Category Archives: Books, Resources

Books, Resources for learning about religious cults

Books, Resources, Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

When is life made cheap? (video)

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As I sit here at a very late hour, relaxing after a long day of domestic tasks, I am looking forward with bitter sweet anticipation of sharing with you the questions and insights that this past week held for me. Not every week is like this past one. Many slide by with no events to note. This week however was different. Rarely do I see such a week coming, but these last few days have been filled with serious reflections and new insights. Let me explain.

During these last few days, I have had a few opportunities to talk to Bryan Bullock, the latest survivor from Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). I have been able to ask him several questions and have not been surprised at many of the answers. At some point, I asked him if he ever witnessed people being slapped inside WOFF. He said – yes, in prayer. He went on to share other things that we may review later. But, the main question I had was if he could again confirm the physical abuses inside WOFF. Some he had seen himself, some he had not. The understanding that physical abuses continue inside WOFF did not surprise me – it just concerns me deeply every time it is affirmed.

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

Grace Stoen: “what would be very shocking…became very common place…” (videos)

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Over the last few years, I have talked to different survivors from Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). The first reports I heard which contained information about physical abuse and beatings were a surprise to me. During my time there, I was never physically abused myself. Now, I was screamed at by Jane Whaley and other leadership, I was publically called out for infractions of unwritten rules. I was shunned by family and friends; I had times of segregation from others in the group. I saw others held down during prayer circles and a few corralled by a group of members and kept from running away after they made it outside. I overheard hard spankings by parents of children. But, adults abusing other adults by physically slapping, punching, kicking and beating- I never saw personally at WOFF. When I first heard the stories, I wanted to ignore and not believe it. Then I realized that that tendency is what kept me inside that group so long in the first place! We must tell the truth and face the ugly facts about life inside WOFF!

Now, the list of survivors telling stories of abuse is growing and the abuses seem to be worsening. We have previously exposed some of the details on this blog. Also recently, I viewed a documentary on Youtube® about survivors of Peoples Temple. It was done in 1979 by NBC, Inc. I cannot be sure if the entire documentary has been posted. I found three parts and will include them in this post. There was one survivor that explained two very important characteristics of Peoples Temple which have occurred at WOFF. In this post we will share those insights which I believe help explain why things evolved as they have at WOFF.

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Books, Resources, Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

The Life-Changing Moment(s)

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A few days ago, a blog reader shared a link to another blog with me. This particular blog was new to me; however, the person writing it had left a group/movement of which I was familiar. The movement was patriarchal based as opposed to Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) which is a matriarchal based structure.  In recent days, the posts on the blog—“Under Much Grace” have captivated me attention. About the time I was introduced to these posts, I had outlined struggles which face those inside of WOFF in a rough draft of a post. In my musings, I began to outline the inward struggles of a faithful WOFF member who has begun to doubt the foundational beliefs of the group or the supremacy of the leader’s gift.

From my notes: The Jane-vow

When WOFF members struggle with leaving — they have a choice; will they privately and publicly deny the one foundational belief inside the group that Jane is the only one who can “speak for God”? Once that unwritten, yet sacred, foundation is denied by members then the “benefits” of association with WOFF– are GONE. These benefits may include camaraderie, protection, provision, fellowship and “friendship.” Breaking fellowship or shunning present members can come by one merely expressing a desire to leave. By doing so, you are in danger of or have already disavowed the one and only reason the group exists- the edification and support of Jane Whaley- the Jane-vow.

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Books, Resources, FLDS vs WOFF, Uncategorized

“Breaking the Faith”- TLC® Reality TV (videos)

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We will take a short break in our comparison of Peoples Temple and Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) to bring you a video of a new reality television show. This show is about young people wanting to leave the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS) which is a group in the news a lot in the past few years. Warren Jeffs is their prophet and he is in jail serving time for charges related to their practices of underage marriage to older men in the group. I had not watched the show or seen any videos until a blog reader made me aware of them in the last few minutes. The videos are short and I have included two of them.

This post will take quotes from the audio and make comparisons to the life I lived inside of WOFF. The main comparison is the extreme control and also the blind dedication to this imprisoned leader. There are some quotes after the video…

Prayers for the Prophet-

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Books, Resources, Peoples Temple vs WOFF, Uncategorized

Peoples Temple and Moore

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Mass Suicide of Peoples Temple Cult at Jonestown Turns 35- The Christian Post

The Christian Post reporter, Michael Gryboski posted this article on November 19, 2013 at 3:17PM. The link to the entire article is found here. There is more insight into Peoples Temple that is worth sharing in this article. He features the reflections and insights of Rebecca Moore. Ms. Moore is a Professor of Religion at San Diego State University and site manager for the Jonestown Institute. She is also a survivor who lost relatives at Jonestown. Ms. Moore has written extensively about Peoples Temple and Jim Jones. I found an article here where she was being honored for her work.

Mr. Gryboski begins with a brief overview of the events and then begins quoting Ms. Moore. I will take a few of her comments and make comparisons to my experience at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF).  It is not my intent to reprint the entire article. Please, take time and enjoy it in its entirety.

From the article: Moore also told CP that it was “difficult to say what the legacy of Jonestown is,” as many messages could be taken from the tragic events.

“Certainly some people view it as symbolic of the danger of cults and new religions. I think it is evidence of the ability of good people to be led astray by their own aspirations to be good,” said Moore.

“It is painful to say this, but the victims were also the perpetrators in Jonestown. Jim Jones did not administer the physical abuse, the punishments, the tortures: it was the residents themselves who believed the rhetoric that they repeated, and thus perpetrated abuses on each other.”

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Books, Resources, Peoples Temple vs WOFF, Uncategorized, WOFF Updates

“People must learn to obey their spiritual leaders.” Jim Jones

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November 18, 2013- 35 years ago today People Temple came to horrific end. The images of over 900 dead bodies bloated and rotting in the jungle were gruesome and unbelievable to say the least. Yes, lessons should have been learned in order to keep the same methods of control used by Jim Jones out of our society today. Like so many others in this country, I did not go beyond the images and learn the dangerous control dynamics used by Jones to bring that many people to a place of destruction. I had no inkling that one day my life would be turned upside down by many of the same mind control techniques used by Jim Jones. That understanding would not begin until after I left Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) in July of 2008. In this post, we will continue to explore the similarities I see between Jim Jones and Jane Whaley – leader of Word of Faith Fellowship.

As a resource text, we will use some excerpts from the work by Tim Reiterman- “Raven”. Reiterman co-authored 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”. “Tim Reiterman is a prizewinning journalist who extensively covered Jonestown for the San Francisco Examiner. He was wounded in the jungle airstrip attack that killed a U.S. Congressman, plus three reporters, and a Peoples Temple defector.” (from the back cover)   We stopped at page 94 in our last post from this book. Let us pick up the drama….

Jim Jones moved many of his followers from Indiana to California in the summer of 1965. “The world conflagration would come July 15, 1967, he said, and only those in nuclear safe zones would be spared in that terrible blast and fallout.” (page 94-95) The Case family had known Jim Jones for years and had been in leadership in his church for a time. They also helped him become a part of the Disciples of Christ denomination. (page 67)  The Case family did not move into the safe zone as Jones directed. This family moved further south. There was tension between Mr. Case and Jones which Jones tried to overcome.

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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)

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