As I was traveling in my car last Wednesday, my radio was tuned to a local station in Rutherfordton, NC. As happens many times, one can be listening and not really hearing what is being said or the music being played. Actually, I was half listening- that is until a commercial played for a company I was very familiar with: Carlson-Farmer Construction Company. Last I knew this company was owned by Kris Carlson and Ray Farmer. Both of these men and all of their employees attend Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) in Spindale, NC. Many of them I had known very well over the years I attended WOFF. Why bring this up? The irony of a WOFF-member owned company using the radio to advertise for business struck me as odd and full of hypocrisy! WOFF members are NOT allowed to even LISTEN to the radio! Ask RL! He was “corrected” several times in front of us all for listening to the radio and reading the newspaper! Any member of WOFF who has been there for any length of time has already met with “the authority of God” in this area. Her name is Jane Whaley.

   The thought of using the exact thing that Jane Whaley said could take you out of the move of God and into hell, to solicit business seemed wrong! But, that thought reminded me of years ago when I was working for Two Mile Properties in Gaffney, SC and then in Spartanburg, SC. I was the manager of two different apartment complexes over a period from January 2003 until August of 2005. During that time, it was approved to use the newspaper to advertise for renters for the apartments. Naturally, I had to verify the ads were running. So, I had to buy a paper and at least look at the classifieds. At first, I was hesitant because reading the newspaper was billed as something to take you out of the move of God and into hell. Wow! What a conundrum! Required to read it and told not to read it! That was pretty indicative of several things while being a part of WOFF! 

 

   Of course, certain folks would check me out and see if I was giving over while being allowed the privilege of reading a newspaper! I tried to keep them out of plain sight from those who were not afforded the privilege. That too felt weird and confusing. Why was I allowed to read something so simple and yet, later just reading the headlines and telling my daughter about them would be reason to put me in church discipline! Church discipline was like a timeout gone bad- very bad. This link is to a post that reveals why I was put in church discipline- see post here: “Information Control – Newspapers -part 5 (cont.)” http://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=307 )  

    But, there have been some further developments with the local newspaper that were brought to my attention just today! From The Sunday Courier, Forest City, NC, SUNDAY, January 29, 2012– There was an advertising insert titled- “The Best of Rutherford County 2011”.  Maybe I am late seeing this and the voting could have been going on for years even while I was inside and I was just not told or aware. Why? Because unless Jane brought the newspaper in front of the congregation and read something to us or allowed her leadership to read an article to us, we were not allowed to read the local paper. This advertising piece reports the results of voting my readers for the “Best of” in county. The explanation in the front says:

   “Ballots were placed in the paper during December for readers to record their favorite people in 65-plus categories. Only businesses located in Rutherford County are eligible to win. All ballots are counted by an outside source the recognition of these winners are then published. Each first and second place winner are(is) provided a certificate to display in their business to let others know they were voted as Best of the Best!”

   Now this is not an unusual practice. I see these banners in my county and feel this is common in many areas. What I do find odd are how many winners are WOFF businesses AND the fact that WOFF members would not know who won unless Jane tells them- right? After all WOFF members don’t read the newspaper that apparently they were told to send their votes AND comments to in support of the home team! Let us just list a few of the winners and let everyone know who the award-winning WOFF member-owned businesses are in the county.

  Best Contractor- 1^st Carlson Farmer- (remember the radio ad?)

  Best Electrician- 1^st Hall Electric

  Best Doctor- 2^nd Jerry L. Gross, Foot and Ankle Center of the Carolina’s – also, on page C-9 “Dr. Jerry Gross is very good with seeing what needs to be done and helps you with it very well. He is caring for your(you) and your needs”- Zeda Cornelius of Rutherfordton”  Comment from the home team…. Why did he recently move his office?

  Best Attorney- 1^st– Mark Morris – Tomlin, Farmer and Morris- We have mentioned him here before.     Page C-4 includes his picture and his comment.

  Best Real Estate Agent- 1^st– David Caulder, Caulder Realty. He has also been mentioned here before.

  Best Physical Therapist- 2^nd – Debbre Schlabach- last I heard, she worked out of Dr. Gross’ office.  

  Best Restaurant- 2^nd – Café at the Mall- Page C-5 comment- “Café At The Mall is my favorite place. They treat you so special. Every food I’ve had there is top quality. The atmosphere is refreshing and clean. Marcia Lowry of Rutherfordton.” Home team comment.

  Best Quick Food- 1^st– Café at the Mall.

  Best Iced Tea- 2^nd – Café at the Mall.

