“A New York City woman on trial for starving four of her children was brought up in a ‘cult-like’ religion that prohibited its members from direct contact with the outside world, her brother testified yesterday.

‘It was an almost cult-like existence. We weren’t allowed to watch TV, go to the movies, or vote,’ said Frederick Phillips, 45, of Manhattan, describing the lifestyles of members of the Brooklyn-based Church of the Brethren, an Orthodox Christian church that believed in a strict interpretation of the Bible.”

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