November 21st, 2009
The impact of Australian senator Nick Xenophon’s comments in Canberra this week regarding the Scientology ‘church’ should not be under-estimated.
First there is the man. Nick Xenophon is an independant and carries no party allegience. His 400BC namesake was also a soldier as well as a respected historian. Nick has a background in law and is a resourceful and intelligent political warrior. Several are noting that the modern-day Xenophon seems to have a strategy in his carefully worded attack against the ‘religion’ of Scientology.
“There are a couple of things to know about Nick Xenophon. The first is that the independent senator from Adelaide has a genius for publicity. He’s a hustler par excellence. The second is he’s rationing his tabloid impulses in Canberra. Xenophon’s record to date suggests he’s opting for strategy rather than sensation; picking his political fights, not going at everything like a bull at a gate.”
This is not a ‘flash in the pan’. Xenophon has been planning his attack for some time:
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The following letter is an individual response to the recently published Jackson Wells paper, ‘Into the Light: understanding the Exclusive Brethren’. This letter was copied to Peebs.Net by an individual who was once a member of the Exclusive Brethren cult. As far as we know, there has not been a reply.
From: [removed]
Sent: Saturday, July 18, 2009 12:42 PM
To: kjackson@jacksonwells.com.au
Cc: info@peebs.net
Subject: Exclusive Brethren
Please could the following be directed to Ben Haslem.
FTAO: Benjamin Haslem
Dear Benjamin,
I read with interest your article - Into the Light: understanding the Exclusive Brethren
I have had years of involvement with the Exclusive Brethren and may be able to help you. I do not wish to denigrate what you have written in your article, I would rather seek to assist you in your endeavours to portray the truth regarding this little-known sect. I am very aware that it is difficult to understand the Exclusive Brethren as they are, by nature and intention, secretive. They prefer to be out of the limelight and not subject to criticism. They do not enjoy engaging in debate and discussion with those outside the sect. They are much more comfortable with confrontation that can be resolved through finance or intimidation, rather than through merit. You are unlikely to find members of the Brethren involved in open debate with the wider community, freely engaged with religious scholars, or willingly discussing theology with any other faith groups. But you will often see them in a courtroom, they have a long history of litigious behaviour. You will also note that they employ eminent lawyers and public relations consultants.
Unfortunately, there are statements in your article that are misleading or untrue. I would like to take this opportunity to help you, and to correct these errors. Also, many people who have been victims of the Exclusive Brethren’s disciplinary activities may find some of your statements offensive. I would like to help you to be accurate and thus be sensitive to these victims. I will comment on your writing by way of interjection, I trust that you find it useful.
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Are Jackson Wells now writing Exclusive Brethren advertisements for teachers in their schools? Surely we are not alone in recognising certain phrases and the old familiar half-truths and hidden meanings. Below is a July 2nd advert for a teacher in an Exclusive Brethren school in Australia. The EB are looking for a ‘teacher of Business and VET based Accountancy’ (a highly honored profession among the Brethren).
It is quite striking how impossible it is to tell that this is an Exclusive Brethren ad! This brings back memories of those notorious political smear leaflets – possibly the main difference between those and the advertisment below is that the address here is probably real!
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Examples of media attention focused on the Exclusive Brethren are very hard to find in the United States. The ability of the group that Kevin Rudd, now the Australian Prime Minister, described as “an extremist cult and sect” to “fly under the radar” is well-known. Peebs.Net, has attempted to ‘pull back the covers’ since the site started in May 2004. As you might imagine, this process has not been encouraged!
Unlike the USA, most citizens of Australia and New Zealand know of the Exclusive Brethren and of their track record in recent years. Perhaps the closest the US press came to looking at this “dangerous group” in any detail was following the secretive activities surrounding the ‘Thanksgiving 2004 Committee’, a political 527 group that funded pro- G.W. Bush advertisements in various US papers during the last president’s second run for office in 2004.
Today in Burlington, Vermont a news article appears that shows signs that this lack of exposure might change. The Burlington Free Press describes what it calls a ‘Contentious Lawsuit’ that has been raging in the New England state since early 2007.
As far as Peebs.Net is concerned, it is vital to maintain Truth and therefore, it is interesting to note how quickly the Exclusive Brethren resort to the smear tactics that has brought them increasing negative press exposure in Australia and New Zealand.
It is estimated that there are now over 46,000 Exclusive Brethren members worldwide, with as many as 10,000 located in USA. The closest North American Exclusive Brethren gatherings to Vermont are Boston, MA and Montreal, Quebec.
Secretive worldwide sect battles Vermonter in court
The Burlington Free Press, USA
By Sam Hemingway
Free Press Staff Writer
April 5, 2009
Timothy Twinam of Williston says he just wants to tell the truth about what’s really going on inside the Exclusive Brethren, a well-heeled, reclusive evangelical Christian group with 43,000 members around the world.
“This is a very closed group,” said Twinam, 54, a native of Great Britain. “They don’t circulate much with people, and over the years they’ve become ever more exclusive and cultish.”
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August 2, 2008
In an interesting admission, Bob Clarkson states: “150 Exclusive Brethren helped him” in his 2005 election bid. This is particularly interesting because the EB went to great lengths at the time to state that the ‘Secret Seven’ businessmen of that era were acting solely on their own initiative.
At the time in 2005, this site and others spoke of an international campaign that was coordinated from Sydney, Australia by the leader of the Exclusive Brethren, Bruce Hales. Millions of dollars were raised internationally by the Exclusive Brethren in ‘special collections’. This money was then used to fund the various smear advertising and other Exclusive Brethren political activities in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, USA and the UK.
Bob Clarkson is helping the Truth be told – it was not just seven New Zealand businessmen! It was the entire Exclusive Brethren sub-culture – obeying orders as usual from their leader.
The Exclusive Brethren lied about their involvement – quite outrageously. And now, with new allegations of criminal activity hitting New Zealand and Australian headlines, it would be a mistake to assume they are telling the truth.
Thank you Bob for coming clean.
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‘Firestorm: Black Saturday’s Tragedy’ and the familiar sound of Exclusive Brethren silence
Frequently, it is what the Exclusive Brethren do not say that speaks loudest.
Many will recall the first cult smear advertising that first hit the streets in New Zealand in 2005. Later, Australia suffered the same influx of brochures, pamphlets and handouts. They all had one thing in common - the group behind the material was never mentioned.
Rather than provide any normal route to identity, the Exclusive Brethren intentionally obfuscate their publications. When you consider the way they hide their tracks, this is perhaps understandable: false addresses, misleading names, even the business premises of their unsuspecting tenants … One thing is constant, the name of the Taylorite / Symington / Hales Exclusive Brethren never appears.
9/11 and now 'Black Saturday'
And now, in perhaps their most cynical effort todate, they use their own children in an effort to extract money from a public for whom they care nothing and even seemingly entrap a Prime Minister who has publicly declared them an “extremist cult” to assist them. And their public relations lever? The killer bush fires that swept across Victoria in southern Australia during February, less than a year ago.
‘ Firestorm: Black Saturday’s Tragedy‘ is published by Dennis Jones & Associates of Byswater, Victoria, Australia and there is even a website dedicated to the PR cause: http://www.blacksaturdaysfirestorm.com.au
The Glenvale School is an Exclusive Brethren school – one of those campuses that is set to receive some of the over $70 million hand-out authorized by Kevin Rudd over the next two years:
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