Not often do I think that a line from a movie is worth sharing. However, this one will not go away and it finally became an idea worthy of sharing here. Suzanne Collins’ book and subsequent movie- “The Hunger Games” had been out for a long time before I was convinced by a friend to see it. Contrary to what some in Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) may believe, I don’t readily read or desire works of fiction. In order to appease this request, I agreed to watch the first of the trilogy by Ms. Collins. The main attraction for me was the story was filmed in Asheville, NC. Once I learned that, it made the thought of watching it a bit easier.

My purpose is here is not a full movie review. If you have not seen the movie, then make your own decision. Let me just set the scene and provide the quote. Somewhere on the North American continent in the distant future and after a rebellion is quashed; the ruling class sets up 12 districts called Pan AM and begins to rule with an iron hand. President Snow is speaking to the man in charge of the annual Hunger Games about the growing unrest in the outlying districts. The citizens there have no say in how they are governed. President Snow says, “Hope is the only thing stronger than fear.” And he goes on to admonish the games maker to not give the citizens too much hope.

More than one reader of this blog has brought to my attention the similarities between the government in the Hunger Games and the authority structure of WOFF. President Snow ruled with an iron hand the fear used was very real. In that same way, Jane Whaley rules with a fear structure that causes normal relationship dynamics to crumble for reasons too many to number here. It is a fair comparison in many ways. However, the major difference, President Snow is a fictional character. Jane Whaley is real and the vortex around her is nothing short of surreal with consequences that leave many in disbelief.

The statement- “Hope is the only thing stronger than fear” assumes that the hope is to relieve the source of fear- the oppressive government. In the movie, a little hope was manageable and would in effect keep the people working and supplying the needs of the capitol in hopes that someday… somewhere in the future, things will be different. The people would only speak of such hope in places where they were sure the capitol monitors would not hear them. In that respect, I must agree that inside WOFF, there is no freedom to speak of some day in the future having the freedoms to make your own decisions restored. To talk of Jane Whaley not hearing God perfectly every time and just maybe a member of WOFF could hear God and make choices without her—is REBELLION, just as in the movie. Consequences could range from a public rebuke to being required to live apart from your family or being put out of the church and shunned forever. This scenario is surreal to many and common knowledge for WOFF members. For WOFF members, they live their life accordingly and watch as many suffer the consequences of merely perceived or real rebellion. I suspect many think it will never happen to them, they will always obey, right?

Life inside WOFF requires further explanation of the statement about hope and fear. It would be rare for a faithful member of WOFF to admit they live in fear – of Jane. They would readily admit they live in fear of God and not hearing and doing His will. Therein is the disconnect; they practice fear of Jane while calling it fear of God. In fact, they would HOPE to have MORE FEAR of God all the while covering the real truth that the whole group exists on the fear of Jane. A faithful WOFF member may also say that love casts out all fear and that they hope the fear of God will bring them to know His love.  However, in that group, the evidence that you have the love of God is to obey His commands that come through Jane and what she hears for your life. So, the conundrum runs full circle. You can’t talk of true hope that you will one day hear God for yourself for that would not be possible. You always have sin in your life that will never let you hear God at the level Jane hears for you. You love God by loving Jane enough to obey what she hears from God for your life and you fear God enough to fear that if you don’t obey, you will be put out and not allowed to live with God’s chosen people.

What you just read would make total sense to a faithful WOFF member, although to read it to them and get them to agree to it may be difficult, since they know you probably don’t believe it. They can live like that within the group and everyone there knows the “truth” of how the fear of God works… they just can’t say that in reality it is the fear of Jane and Jane’s power over them. For many who have never known another life than WOFF, they do not know there is another way to live apart from Jane. Jane is the center of their world.

In retrospect, life inside of WOFF was full of conundrums. Also, there were many inside WOFF who knew how to play the fear game and get by without letting their inner thoughts be known. How do we know this? Because there are always a few who are on the verge of leaving, they just need their hope to grow stronger than their real fears of Jane and her ability to harm them. Who will be next to leave?  

And with that, let us remember:

“It is never too late to wake up and leave and reclaim your life!” Steve Hassan

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. Jane told me and Josh confirmed it.

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Scripture references are Amplified Version unless otherwise noted. (Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation ) This is post number 474.