The Transformation of Daniel Hales
Who says Public Relations firms are ineffectual?
The news that Daniel Hales, brother to the Exclusive Brethren leader Bruce D. Hales, is to present a paper at the ICSA Annual Conference in New York in early July 2010 marks a new step in a carefully choreographed transformation.
Daniel Hales has lived in the shadow of his younger brother since not being selected as a suitable leader of the EB following the death of their father John S. Hales in 2002. Always heavily involved in the business and monetary aspects of the cult, he has nevertheless been carefully groomed over the past several years by Jackson Wells (http://www.jacksonwells.com.au/), the EB’s Public Relations Agency, to act as a spokesman for the group.
Several spokesmen have come and gone since Bruce Hales gained control in 2002. Due to the reluctance (some say inability) of Bruce Hales to face the media, a series of personalities have attempted to divert attention away from what many view as firm evidence of cultic behavior. Indeed, the Exclusive Brethren were recently described by current Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd as “an extremist cult and sect” who went on to state that he believed “they break up families“.
The ‘Daniel Hales’ paper, scheduled to be presented in New York USA at the ICSA’s Conference 2010 July 2nd, 2010 will be fascinating study material for the many thousands of ex-members who have been cut-off from their families and friends by the harsh rigidity of the Exclusive Brethren ‘Separation from evil’ keystone doctrine.
The ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) is a global network of people concerned about psychological manipulation and abuse in cultic groups, alternative movements, and other environments.
The ICSA Annual Conference organized in collaboration with Info-Cult/Info-Secte of Montreal, Canada (http://infosect.freeshell.org/infocult/ic-home.html) will be held July 1st through July 3rd, 2010. Full details are available at: http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_conferences/conference_home_2010_ny.asp
ICSA state that the Conference is aimed at:
- anyone interested in cults, psychological manipulation, and related groups
- former group members
- people born or raised in cultic groups
- families of group-involved persons
- helping professionals
- researchers
An outline of the proposed Hales Address:
Exclusive Brethren: Is It a Sect or Is It a Cult?
by Daniel W. HalesThe address is a plea to professional persons internationally to consider carefully and dispassionately the parameters under which the words sect or cult can legitimately be used to designate a religious minority group. Are we judging by fact and dispassionate evaluation, or by hysteria and sensational media pressures? The question is raised as to what special regard needs to be given to Christianity in social, legal, and governmental arenas because of its impact on and benefit to society for thousands of years. This presentation seeks to place in an accurate context such matters as the history of the Brethren movement and its position in mainstream Christianity. The paper demonstrates why ‘separation from evil’ has always been foundational to Christian beliefs as a basis for true fellowship. It further explains how Exclusive Brethren (EBs), as fundamentalists, discharge their secular responsibilities in the areas of education and business, and also their interaction with non-EBs in such areas as the educational, medical, legal, and accounting fields.
Source: ICSA – Exclusive Brethren: Is It a Sect or Is It a Cult?
Although the Exclusive Brethren appear keen to take the opportunity to do some much-needed Public Relations, they may well find that this is not the ideal forum for attempting to publish PR-generated revisionism. A number of eminently qualified people will be presenting a wide variety of papers and discussion material during the conference.
Jill Mytton (Middlesex University), brought up in the Exclusive Brethren, is scheduled to speak on Friday, July 2nd on ‘The Mental Health of Second-Generation Adult Survivors of High-Demand Groups: A Quantitative Study’.
On Saturday, July 3rd, Daniel Hales will give his prepared address entitled ‘Exclusive Brethren: Is It a Sect or Is It a Cult?’ at 9:00am
Hales will be followed by Dr. Peter Caws (of George Washington University) with a scheduled address titled: ‘Entrapment and Rejection: The Abusive Treatment of Young People Who Have Been Born into Cultic Groups and Wish to Leave, With Special Reference to the Case of the Exclusive Brethren’.
The two addresses will be followed by a 90 minute Discussion ‘Exclusive Brethren and the Concept of Cult’:
Exclusive Brethren:
Keith Birch (UK)
Peter MacGregor (USA)
Bruce Robertson (UK)
Daniel W. Hales (Aus)non-Exclusive Brethren:
Peter Caws, Ph.D. (USA)
Lois Svoboda, M.D. (USA)Moderator:
Eileen Barker, Ph.D.
