October 31st, 2008

 

Current Affairs: Behind the Exclusive Brethren

Media Reviews

by Sandra Hogan

October 31st, 2008

 

Reviewed by Sandra Hogan

 

Just before the 2007 Australian election, a woman called Sophie squeezed through the crowd at the Granny Smith festival in John Howard’s electorate to confront him. As Sophie tells the story, she grabbed the Prime Minister’s hand in hers and said, ‘Mr. Howard, I’m Sophie, and I’m an Exclusive Brethren, and I feel utterly and totally betrayed by you. There are thousands of us who have lost our families.’ And he shook his head and said repeatedly, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’ Sophie’s story is one of the painful stories of cruel family break-up told in Michael Bachelard’s book Behind the Exclusive Brethren. Under a policy of separation, people who question the principles or practices of the Exclusive Brethren can be expelled from the community and their business and forcibly and permanently separated from their parents, partners or children.

One aspect of this book that would make it readable on its own, is its fascinating picture of the inner workings of this little-known sect, which likes to ‘fly under the radar’. Bachelard has explored the history, the financial management, the leaders and the personal stories of this rich and powerful Australia-New Zealand sub-set of the Plymouth Brethren.

 

But even if you have no interest in cults, sects and religious oddities, this book is essential reading for all Australians interested in current affairs. It provides surprising insights into the relation between religion and politics and reveals the frightening power of the ‘freedom of religion’ argument in winning immunity from the law of the land, not to mention huge government subsidies for education.  For people like Sophie, victims of the sect’s doctrine of separation, government support for the Exclusive Brethren adds insult to deep and longstanding injury.

 

The Exclusive Brethren made their Australian political debut in 2004 by donating large sums to election advertising in support of right-wing candidates. Brethren members assiduously lobbied politicians despite their religious creed forbidding them to vote. They had easy access to the offices of the Prime Minister, although no one can say what they spoke to him about. Michael Bachelard’s main mission in writing the book was to discover why the Exclusive Brethren had suddenly become so involved in politics and how it had quickly become such a powerful influence on the Prime Minister and his government. He notes that the freedom of religion argument seems to have already made an impact on our new Prime Minister, despite the fact that he has described the Exclusive Brethren as a ‘cult’.

 

Bachelard uncovered the facts about this secretive sect over more than two years while working as a reporter at The Age. He joined the newspaper’s investigative team in 2006, covering workplace relations until the 2007 Federal election, and then moving to The Sunday Age in April, 2008 as a senior reporter. Earlier this year, Michael won the Melbourne Press Club Quill Award for Best News Report for his series on WorkChoices, the coverage of which may have led to his interest in the Exclusive Brethren. The Brethren lobbied intensively and successfully for workplace reforms that suited their ‘religious’ scruples about unions: their religion prevents them from joining a union.

 

Bachelard has done his research very thoroughly. He has interviewed both sides of the story: people who left the Exclusive Brethren or were expelled from them and also, as much as possible, the current leaders of the group. He has witnessed Brethren documentation, and has spoken to politicians from major and minor parties as well as to lawyers and judges. The expose is written in a calm, clear style and the chapters relating to the broken families are deeply moving and respectful.

 

This is investigative reporting as it is supposed to be done and, for that reason alone, it is worth adding this book to your Christmas shopping list. Behind the Exclusive Brethren deserves to be widely read and talked about. Both Bachelard and Melbourne publisher Scribe were plucky to take on this project. Bachelard’s research showed the Exclusive Brethren make plentiful use of large funds available for silencing criticism through the law courts. He says that, while reporting on the Exclusive Brethren, he has had a number of legal letters threatening actions for trespass, apprehended violence orders, complaints to the Australian Press Council and defamation.

 

Bachelard seems to be a determined sort of character, who just digs in deeper when threatened. It may be partially due to his work that the Exclusive Brethren have recently briefed a public relations firm, Jackson Wells Morris, to advise them and to give them media training.

 

Source: Media Reviews - Current Affairs: Behind the Exclusive Brethren