Behind Closed Doors

Ngaire Thomas, privately published, 2 Alaska Court, Palmerston North, New Zealand,

www.behind-closed-doors.org, 2004. 294pp. ISBN 0646499106. NZ$34.

Behind Closed Doors is an inside look at what goes on behind the doors of the Exclusive

Brethren. The book answers the question of what it is like to be a member of a select group who

believe they are chosen to maintain the only pure path of Christianity. The author, Ngaire

Thomas, was born into the church in the 1940s and left in the 1970s.

It is probably just coincidence that this book was launched at roughly the same time that

sociologist Bryan Wilson died. Wilson published the definitive study on the Exclusive Brethren

in 1967, and was an expert witness in their court cases. Wilson’s conclusions were based on

information the religion provided about itself; he dismissed ex-members’ accounts as suspect

atrocity stories and warned courts not to give credence to their testimony. i Today, after

outbreaks of violence in other religions have repeatedly demonstrated that ex-members accounts

are often more accurate than academic ones, ii we may be more welcoming of their insights.

As one such ex-member account, Ngaire Thomas’ book is compelling. Her style is non-

judgemental; she describes her experiences while acknowledging the Exclusive Brethren’s right

to follow a religious path in which they find meaning.

Book begins with Ngaire’s childhood. She is different from the other children with her long

dresses and strict upbringing. She loves school because it is the only place that she can be her

real self. Worldly things are forbidden: there are no radios (because Satan rules the airwaves) or

non-Brethren books. Life revolves around the Bible, and when Ngaire brings friends home from

school her mother preaches to them about the end times in Revelation. Other Christians are also
deemed suspect, and Ngaire recalls getting the strap when caught secretly attending Bible in

School classes.

A Salem-like undercurrent of holy surveillance pervades the scenes, and this undercurrent

surfaces in Chapter 10, when Ngaire is pressured into falsely admitting that she has “committed

fornication” with her cousin (she has no idea what Bibliographic information Introduction

Statement of book’s purpose Statement about the author Places the book in a context Statement

about book’s genre and potential significance Overall evaluation Summary of the book’s

beginning – giving details which provide the context of the author’s conflict “fornication”

means). Her case is taken to the Auckland assembly, and after a hearing in which she is found

guilty, she is forced to confess, sobbing, before 500-600 solemn faces. But the story has a strange

twist – which I won’t spoil for the reader.

In the next chapter, Ngaire meets her future husband, Denis. They marry in the 1960s during the

church’s notorious “no compromise” era in which the rules are tightened. Members are not

allowed to eat and drink with outsiders, and cannot be part of another association, such as a

library. Even beloved pets are deemed to be idols, and are destroyed, given away or just

disappear. There are rules for Ngaire too: she must limit her conversation to 10% of her

husband’s (which proves difficult as he is generally silent).

Of value is Ngaire’s account of the bouts of “confession madness” that swept through the church

at this time. The priests take on the role of religious police, examining people’s lives like

forensic investigators, dragging up rumours from decades past. Members are forced to confess to

sins real and imagined, and encouraged to drink whiskey to prove they have nothing to hide.

Those who confess pay heavily. They are “shut up” (in effect placed under house arrest) or
“withdrawn from” (excommunicated), and lose access to loved ones. Almost inevitably, Ngaire

(who has now had four children) and her family are withdrawn from.

The family’s adjustment is massive. They are unused to their new freedom and do not know how

to act in normal society. The two eldest sons end up in prison. (The boys love the prison

discipline, and when they earn a reduced sentence they choose to stay instead.) Denis dies of

liver cancer, and Ngaire goes to University. Readers, especially those familiar with Fowler’s

stages of faith, will be interested in following Ngaire’s shifts in faith throughout, as she

ultimately finds the kingdom of heaven within.

It is difficult not to like the author with her unpretentious forgiving style. To be sure, there are

some weaknesses in the book. The structure is a little unpolished (some later sections would be

better as appendices), and there is a small printing error on the inside cover. Also while the

author answers many questions, she invites even more. Why, for example, is the most serious

abuse limited to only a few passing sentences? Nevertheless the book provides a valuable and

absorbing window into a religion that is for most of us inaccessible. As religious autobiographies

go, Behind Closed Doors may not have the theological complexities of St Augustine’s

Confessions, or the mystical insights of Teresa of Avila’s Life, but there is More summary of

later parts of the book, showing how the author has related her own experiences to the

experiences of others and to the philosophies that were dominating the religion at the time

Reviewer indicating the value for readers interested in research on the development of and

changes in faith Further evaluation – some weaknesses and omissions noted Restatement of

overall impression and recommendation something almost archetypal about one woman’s

courage to speak her own truth.

i Bryan Wilson, “The Exclusive Brethren: A Case Study in the Evolution of a Sectarian

Ideology,” in Patterns of Sectarianism: Organisation and Ideology in Social and Religious

Movements, ed. B. Wilson (London: Heinemann, 1967) 287; Bryan Wilson, The Social

Dimensions of Sectarianism, Sects and New Religious Movements in Contemporary Society.

