“To Follow by faith alone is to follow blindly.” Benjamin Franklin

     In “Lost Boy” (copyright©2009 by Brent Jeffs and Maia Szalavitz, ISBN-978-0-7696-3177-9) , Brent Jeffs outlines the message he heard preached over and over. It was the basis used for the authority over the lives of the members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of latter Day Saints (FLDS). From his account and others, the preaching and practice seemed to match.

“…We, your leaders, know the Word of God; you must obey us. … Whatever God requires is right, no matter what it is, … We know what’s good for you. We are God’s prophets, seers and revelators. Our revelations come straight from God Himself… I love you and want to save you in the Celestial Kingdom of God. So, if you will keep the grand teaching that we are trying to get over: Keep the Holy Spirit of God! Keep sweet! It is a matter of life and death.”  (page 60) (emphasis added by blog author)

     Later in the book when describing a survivalist training class taught at the church school: “Like everything else, it made sense only retrospectively- as yet another way the church leadership terrorized and controlled the people. By frightening us, they ensured we would obey unthinkingly, rather than considering how absurd their prophecies really were. It is amazing how well fear can work to surpress rational thought, something I unfortunately experienced over and over during my time in the church.” (page 99) (emphasis added by author)

     These statements and practices were obviously used as a basis for the power and authority structure of FLDS. As with many cults, the authority over the lives of the members was far reaching and fear based. First and foremost in FLDS was dictating the family structure. Wives and children were assigned to men with no consideration for personal feelings. Other daily matters like dress, hairstyle, job selection and entertainment choices were determined by leadership in the church. (reference pages: 26- living arrangements, 56- television,  72- clothing, 90-clothes during swimming, 102 -relationships, 104- idolatry, in the pictures notice the white shirts on the men in picture of them dressed for church, page 185- job selection, http://tiny.cc/5coTU pictures of children dressed alike and the list goes on…)     

     What was similar to this at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF)? Are simple everyday matters of life controlled by Jane Whaley or other lieutenants? Let me begin by noting that not everybody is in the exact same situation at any one given time, in a group like WOFF. New members have been given “more grace” in times past. Also, not every veteran member is required to accept the same control measures from Jane or other lieutenants on every point. My inside knowledge of WOFF stopped July 8, 2008. It actually began to wane before that – starting June 6, 2008. All that being said, I have NO evidence of any major changes within the group from any source either inside or outside.  I am told by a source closer to WOFF, that things for the children have “lightened up”. (more on that later…)   

     So, the degree of oversight or “control” felt by each individual member is different at different times in different situations.  Like FLDS, ” This is the principle on which the government of heaven is conducted- by revelation adapted to the circumstance in which the children of the kingdom are placed“.  (page 60)  

     Now that the disclaimers are finished, we will discuss one area of control exercised in both groups. FLDS: “Reporting in was one of the many ways the church leadership monitored the members. Once a month, every man would report on his life and sins to his priesthood head. Nothing was off limits. You had to tell everything…. You knew it would filter up to Warren if it was bad enough.” (page 120)

     In WOFF, this was called “opening your heart“. It was not limited to once a month and not just to men.  Everyone from children up was encouraged to “tell all” and keep your heart open to the person “taking hold of your life“.  And yes, you knew that “it would filter up to Jane if it was bad enough”… Many times other folks would be implicated and interrogated because of a child’s confession of a matter to an adult that was not their parent. Spouses would tell on spouses and co-workers on co-workers for things done that “may not feel right”..  There was a highly developed reporting system of these “open your heart” sessions.

     “This kept Warren and his henchmen on top of all the gossip and gave them material to use against you if they wanted leverage to keep you in check.” (page 121) The guise was to help, the function and purpose was to control in FLDS and WOFF. More in the posts to come….

P.S. Is there trouble brewing in Brazil?

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