As proof of that, in preparation for the prosecution of the defendants at the Nuremberg Trials, each was administered intelligence tests and psychiatric evaluations. (here) Karel quoted Hermann Goering, a leading member of the Nazi party, to say, “I have no conscience. Adolf Hitler is my conscience.” Mr. Goering’s intelligence test score was 138. That score is listed as “gifted.” (2.3% of test takers score this range).

What was Karel’s point? I took it to mean that intelligence will not stop a person from selling or giving away control of their conscience. Karel, was I right?

The irony of the line of reasoning was reflected in her membership in WOFF and what that requires. An outsider, noting the behaviors of WOFF could easily say that faithful members of WOFF have given control of their conscience to Jane Whaley. How do we know? EVERY faithful member will at some point bow and submit their conscience decisioning power to Jane or it will not go well for them. No matter the law degree, the medical training, the CPA title or any level of education or intelligence; faithful members give over the power to decide the course of their lives and daily choices to Jane. Will anyone honestly dispute that fact?

Did any of the leadership sitting around me understand that analogy? I am not sure. However, I understand there is a way to buy back partial control of your conscience inside WOFF. Members can do this either by monetary donations, job creation or prestige transfer. Aside from blood relations, leadership in WOFF can buy back control of their life by giving Jane things she needs, money or jobs- which create money, or prestige. Let me explain.

Jane is not a producer of goods. She depends on donations from her members or fund raising of some sorts to satisfy the huge demand for cash required to maintain and advance her kingdom. Ray or Josh or Kent or David or whoever in essence buys back control of their life by supplying cash or jobs. These folks are the producers of goods and services which bring in the money. For Jane, there is another way to buy freedom to make some of your own choices- transfer prestige through close association. Oddly, I think some of the notoriety from Leigh Valentine transfers to Jane and thus Leigh is allowed to carry on regardless of breaking the rules others must follow. Jane also absorbs prestige from rich Jewish people who have supported the Holocaust show in years past. This allows them to come close at times and yet live their own lives. The same could be said about politicians. Jane soaks in their aura and in turn does not recruit them to her subculture. They are free to bask in her “glory” without giving her their conscience.

John, why bring this up? Doesn’t everyone see this anyway? No, I don’t believe the ones inside WOFF from the leadership on down have an understanding how similar they are to Hermann Goering. Goering witnessed the depravity that human beings are able to inflict on their fellow humans. His excuse was he had surrendered his conscience to his leader. Goering was sentenced to hang, but committed suicide instead. Though not to the same degree, I contend that the leadership of WOFF have seen far more than outsiders consider “normal discipline” or “punishment for sin.”

If Gerald and Linda don’t understand this, I doubt if the regular members do either. The process of surrendering your conscience is much easier than taking it back. The suction power of Jane’s high demand authority style results in losing control of your life all the while believing you are living for God and doing the will of God. That is the con Jane runs. She requires supreme, conscience-surrendering loyalty and gives back the charade of holy righteous living, fulfilling the call of God, to the Nations or whatever phrase of the week she is pushing. You can only gain back partial control of your life by supplying what she knows she can’t provide for herself. Ultimately, she still has control of every faithful member until they break free from the vortex and run away.

Why is this understanding so vital right now? Have you heard the reports out of New Hartford, NY? Bruce Leonard and Deborah Leonard, members of Word of Life Christian Church, are charged with manslaughter in the death of their 19 year old son, Lucas. From the witness reports, they were also involved in the beating of their 17 year old son, Christopher who is recovering in the hospital and “cooperating with authorities.” Four other church members are charged with second degree assault. The charges originate from the “counseling session” which began Sunday evening and ended Monday morning about 10:00AM. This is when the ones involved in the beatings realized Lucas was unresponsive. After CPR failed, they transported him by one of their vehicles to the St. Luke’s Hospital.

Differing reports have surfaced as to the purpose of the meeting. One report says Lucas was accused of practicing witchcraft. Another report says he wanted to leave the Church. Witnesses also say the counseling session was arranged by the pastor, Tiffani Irwin. Former members have said the leadership techniques were “tyrannical” and “confrontational.” Is it possible that faithful members were required to give over their conscience decisioning power to the leader(s)? Is this how a father and mother could mercilessly for hours on end beat their sons?

Chief of Police Inserra commenting on the investigation, “Devoted to spiritual leader Traci Irwin and pastor Tiffanie Irwin, members often “wait to be told what to do,” (here) Could the members waiting to be told what to do be because they are afraid of being wrong? What are the consequences for making the wrong decision inside Word of Life Church? That is a fair question, right?

