Sunday evening, MSNBC aired a documentary about Teen Mania and the Honor Academy. In previous posts, we have reviewed the Teen Mania program. The link is here: Protests in Dallas at Acquire the Fire Conference – http://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=4049 . The latest post for the alumni blog is titled “MSNBC Airs Documentary on Honor Academy”- http://www.recoveringalumni.com/2011/11/msnbc-airs-documentary-on-honor-academy.html .
Here is the trailer from docs.msnbc.com
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The documentary contains the stories of several survivors of Teen Mania receiving counseling after their time in the program. The film was very well done, I was impressed. One participant, Mica, is the author of the alumni blog and she has been out of the group several years. She is directly responsible for giving former members the forum to tell their story and share with the world the inner workings of the group. The documentary also contains footage from the website for Teen Mania that explains their presentation of their message. As I watched the show, I was very glad that footage from Teen Mania was used to allow others to see the presentation used to recruit young people. There were glorious scenes of worship services where many young people appeared caught up in the rapture of the moment. There were also scenes of the physical and emotional abuses contained in the ESOAL program.
I found this ESOL film on Mica’s blog. Many scenes appeared surreal even after reading Mica’s blog. The scenes showing the hardships and the “training” conditions reminded of scenes from basics at Parris Island or worse.
The counselors for the survivors were Doug and Wendy Duncan. Their website is found here: http://www.dallascult.com/ . A paragraph from their website follows:
“Doug and Wendy Duncan are former members of a religious cult, the Trinity Foundation, in Dallas, Texas. After leaving the cult where he was a member for over twenty years, Doug earned his master’s degree in counseling and is now a licensed professional counselor in the state of Texas. Wendy is a licensed social worker and holds a master’s degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. She is also the author of I Can’t Hear God Anymore: Life in a Dallas Cult, the true story of the couple’s involvement in and eventual separation from a cult.”
The counseling sessions included the survivors Teen Mania openly talking about their experiences and their struggles after leaving the group. The Duncans used the outline from the work of Robert Lifton explaining the eight criteria for mind control. (link here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_Reform_and_the_Psychology_of_Totalism .) The sessions included comparing the experiences of the survivors with the criteria Lifton documented were mind control techniques. Naturally, as I listened to the survivors I compared their observations with my experiences and found many common points. Close to the end, one survivor is encouraged to realize what happened to her was not her fault. Mica speaks up to say that they were all guilty of wanting to be a good person, a good Christian and to help other people. She also regretted the years spent not knowing it was okay to enjoy her life. She could walk free from the guilt and shame and not fear being judged. (paraphrased) Another survivor expressed her feelings about sharing her story on Mica’s blog and that it helped validate her experiences.
This documentary helped me understand my involvement in Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) and how to look at others who remain in the group. Members of mind control groups have no idea the severity of the measures being used against them and are taught to blame themselves for not being able to submit or believe the strange doctrines or participate in the strange practices of such groups. Doug Duncan concluded that all eight of Lifton’s characteristics of mind control or thought reform were present at Teen Mania. After reading Lifton’s work and remembering my experiences inside WOFF, I have come to the same conclusion about my time in WOFF. As a regular member inside WOFF, I was under mind control measures – daily.
At the end of this documentary, there was a disclaimer stating that the producers requested a second interview with the leaders of Teen Mania to allow him to answer the claims of survivors and they refused. I am not sure when/if this will be aired again. If you are interested in learning more about the group, please, read Mica’s blog.
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, for posts written by John Huddle, any information about WOFF is from his 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 359.
Thanks for letting me know about this documentary. Can’t say I “enjoyed it”: but it showed the sames techniques of mind control WOFF uses. It was worth watching just to hear at the end that ” it wasn’t our fault”. Always remember that my friend! Talk to you soon.
Friend,
I agree, the revelation that being under mind control is EXACTLY that – UNDER mind control. People under mind control or thought reform were/are victims. Look forward to talking to you again.
John
I attended The Honor Academy, and I had a good experience. What the doc failed to show was that every event at Teen Mania is voluntary. I participated in ESOAL and when I wasn’t enjoying it anymore, I stopped and went and had dinner with friends who didn’t participate or participated and quit like I did. I know people that didn’t agree with Teen Mania’s stance or didn’t like after being there for some time and those people left. I’m still friends with many of them. I hate that these girls didn’t like Teen Mania after they left but they weren’t forced to stay.
