Editing Behind the Exclusive Brethren (section)

==Contents==
Bachelard discusses the Australian branch of the [[Plymouth Brethren Christian Church]], 
a movement formed approximately 200 years ago by John Nelson Darby of Ireland.
<ref name="brethrenlift">{{cite news | last =Norington | first =Brad | title =Brethren lift veil on their exclusive lifestyle | work =[[The Weekend Australian]] | publisher =Nationwide News Pty Limited | page =005 | date =20 September 2008 }}</ref> The introduction emphasises the point that intense investigation should not be seen as vilification of the organisation.<ref name="mcinnis" /> He writes that since the organisation's beginnings in Ireland in 1827, it has maintained that the world external to the group is evil, and has kept a "doctrine of separation" from non-members.<ref name="mcinnis" /> Since 2002, Bruce Hales served as the international leader and "Elect Vessel" of the organisation, which has 15,000 members in Australia and 43,000 total globally.<ref name="mcinnis" /> The author describes the beliefs and practices and doctrine of the organisation, including its approaches to business and finance, as well as its methodology with respect to charity, Sunday services, and preparing the dead for burial.<ref name="mcinnis" /> Bachelard asserts that the group had "elements of cultishness", but had recently reduced its standards of stringency.<ref>{{cite news | last =Jackson | first =William | title =Brethren plans new school | work =Leader&nbsp;— Diamond Valley News | publisher =Nationwide News Pty Limited | page =007 | date =29 October 2008 }}</ref>

According to the book, wives are deemed second-class citizens within the organisation, and cannot hold positions higher than administrative jobs at companies owned by the group.<ref name="brethrenlift" /> The book describes the story of the treatment of Alison Alderton, an 85-year-old woman who was [[excommunication|excommunicated]] from the organisation.<ref name="conway">{{cite news | last =Conway | first =Doug ([[Australian Associated Press]]) | title =Brethren "sorry" over excommunicated sister | work =AAP News | publisher =Financial Times Information Limited | date =22 September 2008}}</ref> For twenty years, Alderton did not see four of her six children after she had been excommunicated by the organisation.<ref name="conway" /> During the 1980s, Alderton and her husband Bob had served within the organisation as senior figures at the group's location in [[Bathurst, New South Wales]].<ref name="conway" /> The author quotes former Family Court chief justice [[Alastair Nicholson]], who had said that methods used by the organisation to excommunicate family members were "abusive ... psychologically it's very damaging to the child".<ref>{{cite news | last =The Sunday Age staff | title =Just a sect, Exclusive Brethren is not above the law | work =[[The Sunday Age]] | publisher =The Age Company Limited | page =16 | date =12 July 2009}}</ref>

The author publicises a letter in the book that was written by the organisation in 2004 to [[Brendan Nelson]], the former minister for education in Australia.<ref name="patty" /> According to the letter, a survey of membership within the organisation found that individuals were in the "middle to upper levels of the socio-economic group", over the last few decades.<ref name="patty" /><ref>{{cite news | last =Dennehy | first =Kate | title =Brethren's Qld schools gain $3m in public funds | work =[[The Sun-Herald]] | publisher =John Fairfax Publications Pty Limited | page =9 | date =19 October 2008}}</ref> Bachelard writes, "Any funding system which delivers poverty-level funding to a group that boasts of its average wealth, needs to be reviewed."<ref name="patty">{{cite news | last =Patty | first =Anna | title =Brethren schools net $18m funding | work =[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] | publisher =John Fairfax Publications Pty Limited | page =5 | date =2 October 2008 }}</ref> ''Behind the Exclusive Brethren'' describes how the organisation paid a private detective in New Zealand to put forth information claiming that the husband of politician [[Helen Clark]] was homosexual.<ref name="sussex" /> The book details methods of social control used by the organisation, including the usage of exclusion from the group as a threat used to police members.<ref name="sussex" />

The book reveals that members of the organisation had attempted to donate funds to the 2007 re-election campaign of [[Prime Minister of Australia]] [[John Howard]] in a way in which information about the financing would not have been available to the general public.<ref name="sectmembers">{{cite news | last =Australian Associated Press | author-link =Australian Associated Press | title =Sect members "tried to donate to Howard's campaign" | work =AAP News (Australia) | publisher = Financial Times Information Limited | date =21 September 2008 }}</ref> Individuals describing themselves as a "private group" had met with a senior figure within the [[Liberal Party of Australia]] in a hotel in Sydney, and offered him a significant amount of money by way of an anonymous donation.<ref name="sectmembers" /> The book's source recounted the events: "They said 'We are a private group'. I asked them if they voted. It was a testing question. They said they didn't. It was a very short discussion."<ref name="sectmembers" /> The organisation's members are instructed that government is controlled by God, and they are told not to vote in elections.<ref name="sectmembers" /> "We're in the business of ideas and so are the Exclusive Brethren. I regard many of the party's views and those of the Exclusive Brethren as inconsistent. What the [Liberal] Party stands for should not be confused in the mind of the electorate by the acceptance of donations from fringe groups. In my view, if you accept this money, you're arguably accepting some of their opinions," said the book's source, explaining that he had turned down the offer of funds from the organisation.<ref name="sectmembers" />