insists that whenever a member is in disgrace, that person is to be 'shut-up' or shunned by all members of the community. The impact of this is that the individuals' family is no longer allowed contact with them until the local 'priests' have declared the person 'clean' again. Assuming the person in trouble is male, the wife is instructed to move out of the marital bed; husband, wife and children must not eat together; if the disgraced individual is seen on the street, other members of the community will pass without a word of greeting.

It is a form of pressure that is difficult to comprehend to those unused to living in a sub-society whose rules for daily living are decided by the words of the Univeral Leader, the Elect Vessel, the Minister of the Recovery ... Mr. Bruce Hales. Far from being incorrect, these titles have been applied to Mr Hales and his predecessors even to the extent of calling them 'Our Paul'.

They either own or work for other Exclusive Brethren businesses. Their homes are mortgaged through EB Trusts. Their choice of day-to-day equipment and electronic goods is at the whim of their leaders. They are banned from TV, Radio, Internet usage, novels, restaurants, hotels, vacations, university, cinema, theaters ... the list is extensive.

When the leaders see business potential in an item, they will sometimes change their mind as to its availability to members. A recent example are fax machines that are available for leasing through EB businesses - often at a monthly cost that is more than the cost to purchase the item. Cell phones were long declared evil but the ease of doing business with them is starting to outweigh their technophobic presence on the Banned List. As usual, when the announcement is made, it is explained simply as: "The Lord has moved on". The "Lord" in this case is always the Elect Vessel, the Univeral Leader of the Exclusive Brethren.

Many have wondered at the wealth of the Exclusive Brethren. The members have a disciplined, orderly and principled work ethic. This aspect of a 40,000 strong work force has allowed the EB Entrepreneurs (also read 'Leadership') to tap into an almost utopian resource. Small businesses are encouraged and the networking offered among themselves leads to an almost immediate market with business advice and counsel from the Leadership all the way to The Elect Vessel himself, Bruce Hales. Be in no doubt, the Exclusive Brethren hierarchy has far more to do with business success than spiritual gifts and abilities.

Of course, should someone fall out of favor, the networking opportunity, counsel and work force are gone in an instant ... along with their family, self-esteem and social scenary.

So they remain trapped in their thinking, in their income/lifestyle ratio, by their lack of further education, by their ability to socially interact, by their lack of comprehension of how to think for themselves. Individuality is sufficient reason to 'shut-up' a member of the Exclusive Brethren. And that is when they begin to rip a family apart.

The Exclusive Brethren are Family-Wreckers. There are hundreds of cases with impact in thousands of lives.

Fear is the glue that keeps these poor people together behind their barred and padlocked defences. Behind the same gates and razor-wire tipped walls are also our families.

The essence of our motivation as ex-Exclusive Brethren is an old agonized whisper that is starting to turn into a full-throated roar:

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December 27th, 2006 (EB News)

• Sect schools reap federal grants - The Age, Australia
  by Michael Bachelard
  
  Exclusive Brethren schools are receiving tens of thousands of dollars in Federal Government building grants despite having among the richest and most generous parents in the country.
  
  Former principals, teachers and students of the Brethren schools say the sect is able to raise millions of dollars a year from parents at fund-raising concerts and auctions, called "fun days". The Age has been told the most recent fun day in Sydney took a massive $1.3 million from Brethren members, many of whom run highly successful small and medium-sized businesses. Sums of $500,000 or more are commonplace.
  
  But the Brethren's growing number of schools are putting out their hands for government grants under programs including the low-scrutiny federal program Investing in Our Schools.
  
  Fun days might be held at Brethren schools three or four times a year. "At one of the first fund-raisers, in Sydney, (sect leader Bruce D. Hales) and his brother Stephen bid against each other for a pumpkin (apparently left over from the kids' Cinderella play). BDH got it for $100,000," former Brethren member "Janie," said. "It makes a huge amount of money. Even in a little country town they could get $80,000 on a Saturday, and they probably do it three to four times a year."
  
  The Brethren sect owns and runs secondary schools in all six states, with 38 campuses educating 1441 students in 2005. Some country campuses have as few as 15 students. Their purpose is to educate Brethren children with minimal "contamination" from other, "worldly" Australians. The sect has recently started building primary schools to help complete their separation.
  
  The schools receive more than $6.6 million in Federal Government recurrent funding under the SES (socio-economic status) model, on a generous scale of up to $5471 per student per year because the campuses tend to be based in poorer suburbs and towns. Government records show Brethren schools have received $313,000 in Federal Government capital grants in the past two years under the Investing in Our Schools Program, as well as a $219,000 capital grant in 2004.
  
  Meadowbank school, in Prime Minister John Howard's electorate of Bennelong, was given $70,000 this year for the "upgrade of furniture and resources for classroom", as well as "design and technology equipment", library resources and playground equipment. The school has 70 students. Grants were approved this year for a campus of the Tasmanian school ($30,000 for 42 students to upgrade a manual arts area) and a South Australian campus ($63,600 for 37 students for a science area and canteen). The Age has learned that Victorian school Glenvale has also applied for a $70,000 grant.
  
  Under Federal Government guidelines, a school does not need to open its books for scrutiny if the grant application is for less than $75,000. All the Brethren applications fit under this threshold. "We don't look at the finances for the smaller grants: there is no financial assessment required," according to Ray Whitfield, chief of the NSW Block Grant Authority, which determines the grants.
  
  Accounts of the Melbourne school vehicle, Glenvale Education Inc, and Sydney vehicle Meadowbank Education Inc, obtained by The Age, show that, in recent years, no fund-raising has been declared as income. A June statement to the Senate by three senior Brethren members said the schools "satisfy the same criteria as all funded non-government schools, including the provision of all documentation, compliance with all registration and accreditation procedures which require the acceptance of full audit assessment and financial accountability".
  
  A former principal who helped set up Brethren schools in one state said their tiny numbers would not have been accredited by state officials under normal circumstances, but the Brethren had made the case that they were different campuses of one school.
   more >>>
• Sect schools reap federal grants - PDF version

 

• Sect's schools flush from parents - and federal funds - Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
  by Michael Bachelard
  
  Schools run by the Exclusive Brethren sect have received tens of thousands of dollars in Federal Government building grants, even though their parents are among the richest and most generous in the country.
  
  Former principals, teachers and students of the Brethren schools agree the sect is able to raise millions of dollars a year from parents at concerts and auctions, called "fun days". The most recent fun day in Sydney is said to have taken $1.3 million from the city's Brethren members, many of whom run successful businesses. Raising $500,000 is commonplace.
  
  Even so, the Brethren's growing number of schools are putting out their hands for government grants that do not require them to open their books for scrutiny.
  
