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

Former Brethren set to slam church with 'abuse' lawsuit - National - NZ Herald News

"We're building worldwide momentum for a class action," Forrest told NZME News Service today.
 
He said the group comprised "several hundred" ex-Brethren members planning to challenge the impact of church dogma and doctrine on people's lives.

"Forced indoctrination, denial of basic human rights, denial of rights to tertiary education - there's a whole raft of things but that should give you an idea," he said.

"All I can say is, there's people involved right across the world and it's something that's being slowly developed."
Forrest said a discussion paper in circulation was intended to foster debate over how aggrieved ex-Brethren could sue the church over alleged human rights abuses.

He said the case would possibly raise claims Brethren used threats of excommunication and damnation to hell to allegedly dissuade members from acquiring tertiary education.

Mr Forrest said any class action would aim to improve the lot of children who were "through no choice of their own" stuck in unpleasant situations.
 
He said the class action would aim to force "regulation and oversight" of various Brethren activities including education and "discipline practices."

Nobody from the Brethren could be immediately be reached for a response to claims about the possible class action.

Former Brethren set to slam church with 'abuse' lawsuit - National - NZ Herald News

Exclusive Bretheren – A hereditary religious cult. | WORLD CULT WATCH

A cult by any other name is still a cult and this so-called religion fits the bill. This group caught my attention when an article came across my news feed about a religious group running its own school in the U.K. that was trying to get charity tax status. The article at the Daily Mail was talking about some of the harsh rules that these kids live under and some of the penalties for infraction of these rules. One teenaged girl was shut up (placed in solitary home confinement) for 37 days, just for making a Facebook page. Students at the school, as well as all parishioners, are not allowed to use the internet, watch television, read the newspapers or use cell phones to contact anyone outside the faith. They call us Worldlies and they are not even allowed to share a meal with us, even family members that are not of the "church". Like many cults, if you leave the fold, you are excommunicated and forbidden contact with any one inside, including spouse, parents or children. And like most cults, excommunication is less about rehabilitation and more about punishment as this short video shows,,,

Exclusive Bretheren – A hereditary religious cult. | WORLD CULT WATCH