Wikipedia page
How many other groups out there fall into the "cult" class is debatable and not likely to be debated. Official cultdom continues to be accepted in many aspects of life and law in Canada with and without the secret handshakes.
Just who are these people. The group is responsible for the mailing of tens of thousands of pieces of anti-gay marriage literature in communities across Canada recently. The material did not identify the Exclusive Brethren as the source, only as Concerned Canadian Parents.
The Vancouver Sun identified the group in an article published today after they discovered the group had placed a full page ad in the Hill Times telling senators same-sex marriage was wrong. The Senate has just wrapped up the committee stage on the Civil Marriage Act and is expected to pass the bill on Monday. The Act will likely receive Royal Assent later Monday or Tuesday, July 19.
Read the Sun article here. Below are some links with respect to the group.
The BBC has five pages of material on Exclusive Brethren, some of the rules they have established include these...
Contact with outsiders is limited
Members of the Exclusive Brethren are very limited in their contact with outsiders. Taylorites must not:
visit other churches
join any other religious organization
join a trade union
join a professional organization (this excludes members from professions such as medicine and pharmacy)
join any group that includes people outside the Exclusive Brethren live in the same building, including apartments and semi-detached houses, as outsiders (this means that members can't share a house with a spouse or with children if the spouse or child has been expelled from the Exclusive Brethren)
share a driveway with an outsider
share private drainage facilities
marry outside the Exclusive Brethren
Many Exclusive Brethren work in Brethren owned companies in order to reduce contact with outsiders. If they leave, or are expelled from the Brethren, they have to give up their jobs as well as their family and their home.
There are several Taylorite innovations that Jim Taylor Jr added to the list of dos and don'ts for members. He instructed them to:
marry earlyThe group has its problems with former members and is attempting to block the publication of a new book by Ngaire Thomas, author of 'Behind Closed Doors' according to a website dedicated to "exposing" the Exclusive Brethern. The most recent information on the site says ...
have large families
be clean shaven (men)
keep hair short (men)
not to wear ties (men)
keep hair uncut (women)
wear white or blue scarves (women)
start communion services at 6 a.m.
"Our much-loved friend Ngaire Thomas, author of 'Behind Closed Doors', is the latest recipient of an Exclusive Brethren lawyer's letter claiming defamation. The letter can be viewed in the private Peebs.Net Forums. It would appear that the Exclusive Brethren have decided to act based on the realization that Ngaire's book is about to be published by Random House and this
is their attempt to prevent her heart-touching, important and truthful story from reaching a wider audience.It would certainly appear that as the curtains are pulled back and the doors pushed open, the gloves are coming off. However, no Exclusive Brethren threat or lawyers letter can alter Truth.
This site stands solidly behind Ngaire and her wonderful book that has been serialized on this site for the past six months." peebs.net
I had no real knowledge of this group prior to today. I googled the name and received information overload. The long and the short of all this is the group appears to be very tightly controlled and its operation is more like that of a cult and they don't care for same-sex, gay or equal marriage.
How many other groups out there fall into the "cult" class is debatable and not likely to be debated. Official cultdom continues to be accepted in many aspects of life and law in Canada with and without the secret handshakes.
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