It is not yet clear how many participated, but the dynamics of a mob, hell-bent on cleansing the defiant one leading to a homicide, seems plausible to me. The reports that previous sessions did not include violence make no sense to me. A father does not suddenly accept in his own mind that using fists and feet and a belt or cord, unless he is led to that belief over time. I could be wrong here, but it makes more sense that the group morphed into sessions of severe physical abuse. A group of people who are able to process the individual internal conflicts arising from administering severe physical punishment without stopping it leads me to believe this has happened before and under the direction of a central leader. This leader required supreme, conscience surrendering loyalty and that occurs over time. Will authorities bring in the two leaders for questioning? I believe after statements from Christopher Leonard are processed, it only makes sense to question the church leaders.

Can what happened at Word of Life Church in NY happen in WOFF? All I can say is that the foundation is present for WOFF members to give over their conscience to a strong leader. Once that dynamic is in place, the results are highly unpredictable. I believe many in leadership have already done things that a few years ago, they never thought they would participate in. Where and when will this continuum to disaster end?

I close with this. From the PBS documentary- “Jonestown- The Life and Death of People’s Temple” ©2007- A survivor comments on life inside the group:

Hue Fortson Jr., Peoples Temple Member: “Being in an environment where you’re constantly up, you’re constantly busy, and you’re made to feel guilty if you take too many luxuries like sleeping — you tend to not really think for yourself. And I did allow Jones to think for me because I figured that he had the better plan. I gave my rights up to him. As many others did.”

Season of Changes is upon us. Will this be a cold winter in Spindale?

Follow this blog on Twitter- @religiouscults and Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/johnhuddleauthor

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.

Comments are invited from all readers, including present or former members. Polls are not scientific and no private information is gathered.

Look on the right side of any post for the option to subscribe by email for notifications or RSS feeds notifying of new postings. It is a great feature. Also, find more posts by selecting “Categories”.

Guest posts reflect the opinions of the writers. Their opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of John Huddle or any other persons affiliated with this blog.

Please, take time to read the Terms of Use for this personal blog. As mentioned, for posts written by John Huddle, any information about WOFF is from his 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 547.

The calendar for Cleveland Community College specified 200 as the seating limit. Even before, I made it to the building; this clearly was a Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) event with possibly two-thirds or more of the audience consisting of leadership, youth, young adults and children. At first, Jane Whaley was sitting with her class, near the front, beside Brock. However, shortly before the event began, Jane received a text, looked over her left should and then her right. Right then, she heard God to give her seat to someone else. I don’t know if she sat in the back or left the gathering all together. I did not see her after she left her seat.

Let me apologize for stepping on Dr. Jerry Gross’ shoe when I passed in the aisle. Oh, clumsy me. I took a seat right behind Gerald and Linda Southerland and Gloria and Larry King. No, there were no handshakes or warm greetings. Looks of surprise, shock and disgust were more common. Expected. My main purpose was to consume what I believed would be overwhelming delicious irony while sitting among WOFF members listening to a presentation on the Nuremberg Trial. The whole scene was too inviting and I was willing to take the stares and grumpy faces just to witness what promised to be a night of unforgettable remarks. I did not have to wait long for the appetizers to be served.

Karel Reynolds led off the evening setting the stage by reminding us all that seventy years ago on October 12, 1945- the Nazi party was dissolved. She went on to admonish us from the Holocaust, we know what human beings are capable of… yes, that was just a foretaste of the ironic offerings for the night. She went on to point out that ‘education is not the only answer; the crimes we are talking about were committed by the educated!’ She then quoted Herman Goring, “I have no conscience. My conscience is called Adolf Hitler.”

Friends, can you see where this is going? For many, their conscience and direct connection to God has just left the room a few minutes earlier. Karel asked the NC Bar members to stand, I glanced back and there were maybe a dozen or so. So far, the room was full of lawyers, at least two doctors, a judge, adjunct professor Reynolds, an author of four books and who knows how many other degreed listeners. So, we start with a room full of many educated folks who have just been reminded their education would not keep them from possibly pushing the limits “of what human beings are capable of…” Anyone else grasp the connection here? Which faithful WOFF member could deny the requirement to lock in with Jane and allow her to tell you if you were hearing God- submitting your conscience to her? We move on, the main speaker and provider of riches has not taken the stage.

Hannah Davies is the direct WOFF connection to the main speaker. Has the Judge done any vetting or research of the darker side of WOFF? I have no answers to that question. It is sad on the one hand that a man of such high standards would align himself with such a controversial group, no matter how impressed he is with Hannah. Hannah does not represent the dealings and deeds done in the secret areas behind the closed doors of WOFF. But, Hannah provided a robust, near worshipful introduction and the Judge came to the podium.

