Brethren a controlling cult, not a religion say former and current members
Former members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church describe the organization as a controlling cult that enforces extreme shunning and isolation. The article highlights personal accounts of individuals who were excommunicated and cut off from their families after questioning church leadership.
Why it matters
It sheds light on the psychological and social impact of high-demand religious groups and the human rights concerns regarding shunning practices.
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Share A A A Lindy Jacomb was a naive 20-year-old member of the Exclusive Brethren, living at home with her family, when spiritual curiosity got the better of her.
So she wrote to her church’s global leader, the “Man of God”, Bruce Hales, and other elders, asking why she should stay in a sect whose teachings she’d begun to doubt.
“The aim of this letter is to summarise my questions and issues about the EB, [Exclusive Brethren],” Jacomb wrote to Hales in 2008. “It is an appeal for increased understanding.”
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