  Fun days might be held at Brethren schools three or four times a year, former members say. At one of the first fund-raisers in Sydney, the sect's leader, Bruce Hales, paid $100,000 for a pumpkin apparently left over from the children's performance of Cinderella, after bidding against his brother Stephen, said a former Brethren member, "Janie".
  
  "It makes a huge amount of money," she said. "Even in a little country town they could get $80,000 on a Saturday, and they probably do it three to four times a year."
  
  The Brethren own and run secondary schools in all six states, with 38 campuses educating 1441 students in 2005. Some country campuses have as few as 15 students. In each state the schools go by one name, with numerous campuses.
  
  The schools' purpose is to educate Brethren children with minimal "contamination" from "worldly" Australians.
  
  Recently the sect has started building primary schools to help complete their separation. The schools receive more than $6.6 million in recurrent federal funding under the socio-economic status model. They attract a generous level of up to $5471 per student per year, because the schools tend to be in poorer areas.
  
  Brethren schools have received $313,000 in capital grants in the past two years under the federal Investing in Our Schools Program, as well as a $219,000 capital grant in 2004.
  
  The Meadowbank campus, in John Howard's electorate of Bennelong, was given $70,000 this year for the "upgrade of furniture and resources for classroom", "design and technology equipment", library resources and playground equipment. The campus has 70 students.
  
  Grants were approved this year for a campus of the Tasmanian school ($30,000 for 42 students to upgrade a manual arts area) and a South Australian campus ($63,600 for 37 students for a science area and canteen). The Victorian school, Glenvale, has applied for a $70,000 grant.
  
  Under federal government guidelines, a school does not need to open its books for scrutiny if the grant application is for less than $75,000. All the Brethren applications fit under this threshold.
  
  Ray Whitfield, the chief of the NSW Block Grant Authority, said: "We don't look at the finances for the smaller grants: there is no financial assessment required."
  
  A former principal who helped set up the Brethren schools in one state said their tiny student numbers would not have been accredited had the Brethren not presented them as campuses of one school.
  
  Brethren do not allow students to continue to higher education, apart from technical courses.
   more >>>
• Sect's schools flush from parents - and federal funds - PDF version

 

• Ex-Exclusive Warren McAlpin participated in a telephone interview yesterday conducted by Paul Bell of Australia National Radio. If you missed the interview you can still catch it as a streaming audio transmission on the Australia National Radio web-site (it took place at 7:45am in the middle segment, or alternatively download an MP3 of just the interview here. You will need an MP3 Player such as Windows Media Player, RealPlayer or similar.

  The program description states:

  The secretive religious sect the Exclusive Brethren is back in the headlines, raising hackles again. A front page report in The Age newspaper yesterday revealed a 12-year-old girl was threatened and told she had to renounce her father who had left the sect, or lose her mother. Yet there's more to the story, including charges of child sexual abuse.

  Breakfast spoke to Dr Marion Maddox who is a reader in Religious Studies at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. She has been keeping a close watch on the Exclusive Brethren's activities and its growing influence beyond its own community into politics in Australia and New Zealand. Also on the program was Warren McAlpin, a former member of the Exclusive Brethren who knows the family of the 12-year-old girl, and is familiar with the case and the sect's insatiable appetite for tight control over its members.

 

• Brown urges probe into Govt's Brethren links - ABC News, Australia
  
  Greens Leader Bob Brown says the federal Senate must examine the lobbying power of the religious sect, the Exclusive Brethren.
  
  Senator Brown says the organisation has been trying to influence the Federal Government on the issue of family law.
  
  He says the Exclusive Brethren are attempting to have the law altered so they can prevent parents who have left the organisation having access visits with their children.
  
  The Greens leader wants a Senate inquiry into all the contact between group members and Cabinet ministers, including the Prime Minister.
  
  "It's absolutely important for our democracy that when a religious sect becomes politically active - in this sense, in trying to change Australia's laws and claiming that it knows better about how those laws should be written for all Australian families - it's very important they be looked into," he said.
   more >>>

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December 26th, 2006 (EB News)

• Brown demands sect inquiry - The Age, Australia
  by Michael Bachelard
  
  Greens Senator Bob Brown will move for a Senate inquiry into the activities of the Exclusive Brethren religious sect next year, following revelations of their long attempts to influence the Government on family law.
  
  The Age is able to reveal that the Brethren met Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock last year and asked him to amend the Family Law Act to "ensure that a child is not subject to a radical lifestyle change without compelling reason".
  
  The request would mean that no child brought up in a Brethren family would be able to have access visits with a parent who had left the strictly separatist sect.
  
  Documents obtained by The Age also reveal that the Brethren representatives wanted Mr Ruddock, as part of the Government's 2005 Family Law Act amendments, to beef up "parenting plans" to make them legally enforceable.
  
  Such plans are designed mainly to help separating parents sort out access arrangements, but the Brethren wanted to use them to prohibit parents who had left the sect from getting access to their children.
  
  In a letter to Mr Ruddock on May 5 last year, the sect describes the concept of parenting plans as a "crucial issue".
  
  "Why shouldn't the fact that a parenting plan has been adopted by the parties (even before any discord has arisen) be a factor that the court is expressly directed to take into account in determining issues?" sect representatives wrote to Mr Ruddock.
  
  "Or could there be some presumption arising out of the fact that a parenting plan has been entered into?"
  
  Such a provision would mean the Brethren could force newly married adherents to sign statements promising to bring children up within the strict rules of the sect, and then have those statements enforced by the court if the marriage broke down.
  
  The idea was ridiculed by family law practitioners who have spoken to The Age.
  
  Mr Ruddock's response to the Brethren's approach gave them little joy. The Government's changes would "emphasise the rights of the child and the right of the child to know both their parents," he wrote.
  
  The Age revealed yesterday that the thrust of all Brethren lobbying in family law is to keep lapsed members away from their children, and keep children within the sect. On other occasions, the group has been more successful in its attempts to lobby governments, state and federal. In industrial relations law, they have been granted "conscience" clauses to prohibit unions from entering their businesses. Senator Brown moved unsuccessfully this year for a Senate inquiry into the sect, and he said yesterday he would put a similar motion again next year.
  
  "I want an inquiry into the impact and effort to undermine Australia's family law, and to override the interests of children for self-interest, which is the exclusion of Australian society from what they do," he said.
  
  He said Mr Ruddock should reveal all details of his and his predecessor Daryl Williams' dealings with the sect because "their success with IR laws shows they're used to getting a result out of the lobbying". Senator Brown has asked questions of 20 federal ministers about details of their meetings with the Brethren, but none have responded.
  
  "This leverage on the Government and the Attorney-General is obviously very strong, and I think it's quite clever, to try to have the family law and Family Court give preference to the sect in its beliefs," Senator Brown told The Age.
  
