Recently, a good friend related an experience they had in a group meeting. This friend had been allowed to present a song about a series of events the entire group was familiar with as they all shared many common experiences. The song was meant to be a light-hearted presentation of a socially uncomfortable but, not dire event. The song seemed to be well received and my friend sat down. However, the next speaker took direct offense to the song and berated my friend in front of the entire group of about 100 folks. When my friend raised her hand to say the song was not meant to harm but to encourage, my friend was further chastised and the tirade seemed to worsen. One person in leadership with the group left in a rush as she was about to become physically ill at the completely insensitive and unprofessional handling of the episode by the offended party.
My friend went on to relate their inability to sleep that evening. She had spent many hours mulling over the series of events, in one sense she felt frozen and in another sense she felt violated. In the many years of relating to groups and teaching in classrooms, they had never been treated so ugly and rude in a group setting. The offended party had expressed their hurt and anger in loud overt tones that had thrown a damper on the entire group including my friend. Later in the evening, several came up to express their support for my friend and bewilderment at the level of rage expressed against her. In my friend’s words, it was totally uncalled for and had left her seeking an exit from the group. It has been several days since the incident and there has been no direct communication of an apology from the person who leveled the barrage of abuse.
As I listened to these words and took in the events, I told my friend that now they had some idea of what it was like in a cult where public rebuke is used as a tool to control members. When I said this, the friend looked puzzled, at first. I then related an experience from my days at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) and reminded them that public confrontation and rebuke were common tools for Jane Whaley. Here is a post that relates the events surrounding a public rebuke of an older lady.. http://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=143 the reference is toward the end of this post from January 25, 2010. This is just one of many such events I witnessed while at WOFF. Numerous times individuals would be rebuked, corrected and sometimes scoffed at in public meetings. Jane must have felt this was totally acceptable and a “Christian” way to modify behavior. The same measures were used in smaller group meetings and especially where a member showed any resistance to accepting the group norms or “word of the Lord” from Jane.
Jane screamed at me one time for letting my daughter cry. This was out in the hallway in front of her office. It was so loud; I felt for sure the paint would peel right off the walls. Another incidence of public ridicule is explained here. http://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=766 This is an excerpt… One service several years ago, Jane Whaley stood up and held up a set of camping toys. They had been left on the previous Friday night in one of the classrooms. She was using this to make a point. “Who did this?” She went on, not waiting for someone to admit the “sin” and explained we “don’t” allow these toys…. The person who stood to take the scalding was my wife. We had given our son the wrong toys and Jane showed them to the whole congregation and made sure we all “knew God’s ways” about these toys. We had violated a rule that was as of that moment not written or spoken. Welcome to WOFF-life. Yes, I only tell truth when I say public rebuke was/is a tool for Jane to control her members.
As I have recently begun reading about Teen Mania from a survivor of the group, I see the leaders there use the same or similar tactics to control their folks. Here is a quote from a post revealing methods used by the leadership of that group. The post is the third in a series examining the question- Is Teen Mania a Cult? – ?
“The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt in order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.
True. True. Oh, so true. It has taken me years to work through this one and I am still working on it. The leaders shame both from the pulpit and in individual interactions. Just look at the category on spiritual abuse to see ample evidence of this. I would go so far as to say that this might be the most dominant characteristic of the Honor Academy.” (source link– http://tinyurl.com/4vz2go5)
As I continued to talk to my friend, I reminded them that the experience was similar to cult life; however, there were some major differences to point out. First, there was total freedom to leave their group unhindered by any mind control or threats of losing their salvation or their relationship with God. The group they have been a part of was not religious or controlling, outside of a written contract for membership. This friend would not be swayed by relatives staying in the group as was the case in WOFF. This friend would not lose their employment when they left the group. Several WOFF members are required to consider that if/when they leave WOFF, they would lose their income and possibly their housing. The whole ordeal was very unpleasant to say the least, but, yet only a small taste of what cult life would be like at WOFF. After all, my friend still has their free-will, unhindered in any way from the group or its leaders.
Steven Hassan wrote in his book, “Combatting Mind Control” (copyright 1988 1990 by Steven Hassan – ISBN 0-89281-311-3) when explaining Behavior Control in mind control groups, “If a person performs well, he will be given public praise from higher-ups and sometimes gifts or a promotion. If the person performs poorly, he may be publicly singled out and criticized, and forced to do menial labor like cleaning toilets or polishing other members’ shoes. (page 61 emphasis added) Apparently, publicly criticizing group members is not a new tactic for a cult. This is yet another deed done at WOFF that makes them like other cult groups. Who is shocked?
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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 263.