Several times it has been mentioned that during the services note taking was not allowed. Well, this was not always the case. It changed during a service when a woman came to the microphone. She was an office helper and it was common to see her at the podium making announcements. She said she had just read the notes from the notebook of a certain young man. She called his name and it was known she had been “helping” this young fellow and his family. This fellow’s father was the construction worker in the post about the magazine prohibition.

    The woman began to explain to Jane and others in a general address, that she had looked around during the services and seen people taking notes and not paying attention to “the word” (usually being preached by Jane). She put forth the idea that taking notes was a distraction. In order to prove her point, she began to read to the whole congregation the notes the young man had taken. Now, some were incomplete thoughts- BUT, THEY WERE NOTES! They were his personal notes!  It would be a safe assumption to say he did not expect them to be read aloud to the congregation. The content of the pages is NOT the issue here. From this discovery by this fledgling lieutenant, Jane approved the banning of note taking during services. The only approved note taking was scripture references: no dates, no names, no personal reflections, nothing but scripture references with not even a word or two about the scriptures!  

      The effect was clear and near immediate. “Note Nazis” sprang up EVERYWHERE! You were encouraged to watch your neighbor and make sure they were “taking hold” of the new dictates. Being watched for such details was a horrible feeling that just perpetuated itself on so many areas at WOFF.

     Several children took special interest in their ability to critique and report on adult behavior. During one service, a young boy told his mom that a visiting Brazilian was taking notes during the singing. The mom felt her usual pressure to make sure she reported any transgressions, told Jane in front of the whole congregation. Jane immediately called this man’s name and he was visibly flustered. He went to the front to talk to Jane and explain himself (get checked out..). After a brief conversation, Jane announced to everyone that the notes were okay because he was taking notes on the songs for his church in Brazil. So, the tension was diffused. However, the commandment to keeping watching the behavior of everyone in the service was clear. No one, well almost no one was exempt.

     This spying behavior is clearly explained as a characteristic of a destructive mind control group in Steven Hassan’s “Releasing the Bonds” (copyright 2000) . During the explanation of the B.I.T.E. model of common mind control behaviors; he explains the “I” as representing “Information control”. He explains: “People are expected to spy on one another and report improper activites or comments, such as criticism of the leader, doctrine or organization.” (page 49)

     It should also be noted that the spying requirement on each other was in FLDS. Elissa Wall in “Stolen Innocence“, outlines a situtation where her older sister went to Warren Jeffs about the doubts her mother was having. This led to the break up of her family. ( page 55) This was totally acceptable behavior in FLDS. Yet another similarity between FLDS and WOFF.

     The stopping of members taking notes went along with the increased contol over the audio or video tapes of the services. Since the “attack in 1995” (Inside Edition);  the tapes of services were increasingly controlled. First, you had to sign the tapes out with the person running the sound booth. You could take them with you but, were warned not to leave them in your car! “That could open the church up to an attack.” Next, you could not take the tapes off of the property, you had to listen to them in the fellowship hall. This was required for people missing a service or many of the folks on church discipline. Most nights of a week long seminar, tapes of the morning services or previous evening services were played after the evening service. If you missed the morning service, you were expected to stay after the evening service and watch the tape. Yes, WOFF would score pretty high when it comes to “Information control” as compared to other well documented religious mind control groups.

     Please, consume the information on this site responsibly. Be sure to tell every member that you know at WOFF about this blog. It could very well save their life.

      (Please, take time to read the Terms of Use for this personal blog. As mentioned, the information about WOFF is from my memories and recollections as perfect as that may be or not be. )