FreeThinkerNZ Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 This is a one-hour documentary about a xian community/sect in rural NZ. I used to think they were a cult, but they don't have a single, charismatic leader. Apart from that they have the typical characteristics of a cult. Some people have left and are shunned by their families. The kids born into it seem to have little chance of learning about the outside world and deciding for themselves whether to believe in jebus. Paul Valor is about to get marry a girl he hardly knows, but he's not worried. At the Gloriavale Christian Community, arranged marriage and obedience to God and the leaders is the only life he knows. Teenagers who don't talk back and do what they're told have been discovered living in an isolated community on New Zealand's West Coast. At Gloriavale the kids are polite, respect their parents, and happily work all day for no pocket money. In this rural setting, young men expect will marry within the community to a girl they've grown up with. It's the Gloriavale equivalent of an arranged marriage. Teenaged boys and girls are not encouraged to talk to each other until a wedding between them is arranged. Otherwise "things could get messy" according to Paul Valor, and he should know. Paul's recent courtship and marriage to Pearl Hope is the subject of a TV2 documentary called Gloriavale - A World Apart. http://tvnz.co.nz/gloriavale-a-world-apart/6012087 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest afireinside Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Another Centrepoint? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeThinkerNZ Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 Another Centrepoint? Hard to know, the doco was so sympathetic it was hard to know what's really going on in that place. (Centrepoint was a xian community in NZ in which several children were sexually abused). I do think these sort of environments are ripe for child sexual abuse to happen. They are so repressive and who are the kids going to tell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfuddled Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Thanks for the link.. I love these type of documentaries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeThinkerNZ Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Unlocking this thread to tell you that a family of 14 has left the commune in the last week and is being helped to start a new life in the real world. Not sure if they are still xians or not but either way, very brave of them to leave. I take my hat off to them. Hopefully more will follow. http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/67183648/Family-leaves-Gloriavale-for-new-life-in-Timaru Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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