  The documents obtained by The Age show "a plan by the sect to gain precedence" over all other Australian families.
  
  "They make the extraordinary claim that the lifestyle of Australians is inappropriate for bringing up children and only they know how to do it, and they say the court should not allow child to see their non-Brethren parent," Senator Brown said.
   more >>>
• Brown demands sect inquiry - PDF Version

 

• Sect asked for power to prevent child visits - Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
  by Michael Bachelard
  
  The Greens senator Bob Brown will move for a Senate inquiry into the activities of the Exclusive Brethren religious sect next year after revelations of its long attempts to influence the Government on family law.
  
  The Herald can also reveal that the Brethren met the Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, early last year and asked him to amend the Family Law Act to "ensure that a child is not subject to a radical lifestyle change without compelling reason".
  
  If the request was granted no child brought up in a Brethren family would be able to have access visits with a parent who had left the strictly separatist sect.
  
  Senator Brown moved unsuccessfully earlier this year for a Senate inquiry into the sect, and he said yesterday he would put a similar motion next year.
  
  "I want an inquiry into the impact and effort to undermine Australia's family law, and to override the interests of children for self-interest, which is the exclusion of Australian society from what they do."
  
  He said Mr Ruddock should reveal all details of his and his predecessor Daryl Williams's dealings with the sect because "their success with IR laws shows they're used to getting a result out of the lobbying". Senator Brown has asked questions of 20 federal ministers about details of their meetings with the Brethren, but none has responded.
  
  The documents obtained by Fairfax showed "a plan by the sect to gain precedence over all other Australian families".
   more >>>
• Sect asked for power to prevent child visits - PDF Version

You can help Michael Bachelard, an Investigative Reporter for The Age in his efforts to effect change and report on the way the Exclusive Brethren rip families apart. The Age newspaper has a direct anonymous 'Tip us Off' facility via investigations@theage.com.au If you prefer Peebs.Net to make the connection on your behalf, simply email us in complete confidence at info@peebs.net or use our Peebs.Net Contact page.

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December 25th, 2006 (EB News)

A Christmas Day Message from the Exclusive Brethren...

• Sect told girl: banish your dad - Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
  by Michael Bachelard
  
  
  
  Exclusive Brethren Leader Bruce Hales and his family
  
  
  THE world leader of the Exclusive Brethren church intervened personally to break up a family this year, telling a 12-year-old that she would lose her mother if she did not renounce her father.
  
  The Sydney-based Bruce D. Hales - the "Man of God," or "Elect Vessel" of the separatist cult - urged the girl to cease contact with her father, saying: "Your mother will not be able to accept you if you continue contact with him."
  
  Notes of the conversation, taken immediately after they met in Sydney in January, also reveal Mr Hales told the girl: "You cannot love Christ if you wear pants [jeans], and you cannot be a Christian if you leave the Brethren."
  
  And documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act demonstrate the Brethren's efforts over 15 years to bend the Family Court and the Federal Government to its will, in the hope of keeping lapsed Brethren away from their children.
  
  After the January 17 meeting between Mr Hales and the girl, the mother - with the help of the church - moved the girl, her sister and brother 700 kilometres away from their father. He has not seen them since.
  
  "My ex-wife went from having daily contact and decision-making involving me to nothing, just like closing a door," said the father, who has spoken on condition of anonymity. "It happened immediately after Mr Hales said that."
  
  The Family Court has granted him joint guardianship of the children and guaranteed weekly access, but these conditions have been ignored.
  
  His children had told him they were lured to the January meeting, at which another senior Brethren member, Neil Kennard, a Sydney businessman, was present, under the promise of an apology and a gift of money. But the church wanted to keep the father away from them because he had ceased being a member in 1999. However, he had been living with, or near, the girls and his former wife, at her invitation, through most of last year because she was ill and was dealing with unrelated legal proceedings.
  
  During this time, he said, she had repeatedly said to him: "Please protect me from the Brethren. I can't deal with the pressure they put on me." He has kept notes and letters from his former wife thanking him for his help.
  
  The Brethren enforce a strict policy of separation from the world: those who are "not in fellowship" are to have no contact with sect members, even if they are members of their family.
  
  Mr Hales and Mr Kennard responded to interview requests with a flurry of legal correspondence, confirming that a meeting took place with the girl, but saying "all persons present … do not agree with the allegation that Mr B Hales broke up the … family".
  
  "[The father] left his family in desolate and dire straits." Another letter claims Mr Hales made "a number of attempts to assist the parties in reconciling" since 1999.
  
  But the Exclusive Brethren has become notorious for its desire to break up families when one member falls out of favour with the church, or leaves it. The Age has obtained correspondence between the Brethren and the former Family Court chief justice Alastair Nicholson and the Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, in which it tries to persuade them to favour the sect in family disputes.
  
  The documents show that in 1991 and again in 2002 groups of Brethren marriage celebrants wrote to Chief Justice Nicholson to complain that they were being mistreated by judges in his court.
  
  Both letters demand that the court refuse custody and access to the parent who has left the Brethren, most often the husband.
  
  The July 1991 letter argues that giving any access to the non- Brethren parent causes trauma to the children because of their "diametrically opposed lifestyle".
  
  "The welfare of the children is best preserved by being maintained within the lifestyles and belief systems which they have been brought up in since birth," the Brethren argues.
  
  It says the Brethren lifestyle is better than that of "worldly" people because women stay in the home. "The cornerstone of a healthy society is the regulation of order in the family home in accordance with the creatorial status of man and woman. Numerous social studies confirm the enduring value of the dedication of the mother to the home setting and the tender care of children."
  
  Brethren women are required to wear long skirts, no make-up, and have their hair long, with headscarves. They are not permitted to work once married.
  
  In another letter sent in May 2002 the Brethren representatives argue that in every custody case the children want to live with the Brethren parent and "refrain from contact" with the parent who has left the sect. Where the court has ordered contact, "the conflict has always been very severe, emotionally traumatic, and damaging", and the children have "ultimately themselves terminated the contact and remain among the Brethren".
  
  A member leaving the sect knows he "immediately forfeits any rights to the continuance of family relationships".
  
  For children, the "stress from the anticipation of contact [visits] is evidenced by anxiety, tension, emotional effects such as bed-wetting and sleeplessness, nightmares and outbursts of frustration".
  
  "On returning, children often evidence remorse where they have been forced to participate in activities, or have been taken to places which they have protested as to not being suitable to their way of life." Such activities include watching TV, listening to the radio, or using computers, which they consider "conduits of evil".
  
  "It is well-recognised that a child of eight years normally has a moral judgement of right and wrong and knows who can be trusted and who they are uneasy with. Their instincts should be respected."
  
