Exclusive Brethren leader Bruce Hales says man 'in torment' should kill himself

The Australian man who leads the Exclusive Brethren has said a mentally tormented young member of his flock would be better to "get a shot of poison" and "finish yourself off" than talk to members of his own family.

Bruce D. Hales is the wealthy Sydney-based global leader of the controversial, 45,000-strong Christian sect, whose word is regarded by his followers as infallible gospel.

Members do not vote, but were at one point meeting regularly with former prime minister John Howard.

At a recent meeting in the United Kingdom, Mr Hales was asked about how a 25-year-old man with "mind trouble" should be dealt with, because he was in contact with "opposers" – people who have left the Brethren. The "opposers" in question are understood to be members of the man's own family who have already left the Brethren.

Mr Hales said "having links" with them was "rotten poison", and that the poison had got into the young man, who is from New Zealand.

Despite having been told that the man was "in what would appear to be torment at times," Mr Hales told the meeting it would be better for him to kill himself.

"He might as well get a shot of – what's the best thing to kill you quickly? ... What's the stuff? Cyanide? No, not cyanide," Mr Hales says.

"Arsenic. How do you get arsenic into you? ... He'd be better to take arsenic, or go and get some rat poison or something, take a bottle of it."
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"Mr Hales makes it very clear he is not advocating any person taking poison or committing suicide. He is using a common, everyday metaphor ... It is hardly unusual for a preacher or minister in any religion to warn a congregation to avoid people who extol certain beliefs and that those beliefs are 'poison'."

Exclusive Brethren leader Bruce Hales says man 'in torment' should kill himself