September 22, 2008
Brethren expresses regret over sister
The Age
September 22, 2008
An elder of the controversial Exclusive Brethren religious sect says he feels sorry for his 85-year-old sister, who did not see four of her sect children for 20 years after being excommunicated.
But he says animosity to the group has “blinded” his sister, who has described the sect as “grossly evil”.
Sydney man David Stewart said the Exclusive Brethren had apologised for its “harsh” treatment of his sister, Alison Alderton, and her late husband Bob when they were leading figures in the group at Bathurst in central western NSW in the early 1980s.
But she had refused invitations to rejoin the brethren, described last year by Labor leader Kevin Rudd as an “extremist cult” that broke up families.
“I feel sorry for her,” Mr Stewart told AAP.
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September 21st, 2008
Members of the Exclusive Brethren were actively attempting to donate to John Howard’s re-election campaign last year in a manner that meant the cash injection would not have been disclosed to the public, according to a new book about the secretive Christian sect.
Fairfax newspapers say a senior Liberal Party source has confirmed in the book, Behind The Exclusive Brethren, that in the weeks leading up to the November election he was approached by a group of Exclusive Brethren men in a Sydney hotel who offered him a large, anonymous financial donation. Continue reading »
September 20th, 2008
The Exclusive Brethren sect has attempted to prevent a sick 85-year-old former member from revealing her terrible life story by saying that if she remained silent she could be reunited before she dies with the children she was separated from 28 years ago.
Alison Alderton’s family was torn apart at the order of the sect’s world leader in 1980, and she has barely had contact with her children, who are “in fellowship”, since.
Inside the sect, kept apart from Mrs Alderton by the Brethren’s founding doctrine of “separation,” are three daughters and a son, 18 grandchildren and a number of great-grandchildren she does not know and cannot count. Continue reading »
Extracts of the eagerly awaited book ‘Behind the Exclusive Brethren’ by premier Australian investigative reporter Michael Bachelard, are due to be published in the “Good Weekend” lift-out of the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age this weekend.
As anticipated, the Exclusive Brethren are not only worried, they’re petrified! Their new PR spin-doctors (they’ve been through several) are now Jackson-Wells, an Australian firm, who have decided to use the name of Daniel Hales as the Exclusive Brethren spokesman.
Daniel Hales is the brother of the cult leader Bruce Hales and has been largely a background figure in the Hales dynasty, far more concerned with financial matters than the spiritual aspects of life.
Here is their media release, dated today – September 19th, 2008.
MEDIA STATEMENT
Brethren say Fairfax article outdated, inaccurate
Extracts from a new book by journalist Michael Bachelard that will appear in the Good Weekend magazine tomorrow are out of date and contain significant factual inaccuracies, says the Exclusive Brethren Church.
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