Tag Archives: Cult Criteria

Why Should Others Outside of WOFF Care? Part 5

    We are wrapping up our series as an answer to the question from our title- “Why Should Others Outside of WOFF Care? Our direction is still with the list of unalienable rights which members of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) must surrender in order to continue with the group.  Our source for the list of unalienable rights is listed in the book, “The Five Thousand Year Leap” by W. Cleon Skousen (copyright C&J Investments, ISBN 0-9815596-6-2). There are 22 rights listed, we are only reviewing a few of them that are obvious ones which WOFF members surrender. A more complete discussion of each right and how controlling groups violate these rights would be a topic taken up in a different forum.  I recommend that readers obtain a copy of the book in order to read and study the entire work of the author.

    Skousen’s list on page 95 continues:

    “The right to free association”    This right is null and void with a membership at WOFF. The timing of just how this right disintegrates in the lives of individual members varies. There is a push for new members to break off old relationships and only associate with WOFF members. “You need to be around the people of God”. “Can your relatives who are not in WOFF and your old friends- draw you “closer to Jesus”?” It may start with not being allowed to visit relatives on holidays or your friends on a weekend visit back to your hometown. If you are allowed to go, many times another WOFF member is sent home with you to “guard” and make sure you don’t “come under attack”. The companion WOFF member would stay in contact with leadership or Jane Whaley  about the trip and how the WOFF members were being received, what situations there were to walk through and if the new WOFF member was acclimating well to their “new place in God”.

     WOFF standards which would cause situations when visiting relatives or former friends would be clothing of other folks in the group (especially in the summer..), dealing with TV or radios/stereos being played in the presence of WOFF members, newspapers and magazines laying out that might catch the attention of the new WOFF member. It also would be a concern who would be with the new WOFF member alone- if anyone.  Another situation could come up over where to eat-out, which place serves alcohol? WOFF member shun places that serve alcohol. (sorta…)  

Continue reading Why Should Others Outside of WOFF Care? Part 5

Why Should Others Outside of WOFF Care? Part 3

       We are continuing our series as an answer to the question from our title- “Why Should Others Outside of WOFF Care? Our direction is still with the list of unalienable rights which members of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) must surrender in order to continue with the group.  Our source for the list of unalienable rights is listed in the book, “The Five Thousand Year Leap” by W. Cleon Skousen (copyright C&J Investments, ISBN 0-9815596-6-2). There are 22 rights listed, we are only reviewing a few of them that are obvious ones which WOFF members surrender. I recommend that readers obtain a copy of the book in order to read and study the entire work of the author.

    Skousen’s list on page 95 continues:

    “The right to beget one’s kind” At WOFF, it would be considered being “locked under authority” to ask Jane Whaley if God was saying that it was the right choice to make to bear a child and if the timing was right. She may or may not give her approval.  Does this give new meaning to family planning? The faithful WOFF member would be sure to ask before attempting to have a child, I know.

    “The right to free speech” Well, at WOFF, you can say “whatever God tells you to say” as long as it is not foolish and “sanctifies God before the people”. Translated: everyone at WOFF is responsible to watch out for everyone else. If you speak “not by the Spirit of God” about ANYTHING, your fellow WOFF member will be required to get the word to Jane, relaying what you said. Then you will be given the correction to “help you find a place of repentance” and “bring you back into your place in Jesus.” If you buck the correction or are a repeat offender, you could end up in discipleship or out of the church altogether. That is the “free” part.  

    (A side note: Deborah Layton in “Seductive Poison” (copyright 1998, First Anchor Books Trade Paperback Edition, December 1999, ISBN 0-385-48984-6) writes the following, which was told to her when she first arrived at Jonestown. (Shanda was describing the work crews at Jonestown) ”It works like this… Everyone is told they are responsible for reporting their crewmates. So, if someone writes up an incident and no one else on the crew reports it, all of you will go on the Learning Crew. It’s a guarantee that everyone writes everything up at the end of the day,” (page 158) The same arrangement worked at WOFF, if “sin” was uncovered and you knew it or saw it and did not report it when someone else did, you would be corrected and possibly spend time in discipleship or be put out of the church. Why? Because if you see it and don’t report it, you are in agreement and the “sin” is in you! Amazing how WOFF and Jonestown had/have that in common. ) Back to our list..

