The Exclusive Brethren are a secretive religious cult masquerading as a church. They refuse to vote yet spend millions of dollars endeavouring to influence elections around the world. Their political sway has now become a divisive issue in many countries.
View the Brethren. Video hosted on Guba. Members follow a rigid code of conduct based very strictly on Bible teaching, which provides a firm moral framework and is focussed on a strong family unit. They keep themselves separate from other people (including other Christians) as far as possible, because they believe the world is a place of wickedness. They regard 'exclusiveness' as the only way to keep away from evil.
The main group of Exclusive Brethren are called 'Taylorites' after James Taylor Senior and Junior who led the church for much of the twentieth century. Most of the information available about the group comes from people who have left it. As a result the Exclusive Brethren often gets a bad press and is referred to using phrases like "an exclusive and secret religious sect" or "a secretive church". There are thought to be approximately 42,000 (2006 figure) in the Taylorite branch of the Exclusive Brethren worldwide. There are up to 15,000 Exclusive Brethren in Britain, with congregations in 98 towns (2002 figure).
About Australia
Endless sunbaked horizons, dense tropical rainforests, chilly southern beaches.
Australia's biggest attraction is its natural beauty. The landscape varies from endless sunbaked horizons to dense tropical rainforest to chilly southern beaches. Scattered along the coasts, its cities blend a European enthusiasm for art and food with a laid-back love of sport and the outdoors. Visitors expecting to see an opera in Sydney one night and meet Crocodile Dundee the next will have to re-think their grasp of geography in this huge country. It is this sheer vastness that gives Australia - and its diverse population - much of its character.
Any time is a good time to be in Australia. Summer (December to February) can get uncomfortably hot but it's great beach weather. Up north, the summer wet season is very, very humid and the sea is swarming with box jellyfish. Winter (June to August) offers skiing in NSW, Victoria and sometimes Tasmania. In spring and autumn the weather is mild.
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