Corey,
Thank you for taking time to comment. Was there a stigma for being a “quitter”? Did you stop before the vomit-inducing food? If not, how was that? Did you know or recognize what you were eating? How were food alergies handled? Agreed, the ESOAL was the most dramatic events depicted, but, what about those required to “volunteer” for the phone bank? Did you get involved at that level? I would appreciate more of your reflections.
John
Teen Mania is not a cult! You take what you want to show us and make it look horrible! Teen Mania is an amazing place for teens to grow closer to God. No one is forces to go there. If you don’t like it, leave.. It’s pretty simple!
When I say that everything was volunteer, I mean everything was volunteer for retreats like ESOAL. As a matter of fact, when I quit ESOAL, I told Dave Hasz that I was done and was going to dinner, he said, “good idea” There was no guilt or feeling like I was not a good christian. As far as being an intern, there were weekends that you were required to stay on campus or retreats that were required like where we went to six flags/ and the water park in dallas or went to a mavericks game. There were also times we were required to help do things around the campus but that was just part of being an intern.
My sister was an intern with the Honor Acadamy and I also was involved with Teen Mania through their Global Expeditions program. I went on multiple summer mission trips throughout my high school years through that program and I don’t regret a thing about it. Like Corey said, ESOAL was a voluntary thing and I remember my sister and her Honor Academy roommates coming home for Thanksgiving (my family lived the closest out of all the roommates’ family so we saw them alot). They were all talking about ESOAL since it had just happened and they were talking about when they “rung out” and how challenging it was but they’re glad they did what they could. They each had a sense of accomplishment and not a single one of those six ladies (yes six, even more than the four used for this biased “documentary”) had any guilt about when they left ESOAL or why they decided to leave when they did. I take issue with how this blog refers to people who went through the internship as “survivors who got out”. Anyone who participates in any Teen Mania program has the choice to take part and the choice to leave, and comparing them to say Prisoners of War for example is quite unfair to people who have been kept at their own will in awful surroundings. As far as the term “got out”, it’s not like these people went running through the gates hoping to not get caught. The program is a year long and when you complete it, you move on to the next chapter in life. You don’t stay on campus or as part of the program. I know I can speak for my sister when I say she really was glad she had her time in the Honor Academy. She had just graduated high school and was unsure about what to do but she knew friends who had been interns there and she decided this could be a good “gap year” thing to do. Now she is an emotionally healthy mother and wife thriving in a great job and I believe her time there helped her learn alot about herself and only made her a stronger person. I’m really sad that this program is coming under fire because this is such an unfair and one sided perspective.
Corey,
Before you began the program, were you told in advance all of the requirements for the long shifts and were you shown the actual conditions you would be working in? Did the A/c get turned down for visitors and back up when guests left the property?
John
Anna,
Thank you for taking time to read and comment. The material on this blog in not intended to offend, but to help those who have been or are under thought reform or mind control find answers and recover from their experience. Let me quote from a resource book often used here: Steven Hassan’s book, “Combatting Cult Mind Control” (Copyright©1988, 1990- by Steven Hassan, Park Street Press, ISBN-0-89281-311-3). From Chapter 4 titled: Understanding Mind Control. Hassan writes, “When I lecture in colleges, I usually challenge my audience with the question, “How would you know if you were under mind control?” After some reflection, most people will realize that if one were under mind control, it would be impossible to determine it without some help from others. In addition, one would need to understand very clearly what mind control is.” (page 53) Clearly when someone is under mind control methods, they are not aware of them. The documentary outlined methods of influence and behavior modification used in the Teen Mania program. If you remember, one of the participants in the counseling made it clear she believed she was having a true experience with God. No one corrected or tried to dissuade her from that assertion.
As I read your comment, it seemed you were saying since the people you knew that had been through the program appeared fine after they left, then the program is good. You must consider if “the ends justify the means”? Also, could you have been under something other than divinely inspired methods of behavior modification? Just consider.
