Tag Archives: Information control

Books, Resources, Criteria for Cults, Peoples Temple vs WOFF, Uncategorized

35 Years Later, Jim Jones Cult Leaves Lessons for Believers – Charisma News

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Wow! This part of the Charisma® group got one right! A Google Alert® brought the notice of this article to my inbox Friday evening. The article was written by A. James Rudin/RNS and was posted on the “Opinion” page at 8:00AM EST 11/15/2013. The link for the entire article is here. I am unfamiliar with the author but at the end there is information about one his other works –  “A. James Rudin, the American Jewish Committee’s senior interreligious adviser, is the co-author with Marcia Rudin of “Prison or Paradise: The New Religious Cults.” That book sounds interesting.

Recently, I mentioned to a blog reader that I planned to do a post about Jonestown and sent links to two previous posts from a few years ago. They said to be sure and include the links for others to read. We have made comparisons between Jim Jones and Jane Whaley before and we will again as we review further the material in “Raven” by Tim Reiterman with John Jacobs (copyright ©1982 Tim Reiterman, Introduction copyright 2008 by Tim Reiterman, ISBN 978-1-58542-678-2); the authors tell “The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People”. For now I will include the two links and then continue the review of this article.

More From “The Raven”      and              More From The “Raven” (2)

Continue reading 35 Years Later, Jim Jones Cult Leaves Lessons for Believers – Charisma News →

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

Thought Reform? At WOFF? (3) Mystical Manipulation

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    We are continuing on the subject of thought reform. This post is the third 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 second post explained the control of communication and how that affected people within WOFF. Next, we will review another characteristic of thought reform- Mystical Manipulation. Did I see this characteristic during my time at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF)? WOFF is lead by Jane Whaley; I spent 16 years being involved in that group.

    Before I answer that question directly, let me say that I have hesitated for weeks in writing this post as well as all the ones in this series. As I reviewed the material and considered the direction that each post may take, I had come to the unpleasant realization that I have been under the thought reform which I was learning about. I was subject to it while at WOFF- for many years. That is a fact which I cannot deny. At this time, I cannot say with confidence that I see all measures of thought reform that were used against me. Many days, I feel like I am standing on the shore of a vast lake or ocean that is full of new thoughts and deeper more accurate understanding of what happened to me. There is so much that happened which I do not comprehend the full effects- yet. By telling what I have experienced and putting my thoughts out in the light, I am gaining some semblance of understanding and comfort. For sure, I am not alone in admitting that I was under the control of Jane Whaley. She controlled my life as well as the lives of my family directly and indirectly for years. Hundreds and even thousands of people have been and are being controlled by Jane Whaley. Some of those people have left WOFF, many still remain as members.  

   Continue reading Thought Reform? At WOFF? (3) Mystical Manipulation →

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?

Continue reading Thought Reform? At WOFF? (2) Communication →

Behavior Control, Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

Over 5,000 Days and Counting

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    As mentioned, this past week has confirmed the strong curiosity in the surrounding community about Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) and Jane Whaley. One former member asked me a few weeks ago- How do you put out so much stuff? My immediate answer was that I type fast. Well, I type faster than I used to. But, a more complete answer would mention that WOFF has affected my life for over 5,000 days. We were definitely affected by WOFF while in the Greenville church. That was from 1992 until 2002. Add those days to the six years of being inside and then the two years since.  I am gone from there, but my life is still being affected by their ways and beliefs. Some of that is due to what is still affecting me personally. Some is due to certain ongoing personal situations that are not resolved. So far, there are less than 200 posts on this blog. The actual number of days that WOFF has affected my life is closer to 6,000; but who is counting? True, many of those days I was under the impression that the effects were positive. It was not until 2005, during a period of a few months and later starting in late 2007 and early 2008 that I began to see the negative nature of certain effects of WOFF in my life. But, shall I post one for one? I am a long ways behind the count even if I have any hope of catching up…

   Along those lines, it is a good place to restate that the effects of WOFF on its members vary from person to person. Some of this is due to length of time in the group, how many “changes” were made to make the person’s life WOFF-compliant and if other family members went into WOFF along with the person in question. Some folks go in and come out- without having other family members directly involved or becoming a part of the group. That person may have a better chance of escaping some of the emotional stress associated with leaving and having family members stay in the group. Yes, these are all only my observations. I have no hard statistical data to back these statements. But, I do know folks who appeared to have a less traumatic exit. In order to verify this statement, I would have to speak directly to those individuals.

       Continue reading Over 5,000 Days and Counting →

Behavior Control, Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

Why Should Others Outside of WOFF Care? Part 4

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     Again, we are continuing our series as an answer to the question from our title- “Why Should Others Outside of WOFF Care? Our direction is still with the list of unalienable rights which members of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) must surrender in order to continue with the group.  Our source for the list of unalienable rights is listed in the book, “The Five Thousand Year Leap” by W. Cleon Skousen (copyright C&J Investments, ISBN 0-9815596-6-2). There are 22 rights listed, we are only reviewing a few of them that are obvious ones which WOFF members surrender. A more complete discussion of each right and how controlling groups violate these rights would be a topic taken up in a different forum.  I recommend that readers obtain a copy of the book in order to read and study the entire work of the author.

    Skousen’s list on page 95 continues:

     “The right to privacy” This was considered an unalienable right by our Founding Fathers. From what I can tell, there are two ditches, so to speak in this discussion. One ditch or extreme view would be to de-regulate the activities of citizens, to allow that an act done in the privacy of the home that crosses good moral bounds should be excused, in the name of privacy. The other extreme would be to over-regulate the personal lives of citizens as to deny even the simple and obvious rights to privacy that would be confirmed by common sense and reason.

    It is odd that for a religious group such as WOFF, that demands privacy during their services by not allowing video, pictures or recording of any kind (unless determined by Jane Whaley to be appropriate for the specific occasion); they trample and destroy the right to privacy of their members in many areas. Members who live in WOFF households give up and surrender their privacy as a general rule. Some rights are given up, some are “taken” by those exercising leadership or “authority”.

     As a member, you must first understand that any “sin” found in your room, personal space, on your computer, on your phone, in your thoughts or discovered in your daily lifestyle is subject to public exposure and correction during a service- for the “learning” of all other members. Every member is responsible to expose sin in every other member. If you don’t then you are just as guilty of that sin. If you don’t realize this going in, you will soon learn by watching some other member as an example or becoming an example – yourself.

    Continue reading Why Should Others Outside of WOFF Care? Part 4 →

Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

Keep Reading and Asking Questions

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     While reviewing the comments today, I read the following from a reader. Here is a partial quote… “ I have a friend who was a part of a cult for years because her family was and that was all that she had known until she got older and began to question and (she) was sent out because she questioned those in charge.”  Though I know this reader from years past, I do not know her friend. It saddens me to learn of anyone who is or has been in a controlling group, religious or otherwise. However, the reader admits she can understand the scope of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). After writing these posts consistently for about five months, I still learn of folks who have a hard time believing that the events I tell about were real and actually happened. I believe some may go so far as to think that these events happened to him; but they can’t still be happening, can they? After all, wouldn’t Jane Whaley and her leadership change and stop controlling each other and the regular members after these posts expose their dealings and doings? I have no evidence to support that statement. This blog is not the first or the only place where former members share their testimony of the controlling measures used at WOFF. Still the control continues, month after month, year after life stealing year.

  Continue reading Keep Reading and Asking Questions →

Behavior Control, Information control, Uncategorized, WOFF and Money Issues, WOFF Website

WOFF Contradictions – Part 3

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     We continue on with the contradictions that I witnessed at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). The previously stated qualifying statements continue here. These are my opinions. Some contradictions are obvious and some need to be explained.  

     The WOFF website contains very interesting information and pictures. Under the “Outreach” tab there is a header for “Political Outreach”. On this page there are several photos of current and former elected officials including former First Lady Laura Bush, former Congressman Charles Taylor, Lt. Governor Walter Dalton and North Carolina Senator Debbie Clary. All of this is very impressive. Another page in this grouping is titled “Our Purpose”…. This page explains the position of WOFF in reference to praying for and respecting civil authorities. The text goes on to explain the many activities that WOFF and its members have been involved in such as voter registrations, non-partisan forums, congressional prayer breakfasts, petitioning of state and national leaders.  

     The Articles of Incorporation for The Word of Faith Fellowship, Incorporated can be found at the following link.   http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/corporations/Filings.aspx?PItemId=4982905   This is public information on the North Carolina Secretary of State website.  Under Article X, it says that “No substantial part of the activities of Word of Faith Fellowship, Incorporated shall be the carrying on of propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation and The Word of Faith Fellowship, Incorporated shall not participate in or intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements) a political campaign”.  I encourage readers to read the entire document for context.

   Continue reading WOFF Contradictions – Part 3 →