  In their letters to Justice Nicholson, the Brethren representatives said: "There is no pressure brought to bear on any member." They also said that, where courts order access, those orders are respected, but The Age has collected abundant evidence that the sect flouts access orders and denies the rights of parents to see their children. It has also seen a number of letters written by young children to their fathers accusing them of being evil.
  
  Brethren members who have left the church say their children have been schooled by sect elders to spit at their fathers, throw stones, and to say they do not want to see them on access visits. Vincent Field remembers very well the psychological pressure put on him as an eight-year-old to reject his parents. He, his brother and sister were moved to their grandparents' house after his mother and father were "withdrawn from" in 1990.
  
  "There is a point where you actually start to believe that because your parents 'aren't right with the Lord' that you don't want to see them," Mr Field said. "It's continually reiterated by all the people in the church, especially when they pray in their meetings. They're careful not to say they're evil: they say they're 'not right', and then you'd read some Bible scriptures saying those who aren't right with the Lord are evil and wicked and you'd make the connection.
  
  "I know first hand that initially we would have loved to see our parents, but just the methodical phrases and the way they talk about your parents made you not want to."
  
  A psychologist, Louise Samways, said many in the Family Court system did not understand the "ferocity of the fear planted in these children" by fundamentalist sects such as the Brethren.
  
  "They teach that people outside are condemned to hell, and if you want to be saved you're not allowed to associate with people outside the group. They use the expression 'of the devil'," Ms Samways said.
  
  "From a child's point of view, to be told they have to spend time with the parent who is of the devil is an extremely frightening prospect … it's definitely psychological abuse. If you undermine a parent to a child, say that parent is of the devil, there you see abuse, there is no doubt about it."
   more >>>
• Sect told girl: banish your dad - PDF Version

 

• Brethren chief tells girl to disown dad - The Age, Australia
  by Michael Bachelard
  
  The world leader of the Exclusive Brethren church intervened personally to break up a family earlier this year, threatening a 12-year-old girl by saying she should renounce her father or lose her mother.
  
  The Age has learned that the Sydney-based Bruce Hales — the "Man of God," or "Elect Vessel" of the separatist cult — urged the girl to cease contact with her father, saying "your mother will not be able to accept you if you continue contact with him".
  
  He also told her at a January meeting at his office: "You cannot love Christ if you wear pants (jeans), and you cannot be a Christian if you leave the Brethren." The revelation is backed up by notes of the conversation taken immediately after it ended.
  
  Meanwhile, documents obtained under freedom of information demonstrate the Brethren's efforts over 15 years to bend the Family Court and the Federal Government to its will in the hope of keeping lapsed Brethren away from their children.
  
  After the January 17 meeting this year between Mr Hales and the girl, the mother, with help from the church, moved the girl, her sister and brother 700 kilometres away from their father.
  
  The father, who spoke on condition of anonymity, has not seen them since. "My ex-wife went from having daily contact and decision-making involving me, to nothing, just like closing a door," he told The Age. The separation comes even though the Family Court has granted him joint guardianship of the children, and guaranteed weekly access — conditions which have been ignored.
  
  The man's children told him they had been lured to the Sydney meeting, at which another senior Brethren member, Sydney businessman Neil Kennard, was present, under the promise of an apology and a gift of money.
  
  But the church wanted to keep the father away from his children because he had ceased being a member in 1999.
  
  However, he had been living with, or near, the girls and his ex-wife, at her invitation, through most of 2005. During this time he says she repeatedly asked him to "Please protect me from the Brethren, I can't deal with the pressure they put on me".
  
  The Brethren enforce a strict policy of separation from the world: those who are "not in fellowship" are to have no contact with sect members, even if they are members of their family.
  
  Mr Hales and Mr Kennard responded to requests for an interview with a flurry of legal correspondence, confirming that a meeting took place with the girl, but saying "all persons present … do not agree with the allegation that Mr B. Hales broke up the … family".
  
  The Exclusive Brethren has become notorious for breaking up families when one member falls out of favour with, or leaves, the church.
  
  The Age has obtained correspondence between the Brethren and former Family Court chief justice Alastair Nicholson, and Attorney-General Philip Ruddock, in which they try to persuade them to favour the sect in family disputes.
  
  The documents show that in 1991, and again in 2002, groups of Brethren marriage celebrants wrote to Mr Nicholson complaining that they were being mistreated by judges.
  
  Both letters demand that the court refuse custody and access to the parent who has left the Brethren, most often the husband.
  
  The July 1991 letter argues that giving any access to the non-Brethren parent causes trauma to the children due to their "diametrically opposed lifestyle".
  
  The Brethren say their lifestyle is better than that of "worldly" people because women stay in the home.
  
  "The cornerstone of a healthy society is the regulation of order in the family home in accordance with the creatorial status of man and woman," they say.
  
  Brethren women are required to wear long skirts, no make-up, and have their hair long, in scarves. They are not permitted to work once married.
  
  In another letter sent in May 2002, the Brethren representatives argue that, in every custody case, the children want to live with the Brethren parent and "refrain from contact" with the parent who has left the sect.
  
  They say a member of their sect knows that, when he leaves, he "immediately forfeits any rights to the continuance of family relationships".
  
  The sect deems activities such as watching TV, listening to the radio, or having access to computers "conduits of evil".
  
  The Age has also seen a number of letters written by young children to their fathers accusing them of being evil.
  
  Former Brethren members say their children are taught by sect elders to spit at their fathers, throw stones, and say they do not want to see them.
  
  Former Brethren member Vincent Field remembers the psychological pressure put on him as an eight-year-old to reject his parents. He, his brother and sister were moved to their grandparents' house after his parents were "withdrawn from" in 1990.
  
  "There is a point where you actually start to believe that because your parents 'aren't right with the Lord', that you don't want to see them," Mr Field said.
  
  Psychologist Louise Samways said the Family Court did not understand the "ferocity of the fear planted in these children".
   more >>>
• Brethren chief tells girl to disown dad - PDF Version

The Exclusive Brethren do not keep Christmas, vote, eat or drink with others not part of themselves ... they basically consider anyone not part of them to be evil. This is why they rip apart families unflinchingly. As modern-day Hypocrites they truly hold no equal. It would be easy to laugh at them if they did not cause so much heartache and misery.

Gradually the public is getting the message about the Exclusive Brethren. These people do not act like Christians, they do not think like Christians and ... if it doesn't quack like a duck?

No matter what they are, they cause lifelong damage. They ignore human rights. They receive $ Millions in tax-breaks for their steel-gated windowless meeting rooms by declaring them 'Public Places of Worship'! This is as incorrect a category as is possible to imagine! And yet municipalities around the world continue to grant them equal status with genuine places of public worship who welcome anyone at the door with a smile and a greeting. Just try turning up at your local Exclusive Brethren 'fortress' ...

