We ended the first post in this series on the term “WOFFness” with “There is more to discuss about the deception of WOFFness on WOFFers and its attempt to deceive those on the outside. Is everyone on the outside of WOFF in love with WOFFness and all that goes with it?” And there were also these questions—“Are WOFF members aware of the effects of the term? Could they not even be aware that they live in WOFFness? What do others outside of WOFF see and know about WOFFness? Do outsiders appreciate WOFFness in every situation?”
As a Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) member for many years, I can say that in my experience; as the life inside WOFF developed into a more distinct sub-culture, I was aware of the changes, but not fully aware of the effects of those changes. The rules were added in a subtle way in many cases and always justified as either “Jane Whaley has said…” or “It is God’s will for this to happen…” or “This activity has opened our young people to sin so we must go in a different direction….” Some seemingly legitimate spiritual reason was given for all of the rules as far as I remember. Yet, rarely if ever did I stop and count or summarize the rules. Very plainly put, Jane Whaley instituted a LOT of rules or “don’ts” as I have shared in previous posts. (see posts in the Category – WOFF Don’ts) But, living in WOFF and under WOFFness meant that the full understanding of how these “don’ts” affected us was not discussed between members or even considered necessarily a bad thing. Living this way was just part of WOFFness. Does this seem plausible? Could someone be under all of the WOFF rules/don’ts and not be affected in some way? Simply keeping up with all the don’ts could cause anxiety, right? After all, the penalty for doing a don’t could be severe and cause great turmoil in your daily life.
Another aspect to note is that while you live in WOFF, you are unaware for the most part that you live in WOFFness. Everyone is either faithfully living WOFFness or faking it very well. So, you don’t stand out in the WOFF crowd. You are in the flow of WOFFness and it all seems very “normal”. Everyone follows the ban on holidays, everyone treats former members the same way, and everyone wears basically the same uniforms or color schemes or types of clothing. These are all part of the WOFF signature as we have mentioned before. Similar to the idea that a fish doesn’t know it is in water, until it is out of the water. For some folks, the water of WOFF is very deep.
Other behaviors included in WOFFness include protecting the honor of Jane at any cost. NO ONE speaks ill of Jane and goes unreported or unpunished. Now, the phrase used to describe this activity may be “protecting the honor of God”, but when it is analyzed, it is really protecting the honor of Jane and her reputation she had created in her mind of WOFF. These ideas included who we were supposed to be while inside and while in public. She perceived WOFF as one way and in reality I found out it is perceived differently by many outsiders.
While I was in WOFF, the perception I had was that everyone on the outside loved WOFF. Well, that was except the folks at Faith Freedom Fund and their supporters. I thought for sure everyone at the courthouse and in the legal system loved Jane and WOFF members. Well, I found out that is not necessarily true. But, when you are a regular member on the inside with very little contact with folks in the local community, you can be told anything and have no way to verify it. Remember, those inside the sub-culture of WOFF are very much INSIDE. For the most part they live, exist and survive INSIDE WOFF. Many have very little one on one personal contact with non-WOFFers of any type. I could not go ask people in the community if they admired and appreciated us. While I was in there, I looked so much like the stereotypical WOFFer, even if I tried, would I have been told the truth.
I could not go and ask teachers at the local colleges if they loved WOFF students and those escorts that would come to class to guard and protect WOFF students. Those college student escorts, I found out they were not as loved and cherished as we were told while we were in WOFF. Why? Why would we not be told the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Is it possible that by telling WOFF members half-truths or outright lies, that it kept down the questions and possible dissent? Do you think? Do you think that the filtering of the news and truth about happenings in the surrounding community had a purpose? What would that be? I am open to suggestions. I found out that living in half-truth and being deceived is definitely a part of WOFFness.
While inside WOFF, I was told that people in the community loved having Jane Whaley come to their funerals, weddings, baby showers and other social functions. We would always be treated to such exhilarating reports of how welcome and applauded Jane and other WOFF members were when they went to social functions for non-WOFF members. For sure, they all loved Jane showing up three states away with 25 WOFF members to a funeral or wedding positioning themselves to sing or preach. It did not have to be three states away; it could be right down the road. We thought Jane and crew were welcome where ever she went. After I left, I found out that this was just another part of the fallacy of WOFF and evidence of intense WOFFness. I heard reports that not everyone loved Jane and her “ministers” showing up and wanting to be the show. The explanation of the WOFF entourage that I heard when I left was a lot different from the reports I received while I was inside. Why? Was this all a part of the spin of WOFFness and the aura Jane wanted to create. Or was this really true in her mind and everyone else went along even if they knew or suspected differently? I could believe that Jane said it, others did not dare to deny it and thus we who stayed at home had no choice but to believe it. After all, when Jane said something- who in WOFF would deny it?
What I found out was that many outsiders found WOFFers nice to look at but hard to deal with in many respects. A former local policeman brought that to my attention. He said that he would have to serve warrants and child custody orders and hated dealing with WOFFers. His reason was that they were so polite but, so slick at answering questions and certain way as to not let go of information they were told to not tell. He had to phrase questions many ways to finally get his answers or sometimes get nowhere and have to come back another day. He could tell adults and children were coached and told what to say and not say- by who? Who do you think?
The meaning of the suffix “-ness” includes forming abstract nouns to indicate quality or state. So, the term WOFFness is meant to reveal the quality or state of life inside WOFF. However in sharing about the inside life, we must then tell how others on the outside see WOFF members in WOFFness. A short recap of these two posts on WOFFness is needed. First, we discussed the arrogance that exists inside WOFF. I must admit it is hard to see while inside until you leave and look back into the years spent in WOFFness. Next, we spoke about the origin of all WOFFness is Jane and the foundation of WOFFness is the fear of Jane. That makes more sense now as we reach the end of this post. We mentioned the dress of those in WOFFness and how that affects them. Next, we mentioned about WOFF-talk and WOFF-speak. For many inside WOFF it would be hard to talk in normal terms. When I came out, I learned how much WOFF-speak was in my everyday language. Another idea basic to understanding WOFFness is knowing that while in WOFF, most everything done seems logical to a WOFFer while to those on the outside, most everything seems illogical. Why? You don’t ask “why” while in WOFFness. We talked about WOFFness in marriage relationships as well as in relationships to other WOFFers. Everyone reports on everyone else or there will be trouble. Also, every part of your life in WOFF is subject to change – by Jane, for any reason. This includes breaking up family units, “so, they can learn the ways of God”. In this post, we covered the ways outsiders see WOFFers and the fact that WOFFers are not aware they live in WOFFness – all is considered “normal”. The deceptions cast on WOFF members are essential to WOFFness and not easily dispelled until members leave WOFF and learn the whole truth.
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, the information about WOFF is from my 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 215.