Tag Archives: Robert J. Lifton

WOFF Members are “… expected to expect…”

In review of the material which so accurately describes the environment of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF), I have been rereading the work by Robert Jay Lifton- “Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism- A Study of “Brainwashing” in China” (Copyright©1961 originally by W.W.Norton and Co., first published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1989- ISBN 0-8078-4253-2) From time to time over the last few years, I have been magnetized in reading the accounts of Lifton though he does not directly describe WOFF, he does not mention Jane Whaley by name. Yet he describes the dynamics inside that place in great detail. He does this by sharing his observations from his studies and “… analysis of the experience of fifteen Chinese citizens and twenty-five Westerners who underwent “brainwashing” by the Communist Chinese government.” (from the back cover)

Today, I was particularly interested in the section of his text in which he describes – “The Demand for Purity”. Without sharing the entire passage and numerous details, I will summarize and get right to the point of this post. He writes that in totalistic environments where thought reform is practiced, the daily world for its participants, or in this case its members, is “sharply divided into the pure and the impure, into the absolutely good and the absolutely evil. The good and the pure are of course those ideas feelings and actions which are consistent with the totalist ideology and policy; anything else is apt to be relegated to the bad and the impure.” (page 423)
Continue reading WOFF Members are “… expected to expect…”

“The Art of Remembering” – Charisma Magazine® (2)

Our last post explored an article in Charisma Magazine® about Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) and their Holocaust Museum display. It was dated October 1, 2013 and can be found here. The article was written by Marcus Yoars. Here is the contact information for Mr. Yoars: marcus.yoars@charismamedia.com main tel:407.333.0600  

This post will review more material from the article and contain more thoughts on the subject. The Art of Remembering mentions that Word of Faith Christian School (WFCS) has “no art teacher.” It also featured Nahum Burgeson and his insight into how the Holocaust work began. Without a doubt, Nahum is a talented artist. The article also quotes Nahum, “I know without a doubt that God flowed through us to do this, “… When we first started, many times we would have a problem getting the paintings to look right. But, as we cried out to Jesus, you could see fruit. The more and more we cried out, the better we would get.”

Continue reading “The Art of Remembering” – Charisma Magazine® (2)

Is “Surfing” Allowed Inside of WOFF?

What triggers memories for you? Do you remember things best from sights or sounds? When you come across a particular aroma, does that aroma trigger memories? Tonight, for me it was a particular sound. The sound was the plethora of often indistinguishable noises that come out of an AM radio at night time. Let me explain the path of memories this “noise” took me on this evening.

Many years ago as a child, I was given a small handheld AM radio. Maybe there was an FM band, but, I doubt it. This would have been in the mid 1960’s. As far as I remember, my grandfather gave me this electronic treasure. It was probably a Christmas present purchased from Sears and Roebuck. The radio was battery powered and one that could be easily held while drifting off to sleep. That is what I remember doing for some years as a young boy. Music, sports and news filled the airwaves then. Talk radio as we know it today was non-existent. I would slowly push the tuner to catch the next strong station from states far away… It was a fascinating hobby for me at that age.

Tonight, as I drove home from work, I continued this habit begun many years ago. I turned the car radio to the AM band and began to surf the stronger stations that my car antenna would receive. To my dismay, I could not find a particular sporting event which I knew would be broadcast from somewhere… it just happened not anywhere I could hear. But, that did not stop me, as I still found it a challenge to listen to a radio show and try to figure out what state the radio station was broadcasting from. Now, for those fellow radio surfers, you know some of the larger AM stations. There is 1510 WLAC out of Nashville, 660 WFAN out of New York, 1120 KMOX out of St. Louis, 720 WGN which transmits out of Chicago and WSB 750 out of Atlanta. When it comes to talk show or interview show, not every time to I agree with the point of view being put forth; but, it is still fun to listen.

Continue reading Is “Surfing” Allowed Inside of WOFF?

..Children are the most venerable to cults…

    We have written about the documentary- “Join Us” in previous posts. (The film is presented by Interloper Films along with Lusitan and was produced by Ondi Timoner and Vasco Lucas Nunes. (copyright© Third Floor Productions, LLC 2007) This is a movie which includes the stories of several families making their way out of a religious cult in Anderson, SC. The families travel to Wellspring Retreat and participate in counseling sessions meant to help them learn about the systems of control they had been under. I recommend this documentary for anyone seeking a more clear understanding about cults and their effects on the members. Recently, I watched the documentary again.

     I was struck by two comments by two experts in the film. These comments were about children. They helped answer for the questions I have had as well as ones I get from others, as to why Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) sought/seeks to control the children to such a high degree. We will look at the comments and explain how these insights help understand WOFF and other religious cults.

