The concept of a person being “radicalized,” becoming a “radical” and the process of radicalization have all been in the news lately as the world deals with new terror threats almost daily. What does it mean to become “radicalized” or go through a “radicalization” process? The concept of radical includes when a person becomes a) very different from the usual or traditional; b) favoring extreme changes in views, habits, conditions, or institutions; c) associated with political views, practices or policies of extreme change. (here)

There are so many aspects of this question to consider. I will not attempt a comprehensive discussion of the term “radical” or radicalization” as it pertains to today’s world, but will limit this post to the question, “Are WOFF members “radicalized?” Allow me share my first remembrance of the term as it applied to my religious experience- years before Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF).

During my childhood and teenage years, my family attended a Methodist church. It was considered mainline, conservative during those years. After leaving home, I chose an informal non-denominational church. On occasion, while attending that church, the concept of being a “radical Christian” was mentioned. Looking back, I took it to mean following the rules for behavior which were instilled in me as a child and adding to them other things such as being aware of the music I listened to, the movies I watched, the places I went for entertainment, etc. In other words, I started taking the Bible as a guide for my life. That is what being “radical” meant to me then.

Today, after living several years at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF), I see the former concept as not very “radical” at all. Life before WOFF was not radical compared to life inside WOFF. Life before included a devotion to God out of a sense of respect and a freedom to accept, delay or even reject a suggested interpretation of the Bible which required a change in conduct. In other words, I still had free-will. I believe the concept of retaining one’s free will in the exercise of religion is very traditional. Do you agree?

After living for a time inside the WOFF sub-culture, this traditional concept of free-will did not survive. This change occurred gradually as we lived through the pressures to surrender one’s free will and right to question decisions made my Jane Whaley. On this basis, I believe members of WOFF are radicalized and live life very far from the “usual or traditional.” In order to stay a member of WOFF, one must allow and “favor extreme changes in (their) views, habits and conditions…” There remains no doubt that integration into WOFF requires a process of submission to a radicalizing process cloaked in euphemistic terms resulting in a lifestyle far from any traditional norms of other churches or our American society. In my experience, I could see the differences in WOFF-life versus life on the outside, but at least for a time, I accepted it as necessary to live for God. Let me explain.

While inside WOFF, EVERY detail of your life was subject to a new rule. These rules came with the understanding that your choice to follow them was made when you joined the group. Your membership into the church was a blanket acceptance of anything Jane Whaley declared as “God’s ways.” In order to remain in the group, there was a total surrender of your ability to refuse the rules as they were issued. Refusing the “ways of God” was refusing God, His leader, Jane, and all the relationships with family, friends and any other members. We were never told before joining WOFF that we would surrender our free will to Jane. It was conveyed with more seduction.

If you questioned a new practice or revelation, you were met with questions such as, “You do want God, right?” You do want to live with God’s people?” You chose to obey all that God has for you when you said yes to Jesus, the day you became born-again. In order to make it to heaven, you must trust God with your whole life, every area you must surrender to His will. And this (new rule) is a part of His will. We were told, “We are walking in new places in God.” Of course, you have not done this before, “God is revealing Himself one day at a time, one revelation at a time.”

Moving your lifestyle from “traditional” to extreme was labeled as “normal” for God’s people. What once was consider abnormal became expected and in some sense normal. Living through the initial radicalization process of total surrender of your free will, control over your life, your children, your employment, your housing, your future, your clothing choices, all of your relationships was euphemistically labeled as “getting to know God’s ways.” Of course, you were not told how far you would be required to go in order to finally be one of “God’s chosen.” Jane could not describe the end because she needed to continue moving the standard to keep her power and control over the whole charade and its players. The rules were better left unwritten so they could be changed to fit the next new level of submission to her decisions.

Okay, John, you need to give some examples. How can you label WOFF members as radicalized unless you give examples of how their life deviates from traditional norms in our country? Allow me to list a few of the more well-known radical lifestyle aspects of life inside WOFF.

1. Communal housing set-up at the total discretion of Jane.
2. Relationships between friends, families, all members determined and monitored by Jane.
3. Member’s employment choices subject to Jane’s approval.
4. Housing choices and decorations subject to Jane’s approval.
5. Recreational choices subject to Jane’s approval.
6. College classes subject to Jane’s direction.
7. Dietary choices subject to Jane’s direction.

A comprehensive list is exhaustive and too long for this post. It is difficult to convey the level of control WOFF members’ subject themselves to under Jane’s radicalized kingdom. All of this could be labeled as innocuous if we did not now have example after example of the mental, emotional and physical harm this radicalized sub-culture inflicts on its own members. The extreme practices of shunning, public humiliation, blasting, forced confession sessions, hours of listening to Jane “preach”, control over marital intimacy and other family choices, child on child bullying, all point to an unsafe group where becoming radicalized is the ticket to continual membership.

As I explain in this video from last year, when you live inside, you are not concentrating on what you give up- the “normal”. You are concentrating on what you are told you are gaining- life with God’s people and eventually eternal life.

Newsflash: Life inside of WOFF is not normal or safe. The degree of radicalization WOFF members live under each day will be made public in the two court cases; the Matthew Fenner trial and the Anderson vs. Anderson divorce/custody case. Both of which have and will continue to reveal at least a portion of the extremes of life behind the closed WOFF doors. The facts revealed during these cases about life inside will be heart-wrenching for some and shocking for all who have never been a member.

For those inside who have never known any contrasting reality, accepting their lifestyle as radical and NOT inclusive of normal or traditional directions is a hard pill to swallow. My advice is start by asking these questions:

– Are “all men (and women) equal” inside of WOFF?
– Why are “God’s ways” so secret, that outsiders would not understand?
– What would happen if you told your entire life story to outsiders? Would Jane approve? Are you sure? Have you ever tried? Why or why not?
– Why do so many of the leadership inside WOFF carry guns? Who or what are they defending?

In these times of social uncertainty and unrest, the citizens of Rutherford County and the surrounding counties need to know that a radicalized sect lives among them with a deep loyalty to protect their harmful lifestyle orchestrated, in my opinion, by a fanatical sociopathic leader bent on filling her financial needs.

2016 continues as the year for changes!

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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. Jane told me and Josh confirmed it.

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Scripture references are Amplified Version unless otherwise noted. (Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation ) This is post number 577.