This site does not mean harm to individual members of the Exclusive Brethren - we are still of them and many remain our loved families, friends and relations. We do not deny them the right to worship in any way they wish, but we despise the blatant hypocrisy and wealth-grabbing system that chains and divides the cult members and has carefully entrapped our broken families.

By denying their young the right to socially interact with others outside the cult, they build more and more government-subsidized schools where they indoctrinate their valuable next generation (their only method of growth) with a syllabus that ends abruptly prior to further education. University is declared evil for the simple reason it allows an individual to begin thinking like an individual. They know that the Truth exists outside and they fear the Truth in the same way any board of directors fear a loss in revenue. The Exclusive Brethren today are far more of a business than a church.

Even as they threaten the existence of this site with further litigation in the near future, this voice must and shall continue. They will open their doors and allow the trapped members to have life choices; they will allow exiled parents to see their children; they will permit children to say final 'Goodbyes' to parents; they will allow Grandparents to meet grandchildren they have never seen. The Exclusive Brethren will learn that they are not above the Law. This site and others like it will continue to hold up a mirror so that the media, society and the Exclusive Brethren themselves might catch a glimpse of the manipulative non-Christian attitudes that lead them and prevent us from contacting our family members.

• Edna's other curtain call - The Age, Australia
  
  The credits roll
  
  IT IS one of life's great mysteries: the Exclusive Brethren sect does not watch TV, listen to the radio, read newspapers and novels, use a computer and mobile phone, or attend uni but it knows enough about these vices to declare them evil (fair enough about 3AW's Ernie Sickly). It is this magical insight that enables the Brethren to line up the goodies and baddies: God's representative on Earth is none other than office equipment salesman Bruce D. Hales and when The End comes (the countdown clock is working overtime) it will be ushered in by the devil's representative on Earth, a journalist. Hey, why should we take the credit? It's not fair to used-car salesmen, real estate agents and telemarketers.
   more >>>

 

• Finding those special Christmas gifts - The Ashburton Guardian
  
  To complete the political fare this Kristmas the Exclusive Brethren have published what they hope will be a best seller.
  
  Exclusive! The Brethren’s Guide to Political Lobbying (Almighty Press, $18.95) is a step-by-step hand book for the activist.
  
  The book covers fundraising, making contact with senior party apparatchiks, exerting leverage and remaining incognito.
  
  The short section entitled Counting the Cost is revealing.
   more >>>

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December 21st, 2006 (EB News)

• Pollies preach moral awakening - Herald Sun, Australia

  For many Australians, the very notion of religion getting too cosy with politics sets the alarm bells ringing. But now the time has come to suspend the kind of off-the-cuff, knee-jerk rejections of religion in politics that are the mantra of the secular Left and the fundamentalist market Right in Australia.
  
  Census figures suggest that while fewer Australians are interested in regularly attending church, increasing numbers of voters are interested in hearing about the religious convictions of candidates come election time.
  
  There are immediate and disquieting associations with the more extreme examples of religious zealots swapping the pulpit for the Parliament, and the results have rarely been desirable or inspiring.
  
  The Family First brand of firebrand morality, masquerading as mainstream family values, or even Tony Abbott's penchant for using his senior health portfolio to inculcate Catholicism into coalition policy, are examples.
  
  Or think of the moral crusading of some religious leaders and politicians, and their almost pathological obsession with issues of sexual behaviour and homosexuality.
  
  More alarming is the secretive agenda of the kooky Exclusive Brethren and the shadowy dealings they have had with conservative politics in Australia.
   more >>>

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December 19th, 2006 (EB News)

Locals Oppose Brethren School

Rather understandably, the sensible citizens of Barnsley, near Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia are complaining about the application by the Exclusive Brethren for a school in their district. The article states "...the Barnsley community has never been so united".

They are concerned that the presence of an Exclusive Brethren school represents an "attack on the character and safety of our area". In terms of the proposed look of the new structure, in typical Exclusive Brethren fashion, "... it looks like a cross between a correctional institution and an aircraft hanger."

• a scan of the full article from the Newcastle Morning Herald, NSW, Australia

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December 18th, 2006 (EB News)

The following news item is almost beyond belief and yet as many ex-Exclusive Brethren are aware, this is a case that has slowly made its way through the Australian courts over the past 18 months. We obviously cannot legally divulge the names involved, but we can state that the full story and implications of this terrible crime reaches tentacles to the very top echelon of the Exclusive Brethren.

• Brethren member guilty of indecently assaulting girl, 10 - The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia

  "IN OUR community we really treat each other as if we are really, really close friends," the 10-year-old girl explained to the police officer.

  The girl was talking about her religious community, the Exclusive Brethren.

  And she was explaining how she came to stay with a man who digitally raped and repeatedly indecently assaulted her sister.

  The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was yesterday found guilty in the District Court of four counts of indecent assault and a charge of sexual intercourse with a child under 10.

  Judge Helen Murrell told the Downing Centre jury he was convicted last year of sexual offences against the girl's sister. She refused to continue his bail, pending his sentencing in January.

  The judge also refused an application for the entire proceedings of the trial to be suppressed.

  "It is through the publication of such matters that the community understands the extent and nature of child sexual abuse in the community and can serve to encourage other victims to come forward," she said. The girl said she had trusted the man. "I thought he was really nice."

  After the assaults, when she had returned home, she no longer liked going to church, even though that was where she met all her friends.

  "It freaked me out, and I hated seeing him."

  The man's lawyer, Paul Byrne, SC, argued that the offences were so brazen they were unlikely, and the jury should not believe the girl.
   more >>>

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December 16th, 2006 (EB News)

• New Zealand opposition leader quits - Asian Tribune, Thailand
  
  New Zealand opposition leader Don Brash quit politics late last month in the wake of damaging speculation over his future, and days before the release of a book that alleged links between him and the Exclusive Brethren religious sect. Brash had led the conservative National Party for three years, having been recruited from governorship of the Reserve Bank, but failed to oust the Labor government in last year’s election.
  
  The incriminating emails proved Brash knew about and approved a campaign mounted by the Exclusive Brethren during the 2005 elections. Leaders of the extreme right-wing cult—which forbids its own members to vote or participate in political activities—funded the nationwide distribution of unattributed pamphlets criticizing Labor and the Greens and urging a vote for National.
  more >>>

 

• Brethren plan school on former Allanton site - Otagao Daily Times, NZ
  
  The Exclusive Brethren church hopes to open a junior school in the former Allanton School buildings.
  