Continue reading Why Should Others Outside of WOFF Care? Part 3

Why Should Others Outside of WOFF Care? Part 2

     In the previous post, we began a series revealing why those outside of the immediate drama circle of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) should care what goes on and why. Why should those who do not have friends or relatives involved at WOFF care what happens in the group?  Isn’t the group innocuous? After all, they are always so nice and friendly. They don’t “bother” anyone…oh, really? For sure, WOFF does not advertise their record of destruction to individuals or families.  We will speak to that later in this post or the next.

      The resourceful book, “The Five Thousand Year Leap” by W. Cleon Skousen (copyright C&J Investments, ISBN 0-9815596-6-2) will be the main source for this series. This book explains in great detail the foundations and structure of our government. Our Founding Fathers put together a balanced government structure in order to not repeat the mistakes seen in governments previous to the United States. The second part of the book explains the 28 principles used as a basis for our U.S. Constitution. We reviewed the first four principles and will continue the review for the principles which I believe compose an indictment of the practices of WOFF. We will not list all 28 but, encourage our readers to obtain a copy of the book for a more complete study.

    Skousen reveals principle number 6 – “All Men are Created Equal”. Since no two human beings are exactly alike, “Then how can they be equal? The answer is, they can’t, except in three ways. They can only be treated as equals in the sight of God, in the sight of the Law and in the protection of their rights.” (page 79) Skousen goes on to quote Constitutional writer Clarence Carson as he explains two areas that people should have their equality guaranteed. “First, there is equality before the law… A corollary of this is that no classes are created or recognized by the law. Second, the Declaration refers to an equality of rights… Each man is entitled to his life with every other man; each man has an equal title to God-given liberties along with every other.” (Clarence Carson, The American tradition, Foundation for Economic Education, Irvington on Hudson, New York, 1970, pp.112-113) (page 79-80, emphasis added)

     Continue reading Why Should Others Outside of WOFF Care? Part 2

Why Should Others Outside of WOFF Care? Part 1

      Honestly, I have started writing this post many times over the last few weeks. After all, to me the reason for caring is obvious. But to many others without friends or relatives involved at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF), there may be some times when it becomes difficult to pay attention to the goings and doings of Jane Whaley, Sam Whaley and the members of their church. I have written a post titled, “Why Many Locals Do Not See the Mind Control at WOFF…” found here.. https://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=1394  That post did not fully cover the answer to the question mentioned today.

    Previously, I would start a post on why others should care and as I wrote it all sounded whiny and selfish. “You should care because I and many others have been affected by Jane and WOFF.”  I would write about the many families who have been torn apart and “it just was not right!” But, I never published those drafts and I was just resolved to keep mulling the subject. Then I found a book at the library that helped put things in focus.

    “The Five Thousand Year Leap” by W. Cleon Skousen (copyright 1981, 2009 C&J Investments, ISBN 0-9815596-6-2) with a forward by Glenn Beck; has helped focus perspective on the answer to the question in the title of this post. The book gathers the..  “28 great ideas that helped change our world, and the funny thing is, the American Founding Fathers hardly invented a single one of them. But they did find them, and brought them all together in a single document that has blessed this great nation and the entire world.”  This book was published after I graduated high school and was not in the curriculum of any of my college classes. However, it is a must read for anyone, either inside or outside of a religious controlling group, who has a heart and passion to see this nation regain its footing and take the strong path to leadership once again in this world. The resources alone contained in the last third of the book are enough to lead one into an in depth study of American government.

   W. Cleon Skousen (1913-2006) was a world renowned teacher, lecturer and scholar for more than 16 years. He attended San Bernardino Junior College and later law school at George Washington University in Washington, DC, where he earned his Juris Doctorate and was admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia. Dr. Skousen served the FBI for 16 years as well as authored many books and pamphlets. In 1972, he organized what would later be called “The National Center for Constitutional Studies”.  (page 253-254)

   Continue reading Why Should Others Outside of WOFF Care? Part 1

Questions That Lead to Freedom

     We will entertain the question: How likely is it that Jane Whaley of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) is the only pastor of a “Protestant, non-denominational church as defined by classical Christianity” to hear the voice of God so as to direct the lives of her members in “holy, righteous living”?