Meal Discussion Tables are scheduled during the Conference lunch and dinner breaks, but it is unknown if any Exclusive Brethren members would be able to attend these as their ‘Separation from evil’ doctrine bans them from eating at the same table as non-Exclusive Brethren members.
It is hoped that a number of ex-Exclusive Brethren members will also be present. One fact that even a public relations company can not whitewash is a history of broken families, vicious discipline, sociophobic attitudes toward non-members and a male-only business dominated hierarchy that intentionally entraps its members, work force and children.
It is worth noting that the Exclusive Brethren website (http://theexclusivebrethren.com/exclusive-brethren.html) only has the single route of communication available – through their commercial public relations company, Jackson Wells. It is also worth considering how many other self-styled ‘fundamentalist’ ‘christian’ ‘evangelical’ organizations offer the same level of public access to enable their stated function: ‘to provide for the increase and improvement of christian knowledge and the spread of the gospel’ ?
References / ICSA Bio’s
Peter Caws:
Peter Caws, Ph.D., is University Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Human Sciences at the George Washington University in Washington DC. He has degrees in physics (from London) and in philosophy (from Yale) and has published widely in the philosophy of science, ethics, existentialism, and structuralism, among other things. He grew up in England among the Exclusive Brethren and his articles on “Belief and Morals Among the Taylorites” appeared in the Evangelical Times in the year 2000.
ICSA Bio – http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_profile/caws_peter.asp
Jill Mytton:
Jill Mytton, MSc., CPsychol., is a Chartered Counselling Psychologist and Principal Lecturer in the School of Psychology, London Metropolitan University where she is the course director for the Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology. She is currently studying for a doctorate at the Metanoia Institute affiliated to Middlesex University. She is the only psychologist listed on the British Psychological Society media list for Cults and Thought Reform and has been involved in several TV and Radio broadcasts. Her primary research interest is the mental health of Second Generation Adults, i.e., those born or raised in cultic groups. She has presented at several conferences, including INFORM London, April 2008 and the annual Division of Counselling Psychology conference Dublin, June 2008. She was born and raised in the Exclusive Brethren, leaving at the age of 16, when her parents decided to leave. Apart from a small private practice, she also runs an email support group for former Exclusive Brethren and has become the first point of contact for leavers of several groups
ICSA Bio – http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_profile/mytton_jill.asp
Daniel Hales:
Daniel Hales is a senior elder in the universal fundamental Christian fellowship known as “Exclusive Brethren.” He was born and has lived all his life in Sydney, Australia. He is the eldest son of the past leader of the Exclusive Brethren and an older brother of the present leader. He is a mechanical engineer by training and operates a family owned business in Sydney with international affiliations. He has engaged in extensive world travels since 1970; and since 1984 has been deeply involved in world-wide issues on behalf of the Exclusive Brethren in legal, government, and media areas. He has visited and worked extensively with charity projects and Exclusive Brethren interests in Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, India, USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Sweden ,and elsewhere in Europe. He has been coordinator for two addresses on behalf of the Exclusive Brethren in France and Sweden and to the European O.S.C.E. Conference in Warsaw in October 2006.
ICSA Bio – http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_profile/hales_daniel.asp
Keith Birch:
Keith Birch is an elder among the Christian fellowship known as the “Exclusive Brethren.” He was born in the UK in 1948 and has lived for the past 30 years in Nottingham. He had some training in chemical research but the majority of his working life has been in merchandising, and he now has a business distributing packaging materials sourced from around the globe, and his three sons are co-directors with him. He has travelled extensively around the world and has investments in a business in Jamaica. Amongst his honorary roles for the church, as a senior elder in the UK, is to represent aspects of Christian conscience and morality to parliamentarians, government committees, councils, and other official bodies that call for submissions and responses from all parts of society.
ICSA Bio - http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_profile/birch_keith.asp
Peter McGregor:
Peter MacGregor, a lifelong resident of New York, is an elder among the group of Christians known as “Exclusive Brethren.” He was born in 1939 and trained as a chemical engineer at the Cooper Union School of Engineering. He completed advanced computer science studies in the industry’s infancy in 1959. A retired businessman, he does marketing consulting for various organizations.