  Two years ago, the church’s Westmount Trust opened a school with 10 campuses around the country, including one at the former Enfield School, near Oamaru.
  
  According to Ministry of Education information, the campuses now cater for 949 pupils from year 1 to year 12.
  
  Allanton School was closed in December, 2003, after the ministry’s review of schooling on the Taieri. The 2.11ha rurally zoned site is owned by Dunedin property developer Pat Cummings.
  
  He has applied for Dunedin City Council resource consent to subdivide the site into three lots, one containing the former school buildings, another the teacher’s house and the third bare land.
  
  Mr Cummings is also seeking permission to re-use the school buildings as a school for up to 30 pupils.
  
  The application was advertised and attracted nine submissions, one in support, one neutral and seven opposing. Most of those opposed were concerned subdividing the land would lead to the eventual residential development of the third lot and the loss of rural space.
  
  A hearing was held this week before Crs Colin Weatherall, Richard Walls and Andrew Noone.
  
  Council planner Liane Darby recommended consent be granted, saying the proposal was consistent with the objectives and policies of the district plan and the effects on the environment would be no more than minor.
  
  The hearings committee reserved its decision.
  
  Westmount trustee Norman Waite, of Oamaru, said it was hoped the school would operate in addition to the Enfield site. He said he was happy to say more if resource consent was approved.
  more >>>

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December 15th, 2006 (EB News)

• Life is happy on the other side - The Marlborough Express, NZ
  
  A former Exclusive Brethren woman tells Sonia O'Regan of surviving on the outside.
  
  Hannah's marriage conducted under the watchful eyes of Exclusive Brethren leaders and poisoned by alcoholism is over, replaced by a new life as a working solo mother of seven sons.
  
  "I couldn't be happier," she says. "I wouldn't give up my freedom for anything."
  
  For a person leaving the Exclusive Brethren, whose members are taught that outsiders are unclean, the outside world is an unknown, scary place, says the Canterbury woman, whose name has been changed for this article.
  
  "You are like a goldfish tipped out of the goldfish bowl and into the ocean. You think everyone is a shark or piranha, but then realise there are some friendly fish out there as well."
  
  Four years of counselling and the kindness of people who have helped her have seen her emerge from tough times with sanity intact and her boys, who range in age from five to 21, healthy and happy.
  
  Hannah says she had to take counselling to make sure she was a strong, stable mother.
  
  She walked away after having been "shut up" for the fourth time. She believes the Exclusive Brethren still consider her to be "shut up" but as far as she's concerned she's no longer a member.
  
  The decision was not easy, she says. Those within the Exclusive Brethren are usually forbidden to socialise with family members or friends who have left, so leaving means leaving those people dearest to you.
  
  But to stay would have been intolerable, she says.
  
  "I was being treated as a criminal, not a Christian."
  
  Hannah says her parents were in touch when she first returned to Christchurch, but her father cut her off shortly before and her mother after Hannah appeared on a television news show raising concerns about unreported sexual abuse within the Exclusive Brethren.
  
  She believes they are under pressure to have nothing to do with her.
  
  "It's sad because I dearly love my mother, no one wants to give up close family."
  
  Hannah's six siblings remain in the Exclusive Brethren and don't talk to her either. Hannah is sure they would welcome her if she told them she wanted to "get right" (return to the church), but she is not prepared to do that.
  
  She says that when she was inside the Exclusive Brethren she believed the very worst kind of person was an ex-Exclusive Brethren. Burdened by this one isn't inclined to seek such people out for the help and advice.
  
  Reflecting on life in the Exclusive Brethren, she says so many things that seemed so normal to her now seem absurd, and some seem terrifying.
  
  Miraculously, things fell into place. A friend of a friend organised for her to rent a large family home on a farm in rural Canterbury. The house can't be seen from the public road, which Hannah loves. She has memories of Exclusive Brethren driving by her house checking up on her.
  
  She has gained real estate qualifications with the goal of getting off the domestic purposes benefit.
  
  Hannah was raised as one of seven children in a happy, conservative Christian family in Christchurch in the 1960s and 1970s.
  
  The happy picture changed with the introduction of "bizarre" rules to the Exclusive Brethren in the 1970s and her marriage to a man who struggled with alcoholism in 1984.
  
  Hannah moved to a rural North Island town to live with the husband she had spent three and a half hours with alone on a few occasions before they married.
  
  Hannah's husband became increasingly difficult to live with due to his alcoholism and this combined with the stress caused by the influence of the Exclusive Brethren over their lives eventually split the family, Hannah says. Heavy drinking is a big problem within the Exclusive Brethren, she says.
  
  Hannah says her husband, who did not work for an Exclusive Brethren company, has an individualistic outlook.
  
  She believes this is why her family were subjected to repeated visits from church leaders over various allegations. In her 18-year marriage she estimates the leaders visited about 200 times.
  
  Once was at 5.45am on a Sunday before an early church service to ask why her husband had been seen at a race course. Her husband had seen a man fall off a horse and had gone to help.
  
  These visits caused stomach-wrenching stress, Hannah says. She would go to another room to avoid hearing them.
  
  Hannah says the family subscribed to the rules of Exclusive Brethren, such as those not allowing televisions and radios in houses.
  
  The family would attend the daily church meetings and the three Sunday services, although by the time she had six children she would attend only one Sunday service as it was simply too hard to get along while running a big household and living under such stress.
  
  Such behaviour would prompt a visit from the leaders.
  
  The family were "shut up" four times for minor misdemeanours. The last of these periods, in 2000, was welcomed as a chance for Hannah's husband to attend alcohol treatment with professionals outside of the church, which the Exclusive Brethren had discouraged.
  
  Hannah says her husband has now been healthy for five years.
  
  Hannah says that if she and her husband had had a chance to work on their marriage before God and not the Exclusive Brethren leaders, she probably would have stayed. However, they were never given the opportunity.
  
  "I had a conviction before God that the Exclusive Brethren did not act like Christians and therefore I could not return to that sort of harsh treatment of people."
  
  She knows that Exclusive Brethren leaders assured her husband that his wife would follow him if he returned to the church.
  
  "But in actual fact they split us up," she says.
  more >>>



• Life is happy on the other side - PDF Version

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December 13th, 2006 (EB News)

• Exposed - The Marlborough Express, NZ
  
  

  When the Exclusive Brethren claimed traditional family values as a motivation for their much reported clandestine political manoeuvring, former members whose families were torn apart by the group couldn't believe what they were hearing. Today, former Exclusive Brethren member NEVILLE MCCALLUM of Blenheim describes the pain that lingers for those expelled from the group. Exclusive Brethren leaders in Marlborough declined to respond to this story. Families broken up, emotionally wrecked, financially broken, are now speaking out from around the world - except for those who have since died or committed suicide. These are now silent. Separation in its extreme form within the Exclusive Brethren fellowship began about 1959-60 with a series of pronouncements by the world leader of the time (considered by the Exclusive Brethren to be the "Man of God"). Noticeboards welcoming anyone to the meeting rooms were removed and entrance would be granted only to those who passed scrutiny. Fellowship was to be shared only with those formally included.

  ex-EB Neville McCallum

  
  No longer were we allowed to eat with or socialise in any way with persons outside the fellowship, even with close relatives or close friends. The effect of such directives was always immediate - the word of the leader was final - immediate conformity was expected.
  