From here, I will not attempt to retell the entire presentation, though I took extensive notes. Judge Reidinger began by explaining the US involvement in Nuremberg of Justice Robert Jackson of the US Supreme Court and Attorney General Francis Biddle. Jackson words in the very beginning set the tone of the trial- (in a speech which lasted hours) these were crimes against the peace of the world. He quoted Winston Churchill as saying we have a crime for which we have no name.

The indictments were for -1. Crimes against peace. 2. Conspiracy to commit wars of aggression. 3. War crimes. 4. Crimes against humanity. (abbreviated) Reidinger went on to explain that the defense of “following orders” was not a defense at all and each defendant was to have a fair trial based in the facts.

The term “war of aggression” was explained as a conquering, invasion based war for which Germany’s efforts were obvious. However, Reidinger listed several previous wars of aggression which were not questioned or addressed with the same measures as World War II. He explained several important background events such as the effect of World War I, the Treaty of Versailles, and League of Nations. He pointed out the Treaty of Versailles required reparations paid to nations; however the Nuremberg Trial was against individuals. The main Nuremberg trial for the 22 defendants lasted from November 1945 to October 1946. Of the 22 defendants- 12 were executed, 3 were acquitted and the rest received prison sentences of different lengths. Some in the US were critical of the process calling it a high grade lynching; also some saying in complaint that the standards were changed after the crimes.

Other key points include the majority of the victims of the Holocaust were from outside the German borders. The media at the time showing photos during the liberation horrified many. Justice Jackson calling for International laws so that aggressive war would never happen again. Reidlinger said though there was the goal of due process, clearly there was the intent punish and send a message – this must never happen again. Sadly, this has not been accomplished.

Before we close, allow me to summarize the irony up to this point. Many educated and hoping to be educated folks in this room were reminded that education was not the total answer to preventing the Holocaust; even educated people can give their conscience over to a leader. How many caught the meaning? Did any WOFF member say in their heart, is that me? Have I given my heart/conscience to Jane? I have no idea how many, if any, realized their true state. Next, when explaining the indictment of the Nazi criminals, how many in the room were reminded five of their own were under indictment for felony charges? When Reidinger explained that “I was following orders” was not a defense. How many WOFF members asked, would that be my only defense for the “correction” I have given others? During the “deliverance fight”, did I cross the line? I was only following Jane’s direction, right?

Now, a paraphrase of the Judge’s close. The Nuremberg trial shed a bright light on crimes which were screaming for justice. The world took notice and said – Never Again! Are we serious? If we look at different news stories, are we serious? Are others being executed because of their religion? How are we going to respond?

The legacy of the Nuremberg Trial has yet to be written, it will be written by you, students, (and) young warriors. “Will you stand when something happens to your neighbor? Stand up for right? If you don’t who will?” Or will you just take a pat on the back and say how good we are doing?

At these statements, I wanted to shout. Students of the Word of Faith Christian School! Will you excuse the abuses covered over in the name of Jane’s religion as “God’s will” and allow your “neighbor” to be punched, kicked, hit, screamed at and held down? Or will you do something?

John, you expect the children to change things? EXACTLY! We can’t leave it to the children, where are the parents, where is the DSS! No matter how Jane attempts to rewrite the history of the group saying these things never happened- true memories and fears still affect the children. Members of all ages KNOW the truth about the abuses. Some have fled, some feel stuck, and some ignore and say it’s not my responsibility. North Carolina Bar members- Hannah Davies! When will you take your professed fight for justice and wake-up and fight for the safety of the children in your group-first! How will the attorneys in WOFF explain away the abuses which are allowed to continue because of the dysfunction of the leader and many in her leadership? I sat among you as a witness, tonight. All of you heard the same ironic truth I heard. Don’t let it be another wasted, look-good, feel-good, pat-on-the-back meeting. Many of you have attended hundreds, maybe thousands of such meetings. Apply tonight to your own life! WAKE-UP! Yes, I saw your Jewish supporters sitting among the crowd. I felt sorry for them. They are being DUPED!

Season of Changes is upon us. Will this be a cold winter in Spindale?

Follow this blog on Twitter- @religiouscults and Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/johnhuddleauthor

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.

Comments are invited from all readers, including present or former members. Polls are not scientific and no private information is gathered.

Look on the right side of any post for the option to subscribe by email for notifications or RSS feeds notifying of new postings. It is a great feature. Also, find more posts by selecting “Categories”.

Guest posts reflect the opinions of the writers. Their opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of John Huddle or any other persons affiliated with this blog.

Please, take time to read the Terms of Use for this personal blog. As mentioned, for posts written by John Huddle, any information about WOFF is from his 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 544.