In October of 2008, an episode aired in the Criminal Minds® television series was called “Minimal Loss”. I did not see it then since I still did not own a television even though I came out of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) in July of 2008. Not until August of 2009 did I purchase a television. Some teachings of WOFF and Jane Whaley were hard to measure against the reality of “new” freedoms. Change was hard to come by after 16 years. “Minimal Loss” depicts two of the shows main characters as they attempt an investigation into a religious cult. Yes, I know the whole premise was conjecture and very much “Hollywood”. However, after watching it a few times, I began to see it as a composite of several true aspects of religious cults of years past. A conversation with a cult expert over this question confirmed my thoughts as they agreed the show was a composite depiction of certain known characteristics of cults.

    In brief, the local authorities become suspicious after a phone call is made accusing one of the male leaders of inappropriate contact with underage females. That is not unlike Tony Alamo of Alamo Ministries, Warren Jeffs of FLDS or Michael Tessner of Strong City. All of whom we have written about before and last I checked each was serving prison time for convictions on these types of crimes. The religious cult in the show lives on a compound set in many ways similar to the one the Branch Davidians lived on in Waco, TX. There are weapons and explosives and the like used during the show. Two FBI agents from the BAU team go in undercover to assess the situation and interview the younger females. The whole plan blows up literally when a State leader orders a raid based on an ongoing weapons investigation he was leading. The raid goes bad and I will not go into a lot more detail of the sequence of events except to draw out some interesting content that pertains to the theme of this blog.

   Let me acknowledge here that I am sure I do not recognize all the similarities between the show content and other cults. Even after watching it four times, I see new things. I am also sure I am set to key in on certain things that relate to my experience in WOFF and under the teachings and directives of Jane Whaley. After the State raid goes bad, the BAU is called in to negotiate with the cult leader for the best ending possible. The title of the show comes from the strategy used. Minimal Loss is the chosen strategy otherwise known as the “trickle theory”. Moves are plotted to get one person released, then maybe one or two more and then more. If at any time the negotiations break down the team would go in the extract as many as possible recognizing they will not save everyone. Some will die and in this show some did as we will mention later.   

 

     When briefing the teams assembled on cult organization, the structure of a cult is drawn as a pyramid. The cult leader is at the top. Underneath the leader in the diagram are “die hard believers”. Under this level are “followers”. When I saw this diagram and the description I knew it could be traced to other material written by cult experts who have studied cults of all types. I also could confirm that WOFF is structured this way. I suspect Jane would deny it, but for years she held “leadership” meetings before regular services to “train the ministers” and in reality train the “die hard believers” to work with the “followers” and “deal with their sin”. She became frustrated with this as she had to “deal with the sin in the ministers” so why have the meetings?  

   When I left in 2008, the ministers meetings had transitioned into a core group of ministers meeting in Jane’s office before services to get ahold of the flow of the service and deal with sin. Followers or regular members, as I have referred to them in previous posts, and ministers would line the hallway by the office and wait for help from a core group of die hard believers – Jane’s closest trusted ministers who were usually in her office. These ministers stayed close by to check out the situations (sin) with Jane. As hard as Jane may have tried to delegate authority/power, it never seemed to be too far from the center of the group- which was Jane herself.

   Back to Minimal Loss, the plan plays out and soon a little girl is released. Somewhere along in here there is a reenactment of the poison drink- suicide practice runs that Jim Jones had before he committed the real thing. The names of the followers who reacted in fear or lack of faith are recorded and later these would be released. In explaining to the cult why certain ones were being told to leave, the leader says something to the effect of “They no longer love us. Those who want to leave have lost their faith in God.” These types of statements are told about those who leave EVERY cult including WOFF. This is a common tactic of cult leaders and one in which I could readily recognize as a depiction of truth.

    This composite depiction of a religious cult implosion includes several scenes with the children of the group. The leader is shown as having a fixation to keep them safe and whatever. It reminded me of the scene in the move Join Us which showed Robert J. Lifton saying this about cults, “Children become symbols of the future. It is as if you can create ideal children according to your cultic standards, then you are realizing immortality.” Would anybody say this observation could be affirmed with the emphasis at WOFF? From my experience I could affirm that. Jane has for years been fixated on the children and young people. Why? Short answer- they were/are the easiest to influence. Today’s answer would include her desire to groom her grandson according to her cultic standards.

   Consider that as we review one of the plots in Minimal Loss. Near the end of the show, the mother who made the call is asked to help get the followers out before the leader blows up the compound as a last act in front of the world. The mother admits she allowed her daughter of 14 to marry the leader because she feared for her life. She agrees to lead the others to safety and her daughter goes along until she realizes her mother lied to her to get her out of the group. All during the show this daughter had been shown as a true zealot with the blind zeal we have discussed in previous posts. In a last act, the daughter sees her husband, the cult leader, dead and then chooses to detonate the dynamite and blow up the main compound building. The mother is left to deal with the loss of a daughter who displayed the blind zeal and loyalty required by the cult leader.

   Yes, this is Hollywood. I know that. But, I found it more than ironic that so many aspects of the show were based on research and outtakes from true cult scenarios, then the writers end the show with such a display of blind zeal from a child of 14. What had they noticed in their cult research that gave them the confidence that this ending would not be surreal? I believe it could be a real scenario. My time both inside and outside WOFF has brought into focus the intense zeal that many children and youth have at WOFF. This zeal takes on a surreal intensity at times. Does anyone doubt that after seeing the youth from WOFF? My first recognition of this zeal, while inside, came when witnessing how children of divorced parents treated the parent that had left WOFF. It was/is hard to describe, but the mocking of that parent was applauded and encouraged. I saw it over and over. No one publically corrected these children for defying the parent who was not in WOFF. In fact, there was an encouragement to act out when with that parent. This encouragement only served as an approval mechanism for destructive behaviors. My understanding of this blind zeal in children continues to grow.  

       Recognizing this trait of blind zeal in adults AND children can help one understand life within cults- especially WOFF. It defies logic; it blinds the ones who live in it and leaves others outside the group in a state of shock when the intensity of this zeal is seen. While inside, I would have told you the object of this zeal was God. That shows the nature of the blindness. Now I see that the blindness in this zeal is not meant to hide the zeal itself. The blindness covers those who have it from seeing the true object of that zeal, which is Jane Whaley and not God. Does this seem like a plausible explanation?

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Quick Update: Spring Missions Project Part 3 was tonight. I did not walk up and down the road, it was too hot. I stood near the entrance of the restaurant across from Old Flynn Road which leads to WOFF. There were some picture takers but, no police. I stood with my sign and watched as WOFF members came up the ramp from Highway 74. Most ignored me and kept their heads turned away. Jane and her daughter made it a point to “show themselves friendly” and waved real big my way. Do you think they read my blog? Anyway, very few others waved, most had their scowl going.

   Oh, one more thing. There was one security guy out front to watch me. He yelled over to me. I didn’t understand him at first. He repeated himself. He had asked me to “stand on one leg like a clown so he could get a picture”. He then proceeded to demonstrate. I understood him then, but since he was doing such a fine job, I thought one clown on Oakland Road was enough. I told him I would not do that for him. He laughed and continued taking my picture. Did Jane teach him to treat folks like that? I doubt it; I think he got the clown part on his own. He seems to be such a natural for his “security” job.   

   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 297.