ICSA Bio – http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_profile/macgregor_peter.asp
Bruce Robertson:
Bruce Robertson is an elder in the universal fundamental Christian fellowship known as ‘Exclusive Brethren’. He was born in 1944 and has lived almost all his life in Oxford, UK. He has been involved in the textile trade in Oxford since 1961 and has been senior partner in a family owned business with an international clientele since 1979. He has had personal acquaintance with four generations of the leaders of the Exclusive Brethren. He has travelled since 1962 to many countries universally in the interests of the Church. He has been involved since 1996 in making submissions to Members of both Houses in the UK Parliament (Lords and Commons) in relation to wide issues affecting the consciences of all Christians. He frequently attends parliamentary debates and committee meetings with an interest in legislation as it progresses through the democratic process. He attended the ICSA Conference in Geneva in July 2009.
ICSA Bio – http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_profile/robertson_bruce.asp
Lois Svoboda:
Lois Svoboda, M.D., is a former family medicine physician who has been trained in Marriage & Family Therapy and worked as a medical family therapist for 23 years in Wichita Kansas. Since retiring to Fremont, Nebraska four years ago, she opened a counseling practice and is working almost exclusively with people who have exited cults. In the past year she has planned and been responsible for a full day workshop for former cult members in Omaha, Ne., as well as a one day symposium for medical, law enforcement, clergy, mental health professionals, and the public on Cults and Gangs in Omaha in April of this year.
ICSA Bio – http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_profile/svoboda_lois.asp
Eileen Barker:
Eileen Barker, Ph.D., OBE, FBA, is Professor Emeritus of Sociology with Special Reference to the Study of Religion at the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London. A former President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Dr. Barker has written or edited eleven books and written over 275 articles and book chapters. Her books include New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction and The Making of a Moonie: Brainwashing or Choice? She is the Founder and Chair of INFORM, a charity supported by the British Government and Mainline Churches which helps enquirers with information about alternative religions that is as objective and up-to-date as possible.
ICSA Bio – http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_profile/barker_eileen.asp
You beat me to it.
I was sent an ICSA email today and looked at the speaker subjects.
Thanks for the post.
hope the EB’s get slaughtered at the debates
If the Exclusive Brethren have nothing to hide or be ashamed of, why are they hiring a public relations company, to put a shine on everything.This type of thing is usually done by people or organisations that are trying to defend the indefensible.
I left the Exclusive Brethren in 1985, as it was becoming increasingly delusional and dangerous. The exlusive Brethren were believing they were the only Christians in entire world, and that their dear leader was God. Even in 1985 it was becoming increasingly blasphemous and idolitarous, to the point that the leader of the day, was completely infallible.
The majority of the many meetings we attended each week, were to give homage, to either the leaders, both present and past, or to justify the position of the Brethren or the Church doctrine, which was becoming increasingly bizare.
What has occurred in the scceeding 25 years since I have left, has not altered my view one bit. I had the misfortune to meet some of the Brethren during the ‘review
period’ about seven years ago, and I actually felt very sorry for them. They were completely brainwashed and deluded, and I couldn’t believe I was hearing, some things they were saying.
If the Brethren leadership need a public relations company to portray a message to the outside world, it is clear they have a lot to hide from both the outside world as well as their own congregation. The more they carry on with this type of behaviour, indicates to me that the system is rotten from top to bottom, and is becoming increasingly difficult to justify. the fact that they would even participate in this type of debate demonstrates, that their so called position is becoming untenable.
The Brethren need to take a good hard look at themselves, and reaslise they are fooling absolutely nobody, but themselves.
ask him if he remembers his father abducting my three children!!
I hear Daniel Hales has pulled out of this conference…
Daniel Hales is doomed if he does and doomed if he doesn,t (pull out of this conference)
When the direction of the group has been set by a confirmed rapacious sodomite, and the leaders continue to brainwash and abuse the flock by constantly refuting the truth of this,any contact with God has long since been lost. We did not know when we (withdrew) from the local group for “Making and loving a lie” that this sin was in fact the fabric of the Exclusive Brethren system.
The leaders love money and lies, however show no sign of loving God or his people.
Daniel will only add to their folly if he presents anything publicly.At some point his brother Bruce will say what both his Father and his mentor JHS said in a rare honest moment”we have gone wrong we have lost our way”
And the Exclusive Brethern train will continue on,away from God. Is it a Church or a Cult? No opinion will change the sad reality of the evil they have done in the last 50 years.