In 1990, I went to a movie theater in West Ashley near Charleston, SC. The movie was “China Cry”, produced by TBN Films. This movie is the story of Nora Lam, her life and escape from China. I attended with two younger folks and remember much of that evening. That would be the last film I would view in a movie theater until 2004 when several Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) members were allowed to attend “The Passion”, directed by Mel Gibson. We viewed it in the theater in Forest City, NC.  That was a night I will not soon forget. Jane Whaley did not attend. Here is link to a previous post where I mention attending “The Passion”.. http://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=216

    Recently, I watched “China Cry” again. By mentioning this movie here, I am not endorsing a particular ministry or TV preacher(s). For the time period, the movie was done with quality and I would recommend others to watch it. What struck me this time was the very detailed depiction of the thought reform used by the Communist Party under Chairman Mao Zedong. Both Neng Yee Sung, who later changed her name to Nora Lam, and her husband were forced into detailed confessions of their past, their relationship and other areas of their lives individually and together. It was said that the officials were trying to get confessions about past transgressions and Nora’s Christian education. One scene shows Nora’s husband secretly admitting the temptation to “give them what they want”; he was ready to confess but, he was not sure to what. Later, the officials would use simultaneous lies against both husband and wife in an attempt break their bond and their love for each other. “Reform” would come to resisters through “labor training.”

    This visual depiction correlates well with the accounts found in Robert Jay Lifton’s work in “Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism” (original copyright 1961, later published again in 1989. ISBN 0-8078-4253-2 [alk. Paper]). The subtitle of the book is “A Study of Brainwashing in China”. Lifton studied the thought reform used on Westerners by the Communist party in the 1950’s. I have not finished the book, but what I have read has been fascinating. I quote from the PREFACE of the recent edition, “I see it (this book) as less a specific record of Maoist China more an exploration of what might be the most dangerous direction of the twentieth-century mind- the quest for absolute or “totalistic” belief systems. … Indeed this quest has produced nothing short of a worldwide epidemic of political and religious fundamentalism- of movements characterized by literalized embrace of sacred texts as containing absolute truth for all persons, and a mandate for militant, often violent measures taken against designated enemies of that truth of mere unbelievers.” (page vii emphasis added) Was the author ahead of his time on this observation! Lifton’s observations can apply to so many groups around the world, today.

   From my experience, I saw /see the intense, fervent beliefs of Jane Whaley as she segments and tears apart certain Scriptures to fit her need for the moment. They are preached and lived as individual pieces of absolute truth. Often the reference is so generalized that is takes much “faith” to go along with and “agree” with the interpretation of a passage. To not agree and/or change your life to reflect the new ways of WOFF-life has severe consequences as mentioned in previous posts. Also, as mentioned in a previous post, “Too often, however this special emphasis becomes the critical all important point… Its (the group’s) attention to an interesting portion of Scripture has been carried to the point where it has isolated this passage of the Word of God from the corrective modifications found in other portions of the Word. Its segmented biblical attention has cut it off from the body of divine truth.” -pages 88-89 from “Know the Marks of Cults” by Dave Breese, emphasis added (copyright 1975, SP Publications, ISBN 0-88207-704-x).

     Lifton continues later in the PREFACE to the University of North Carolina Edition, “But I think we can speak of cults with certain characteristics:  first, a charismatic leader, who tends increasingly to become the object of worship in place of more general spiritual principles that are advocated; second, patterns of “thought reform” akin to those described in this volume, especially in Chapter 22; and third, a tendency toward manipulation from above with considerable exploitation (economic, sexual, or other) of ordinary supplicants or recruits who bring their idealism from below.” (page vii, emphasis added)

    Lets us review this quote in smaller bits. First, a cult has a leader “who tends to become the object of worship”. Well, as a former member of WOFF, it is not a stretch for me to see that since all WOFF-life revolved around Jane, then she was worshipped in that regard. I heard this definition of the word “worship” a long time ago: to give preference to. When we give preference to God in our life – we worship Him. When WOFF members, including me, gave preference to Jane – we worshipped her. When we did not hold her to the same conduct standard that she held us to, then we bowed and worshipped her. As one example, we regular members were required to keep a “happy face” and not give to anger. Yet, Jane was allowed to be a grouch and fly off in anger and call it the “anger of God”. She claimed “the spirit of anger” was not in her. Well, you could have and must have fooled me. Since I said nothing to express my doubts then, I was worshipping her in that sense. Unless things have changed drastically, I would say things such as this still happen at WOFF.  Do any previous or present WOFF members have anything to add?

    We will discuss the third characteristic next, as the second one will take much more space. The third characteristic mentioned was “a tendency toward manipulation from above with considerable exploitation (economic, sexual, or other) of ordinary supplicants or recruits who bring their idealism from below.” Yes, my experience was that the power to make decisions flowed from above regular members like me. The power to decide rested with Jane Whaley and the members below her in the pyramid structure were helped or manipulated to conform to those decisions. And yes, it went well with the fact that many of us regular members were full of the idealism that was being preached. Ideas such as “Jane and Sam love us so much; they are doing so much for us. We are all happy here at WOFF, who would ever want to leave? We all want the will of God.” I had thoughts like these or ones similar for years. How else could I have stayed for so long, than to think thoughts such as these? When a WOFF member has these thoughts, the contradictions at WOFF are hard to see and realize.  Yes, there is a whole series of posts done just on the WOFF Contradictions. Here is the link:  http://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=2500

    The second characteristic of a group being a cult, “patterns of thought reform” will be fully covered in a future post or series of posts. This subject will help give clarity to the interactions at WOFF.  

    Thank you, for taking time to visit and read this blog.  Please, consume the information on this site responsibly. The author is not a licensed mental health professional and encourages those that need professional help to seek it. The intent of the material is to inform and be a resource. Be sure to tell every member that you know at WOFF about this blog. There are readers at WOFF. Comments are invited from all readers, including present or former members. Polls are not scientific and no private information is gathered.

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      (Please, take time to read the Terms of Use for this personal blog. As mentioned, the information about WOFF is from my memories and recollections as perfect as that may be or not be. ) Scripture references are Amplified Version unless otherwise noted. (Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation ) This is post number 173.