User:EricthePinko/sandbox

Brethren notes from Rachel Martin


 * Anti-medicine, faith in God - forsake glasses and contacts - truck crash
 * Hierarchy - women advised to not speak much. All decisions made by men, even down to what vegetables were served at communal meals
 * Roberts was leader treated "like God or the pope" - charisma quote
 * Martin defends dumpster diving (backed up by other ex-members)
 * Tucson incident - two members taken away
 * Anti-Trinitarian - quote, compared it to polytheism
 * Against noting dates incl. birthdays and Christmas
 * Move members around to prevent friendships - Martin notes that friendships occurred nevertheless
 * Contact with families was sometimes possible if family not disagreeable to group's aims (and they were a good source of resources)

Guerra book:
 * Consistently worried about kidnappings by family members
 * Brothers encouraged not to speak to sisters unless it is about practical matters (p.3), generally speaking the church opposes what they refer to as "vain babbling" p.40. they believe that casual talking increases opportunities for sin (p. 50)
 * Get around thru hitchhiking (p.7), public transport (p.12), try to be careful not to reveal ultimate destination (p.6)
 * Membership of the church a condition of salvation (p.13)
 * Anti-medicine. Members typically discard glasses when they join, opting instead to trust in God to help them see what they need to see(p.13)
 * Group takes dreams seriously as, in the words of Guerra, they "told the future, gave direction to us, warned us of persecutions" and even revealed who needed to be expelled from the group (p.14). Guerra notes that Brother Roberts, who had ultimate authority in the group when he was alive, could be very selective in choosing what dreams to follow. For example, he dismissed all members' dreams they had about potential partners for marriage. (p.15)
 * Opposition to what they termed "carnal education", believing that only the Bible needs to be studied in great detail (p.31)
 * Police have been referred to as "centurions" p. 40.
 * Preachers of other groups have been referred to as "fowls" p.47
 * Camping (p.51), living in houses temporarily through arrangements with the owners (reference)
 * Strictly anti-Trinitarian. Subscribe to a form of Oneness Pentecostalism, believing the 'Father, Son & Holy Ghost' are different roles or titles of the One God, Jesus, and do not represent three distinct persons (p. 53)
 * Have long practiced preaching and witnessing in colleges (p. 59)
 * Stopped communication with families following attempts by families to get people out of the group (p. 73)
 * Apocalyptic and focused on the End Times (p. 95)
 * Sing spiritual songs, which they often write themselves (p. 96)
 * Defends dumpster diving practice (p. 97)
 * Seniority hierarchy structure (p. 98)
 * Stay in houses in exchange for labour or keeping watch (p. 100)
 * Over time, church went from roaming as single group to moving in smaller groups, where they would attract less attention, particularly from family members and law enforcement (p. 105) With B.E still very much in command of the movements (p. 105)
 * After years of falling numbers of marriages within the group, in 1978, B.E announced that he did not foresee any further marriages, following an exodus of several married members and their families (p. 105)
 * Have also been known as the 'raincoat people' (p. 106)
 * De facto celibacy rule cause many to leave church (p. 115)
 * Hitchhiking one common way of travelling (p. 116)
 * Sew own clothes (p.116)
 * For a brief period in the 1980s the group used Hebrew titles and made heavy use of Hebrew terms, on the direction of Roberts p. 138
 * Have preached and travelled in Mexico p. 175
 * Have used isolation as a way of punishment p. 183
 * Consider other Christian churches to be hypocritical and lukewarm p. 198

To add to article:
 * History: Robert's background as per podcast, early formation, when they switched to nomadic lifestyle, truck accident, issues with parents and kidnapping (how this changed the group practices towards more secrecy, links to secrecy section), Diane Sawyer appearance. Death of Roberts and changes since then (marriages allowed, less sedentary). Publications by former members. Number of members, fluctuated.
 * Beliefs: Add some new detail, eg. views on Trinity, views on gender, sexuality, other churches, citations for existing detail
 * Secrecy: Success of Parents' network, info on God Willing documentary