Category Archives: Information control

Books, Resources, Criteria for Cults, Information control, Uncategorized

I Signed the “Waiver and Release”- Why?

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   As the months and years pass, there are memories of events from my time inside Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) that resurface. Some come back clear, others are more elusive and need some help to remember details of importance. This week, I was given a copy of the “Waiver and Release” that members of WOFF were required to sign if they intended to receive “prayer”. As far as I remember, these events took place AFTER the 1995 Inside Edition story. (We will reconnect with that resource video in a future post!) Just exactly when I signed this document I do not remember. If I was given a copy, I do not know where it is right now. If there were different versions, I am not aware. So, as far as I know, the version included in this post is the version I signed. If it is not, JC or someone else at WOFF could email me the one I signed. Certainly, there is a copy in the file being kept on me at WOFF.

    Allow me some more disclosure type statements before we review the document and my opinions on it. I am not an attorney and my limited experience with contracts includes mainly those contracts and agreements that deal with money owed. I also have limited experience with rental contracts and lease agreements for houses and apartments. Over the years, I have signed other contracts as we all do in the course of living in the United States. However, I do not claim to be an expert on documents such as this “Waiver and Release”. This post will include my opinions, reflections and questions; lots of questions.

    Some may ask why even bring this up? And in answer to that I will admit I do not know the specific events that triggered the requirement, but, we were told that some had left and “attacked”. (Yes, not a news flash…) We were told this would protect the church from others making false claims and future “attacks”. Again, we were also told NO ONE gets prayer or hands laid on them without signing the document. Also, I will say that like some other things, this document and the mention of it faded into the lost annals of WOFF history. Why it was not used any longer after a period of time, I do not know for certain. However, I will offer my opinions on that later in the post. Others who were in leadership could probably shed more light on the inner decisions about this waiver. This document came along before WOFF financed, supported and acquired their own in-house legal counsel.   

Click here to view-  WOFF Waiver and Release    (Use your Back button in your browser to return to the post)

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Books, Resources, Information control, Uncategorized, WOFF Website

We Are Willing to Work with You – Maybe

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   Recently, I received a copy of a letter written many years ago to a couple outside of North Carolina and signed by Jane Whaley as “Superintendent of Word of Faith Christian School”. I am including a redacted copy in this post as evidence to my point. The identity of the recipients and the former Word of Faith Christian School (WFCS) students are not critical to this post. The text of the letter is my purpose. The date of the letter is September 7, 1994. John, why even use this letter? As we go through the letter, that will become more obvious.

   My first meeting at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) was in May of 1992. Honestly, as a commuter from the Greenville church, much of what went on at WOFF did not get relayed to us. We attended meetings when everyone was on their best behavior- if that was possible. As the months and years passed, many of the quirks and family secrets of WOFF were played out before the Greenville members. We were exhorted to be like “family” and encouraged to participate as much as possible during the times we were there. All that being said; as “regular members”, we did not see certain events which played out behind Jane’s closed doors. Also, I must admit I did not and do not know the former members referenced in the letter.

   To see letter click here:   Letter from Jane Whaley  (you may need to use the back arrow in your browser to retun to this post)

   The scenario is common at WFCS. Not every student stays “submitted” and totally enthralled with Jane, KR, JC or the other teachers at the school. Students do leave before they finish. Has there ever been a student or family that left without some drama- either immediate or delayed? If there was, I never knew it. When ANYONE leaves WOFF, there were/are emotions and some sort of drama to “walk through”. Okay, if a person leaves at all, that is an accomplishment.

   Continue reading We Are Willing to Work with You – Maybe →

Behavior Control, Criteria for Cults, Information control, Uncategorized

“Using Wisdom”

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     As I read different books by different cult survivors and cult experts and learn that the phrases and actions that I experienced at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) were NOT unique in many regards; it still continues to shock me. Before leaving WOFF, I would have NEVER conceded that there was any other group in America, much less several other groups, that acted and behaved as we did at WOFF. Call it ignorance, call it naïveté. Call it a willful blindness to the very few warnings were allowed to slip past the guard of Jane Whaley and those in leadership. Whatever you call it, I suspect I am not the only one. For those other survivors who have left WOFF, I hope you are learning along with me. For those outside of WOFF, who have never been in a controlling group, my shock is probably hard to comprehend. Nonetheless, we move on with our review of a book written by a survivor of another group with many similarities to WOFF.

       We have posted from this source before. “Breaking the Chains” Overcoming the Spiritual Abuse of a False Gospel (Copyright © 2009 by Shari Howerton, ISBN- 978-0-9713499-4-0). This book has been an emotional read for me. The feelings and emotions of the author come through clearly in many places and I can readily identify with her. It has been hard to read more than a few chapters at one time because of my own memories that so mirror many reflections of the author. In the chapter titled, “Using Wisdom”, I found material that I was very familiar with. The author writes, “Growing up in such a tight-knit community leads to lives becoming deeply intertwined. Most marry within the group.” (page 160) Let me stop here and mention that though I did not grow-up within WOFF, I spent many years there and became very intertwined in several lives. At WOFF, NO ONE marries outside the group. NO ONE even has a friendship/dating relationship with the opposite sex, outside of WOFF. If you want a relationship of that nature outside of WOFF, you leave the group to pursue it. Do I need to mention names, here? So, WOFF is MORE controlling than the author’s group.