   Both comments come in chapter 5 about the thirty minute mark. The first is from Robert Lifton-Psychiatrist and Author of Mind Control Model: “Children become symbols of the future. It is as if you can create ideal children according to your cultic standards, then you are realizing immortality.”

   The next comment is from Jorge Elderly- Academic Director for the Center of Investigation of Christian Institutions-“It must be said that children are the most venerable to cults. They are defenseless, they are voiceless. They are at the mercy of whatever mad instruction someone got from supposedly heaven and lead the kids to a very big hell…”

   Continue reading ..Children are the most venerable to cults…

“Mind Over Mania”- on MSNBC

   Sunday evening, MSNBC aired a documentary about Teen Mania and the Honor Academy. In previous posts, we have reviewed the Teen Mania program. The link is here:  Protests in Dallas at Acquire the Fire Conferencehttps://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=4049 . The latest post for the alumni blog is titled “MSNBC Airs Documentary on Honor Academy”- http://www.recoveringalumni.com/2011/11/msnbc-airs-documentary-on-honor-academy.html .

Here is the trailer from docs.msnbc.com

 

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Continue reading “Mind Over Mania”- on MSNBC

Does Everyone Have “Devils”? Part 2

    In order to understand this post, please take time to read part one. Also, before I share my thoughts on the similarities between Agape Bible Fellowship and WOFF, let me say that “Battle with the Devil” went on to explore other questions about heavy rock music, prison ministry and even “Hookers for Jesus”. None of which was quite as interesting as their piece on the deliverance at Agape Bible Fellowship in New York. The entire episode can be found searching “Battle with the Devil- ABC”.

   There were so many thoughts in my mind about the two churches and the similarities in their practices that it is easier to start with the differences. Some of the differences will seem too small to mention, but, I want to be thorough. First, Pastor John Goguen had formal theological training. He may have left or modified some of those roots, but, he had the training nonetheless. Jane Whaley has no formal training as far as I know. Another obvious difference was that John is male and Jane is female. That statement stands for itself. Pastor Goguen dressed very casual, he even wore JEANS! Jane Whaley would not stand behind her pulpit to preach in casual dress- and never jeans. Another difference between Agape and WOFF was that the deliverance sessions did not start out in circles at Agape as it did at WOFF. Not every time did WOFF start their sessions in circles, but, most times that was true. Agape did not appear to have group leaders for the deliverance as it appeared only the Pastor led the prayer. At WOFF, there were deliverance group leaders who would lead the prayer and be the one to say what “devils were to be hit”. Higher level WOFF leadership or Jane herself would ultimately approve of the deliverance group leaders. The Agape congregation also appeared smaller than WOFF.

   This next difference may not make some folks happy. But, in my 16 years of attending meetings at WOFF, I never saw someone directly praying over Jane Whaley for deliverance. She was seen in a group of select leaders joining with her to fight the devils attacking her, but, NEVER did anyone touch her hair to help cast devils out of her. There was a scene showing Pastor Goguen with hair ruffled, throwing-up into a brown paper bag. That did not happen while at WOFF. After all Jane has proclaimed “that sin (whatever it may be) does not affect her, since it is not in her”. Translation: she has reached a level of perfection that needs no deliverance or even open admission of or repentance from sin. A former member told me recently that in meetings he attended, Jane had proclaimed her perfection. That statement should stand by itself.

       Continue reading Does Everyone Have “Devils”? Part 2

Steve Hassan: Interviewing Robert Jay Lifton (video)

   Steve Hassan is a leading expert on cults and mind control. His work has been quoted many times on this blog. Mr. Hassan has reworked his website recently and it is much more presentable. Today, as I visited his website – www.freedomofmind.com , I found a very interesting interview which Hassan did with Robert Jay Lifton. The post is dated July 19, 2011 and we have embedded the video below. The beginning is a shot of all the books by Lifton that Hassan has on his bookshelf. Hassan invites others to watch with this statement, “I invite you to take the time to watch this strictly amateurish video done solely by me.” So, we have taken the liberty to embed the video.

 

Robert Jay Lifton interviewed by Steve Hassan July 13th 2011 from Steven A Hassan on Vimeo.

   Here is part of the introduction to the post as Hassan features the cover of the latest book about Lifton and his reflections: “I wanted to let people know that last Wednesday, I had a profound experience with renown psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, author of 20 books, including Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, Destroying the World to Save it, The Nazi Doctors, Home from the War, and Death in Life to name just a few of the most important volumes. Dr. Lifton has a new book of his memoirs that has just come out, entitled, Witness to an Extreme Century, and I called Dr. Lifton to see if he would sit down with me and catch up, and at the same time allow me to interview him on video to put online. The book is available at www.amazon.com

   Continue reading Steve Hassan: Interviewing Robert Jay Lifton (video)