Exclusive Brethren Schools

The following extracts are from Sect pupils in a class of their own, The New Zealand Herald, published on Sunday May 9th, 2010.

This furore commenced on May 2nd, 2010 when a former Exclusive Brethren school teacher was fired for using a non-approved textbook. The fired teacher spoke of clauses within her employment contract that includes proof that the cult attempts to prevent any of their children from going onto university education.

Why?  They’re scared!

Imagine a school whose books had words blacked out or pages removed and large parts of the curriculum – particularly anything to do with puberty and sex – was simply not taught.

A school where teachers received unexpected late-night visits at home to check on their moral probity.

And where all aspects of school life are governed in every detail by a sacred text, but a committee has absolute discretion in deciding how to interpret it.

It may sound like the worst excesses of the Taliban in Afghanistan or the Iranian mullahs, but this is the prevailing orthodoxy in 15 Westmount schools across the country run by the Exclusive Brethren.

The Exclusive Brethren have replaced conscience with rules and directives. They do not practice faith, rather they separate themselves from society. They do not allow the strength of character that is built by learning right from wrong and the normal development of self-control – instead, they rip out pages from books!

This week, teachers in Westmount schools have been summoned to meetings and required to sign agreements not to talk to the media.

A veil of silence has descended over the schools, which receive $2.59 million in Government funding and have a combined student body of 1619.

How can any government justify giving tax-payer money to intentionally under-educate children?

A copy of an employment agreement obtained by this newspaper lists some remarkable requirements: teachers must disclose their “personal circumstances”, forgo union membership and agree that evolution is a falsehood.

No inter-school sports or activities may bring students into contact with other schools, and promoting any interest by students in university is forbidden.

Craig Hoyle, 20, was kicked out of the Exclusive Brethren early last year for telling his brothers and sisters he was gay.

He was at the Westmount school in Invercargill and said that the quality of education was extremely good – but very restrictive.

“Biology books had any pages involving sexual reproduction or a mention of genitals ripped out,” he said.

“There was no [sex education], no discussions about puberty anywhere. You’re just left to wonder what is going on. For someone like me who is questioning their sexuality, there is no one to talk to.”

He said he failed one section in an NCEA test on radio because pupils were never allowed to use one.

“None of us had any idea what they were asking. We all failed in spite of the teacher trying to explain what the different things meant without using a radio.”

Both Hoyle and another former student said they were brought up to look down on their teachers as “worldlies” – the word used for everyone who is not Exclusive Brethren.

The other student, a woman in her early 20s who left the sect over a year ago, said it was difficult integrating with the rest of society after her upbringing.

Family members turned against her; cutting all communication other than the odd letter declaring her insane or possessed.

“I completely hated it [at Westmount School],” she said. “Maybe some people were happy there, but I was unhappy at school and at home. It was too restrictive.”.”

Even when the Exclusive Brethren loosened its rules on technology in 2007, it was under strict controls.

Children and young people were not allowed mobile phones and texting capability was removed on phones owned by adults. All mobile phones, faxes, and computers had to be hired from a Brethren organisation.

The pupils constantly had it drilled into them that they were special people in special positions and that “worldlies were dirty people,” said the woman.

Outsiders were seen as a potential threat “to our purity, to our soul” and were not to be trusted, she said.

She said Exclusive Brethren members monitored staff to ensure they were no immoral activities.

“There were late-night visits. They would turn up at your house, uninvited, at around 9 or 9.30pm. They weren’t trying to befriend you; they don’t do that. They were just checking up on you. The clear intent is to catch you off-guard, to see your living conditions: are you living in sin outside marriage, are you getting a divorce, do you have a boyfriend, or – heaven forbid – have a woman partner. You feel like you are being spied on.”

Another teacher said if they had a day off their classroom would be searched looking for any questionable material.

“They would pull you up on anything they found, and children were encouraged to tell if we said anything considered improper. Anything they remotely considered immoral was vetoed. You couldn’t get anywhere with requests for material … they don’t want students thinking too much.”

