The Exclusive Brethren
Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 1:40 pm
As many people would be aware, there has been frequent media coverage about The Exclusive Brethren recently. I would be interested to hear a few opinions/views people have about this group of people, considering we have a community of these people living in Adelaide.
Personally, there are a few Brethren families that live in my area and they send their children to the primary school I attended. I actually had one girl in my class for a few years. Although I didn't know who the Brethren were back then, I noticed some obvious differences they had to most people in our society, eg. they weren't allowed to watch tv or use the computers at school, and they always would go home to eat lunch.
I have noticed that quite a few people I have spoken to have never even heard of this group of people, and I'm not surprised by this given the secluded lifestyle in which these people live. So for anyone who is unaware, the Exclusive Brethren are a Christian group who practice 'separation from evil' as they believe society is under control of the devil. They therefore refrain from having hardly any contact with the 'outside world' (the sociey in which 'we' live) and they are forbidden to watch tv, listen to radio, read newspapers, or even eat in the presence of non-Brethrens.
There are approximately 40 000 Exclusive Brethren world-wide, and they only live in countries which have 'Christian governments'. I find it very interesting that the Brethren are not allowed to vote, however, they have provided significant funding to politcal campaigns eg. supporting John Howard at the last Federal election, and also running advertising campaigns against political parites they do not 'support' like the Greens.
Considering that the Brethren are believed to be quite a wealthy community due to operating their own businesses and paying tax at a minimal rate due to running these businesses as church businesses, I am very annoyed at the fact that they are trying to influence who gets in Government which determines where our hard-earned tax paying dollars are spent and what kind of policies are implemented in our country. They want to have the best of both worlds by living their secluded lifestyle and not be in contact with the rest of us but also influence who is going to run the country in which we live even though they are forbidden to vote. Basically they are trying to stop the world becoming more evil in their minds.
However, I believe that they will find it more and more difficult to live the way they do as time progresses due to the largely increasing reliance on technology in the functioning of our society.
For extra information this website has been endorsed by the Exclusive Brethren in response to the recent media criticism
http://www.theexclusivebrethren.com/index-1.asp
Personally, there are a few Brethren families that live in my area and they send their children to the primary school I attended. I actually had one girl in my class for a few years. Although I didn't know who the Brethren were back then, I noticed some obvious differences they had to most people in our society, eg. they weren't allowed to watch tv or use the computers at school, and they always would go home to eat lunch.
I have noticed that quite a few people I have spoken to have never even heard of this group of people, and I'm not surprised by this given the secluded lifestyle in which these people live. So for anyone who is unaware, the Exclusive Brethren are a Christian group who practice 'separation from evil' as they believe society is under control of the devil. They therefore refrain from having hardly any contact with the 'outside world' (the sociey in which 'we' live) and they are forbidden to watch tv, listen to radio, read newspapers, or even eat in the presence of non-Brethrens.
There are approximately 40 000 Exclusive Brethren world-wide, and they only live in countries which have 'Christian governments'. I find it very interesting that the Brethren are not allowed to vote, however, they have provided significant funding to politcal campaigns eg. supporting John Howard at the last Federal election, and also running advertising campaigns against political parites they do not 'support' like the Greens.
Considering that the Brethren are believed to be quite a wealthy community due to operating their own businesses and paying tax at a minimal rate due to running these businesses as church businesses, I am very annoyed at the fact that they are trying to influence who gets in Government which determines where our hard-earned tax paying dollars are spent and what kind of policies are implemented in our country. They want to have the best of both worlds by living their secluded lifestyle and not be in contact with the rest of us but also influence who is going to run the country in which we live even though they are forbidden to vote. Basically they are trying to stop the world becoming more evil in their minds.
However, I believe that they will find it more and more difficult to live the way they do as time progresses due to the largely increasing reliance on technology in the functioning of our society.
For extra information this website has been endorsed by the Exclusive Brethren in response to the recent media criticism
http://www.theexclusivebrethren.com/index-1.asp