The Brethren (cult)

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The Brethren is an American religious (Christian) group, often regarded as a cult, founded in 1971 by Jimmy T. Roberts (aka. Jim Roberts). They are sometimes referred to as The Garbage Eaters because they have been seen eating food out of dumpsters; they also may be called The Jim Roberts Group, The Travelling Fellowship or The Brothers and Sisters.

The group is extremely secretive, and rarely maintain any fellowship with other Christian groups. Beliefs which set them apart include a requirement of selling their possessions like the first Christians. They do not, however, give the proceeds to the poor, as the church did in Acts. The Brethren also maintain that there is no actual sacrament of the Eucharist, but that the bread and wine should be understood as only a metaphor for fellowship. They believe in wearing long beards, and in their women wearing long dresses and long hair. They essentially disallow marriages among single group members, maintaining that "the hour is too late." Many detractors note that the intensely controlled communal lifestyle they lead is simply not conducive to healthy families, hence the resistance to allowing unions between members.

They live as nomads in small groups, moving from city to city.

Ex-Brethren member Jim Guerra wrote a book called From Dean's List to Dumpsters: Why I Left Harvard to Join a Cult' 'ISBN 0805948503

They should not be confused with The Church of the Brethren or other groups known as Brethren or Plymouth Brethren (commonly so-called).

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