Category Archives: Books, Resources

Books, Resources for learning about religious cults

Is Simple Assault a Vital Part of the Word of Faith Fellowship Practices? (2)

As we continue with a review of the question- Is Simple Assault a Vital Part of the Word of Faith Fellowship Practices?– let me acknowledge how absurd the question may sound to some and how obvious the answer may seem to others. For those that have only seen the sweet side of Jane Whaley and never lived inside the group under the ongoing, smothering, confining fear-hold that she has on her faithful members- then yes, even the question is surreal. For those individuals, I ask you to hang on and finish reading the series before you totally dismiss the question. My hopes are to at least give you some food for thought concerning your ideas of conduct inside Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF).

Before this series is over, I hope to give everyone reasons to pause and consider the practices of WOFF in a new light. In order to do this, we will eventually be breaking down and discussing what has become ominously known as the “Injunction” from June of 2005. For those that may not know, WOFF sued Rutherford County Department of Social Services (RCDSS) and in June of 2005, there was a COMPROMISE reached. The stipulations of the compromise worked out by lawyers from each side included guidelines for handling of certain types of complaints concerning the conduct of WOFF members. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

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“It is never too late to wake-up and leave…” Steve Hassan (video)

Over the last few weeks, there has been a major increase in the supply of material that is fitting for this blog. It has been hard to focus on what to post next. Today, I received notice of this video and stopped everything to watch it. The speaker is Steve Hassan, a leading author and expert in mind control techniques and an ever-giving resource of help for those wanting to understand cults and their nuances. We have featured his work on this blog before; however, this video has some timely comments on current events surrounding the subject of cults and mind control. We will review a few excerpts and tie them back to subjects discussed previously on this blog.

The video is less than twenty-five minutes long. He recently spoke at the Society for  Ethical Culture in NY and apparently he has many friends there.

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Helping Second Generation Cult Survivors (video)

Occasionally I come across resources that captivate my attention and leave no doubt in my mind that I must share them on this blog. Today, we will review one such resource. After the recent drama of a Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) second generation survivor returning to WOFF, my attention was drawn to research that type of survivor. Second generation cult survivors are those who have been born in and raised inside a cult and then left the group. We have chronicled the drama of one such survivor and the outpouring of email filled with vivid emotions has touched me. Many have been stunned and many have been dismayed. This prompted me to dig deeper in to the subject of second generation cult survivors.

A simple search for “second generation cult survivors” led me to several resources. Today, we will review one of the finds of this search. Cyndi Matthews has a website which displays her work for her dissertation for her doctorate degree. The title includes this header:

“Cyndi Matthews, PhD Candidate, LPC, NCC- Counseling with Second Generation Cult Survivors”

The title excited me and it left me wanting to read and consume her work. As a disclaimer, I must add I have written and obtained permission to quote her work and post her videos. This permission does not assume she agrees with my work or my conclusions in this post or elsewhere on this blog. She is welcome to reply or comment, but, no endorsement of this blog is inferred.

(the resource link- http://contentbuilder.merlot.org/toolkit/html/snapshot.php?id=48842394583712 )

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WOFF Survivor Returns… No One Wins…

A life-long member of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) returned this past week. Many have followed the story of Michael Lowry on this blog. He was born 1990 and resided in WOFF until November 2011. It is with sadness I must bring to you the next chapter in this saga. Earlier this past week, Michael Lowry was picked up by his WOFF family and returned to Spindale, NC. Later in the week, he recanted his allegations and on Friday met with AP reporter Mitch Weiss. Please, continue reading for excerpts from the article.

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The Questions Keep Coming- Why Do People Join Cults? (1)

There are few weeks that go by in which I do not talk to or communicate in some way with a survivor of a cult. These contacts are not always survivors of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). Early on in my journey of seeking answers and writing this blog, I came in contact with survivors of other groups and after speaking for a short time, we would most always agree on some common points for methods of recruitment or control of members in our respective groups. On occasion, I have been in conversations where would tell the most extreme characteristic of our group and wait for the other person to try and top it! Laughter would often ensue which we preferred over crying. Common threads would emerge and we often would express our surprise that other groups employed similar measures and had similar results.

Two areas that often receive a lot of attention are how a person went in to the group and how they came out. The coming out usually had more emotional drama than the going in. Who would imagine that? I will never forget the question of a person I worked with when I first explained why my life was changing in 2008. “How could an intelligent person like you get involved in something like that?” My first response was “One lie at a time…” Now, at the time, I was thinking about my believing one lie at a time and ignoring the uncomfortable feeling inside that was trying to get my attention. I can’t say I always could tell a lie from the truth. But, many times, I at least had a faint awareness that something was not right. The part I did not see at the time was the guided planned effort of WOFF and other groups to base their recruitment on those lies and thus count on deception to obtain new members.

All of this has been in the fore front of my thinking these last few days as the week’s events have unfolded. Just this evening, I commented to another survivor, “The longer you are out, the more lies you learn about that were used against you while inside.” And just because you leave, does not mean you are able to instantly tell what was a manufactured lie told you inside and what the actual truth was about a situation. It is odd that once you leave you are instantly called a liar when you try to tell what truthfully happened while inside WOFF. I suppose a person inside needs to label outsiders liars to protect themselves from having to recognize the truth inside their group and cause them even more mental anguish over their own choices.

Continue reading The Questions Keep Coming- Why Do People Join Cults? (1)

Scientology vs. Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) (two videos)

Thursday, I had two text messages that came close to each other asking if I was watching NBC. I was not but, turned it on quickly to catch the show “Rock Center” with Brian Williams. It was riveting and in a way shocking to hear the survivors of Scientology recount their observations and then know how much they mirrored my life inside Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). Oscar winning director and writer, Paul Haggis left Scientology after 34 years. The segment had two parts. First was the interview with Paul Haggis- from which the video clips are shown.  The second part featured a family that talked of their ordeal to leave Scientology – as a family. We will comment on the interview with Paul Haggis first. There are two videos and I will comment on material from both, but maybe not in order.

From the outset, Scientology denies any validity to the claims of Mr. Haggis or the James family. They put out several statements attacking Paul Haggis’ claims as basically baseless and unfounded. He is labeled “The Hollywood Hypocrite”. We all expected that and are not surprised. However, I found Haggis’ observations believable, and at the same time frightening. To experience what I did inside WOFF and then hear that similar things go on in other groups is still bewildering. That is because while in WOFF, even though the ordeal was real, you still thought you were the only group who could have such dynamics affecting its members. In many cases, you thought you were the ONLY person being treated this way.

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“… a special spiritual class…”

This is the second post in review of the book,   “One Last Kiss” written by Michael Cuneo. (Copyright©2012 by Michael Cuneo, St. Martin’s Press, ISBN 978-0-312053972-6) The subtitle reads “The True-Story of a Minister’s Bodyguard, His Beautiful Mistress, and a Brutal Triple Homicide.”  The first post is found here: “One Last Kiss” by Michael Cuneohttps://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=5265

The book outlines the story of Chris Coleman who grew up in a home where the father was a pastor. After a career in the military, this young man landed a job with a very prominent ministry.  Chris would later be convicted of murdering his wife and two sons apparently in hopes of taking up with his new girl friend. We ended the previous post describing Chris Coleman, the convicted murderer, and his attitude: “He believed he occupied a special spiritual class. That what counted for sin for other people didn’t count as such for him. And as far as disabusing him of these delusions over the years, his parents likely only would have strengthened them.” (page 318 emphasis added) This post will review the author’s ideas on the development of this attitude of being in “a special spiritual class” and its consequences.

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