(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990) 19; Bryan Wilson, Letter to the Editor, Evangelical Times (23

Sept 1999). http://pub28.ezboard.com/fexamininfprotestantismfrm2.showMessage?topicI D-

420.topic [Αccessed 18 December 2004]. ii This point is made by Benjamin Belt-Hallahmi, “

Dear Colleagues: Integrity and Suspicion in NRM Research” (paper presented at the annual

meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Nov. 1997, San Diego, CA).

http://www.apologeticsindex.org/c59html [Accessed 18 December 2004]

 Concept Paper

Corruption in the Broadcast, Print, and Social Media: Its Effect to the Conception of

Perceived Social Reality

“Do media reflect reality (exactly or distortedly) or do they construct it in the first place?”

That question was asked by Stefan Weber in his paper on

Media and The Construction ofReality

published in 2002 which totally convinced me to focus my proposed dissertation on the

conception of social reality. Gerbner in 1960s spearheaded the study on Cultivation Analysis

which is later discussed in this paper as one of my frameworks for this study.My proposed

dissertation aims to determine and analyze the effect of corruption in theBroadcast, Print, and

Social Media to the conception of perceived social reality. These are thefollowing questions that

I have in mind: What are the forms of corruption (coercion, bribery, etc) encountered by the local

media practitioners in Tagbilaran City, Bohol? What are the usual favors in exchange (of the

dole out)? How did the local media practitioners handle the situation? How did corruption distort

the news? What is the perceived social reality of the voting populace after being exposed to

distorted broadcast, prints, and social media posts? What is the effect of news distortion to the

conception of perceived social reality in terms of voting preferences? My proposed dissertation

is going to be anchored from the stu

dy “Government distortion in independently owned media: evidence from U.S. cold war news

coverage of human rights” by

Qian &Yanagizawa-Drott (2010) and from the

Cultivation Analysis Theory.

Qian&Yanagizawa-Drott (2010) will help me frame part of the methods which covers corruption

and distortion while Cultivation Analysis will help me in unlocking the effects of news distortion

on perceptions, opinions, and attitudes of the voting populace in their conception of perceived

social reality after being exposed to distorted broadcast, prints, and social media posts. Since this

paper is intended to discuss about the framework of my proposed dissertation based on the

resources on cultural and critical theories, I will only mention a few about Qian &Yanagizawa-

Drott in this paper to give primary emphasis on Cultivation Analysis. The study of Qian &

Yanagizawa-Drott (2010) investigated the attempt of the U.Sgovernment to manipulate news

coverage of human rights practices of their political allies during the Cold War. These include

coercion, bribery and other methods of corrupt practices in the case of the government authority.

In my dissertation, I will be investigating the forms of corruptions, whether this is grounded on

coercion or bribery, which leads to news distortion in broadcast, print, and social media during

election periods in Tagbilaran City, Bohol. I will be discussing further how Qian & Yanagizawa-

Drott (2010) will help shape the concepts of my dissertation in the Course Project which is due

on the 13 of December. On the other hand, Cultivation Analysis (as one of the frameworks for

this study) theorized that television creates a world view that, although possibly inaccurate,

becomes the reality because people believe it to be so. The most familiar version of the

“cultivation analysis’’ is that

Corruption in the Broadcast, Print, and Social Media: Its Effect to the Conception ofPerceived

Social Reality
those who spend more time watching television are more likely to perceive the real world inways

that reflect the most common and recurrent messages of the world of fictional television(Morgan

& Shanahan, 2010). The viewers’ Conception of social reality is an effect of theirexposure to the

different issues or phenomena as presented by broadcast, print, and socialmedia. This effect in

the conception of social reality is defined in terms of some kind of ‘‘change,’’ most often short

term, and in response to specifically targeted messages (political, commercial, etc.). This change

shall be the focus of my study. I will analyze the effects of news distortion to the conception

of perceived realities and how this affects voting preferences duringelections in the Province of

Bohol. There are already empirical studies conducted on Cultivation Analysis but most of

thosefocused on psychological and societal issues e.g. self-esteem, parenting, crime and etc. (see