1. How many people are on the earth?

    Answer:   6,697,254,041 – 2008 Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (approx.)

2. How many folks claim to be Christian in the world?

   Answer:  2.1 billion (source- http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html )  This number includes those who adhere to part or all, or add to the “normal” Christian doctrines or beliefs.

3. How many people claim to be “Protestant” in their beliefs?

  Answer: According to World Christian Encyclopedia, there are “over 33,000 denominations in 238 countries,” having increased in number from 8,196 in 1970. Every year there is a net increase of around 270 to 300 denominations.[14] There are about 800 million Protestants worldwide,[15] among approximately 2.2 billion Christians.[16][17] These include 170 million in North America, 160 million in Africa, 120 million in Europe, 70 million in Latin America, 60 million in Asia, and 10 million in Oceania.

(source here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestantism )

4. Out of the “170 million” Protestants in North America, listed above, how many claim to be “non-denominational”?

  Answer: 36% according to a poll sited here…   http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/dailynews/beliefnet_poll_010718.html – good information- That equates to about 61,200,000 people.

Continue reading Questions That Lead to Freedom

Don’t Read That Article! July 2006

      One service, in July of 2006 at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF), the church secretary came into the sanctuary and began to explain an article written in the local paper. The article was about another member who had filed bankruptcy and was asked to appear in the bankruptcy court as a normal procedure. This church secretary, the person filing bankruptcy, her company secretary who helped with the books and another man had been in court. The person who filed bankruptcy was Leigh Valentine.  A synopsis of the article which originally appeared in the Daily Courier, USA on July  23,  2006 is found here.. (http://www.religionnewsblog.com/15355/bankruptcy-filing-reveals-ties-to-word-of-faith-fellowship )

    After stumbling upon this article today, I remembered the church service and how it was handled. The church secretary had come and told the congregation in general terms about the article. I don’t remember the exact words, but it was something to the effect of- “don’t read it, it’s about Leigh’s bankruptcy and there is a bunch of stuff in there that is not true… “.  She waved her hand toward the members sitting in the congregation, as if to say don’t waste your time and it really is nothing to be concerned about. But, when the article was not even brought before the group and read in brief; it caught my interest and of course, I found a copy online either the next day or the day after.

    Over the years, I have had to learn about bankruptcy and certain proceedings and the schedules that are required to be filed. Let me first say, I am no lawyer and do not know the ins and outs of the case in question. Leigh Valentine has been a part of WOFF either “in” or “in discipleship” or “out” over several years. The circumstances surrounding her involvement had raised questions for me during the previous years. For one, the WOFF “bookstore” sold her make-up after each service or after evening services when the room was open. In the words of a new friend, “What’s up with that?”

    Continue reading Don’t Read That Article! July 2006

Link to “The Cult Test”

“The Cult Test” from “A. Orange” Shows Many Characteristics of Cults

     Rarely, would I depend on an outside link for the bulk of a post. However, the link below leads to a “The Cult Test” which has some very good information. I came across this link several months ago and had forgotten about it until recently. I do not endorse all the information on the site for this link. There is no way that I have been able to proof read every bit of information on the site. There is no benefit to me for you to click to the site from the link below. You may open a separate browser session and copy, paste the link in your new browser, if you would feel more comfortable.

     There are 100 statements which “A. Orange” believes help determine if a group is a cult. There is information about several groups including A.A. Several sources which I am familiar with are quoted.  Frankly, the information about the Eastern religious groups I am not very familiar with and have a hard time pronouncing the names. However, when I first read the list, MANY of the statements rang true in my experience with Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) and Jane Whaley. A few have been listed below. The purpose is to give you some idea what is included in the entire list. The complete list is on the first page of the site.

(The name for the website is listed to a Terrance Hodgins from Portland, OR. One of his main point seems to be exposing AA as a cult. Some information may be repetitive and/or lacking organization. That being said; this is one site that gathers a lot of information in one place and is still worth reading, in my opinion.) 

22. The cult is self-absorbed.
That is, the cult is the most important thing in the lives of the cult members. Sometimes, it is their entire life.

Continue reading Link to “The Cult Test”