Source: The Local
The Christian sect, which has bases in countries around the world, and says it has several thousand members, regards both Old and New Testaments as God’s direct word.
They do not send their children to public schools, choosing to educate them within the community. Parents are taught that when children break rules, they are to “spank them with a small reed-like rod which only inflicts pain and not damage,” they say on their website.
The Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper reported that the sect had often come to the attention of the public prosecutor which had investigated claims that five members had been involved in beating children. No charges resulted.