Aftershocks in Wellington, NZ?

July 20th, 2008

It is possibly too soon to tell whether the two events are related, but reports are surfacing of two earthquakes in the Wellington region of New Zealand following the city’s visit this week by Bruce Hales, the world-wide leader of the Exclusive Brethren.

Although the media have not received full confirmation of the visit by the multi-millionaire leader of the vast Exclusive Brethren business empire, this site can confirm that Bruce Hales is scheduled to be in New Zealand for at least a week.

With earthquakes now hitting the region, it has been suggested that the launch of “Hollow Men The Movie” at Wellingtons film festival this afternoon might also be somehow related. Read all »

20 July 2008

Exclusive Brethren world leader visits NZ in secrecy

Sunday Star Times
New Zealand

The World Leader of the Exclusive Brethren made an unpublicised visit to New Zealand last week, arriving on Wednesday, amid strict security, to a large meeting of faithful in Wellington. The secretive Bruce Hales, known to Exclusive Brethren as the Elect Vessel or Mr Bruce, travelled in a black, tinted-window SUV and was screened from media by hired security guards and Brethren volunteers.

Hales’ visit, only three or four months before this year’s election, is a reminder of the Exclusive Brethren’s controversial involvement in the 2005 election. It is unclear yet whether they intend to repeat that in the coming election.
Read all »

Martin Seeley will be sentenced Friday. To some he is just a pathetic con man whose ability to distinguish between reality and imagination was distinctly blurred. To others, Martin could be viewed as yet another victim of an Exclusive Brethren upbringing…

Seeley ‘addicted to the high life’

Depending on who you were, Martin George Seeley had a different tall story to tell. Read all »

That is quite a statement!  The quotation refers directly to ex-Plymouth Brother Aleister Crowley.  Much has been written about this man, who was brought up in a strict Plymouth Brethren home full of rules and enforced piety.  It is a psychologist’s dream - the study of what could turn a member of a Plymouth Brethren home into one of the most influential Paganists of the 20th century.

Most professional opinion seems centered upon a simple rebellion against a restrictive childhood. It is a topic that strikes home with any person who was born into the Exclusive (Plymouth) Brethren and who decided one day that they were not sheep, not to be forced into submission and gradually begin to summon the courage and energy to break free … Read all »

July 4th, 2008

Bunker-Mentality

noun

an attitude or state of mind characterized by extreme suspiciousness and defensiveness and by a feeling of being under attack by a hostile opposition while being confined as if in a fortified bunker

Source: http://www.yourdictionary.com/bunker-mentality

The Exclusive Brethren in Preston, UK have withdrawn their plans to replace a former underground nuclear bunker with a Gospel Hall.  It is unclear whether this is because of an inability to preach the Gospel or whether the Exclusive Brethren prefer to have their windowless walls above ground rather than beneath. Read all »

June 25th, 2008

An interesting article in Australia’s Diamond Valley Leader indicates that the growing inerest by the Exclusive Brethren in purchasing more and more real estate may have its roots in a local congregation maximum of 50.  Certain statements by their Planning Consultant indicate that this was a reason for seeking a fourth church in the town of Nillumbik.

Their trademark windowless fortresses, with barred and padlocked gates, are of increasing concern in many communities.

Brethren’s bid for Eltham site

by Engel Schmidl

A RECLUSIVE Christian group may get its fourth church in four years in Nillumbik if a planning application succeeds. Read all »

May 30, 2008

A well-researched and sourced compilation of related news appeared today in the Hong Kong-based ‘Mister-Info’ news portal. The article and stated sources appear below:

‘Big Brother Australia’ evictee recounts youth in controversial religious group

David Tchappat, a popular housemate recently evicted from the television reality program Big Brother Australia, has spoken out critically of his childhood experiences in the controversial religious group “Raven-Taylor-Hales Brethren”, referred to in Australian media as “Exclusive Brethren”. Tchappat was a participant in the edition Big Brother Australia 2008, and was voted off the show on May 25.

Tchappat, 33, a former police officer and presently a firefighter, left the controversial group at age 19. He says he attempted to leave at age 17 but was brought back by members of the group and “interrogated” by group leadership for months. Up until he left he had never eaten in a restaurant, listened to the radio or been to the movie theater. According to Macquarie National News, Tchappat’s former community numbers number approximately 15,000 in Australia. Raven-Taylor-Hales Brethren is a sect of Protestant Christianity and a breakaway group from Exclusive Brethren. Read all »

May 28, 2008

So David was ‘evicted’ from the Big Brother house because he was “boring”. What some people do not understand is that it can take years to recover from the damage caused from the trauma of being locked away from society. A typical ex-member of the Exclusive Brethren has been surrounded by rules and restrictions since birth. The ability to hold a ‘normal’ conversation with someone not part of the cult is a skill that has to be learned.

Certainly David Tchappat has had 13 or more years to learn how to socially interact, but his chosen routes of employment are telling - a policeman and currently a fireman. Both roles allow physical communication and an associated authority. Try and pick two other jobs (necessarily attainable without a university education) that depend more on rules and regulations as much as these … ex-Exclusive Brethren are expert at maintaining existence around rules. For the first few years, an ex-member without some form of structure is the psychological equivalent of a body without a skeleton. Read all »

May 26, 2008

David Tchappat is already a winner.

For those mentally and physically trapped within the Exclusive Brethren, leaving is not a rational option. From the moment you are taken as a child a few days old and immersed in a tub of luke warm water under the watchful eyes of your family members and a few local Exclusive Brethren representatives, you are given no choices. Your future is mapped and your ambitions will become sublimated to become part of ’supporting the Assembly’.

The concept of ‘Household Baptism’ is just one example of where the Exclusive Brethren take choices out of the hands of an individual. To most Christians, Baptism is quite simply a personal decision and an outward expression of a life ‘reborn’. Although Christening is a common practice in many denominations, this is simpler to view as a dedication by the parents to bring up a child in the Christian tradition.

There is no ‘Believers Baptism’ in the Exclusive Brethren. This is the most common form of Baptism in the Christian community where a new believer will decide voluntarily to ‘be baptized’ as a public expression of their new faith and that they have left their old life behind them. It is this form of Baptism that many feel has the greatest meaning and significance - because they made the decision. Read all »

May 25th, 2008

So the ‘Big Brother’ era for David Tchappat is over. The level of interest stemming from his brief sojourn in the Australian reality TV series was quite noticeable. Hits on this blog and the Peebs.Net Exclusive Brethren Information web site increased by almost 25% following the announcement that an escaped cult member was going to appear on the aptly named ‘Big Brother’ show.

Two of Big Brother’s most controversial housemates were punted from the show tonight after a shock double eviction rocked the famous Gold Coast Share house.

Former cult member David bit the dust even after cleverly revealing his intriguing past strategically a fortnight into the show.

The 33-year-old firefighter was raised as a member of the ‘Exclusive Brethren’ an extreme Christian sect that denies members access to TV, radio, and even restaurants.

Sensationally, David escaped the cult as a 19-year-old. Read all »