Gerbner & Gross, 1976; Gerbner, Gross, Jackson-Beeck, Jeffries-Fox, & Signorielli,

1978;Gerbner, Gross, Signorielli, Morgan, & Jackson-Beeck, 1979). However, there are maybe a

few or even none on cultivation analysis which attempted to draw the possible effects of news

distortion to the conception of perceived reality and its relationship to the voting preferences of

the people exposed to distortion. In my proposed dissertation, I would like to explore Cultivation

Analysis from a different perspective. This is on how media affects voters’ views and

preferences on a particular political image after being exposed to news distortion. I intend to use

survey methods to assess the difference (if any) on the change of perceptions, opinions, and

attitudes of the voting populace after being exposed to distorted broadcast, prints, and social

media posts. I also noticed that most of the previous researches only focused on television so I

intend to extend from television to radio broadcast, print, and social media. This study will use

both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The study will be conducted in the City of

Tagbilaran, where there are two existing radio stations

—

DYRDWorldwide AM/FM andDYTR Bohol 1116 Khz

AM/FM. Also, the City has five newspaper companies

The Bohol Chronicle, The Bohol Sunday Post, The Bohol Times, Bohol Bantay Balita, and The

Bohol Standard. The respondents of this study will be from the broadcast and print media

practitioners and a sample of the voting population who will be selected through purposive

sampling. The number of respondents will be identified after consultation with the

statistician. This study will also make use of questionnaires and interviews in order to derive the

data needed for the study.

 Nature Journal

Introduction

Wildlife plays an important role in economical, ecological, environmental as well as cultural

spheres. It can include a wide range of species, ranging from amphibians, insects, and birds to

mammals. As a rule, fauna includes some organisms that are native and the ones that were

introduced or re-introduced to their current habitat (Day, Klingler & Bloomberg 283). This

report is an in-depth examination of five wild animals living in the United States of America.

These animals are Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes), Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus), Black and

Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia), Northern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix

mokasen) and American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana). The discussion of every species will

answer the following questions: - Are the species under discussion native or introduced to the

environment? - Describe their physical characteristics in terms of color as well as specific

differences between the sexes. Additionally, the issues regarding the species' habitats will be

addressed. This is attained by establishing their local habitat as well as their habitat range, their

ecological role, the types of food they eat and other relevant relationships such as parasitism,

mutualism are brought to light. The species' category under IUCN is also brought to light. At the

same time, discover life cycle of these species and life span as well as how they coexist with

people. Surname 2 Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) According to Rue (72), Red fox is the largest of

animals considered as true foxes. This species is in the family of Canidae, which is comprised of

wolves, dogs and coyotes. These animals are characterized by an orange or red fur. Red foxes

have white fur on their chest as well as beneath their neck. The tail is usually fluffy and white at

the tip. The ears are black and pointed. Their legs are colored black. The animal is about three

feet long and weighs 10 pounds. Red fox inhabits a greater part of the United States as well as
Canada, but there is no record to show that they ever existed in Alaska and Texas (Clapham

122). According to IUCN, it is categorized as least concern for extinction and named as world’s

worst alien invasive species. They live on a wide range of territories, covering approximately 70

million square kms, including wood lands, farmlands as well as prairies. Historically, red foxes

were being preyed by lynx, wolves, and bobcats but due to the reduced number of these

predators, people became the major predator hunting these animals for various reasons, such as

sport hunting, as well as for their fur or by farmers in protecting their crops and livestock (Rue

121). Due to the value of its fur, fox has a long history of being a victim of humans. The

depiction of this relationship can be found in human folklore as well as in myths. Red foxes are

opportunistic feeders whose feeding pattern varies with season as they eat everything available

during certain periods. Generally speaking, this species eats fruits, herbs and berries. They also

feed on birds, insects, and small mammals. They can i Surname 3 food despite the fact that they

are not hungry. Surplus food stuffs are hidden to be consumed later (Clapham 54). With regards

to reproduction, red foxes reproduce only once a year during spring. Female estrus lasts for 21

days during which the male mates with her for a number of days in burrows during which there

is at least an hour of copulation tie. The gestation period is approximately two months. Prior to

littering, the female/vixen will get two den ready. The litter size ranges between 4 and 8. As the

female is nursing the litter, males look for food. Within a period of about 2 weeks, the kits open

their eyes, and 4 days after, lower teeth start emerging. The juvenile takes a period of six to

seven months, and then, the adulthood comes. In their natural habitat, red foxes live for a

maximum of five years as compared to the fourteen years as their average life length in captivity

(Rue 65). These mammals are nocturnal and can hear sounds on the lower frequencies. They

stalk their prey just like a cat does, pouncing and chasing it afterwards. Foxes spend only
insignificant amount of time in dens. As a rule, these animals seep in the open air, using their

tails to save warmth (Clapham 23). Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) Also known as marsh

hawk, the bird is between 17 and 24 inches with a wing span ranging from 3.5 to 4.5 feet and

weighing between 12 and 18 ounces. Males are typically smaller than females. This bird inhabits

North America along with Asia and Europe. Their common habitats include open areas,

wetlands, cultivated areas, meadows, grasslands and tundra. New Jersey's costal marshes provide

northern harrier with the comfortable habitat. They are typically found in New Jersey, Texas, and

Alaska Surname 4 and known to wander over 100 miles a day in search of food (Ferguson-Lees

& Christie 97). The species has appearance that resembles that of an owl. Males are grey and

white above and below respectively and have a wingtip that is black as well as the trailing edge

towards the wings. Male’s white breast has rusty spots on it. Females are brown and buff colored

above and below in that order. Contrary to their males counter parts, females’ under-wings are

dark and the black wingtip is obscured. The juvenile specimen looks like a female. They feed on

a variety of foods, including insects as well as small mammals. It is worth mentioning that the

bird itself is a prey to skunks and raccoons that steal its eggs, as well as some birds of prey, feral

cats, and red foxes. The acute eyesight makes them a perfect hunter that can ambush and grab

their victim suddenly. Owing to their sharp eye, they are able to spot their prey. As they circle

the area once satisfied with their ambush, they swoop downwards and grab their prey using their

sharp claws. Circus cyaneus has coexisted with mankind for a long time. For instance, in Europe,

there was a superstition that a northern harrier perching on a house predicts that 3 people living

in the house will lose their lives (Ehrlich, Paul Dobkin & Wheye 162). Some Native Americans

considered this bird to be a symbol of good luck. If it shows up on a wedding day, it is a sign of a

long and happy life of a couple. Majority of farmers like these birds because they help control
pests, for instance, eating eggs of quail, and insects that could have destroyed their crops.

According to Ehrlich, Dobkin & Wheye (231), these birds are migratory but native to the region.

Due to the decline in population as a result of predation and habitat destruction, the species has

been categorized as endangered. They attain reproduction Surname 5 maturation at the age of 1

year. Females lay between 3 to 6 eggs, depending on the prevalence of small rodents in the

neighborhood. The incubation period takes approximately one month. While females hatch their

eggs, it is the responsibility of males to hunt, bring food and feed the females. The species can

live for up to 12 years. Black and Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) According to

Gertsch (147), other common names attributed to the species of Black and Yellow Garden Spider

include writing spider or corn spider. Black and yellow garden spiders are mostly found in the 48

states of the United States of America. Additionally, the species can be found in Mexico, Canada

and Hawaii. The species is uncommon to the Rocky Mountains as well as the Great Basin but

can be found in Costa Rico. The abdomen and the caphalothorax of the insect are colored black

and yellow, respectively. It is worth noting that females are larger in size than males ranging

from 19 to 28 mm and 5 to 9 mm, respectively. Through its co-habitation with humans, it has

been cleared out that Argiope aurantia is harmless to human beings, and for that reason, it

coexists with people in peace. The spider can also help men in predating some disturbing insects.

The representatives of this species are typically carnivores and employ a strategy of waiting for

their prey in the web which is zigzag shaped. Once the prey appears in the web, it is deemed to

be captured by the spider and injected with venom which immobilizes the prey. Then the spider

wraps it and stores it somewhere to eat it later. The prey can be flies, moths, beetles, wasps and

mosquitoes (Gertsch 203). The species is native in most parts of the country, but it is most

widely spread in California. These spiders inhabit gardens as well as old fields. Their prevalence
in California is explained by their Surname 6 ability to avoid predators. Birds and wasps, such as

mud daubers, for example, as well as lizards and shrews, can eat them. Concerning the

reproduction, they breed only once per year. For reproduction purposes, males are the ones

searching for females. As a sign of interest in the reproduction, the male idividuals go plucking

strands on the web constructed by a female. It is worth noting that after mating, the male dies

often not consumed by the female. Eggs are laid at night on silky material and covered. The sacs

produced range between 1 and 4 each having close to 1,000 eggs. The female protects the sac

until spring because it is during the spring season that the juveniles come out. During the period

of growth and development, they shade the exoskeleton. At time, they may lose their legs, but

they also have an ability to regenerate limbs. Moreover, concerning the status of the species,

Herbert, Levi & Strekalovsky reveal that the representatives of this species should be treated as

endangered/threatened (72). Northern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen) The

venomous snake called Northern Copperhead is found statewide apart from barrier islands living

in wetlands, edge areas, and Surname 7 head. The juveniles are 7-10 inches being greyer that the

adults which fade when they reach the age of 3-4 years. They are sexually dimorphic, males

being smaller than females. Sexual maturation is attained at the age of 4 years. They have two

main breeding seasons that usually last from August to October and from February to May.

Using the tongue, males seek for sexually active females. Once this is done, a male starts to rub

his head on the ground after courting. When sufficiently stimulated, the female avails the cloaca.

They mate for a period of between 31/2 and 81/2 hours. During mating, males release a special

pheromone which makes a female unattractive to other males. It takes between three and nine

months for young ones to pass the larval stages. The life span of this reptile is about 18 years

(Herrmann par. 4). It is worth noting that adult Copperhead feeds on a range of small mammals,
for instance, mice and other rodents. Occasionally, they eat lizards, small birds, insects as well as

amphibians. Their long evolutionary history owes to their ability to escape predators by staying

motionless (Herrmann par. 3). American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) According to Stebbins

(32), Bullfrog is the largest frog that reaches 9 to 20.3 cm in length. Its color ranges from yellow

to green with some dark grey mottles. The frog has a large external eardrum having the hind legs

webbed apart from the last joint made up of loner toe. The amphibian has no dorsolateral ridges.

The belly’s color ranges from cream to white, and sometimes, it has grey mottles. The species is

not native to all the parts of the USA with the exception of central and eastern parts of the

country. The range of its habitat is typically eastern and central U.S, New Brunswick as well as

Nova Scotia. They inhabit aquatic areas, including ponds, low moving streams and lakes.

Surname 8 In terms of diet, it is interesting that they are capable of eating any types of food, if

they are able to swallow it. Their diet is made up of fish, mammals, frogs, insects as well as

birds. Their hatchlings eat algae, invertebrates as well as plants. The introduced species is

responsible for the decline in the number of native fauna (Day, Klingler & Bloomberg 83). This

species have gained a competitive advantage over the native ones, because the first grow and

develop in an environment where competition is fierce, thus their prey is deemed to be captured.

The reproduction periods take place between May and August and March and October.

Fertilization is external. Bull frogs attain sexual maturation between one and three years of age.

After tagging a territory, a male makes a call at night to attract a female. The choice is made after

a female enters the tagged territory. Eggs (about 20,000) are laid initially floating the sink under

aquatic vegetation (Stebbins 34). The tadpoles are between 10 and 17 cm in length taking 2 years

to transform. It has been established that when, these amphibia can live a maximum age, from
eight to ten years, in their natural habitat. However, in captivity, they live even longer, usually

reaching the age of sixteen years (Alexander, Zim & Arnold 163).

Works Cited

Clapham, Richard. Foxes, Foxhounds and Fox-Hunting. Memphis, Tennessee: General Books

LLC, 2010. Print.

Day, Leslie, Klingler, Mark A. and Bloomberg, Michael. Field Guide to the Natural World of

New York City. New York: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007. Print.

Ehrlich, Paul R., Dobkin, David S. and Wheye, Darryl. The Birder's Handbook: A Field Guide to

the Natural History of North American Birds: Including All Species That Regularly Breed North

of Mexico. New York: Fireside, Simon & Shcuster Inc., 1998. Print

Ferguson-Lees, James and David A. Christie. Raptors of the World. London: Christopher Helm,

2001. Print.

Gertsch, Willis John. American Spiders. Memphis, Tennessee: General Books LLC, 2010. Print.

Herrmann, Bree. "Agkistrodon contortrix." Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan

Museum of Zoology. 2000. Web. 26 March 2011. .

Levi, Herbert W., Levi, Lorna Rose and Herbert Spencer Zim. Spiders and Their Kin: A Golden

Guide. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001. Print.

Martin, Alexander C., Zim, Herbert S. and Arnold L. Nelson. American Wildlife & Plants: A

Guide to Wildlife Food Habits. Toronto, Ontario: Dover Books, 1951. Print.
“Northern copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen).” Virginia.gov. Virginia Department of

Game and Inland Fisheries. 2011 Web. 26 March 2011. . Rue, Leonard Lee. Complete Guide to

Game Animals: A Field Book of North American Species. USA: Grolier Book Clubs, Inc., 1981.

Print.

Stebbins, Robert. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Houghton

Mifflin Company, 2003. Print.

Wright, Anna. Handbook of Frogs and Toads of the United States and Canada. New York:

Cornell University Press, 1949. Print.