  Delay or compromise could result in being cast out of the fellowship - which mostly resulted in further painful separation between loved ones.
  
  I remember this period being a traumatic time in our family. I was 15 years old at the time. We had a number of close family members and friends, who were fine, upright, honest, law-abiding people.
  
  We were a close family of five and our enjoyment of life involved other family members who were mostly Christian folk, who regularly attended their own fellowships.
  
  When the command for separation was given, I clearly remember an uncanny silence and sadness falling over my parents, especially at meal times. We had been through some difficult financial years, family illnesses and death, but nothing that we had been through was as fearful as this situation.
  
  There were solemn discussions between Exclusive Brethren family members. Those of my parents' generation who had family on the "outside" realised the gravity of this un-Christian command.
  
  The cruel global family massacre had begun.
  
  From its beginning in the early eighteenth century, the Exclusive Brethren movement had valued strong family bonds and evangelical outreach to those not in the fellowship.
  
  My wife and I have this fellowship to thank for our introduction into the Christian faith and practice. The effect of this "separation" doctrine was that we never again were to bring any "outs" to meetings. Never again did we go into or have a meal in any "unclean" home, whether family, grandparents or friends.
  
  The effect of this was that hundreds of family members were separated, sometimes never to see each other again. I know of instances where aging parents, out of the fellowship and needing help and social support, became dependent on kind and caring "outsiders" because their own children were afraid to become involved with helping them.
  
  Exclusive Brethren claim that their meeting rooms are places of "public worship" - so as to qualify for exemption of rates. In practice, no "outsider" is "welcome".
  
  With very rare exceptions, no member of the public is granted entry, yet they expect the public to pay property rates on their halls.
  
  Recently, Exclusive Brethren leadership have pole-vaulted the fellowship into the media arena to the shock of the public. In response to "who are you and what you stand for", they boldly claim amongst other things "upholding family values"!
  
  I, along with most New Zealanders, hold that to build a strong nation and community you need strong, loving, tolerant, caring families the greatest of created relationships given to mankind and which is central to Judeo-Christian beliefs. Jesus Christ warned "what God has joined, let not man separate".
  
  I recognise, along with most New Zealanders, that serious misconduct may call for social restraints as a last resort. However, for a religious leader to expect "legal, physical and moral separation" between spouses or other close family members due to differences of understanding or some petty misdemeanour is in my opinion a crime against God and against our communities.
  
  When my wife and I (with two children) were excommunicated, we lived in seclusion, only going into one person's house (a non-member) in four years. Then a couple (she was an ex-member) invited us to be part of their family and church group, this helped us to find our feet again. We will be always grateful to them.
  
  Many others who were excommunicated did not have this support. Until this point, we did not know the seriousness of the bondage we had been under.
  
  It is clear to me that most Exclusive Brethren are unconcerned as to the bondage in which they are held they feel comfortable and safe so long as they conform and do not ask unwelcome questions.
  
  To give some idea of the horrendous effects of this rigorous form of separation, our close family (my wife and I, not including friends) have experienced hurt, sorrow, bitterness, division, distrust involving 123 family members.
  
  I know of at least 12 families in Blenheim alone which have been victimised, and in my opinion only in one case would formal discipline have been justified. I know of several suicides in just one extended family. It would be typical within Exclusive Brethren fellowships throughout the world, for the majority of households to have been traumatised at some stage and to some extent by the demands of "separation". It need hardly be emphasised, the fear that this induces. I have read and seen desperate parents, children, grandparents calling out, by way of mail or by travelling personally across this global 'killing field' just trying to get a glimpse of their loved ones, not knowing if they are dead or alive, sometimes just to be spat in the face when met at the door.
  
  Yes, this is the behaviour of ones who claim to be the only true Christians on this earth with the "light". This "light" is dispensed via their leaders who tell them that faithfulness to Christ requires this kind of behaviour.
  
  The emotional trauma of this devastating cruelty, can be worse than death. To meet a close relative or friend or spouse in the street, who you love, and to observe them pretending that they are looking at something in a shop window while you pass behind them, can feel worse than facing the death of that person. Scripture warns us of the consequences of being without "natural affection".
  
  I recently met a friend who had been put out of the fellowship 40 years ago. He was still traumatised and shocked by the way he had been treated by those he trusted. He had agreed for his wife and five children to go and stay with her parents for a set number of weeks to help cope with stress in their marriage and with the uncertainty as to the fellowship.
  
  When he returned from being away one weekend, everything in the house had been taken. He had nothing to eat on, or with, there was not a chair or bed, or towel, just nothing. Later, a few belongings were placed on the roadside where he had been living in another city, for him to scratch through and claim.
  
  Another local couple who lost their children, some quite young, stated that they would hide in a hedge weeping as they tried to spot their children going by on Sundays, knowing that they would never speak nor cuddle their children again. This couple left Blenheim.
  
  Another well-known Blenheim family was cruelly dispensed with - it seems the husband was not liked by the hierarchy. More than once I heard him being ridiculed for showing a Christian attitude towards those who were not in the Exclusive Brethren fellowship.
  
  His "D-day" came from nowhere and he and his son wrote in desperation to the world leader and appealed for him to save his family from the local leaders. Their letter was not even acknowledged.
  
  Recently there has been an apology to the wife, offered by a young member, but the members who caused so much havoc and suffering, still will not deign even to say "hello".
  
  I wonder if we are on the same planet as them, but then I realise that for anyone to achieve real success, we need two ingredients, one sincerity, two integrity, if you can fake these then you have it made!
  
  One of the most sinister moves in the separating of families was when the hierarchy were involved in the hiring of private investigators. This deplorable act was used for the surveillance of their own members and families.
  
  The abuse of alcohol is well known and is becoming another cause of division.
  
  Recently, at least three women in desperation have removed themselves from the fellowship and their husbands, taking their children with them. Their husbands are still accepted within the fellowship, while their wives struggle on alone, shut out by the demands of separation. One of these women has been formally excommunicated, and when she asked, "why", the priests would not give a reason.
  
  Exclusive Brethren are inclined to dismiss such stories as attacks made by disaffected persons.
  
