Broken Faith Quotes

“In the Word of Faith Fellowship, people are trained not to feel, not to care. The endless blastings, the battering, the isolation—none of that expels demons, she thought. It extinguishes hope. It suffocates joy. Everything about Jane Whaley and the church was a lie. Every action was meant to erase her followers’ will and make them dependent.”
― Mitch Weiss, Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults

“From the pulpit one Sunday Jane Whaley described something diabolical she’d seen during a drive into town: a man standing with his hands in his pockets. This clearly meant the man was masturbating, she said, and from that day forward, Word of Faith followers were not allowed to put their hands in their pockets.”
― Mitch Weiss, Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults

“Experts who study cults say families have difficulty getting through to victims. They often feel like their loved one has become a stranger. The victims live in an alternate universe where they are relieved of daily decision-making by a leader who tells them how to think and how to live. The victim believes her family has changed, not her.”
― Mitch Weiss, Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults

“Whaley and her followers supported Donald J. Trump in his 2016 presidential campaign, and some attended his inauguration.”
― Mitch Weiss, Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults

“Jane Whaley’s followers cannot grasp that what they’re doing, and seeing, is abusive. They don’t see “blasting,” punching, shoving, kicking, and screaming at a fellow believer—even a child—as abuse. They believe it is the only way to break free from the devil that stands between them and holiness.”
― Mitch Weiss, Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults

“When current members were questioned about the church’s brutal practices, the response was nearly always the same: “I have never seen anyone abused in our church.”
― Mitch Weiss, Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults

“Cult leader Jim Jones had 1,500 followers at the height of his power. David Koresh had close to 800. Word of Faith Fellowship has thousands of members spread out all over the world.”
― Mitch Weiss, Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults

“People join the Word of Faith Fellowship for a variety of reasons: to save troubled marriages, to kick alcohol or drug or gambling addictions, or to become part of a dynamic community of God’s chosen people.”
― Mitch Weiss, Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults

“I didn’t know the Word of Faith Fellowship was a cult,” John said. “Nobody looks to join a cult.”
― Mitch Weiss, Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults

“John, I just don’t understand why you are doing this,” she said. “You are going to go to hell.” “Mom, I am not going to hell,” John said. “Just Chapel Hill.”
― Mitch Weiss, Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults

“When a member said he saw Michael being struck, Whaley screamed at the top of her lungs: “STOOOOOOOP IT! YOU DID NOT SEE THAT! THAT IS WITCHCRAFT! THAT IS THE DEVIL.”
― Mitch Weiss, Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults

“Michael was slower than his brothers, mentally challenged from birth. Jane said that was the outcome of the Lowrys conceiving him without church permission.”
― Mitch Weiss, Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults

“By 2006, worshippers began tossing bedeviled congregants to the floor and beating them in the name of the Lord. “Demonic deliverance” resembled a gang initiation, with congregants hitting a subject so many times they’d get tired, take a step back, and let someone else take a turn.”
― Mitch Weiss, Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults

“Blasting had evolved over the years to something more violent than shaking fists, screams, and shouts. Congregants were often now held down by other members, and slaps, punches, and kicks were becoming common. Now they had Whaley’s permission to take it to the next level.”
― Mitch Weiss, Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults

“This was a pivotal moment, an announcement. If blasting didn’t work to stop unacceptable behavior, it was now acceptable to slam the sinner to the ground. It was the will of God.”
― Mitch Weiss, Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults

“Experts say cult leaders consistently isolate members from people who question their beliefs. They hate others influencing their flock, so they manipulate followers’ lives to maximize contact with fellow members and minimize their contact with people outside the group, especially trusted family or friends who might oppose their involvement.”
― Mitch Weiss, Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults

“Only later did Darren learn that his father had stopped taking vital heart medicine two weeks before, as part of a “spirit-led” healing treatment the church leaders had prescribed for his condition.”
― Mitch Weiss, Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults

“Brother Hagin told his followers that faithful prayers—and generous tithes to church leaders—are paid back on this side of heaven with financial riches, health, and sobriety. It is a powerful, simple, and uniquely American blend of capitalism, fundamentalism, and magical thinking that continues to be preached by televangelists like Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, and Joyce Meyer.”
― Mitch Weiss, Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults

“When the devil threatened, Jane Whaley used a dramatic high-decibel technique she called “blasting”—shouting and screaming—to drive the evil back to the pit of hell.”
― Mitch Weiss, Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults