Goodbye, Beloved Brethren - WikiPeebia.com

1 goodbye , Beloved Brethren NORMAN ADAMS IMPULSE BOOKS ABERDEEN 1972 Today the Exclusive Brethren struggle to present a bold, new face to the outside world after the stormiest period in their history. But they still live up to their name. Try and talk to them about what happened in Aberdeen, Scotland, that week-end in July 1970, during Big Jim Taylor s visit, and you will be met by blank looks. For they refuse to mention his name. They want to forget the past. That is why I have widely made use of private letters and circulars published by the sect in an effort to tell their inside story for the first time.

2 I also received invaluable service from two former members of the Brethren who suffered under the wicked regime. This book is dedicated to them and all other men, women and children who experienced great hardship and misery by so-called Christians acting in the name of God . CONTENTS Introduction page 9 I Who Are They? page 11 II A Family Called Davidson page 18 III In The Beginning page 27 IV The Fisherfolk page 40 V Brethren Country page 46 VI Separate Tables page 56 VII Stolen Wives page 64 VIII Pallbearers and Pets page 68 IX I Like You Guys page 72 X Suicide, Brainwashing.

3 Page 78 XI And, perhaps, Murder? page 85 XII The Root of all Evil page 90 XIII Sex and the Scriptures page 97 XIV A Letter for Sister Hindle page 102 XV A Damnable Lie page 108 XVI The Aberdeen Tapes page 117 XVII Satan s Frame-up page 134 XVIII goodbye , Beloved Brethren page 139 XIX Death of an Archangel page 148 XX The Future page 156 INTRODUCTION 9 INTRODUCTION There were few tears shed for Big Jim Taylor, the Archangel of the Exclusive Brethren religious sect, when he died of a heart attack in his New York home in the autumn of 1970.

4 During his eleven years as leader to thousands throughout the world, even behind the Iron Curtain, his earthly paradise brought hell to many families. When he came to power it was estimated that he had more than 100,000 followers, but this figure has dwindled, partic-ularly in Scotland, because of his harsh edicts , based on his interpretations of the Bible, and the Aberdeen Scandal. His advent as a latter-day prophet brought the rule of Separate Tables, which forbade families from eating and living with any unclean , or non-believer, whether or not they be one of the same family.

5 The rule of no, wedding receptions, no honeymoons, no association with trade unions or trade associations, no social contact with non- Brethren , and the rule that the body of a dead brother belonged to the Assembly and that no relatives, not even members of the immediate family, would be allowed to, attend funerals if they did not belong to the sect. In the twilight of Big Jim s life, the once proud, strong movement had been divided and sub-divided beyond recog-nition. Today it faces extinction. If this should mean a return to the less rigid teachings of earlier leaders then perhaps it will be a good thing.

6 But whatever happens now inside the Exclusive Brethren it will never wipe out the legacy of bitter memories and untold suffering caused by Big Jim. The 71-year-old Archangel was accused of Nazi-type tactics by preaching complete separatism from the outside world and by using young, fanatical priests to enforce his edicts. There were scores of cases where dissident Brethren were virtually brainwashed in a bid to force them to stay within the Exclusive fold. INTRODUCTION 10 Taylor has been compared to Adolf Hitler.

7 In Scotland, a young Brethren woman who underwent treatment in a clinic for a nervous phobia brought on by the Exclusive teachings, was given several books to help in her cure and eventual re-turn to a normal life. All of these books were medical texts, except one. This was William Shirer s best-seller The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. In the last year of his life Brethren were aware of a disturbing turn in Taylor s teachings and of hilarity and showmanship at meetings. Because of this change, the friendly relations between Big Jim and his second-in-command, Stanley McCallum, were strained to breaking point.

8 The Archangel survived the biggest scandal of all by barely three months - the naked lady incident in a house in Aber-deen. But when he died his vast following was melting away. As one Exclusive member told me near the end, We as Christians do not condone iniquity, irrespective of who is re-sponsible. The vital thing in life is your character, your moral standard. A man s character is more important than money. To go through the world with a clean sheet is most important. My mother and father taught me so! We will not stand immorality within the movement.

9 Righteousness is our leader, not Big Jim Taylor. Many devoted followers who turned their backs on Taylor after the scandal believed his death could be the movement s salvation from the sins of the past. But hundreds had stayed on, many even under threat of banishment unless they de-clared 100 per cent support for Jr. Such was his power. Six days before he died Big Jim spoke confidently at a huge rally in New York of the great clearance that had taken place within his movement. But his great age, weakening condition and the sensational events of the past few weeks proved too much for him.

10 Before the last hymn he wearily excused himself from the meeting, saying, goodbye to you, Beloved Brethren . WHO ARE THEY? 11 I. WHO ARE THEY? Where the wild Scottish Grampian mountains reach the grey North Sea there stands the house where Angels fell out. A modest, detached bungalow, high on a hill overlooking the city of Aberdeen, was the scene of the confrontation between the two. American based leaders of the Exclusive Brethren religious sect, Big Jim Taylor, self-confessed leader of the world-wide movement, and his deputy, Stanley McCallum.