  I regard many of the Exclusive Brethren as law abiding, hard working people who care for their families (or what is left of them). Some are concerned that something has gone terribly wrong. In the end it is safer for them to support the abusers than to become one of the abused.
  
  The hierarchy states openly that the "Man of God" has not sinned in years, and the cruel punishment of butchering families continues. Those who have turned their backs on the fellowship are deemed to be heading for hell.
  
  The "Open Brethren" fellowship which split away from the Exclusive Brethren around 1840, have not taken the position of having a "world leader" or any form of "central control", and have maintained the evangelical outreach to the general public, as Christ instructed after His resurrection.
  
  The original Brethren movement had its origin in separation from clericalism. The meetings were informal, evangelical and comparatively free from domination.
  
  Their practices today are a reversal of almost everything the early leaders stood for. The notion of an infallible leader was anathema to the early Brethren, but currently their leader is held to be incapable of failure and they adjust facts to fit their presupposition of infallibility.
  
  The regime under which all these atrocities took place was set on by one of their leaders and he personally endorsed almost all cases of excommunication, yet the Brethren absolve him of all blame by claiming that all injustices which they have recently acknowledged were due to failure on the part of those who communicated the situation to him an explanation which is conveniently accepted by the Brethren to protect the leader from any blame.
  
  Division of households continues to this day. Many have taken on the task of writing detailed letters to the leader to make him aware of the pain and injustice which they seem incapable of owning or stopping ? sadly, such letters mostly remain unanswered.
  
  It is well known that the abused are reluctant to speak out, however the recent media coverage has encouraged a few to tell their story but of every story there would be 20 more profoundly disturbing histories.
  
  Several excommunicated persons in Blenheim are unable to contribute to this concerned letter because of the continuing trauma suffered at the hands of what I regard as the Exclusive "Gestapo".
  
  The division of families has become a "global monster, and has to be exposed and withstood.
  
  The power of the Exclusive Brethren system is now being questioned openly by those of us who still sorrow daily for the loss of our families. Those within the fellowship who carry responsibility have been pleaded with to face up to what they have done, but they follow a leader who has no need of repentance. It is now time to acquaint the public with the facts. The recent compassionate response by the public (to several TV broadcasts) to assist where possible, is a credit to the people of New Zealand and especially to the Blenheim community; to you we say "thank you".
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• Exposed - PDF Version

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December 11th, 2006 (EB News)

What New Zealand news story had the most impact on you this year? This is a question asked by New Zealand's OneNews channel in creating the 2006 Peoples Choice later this month. TV NZ ask you to place headlines of the three stories that had the most impact on you and email them to: interactivenews@tvnz.co.nz with the Subject: 'Top 10'

Should be quite easy really - here's six:

• Nicky Hagers book brings down NZ Opposition Leader with proof of Exclusive Brethren ties
• Donald Brash emails stolen - including those from computer-hating EB
• Exclusive Brethren try to smear Premier's husband
• Exclusive Brethren hire private detectives to spy on NZ Premier and family
• Analysis shows Exclusive Brethren smear tactics probably cost National the election
• Non-voting Exclusive Brethren 'assist' National Party to the tune of $1Million+

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December 8th, 2006 (EB News)

Bob Brown is not giving up. As the world has seen in New Zealand, the cost of accepting Exclusive Brethren money in the form of political donations can be quite expensive. How far this demand for disclosure will unravel in Australian politics is still unknown. But we can be fairly certain that high-ranking members of the Australian Government will be double-checking their email security settings.

• "Stench" over Exclusive Brethren and ministers - Press release, Australia

  There is a stench hanging over the relationship between Howard government ministers and the secretive Exclusive Brethren sect, Greens Leader Bob Brown told the Senate this afternoon.

  Senator Brown condemned the failure of every minister to answer questions on meetings with the Exclusive Brethren.

  Senate rules require such questions to be answered within 30 days, but Senator Brown's unanswered questions were asked 65 days ago.

  Senator Brown drew a parallel with the cover-up of dealings between the Exclusive Brethren and New Zealand's Nationals.

  It has now been revealed that all Nationals had met Exclusive Brethren and some took monetary donations.

  Further information: Prue Cameron 0408 473 379

  more >>>

 

• Exclusive Brethren gets blast - Herald Sun, Australia

  "They are highly embarrassed and seeking cover because of their connections with the Exclusive Brethren."

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Bob Brown has a healthy appreciation of some of the issues that need to be discussed - for example, remember the following submission to the Australian Parliament earlier this year?

• Terms of Reference for Exclusive Brethren Senate inquiry - Australia

  13th Jun 06

  (Business of the Senate)

  Committee Reference

  SENATOR BROWN

  That the following matters be referred to the Community Affairs References Committee for inquiry and report by 8 August 2006.

  The role of the Exclusive Brethren in:

  (a) family breakdown and psychological and emotional effects related to the practice of ex communication or other practices;

  (b) Australian politics and political activities, including donations to political parties or other political entities and funding specific advertising campaigns;

  (c) the receipt of funding from the federal government or other political entities;

  (d) taxation and other special arrangements or exemptions from Australian law that relate to Exclusive Brethren businesses;

  (e) special arrangements and exemptions from Australian law that relate to Exclusive Brethren schools, military service and voting; and

  (f) any related matters.

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December 7th, 2006 (EB News)

• Govt 'protecting Brethren relationship' - The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia

  Australian Greens leader Bob Brown has accused the government of withholding information about its relationship with the Christian sect the Exclusive Brethren.It was recently revealed that the Exclusive Brethren had been financing conservative election campaigns in Australia and overseas.Senator Brown reminded parliament he placed questions about the government's relationship with the sect on notice over two months ago and was still waiting for a reply."When a question like that is put on notice there is thirty days to answer, it has now been sixty five," he told parliament.

  "The best answer that I can get is that there is some form of collective defensive to not answer this questions.

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December 2nd, 2006 (EB News - Archive)

Back in time to 1980, but the topic and relevance is just as true today. The Exclusive Brethren still wield their extreme form of discipline to rip apart families and, as this cutting reminds us, it can be deadly.

Click image for larger version in new window

As the Coroner stated:

"When religion ceases to be concerned with love, humility and tolerance
then, whatever it is, it is certainly not Christian."

'Love', 'Humility' and 'Tolerance' are certainly not public hallmarks of the Exclusive Brethren. Just one glance of the news items on this site and the heartbreaking stories of the way ex-Exclusive Brethren are treated shows that in 26 years nothing has changed.

"Many former members refused to be named but told similar stories of the church's rigid rules tearing apart families." Further perusal of the content of this site bears sad testimony to the continuing truth of this poignant quotation. Only now, some are giving names ...

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