     Continue reading “Using Wisdom” →

Books, Resources, Criteria for Cults, Information control, Thought Reform

Thought Reform? At WOFF? (7) “Loading the Language”

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    We are continuing on the subject of thought reform. This post is the seventh in a series which will tell what thought reform is and what behavior is evidence of a thought reform environment. Our reference book is “Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism” by Robert Jay Lifton (original copyright 1961, later published again in 1989, ISBN 0-8078-4253-2 [alk. Paper]). This work has been from Chapter 22 titled “Ideological Totalism”. The sixth post explained the “Sacred Science” and how that affected members within WOFF. Next, we will review another characteristic of thought reform- “Loading the Language”. Did I see this characteristic of thought reform during my time at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF)? WOFF is run by Jane Whaley. As a review, I spent 16 years being involved in WOFF. My experience within the group is a “normal” one as far as I can tell.

      Before we get into the source material, we need to make a few distinctions on this subject. First, most every group in any culture will have specific terms related to unique activities or customs within that group. This is true in business, sub-cultures, hobby groups, industrial trades, medical fields and so on. These could be labeled “lingo” or group-activity specific unique terms. I have experienced this in many areas as I feel certain many readers have as well. In business, there are even unique terms in diverse groups within one industry or company. This is a serious part of the learning curve when one moves from one group to another or even one job to another within the same field. For instance, there are differing terms to describe many of the same services or products within the consumer financial services industry. Banks use one set of terms and Credit Unions use another to describe many of the same products or services.

    In and of themselves, these “lingo” terms do not harm but serve to identify and in some cases unify folks around a certain activity or cause. So, where does the harm reside in the totalist environment when terms describing certain activities or beliefs are used? Robert Lifton opens the material with this statement, “The language of the totalist environment is characterized by the thought-terminating cliché. The most far-reaching and complex of human problems are compressed into brief, highly reductive, definitive-sounding phrases, easily memorized and easily expressed.” (page 429) Can former members agree that this was common at WOFF?

    Continue reading Thought Reform? At WOFF? (7) “Loading the Language” →

Behavior Control, Books, Resources, Criteria for Cults, Information control, Thought Reform, Uncategorized

Thought Reform? At WOFF? (2) Communication

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    We are continuing on the subject of thought reform. This post is the second in a series which will tell what thought reform is and what behavior(s) is evidence of thought reform. Our reference book is “Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism” by Robert Jay Lifton (original copyright 1961, later published again in 1989, ISBN 0-8078-4253-2 [alk. Paper]). I will work from Chapter 22 titled “Ideological Totalism”. The first post explained the environment for such Ideological Totalism. Next, we will review the characteristics of such environments and how I saw these characteristics during my time at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). WOFF is lead by Jane Whaley; I spent 16 years being involved in that group. 

    Just what kind of influences and/or pressures does Lifton claim are brought to bear on someone to begin or continue the process of “thought reform”? He writes: “The most basic feature of the thought reform environment, the psychological current upon which all else depends, is the control of human communication.” (page 420) Lifton calls this “milieu control”.  A simple definition of “milieu” is the “physical or social setting in which something occurs” – found here: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/milieu. So, the purpose of a totalistic group leader is to control the environment that he or she has created and more specifically the communication or flow of information within that group or environment.

    Before we go further with Lifton’s writings on the effects of such control, let’s stop and reflect about what we know of WOFF and Jane Whaley. Could this even be true at WOFF? Is there an attempt to control the communication at WOFF? One may note there are so many cell phones at WOFF, how could Jane control their use? It should also be noted that WOFF folks ideally stay around WOFF folks most ALL the time. How could Jane control the conversations and communications between members?

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Behavior Control, Books, Resources, Criteria for Cults, Information control, Thought Reform, Uncategorized

Movies and Thoughts on “Thought Reform”

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     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.

   Continue reading Movies and Thoughts on “Thought Reform” →

Behavior Control, Criteria for Cults, Information control, Uncategorized

Link to “The Cult Test”

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“The Cult Test” from “A. Orange” Shows Many Characteristics of Cults

     Rarely, would I depend on an outside link for the bulk of a post. However, the link below leads to a “The Cult Test” which has some very good information. I came across this link several months ago and had forgotten about it until recently. I do not endorse all the information on the site for this link. There is no way that I have been able to proof read every bit of information on the site. There is no benefit to me for you to click to the site from the link below. You may open a separate browser session and copy, paste the link in your new browser, if you would feel more comfortable.

     There are 100 statements which “A. Orange” believes help determine if a group is a cult. There is information about several groups including A.A. Several sources which I am familiar with are quoted.  Frankly, the information about the Eastern religious groups I am not very familiar with and have a hard time pronouncing the names. However, when I first read the list, MANY of the statements rang true in my experience with Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) and Jane Whaley. A few have been listed below. The purpose is to give you some idea what is included in the entire list. The complete list is on the first page of the site.

(The name for the website is listed to a Terrance Hodgins from Portland, OR. One of his main point seems to be exposing AA as a cult. Some information may be repetitive and/or lacking organization. That being said; this is one site that gathers a lot of information in one place and is still worth reading, in my opinion.) 

22. The cult is self-absorbed.
That is, the cult is the most important thing in the lives of the cult members. Sometimes, it is their entire life.

Continue reading Link to “The Cult Test” →