John
I visited the campus so I knew exactly what I was doing. As far as dorm conditions, I went to Ole Miss upon leaving TM and those dorms were a lot worse off. I currently run my own business and I work a lot. The A/C thing didn’t happen when I was there, so I can’t comment on that.
I hope that people realized the things that are unbiblical about it rather than say I don’t see anything wrong or “I don’t think”. I understand going thru this sorta of thing for discipline or other things, but when you try to fit God into it, then its a problem, then it must line up with His word…Remember its Scripture and then experience not Experience and then scripture. When we have an experience it is to be tried aganst the word of God not made to fit in it in whatsoever way we wish it to….There’s alot bondage type of mentality in this program. There’s also the need to really know what God’s word say’s, all that activity with no real studying of the word being made extremely important is not what God wants. You can’t know the Lord’s thought’s on something unless you read what He say’s about what He thinks……I was n the military and basic looked similar to this. Like I said nothing wrong with it until you try to put God in it, like He approve’s of such things and way’s.
John, Excellent story on my day in court on Jan. 4, 2013. I won’t go into describing what REALLY happened in October that led to me filing stalking, wrongful imprisonment and damage to property charges. I will simple focus on the inadequacy, which part of me believes was on purpose, of the District Attorney that represented me. First, I was denied my right to sit at my own attorney’s table by Brad Greenway, District Attorney of Rutherford County. I even requested it thru a note to my attorney and she never even acknowledged me. I was forced to sit in the audience with about 30 Word of Faith people all breathing down my neck. But I endured that. I was used to their intimidation tactics. I have experienced them first hand. Next, I was not allowed to meet with my attorney privately. At the request of the DA Det. Keever of the Sherriff’s dept of Rutherford Co, who was in the courtroom all day taking page after page of notes, was in my meeting with my attorney writing down everything I said. I called Mr. Keever and asked him why he was there in the meeting. He stated to me that he was directed to do so by the DA. It is interesting to know that Det. Keever is the lead detective in Michael Lowry’s case which has been a joke since Michael filed charges way back in Feb. 2012. Michael returned to Rutherford Co in Oct. 2012 (I was his driver…as Michael, a 22 year old man was never allowed to get a drivers license at the direction of Jane Whaley) to find out why Det. Keever had NOT DONE ONE OUNCE of detective work on Mr. Lowry’s case. Michael had to meet with another detective of the Sherriff’s Dept just to get an accurate report. His first complaint he filed with Mr. Keever in Feb of 2012 was maybe 4 sentences long with no details or names of those Michael was accusing of assaulting him in the 4th building on the campus of WOFF. This is the building where Jane forces MEN to go if she feels they have sexual sins in their lives. Michael’s 2nd report he filed in Oct. 2012 was several pages long. My question is, “Who is Det. Keever really working for? The people of Rutherford Co or The Word of Faith Fellowship. Next on my case, my attorney refused to call me back to the witness stand (at my request) to rebuttle the lies that every witness of WOFF had just purgered themselves with, including Karel Reynolds who was called as a witness (not sure why)…who, as his typical for her character, did a beautiful acting job of crying. Too bad there where no tears. She must have learned that from Jane Whaley. Every picture they used against me (which proved they were stalking me) I could have rebuttled and told the TRUTH. I was not even allowed to testify as to the 4 times WOFF security came to my friends homes in other states harrassing me and attempting to force me to come back to the cult. WOFF attorney’s continued “mocking” the fact that I had had a legal name change from Butcher to Cooper over 3 years ago. My attorney again never asked me why I had a legal name change (even though I told her in the initial interview). I had to change my name as it was the ONLY WAY TO KEEP WOFF personel from harrassing me. I fled the state of NC years ago with nothing bu the cloths on my back. I had attempted to escape numerous times before I was successful but was always found and forced back to the cult…I could go on and on about the injustice done to me that day in court. But you know…I am so much more happier and blessed by the Lord since leaving the mind control of Jane Whaley. I am honored to ridiculed and my character defamed in the courtroom of Rutherford Co at the permission of the District Attorney. I would do it all again if it will help people like Michael Lowry, a former prisoner of a damaging cult. I will continue to stand for what is right and assist any other former or current member of WOFF that asks me. What can WOFF do to me? I am free…FREE INDEED!