by Neville and Philippa McCallum
Neville McCallum experienced the full wrath of the Exclusive Brethren in New Zealand during the notorious reign of James H Symington (cult leader through the 1970′s until his death in 1987). In Cast Outside The Camp, Neville and his wife Philippa recount how it felt to be pursued, interrogated and eventually cast-out of the Exclusive Brethren. They pull no punches in this often deep, always insightful and sinister human drama which is presented by peebs.net as a multi-part serialization.
Aftermath - The Conclusion
It is worth a pause here, to note the irrational and unintelligent action of all the EB’s present this night. Some of us ‘outs’ have been trying to penetrate this thinking during the ‘review’ process. In both our case and my Mother’s case (as T. Deck states), it was Jim Symington (Neche) who gave the killer blow which was obeyed with precision by our tormentors and the local brethren, but when our cases were reviewed, both cases were overturned and we were reinstated.
You would then have to conclude that JHS is also in error, but definitely not – the world leader can not be wrong even though his judgements are overturned. This fallacy stems from a MIND-BENDING statement made by leadership in NZ:
” No matter what the world leader does, it could not be wrong”
For any sane human to believe this obvious fallacy, shows the level of mind control they are capable of, as in another statement of brain washing:
“When the brethren are wrong they are still right”
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by Tim Twinam
Portions of “Aberdeen & Aftermath” were first published in 1998 on the ‘Wyman Website‘ – a website forced to close in 2003 due to Exclusive Brethren litigation.
As an eighteen-year-old, I spent two weeks in Peterhead, Scotland in late summer 1972.
Andy Wraight, one of my friends from the Strood Assembly, invited me to accompany him on the long drive north through England in his brand-new mini. We skirted Edinburgh and missed Glasgow, heading for the North-East coast of Scotland. When we arrived at Aberdeen, we were only a few miles away from our destination.
Tired after the many hours of driving, we experienced a burst of adrenalin as we entered the gray granite town. Built from local stone, the gray walls seemed to absorb the evening sun as we passed along the main street. This was Aberdeen, and was a name that every member of the Exclusive Brethren knew. Eyes alert, we peered into passing windows. This town had a history and even though two Teen sassenachs, we were part of it. A battle raged here once and there was still blood pooled in the streets.
Two years earlier, Big Jim had come over from USA for a series of meetings. His visit culminated in an event, now known as the Aberdeen Incident. I learned of the details from a cosy spot outside the bathroom door in my family home. Dad spoke quietly on the telephone downstairs, but what I heard was enough to let me know that this was Big!
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Breakout – David Tchappat’s escape from the Exclusive Brethren
June 1st, 2009
David has written an unique autobiography in that it represents the first published story of life in the Exclusive Brethren during the last 30 years. There have been a number of books written regarding life in the 1950′s and 1960′s, but David Tchappat was born after the Aberdeen Incident of 1970 and grew up in a brethren family in Australia under the iron-fisted rule of Neche, ND pig farmer James Symington and following his death, John Hales who is the father of Bruce Hales, the current Exclusive Brethren leader.
It is very much an Australian book – Aussie slang terms pepper the pages – non-Aussie readers will need to know the meaning of such words as ‘stoked‘, ‘bloke‘ and the visually effective ‘ropeable‘.
Written over a 5 year period, the autobiography covers the author’s upbringing in the Exclusive Brethren cult and his eventual departure as a 19 year old in the mid-1990′s. It is an important publication in that it is the most contemporary book detailing life within the EB.
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