  Best Desserts- 1^st– Café at the Mall. These guys must put out a fine meal!

  Best Salon- 1^st– RSL Salon- I was unaware that she served a lot of outsiders. But, it could be so.  

  Best Auto Garage- 1^st– Peterson’s Auto Service and Detail Shop. Amazing! I may be wrong, but, I think these guys have been in business less than three years… wow.

  Best Heating and Cooling Company -1^st– Brock Heating and Air

     I feel certain the outside source counting the votes had no clue that the home team would vote early and vote often. Well, the rules don’t seem to be broken. The listing of the businesses in this post is not intended to be a detrimental comment on quality of goods or services. This is just for informational purposes only- so, our readers can see a more complete version of the results.  

   All of these thoughts prompted by the commercial on the radio brought back to me many of the confusing situations that were a part of my time in WOFF. The word confliction came to mind and I actually had to look up the meaning to see if it applied to my experiences. The third definition of the word confliction as a noun seemed to apply:

 “…emotional disturbance resulting from a clash of opposing impulses or from an inability to reconcile impulses with realistic or moral considerations”(found here –http://www.yourdictionary.com/confliction)

  Using that definition, I would say WOFF-life was full of conflictions. Do you agree? There always seemed to be disturbances and clashes of opposing impulses. One impulse to believe Jane and the other to want to verify what was being said or done… It was difficult to verify many things while on the inside because of the lack of free access to outside information. Do you see where this would cause conflictions of soul and mind? If all Jane said and did was true – then why could we not have free access to outside sources to verify what was presented to us? Hmmmm….

   I have mentioned certain conundrums while inside WOFF. The definitions seemed to fit. Take a look:

1.  a riddle whose answer is or involves a pun

2. a : a question or problem having only a conjectural answer b : an intricate and difficult problem  (found here: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conundrum )

    Let us list some of the obvious conflictions and conundrums.  Facebook®- now here is a conundrum. Rutherford County is hungry for jobs! Facebook® decides to locate one of their hubs in Rutherford County. Wow- what a great thing- right? Well, it proves a little confusing for WOFF members. Why? Well, you can get booted out of WOFF quick by putting up a Facebook page and then using it to communicate with those outside the church. How many members have been told they are no longer welcome because of this activity? The confusing part is that my sources tell me that at least one church-member owned company put in bids for Facebook® contracts! How ironic and downright confusing is that? WOFF members can take their money, but, not use their product? The Facebook® money is good and their product is evil? Hmmm…. I am confused.

   Next, how about one I found a few days ago. Rutherford Women Magazine® (in print and found here- www.rutherfordwoman.com ) – It seems simple enough. They highlight different women in the area and tell how they are helping others. The January/February edition has Leigh Valentine on page 10 with several other WOFF members showing how happy they are to use Leigh’s products. The picture of the WOFF women looks like it was taken outside Leigh’s home. Now, this is all fine and good and appears normal – EXCEPT that WOFF members are not allowed to pick up and read MAGAZINES! Yes, ask SS if he was ever fired from Carlson Farmer for reading magazines at the hospital. Yes, KR found him and helped him get fired. It was a whole big deal during one service. He was on church discipline for months!  So, WOFF businesses can advertise in mediums that are evil and forbidden to be used by their members. Confliction or conundrum? At the minimum – confusing.  Or maybe things changed and Jane is now allowing magazines to be handled and read by regular members? Really? Go figure… 

    Moving down the list, we can mention the Holocaust Museum. Now there is a confusing situation. WOFF students have the halls of the school lined with Holocaust pictures memorializing the most tragic event of the last century. Millions of folks lost their lives in the most gruesome ways. But, it started gradually. Hitler began by talking certain freedoms away and imposing increasingly stricter measures on the Jews. It has been well documented the control measures used on the Jews before the actual death camps were used. What is the confusion? Well, many of the very same freedoms robbed from the Jews in the early days of Hitler’s reign are taken from WOFF members when they join WOFF. We will list a few: freedom to travel and associate with whomever you chose; freedom to read anything or have free access to the press, freedom to live where ever and perform whatever occupation you desire, freedom to dress as you please. All of these were taken from the Jews over time. WOFF members get these freedoms taken away much quicker and in the name of the WOFF religion that Jane has created. When you consider it, many parts of her religion are not original- do you agree? Confliction or conundrum?

   We may pick up on this theme in the near future. WOFF-life is confusing to say the least. I have some observations and some more explanations that may help those who have never lived inside, to understand the conundrum called 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, 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 375.