“They have every resource money can buy, as long as its approved, which of course means many are not. Everything goes through a committee for approval or censoring. The library is full of books with pages ripped out.”

More recently, male students had been studying at university level through extramural classes, but the focus was on business and legal fields, said Lineham. “They have enormous bills for accountants and legal bills.”

Read the full article at Sect pupils in a class of their own

Why are the Exclusive Brethren scared?

University is designed to help people think for themselves, look outside themselves, consider other points of view and to … be mentally and psychologically free.

No cult could ever allow such a thing! From the Exclusive Brethren perspective, this is a fully understandable decision – they have to protect their future workforce, and … how else will the Exclusive Brethren grow in numbers? They don’t marry outsiders and they don’t recruit new members. They have to protect their future – it’s simply economic common sense!

What is not understandable is why governments would use tax-payer money to assist the process.

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.

It is common to hear of someone recently released from the cult as being described as ‘unstable’ or ‘fragile’. This is because we are ‘fish out of water’ – it is a form of social acrophobia to suddenly find ourselves in an environment where the conversation or interaction could literally be on any topic under the sun! With no TV, restricted media of all all types and a controlled schedule that surrounds mandatory Exclusive Brethren events, an ex-member is a social dwarf until enough life has been lived to play ‘catch-up’.

Big Brother evictee David Tchappat wants to release a book about his experiences growing up in the Exclusive Brethren sect.

The 33-year-old fire-fighter has already penned the story of his experiences growing up in the reclusive group who shun TV, radio and the outside world and is now looking for a publisher.

“I want to call it ‘Losing my religion’… there’s a bit of interest in it… A Current Affair want me this week some time… so hopefully something can come of it,” Tchappat told LIVENEWS.com.au

Tchappat escaped the isolated community of his upbringing at 19 where he had to start his life from scratch.

Before entering the ‘real world’ 13 years ago he’d never seen a movie, kissed a girl, listened to radio or seen a movie.

The American sect, that has 15,000 members in Australia, has cast out the good looking housemate out, forbidding him to break bread with his own family.

While the Christian group’s members don’t vote in elections because it interferes with God’s right to ordain who rules the earth but they do controversially fund the Liberal Party.

Source: Live News – Big Brother’s David to write ‘cult’ book

We certainly hope David is successful in producing his book. He at least he has a story to tell and the more people that tell their story and experiences, the more glimpses we can see of life within such a mysterious and reclusive environment. The faster society will start to realize that from the cradle to the grave, some people are being denied the right to Live the lives they could.

In a world where material possessions often denote rank and position, the Exclusive Brethren as a tiny sub-culture perhaps seem to have everything they need. They have nice homes, modern vehicles, their businesses are well-funded and successful. With no vacations to plan or pay for, no electronic entertainment centers to escape within, an average Exclusive Brethren family is normally politely remote – as you would expect from a culture that only lives among us because they must.

From the moment that JN Darby made the momentous decision to exclude rather than include in the mid-1800′s, the increasingly Exclusive Brethren have been moving toward the place they now find themselves – a cult frightened by the self-inflicted removal from an unknown world outside, an inability to communicate coherently and easily, a warped world-view and … increasingly damaged children.

In 1970, just following the Aberdeen Incident and the resulting major division among the Exclusive Brethren, it has been estimated that their world-wide numbers were approximately 18,000. Today, almost 40 years later, there are an estimated 45,000. As they do not actively recruit people to join them, this growth has come naturally from within through carefully arranged marriages. The EB hierarchy move their ‘young people’ around geographically but eventually natural genetics will begin to display the unmistakable signs of a limited genetic pool.

The Exclusive Brethren doctrine of Separation can be assessed by the most fundamental of Christian litmus tests – by its fruits. Has it caused Good? Is it Healthy? Is it Attractive? Is it Kind? Does it help fulfill the Great Commission? Is it of benefit to the human family? Some would call it systematized abuse.

It is arithmetically probable that the genetic damage caused by the Exclusive Brethren insistence of being separate from society will soon become obvious. Meanwhile it is our task to highlight the symptoms and warn.

A good first step would be to remove public funding from their growing school system.