Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Identity theft through spiritual abuse, July 17, 2006
Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (7/06)
"I Can't Hear God Anymore" is the story of Wendy and Doug Duncan. In this first person narrative, Wendy relates the couple's experiences in an abusive religious group.
At a time when Wendy was hurting, confused, and feeling rejected by her church, Wendy met Doug who invited her to attend Bible studies and services led by Ole Anthony of the Trinity Foundation in Dallas, Texas. Doug had joined the group during college as an eager, idealistic, and vulnerable youth. "I Can't Hear God Anymore" is Wendy's first person account of their spiritual journey.
The Trinity Foundation gained national recognition for their work with Diane Sawyer, in exposing TV Evangelists, Robert Tilton, W. V. Grant, and Larry Lea on ABC's "Prime Time Live". Charismatic leader Ole Anthony was recently featured in the New Yorker magazine and is frequently interviewed by the media as an expert on religion. Duncan uses her experiences as a member of the Trinity Foundation to alert the reader of the peril of blindly following charismatic cultic type leadership.
The book includes insights from Margaret Thaler Singer, Ronald Enroth, Stephen Arterbaum, Len Oakes, Judith Lewis Herman, William Sargent, and other well known writers on cultic personalities, manipulation, scripture twisting, psychological and emotional abuse. Her research includes general information regarding cults or abusive groups, psychological profiles of cult leaders, recovery issues, brainwashing and mind control methods.
Wendy's research included listening to dozens of former Trinity Foundation taped Bible messages of Ole Anthony and other recorded sources and documents to introduce the basic teaching of the Trinity Foundation. Rites and practices of the group are introduced or confirmed through interviews with former members of the group. These sources have been included to illustrate the danger of theological distortions, prevalent in some quasi-Christian groups and to point out the inconsistency in following their own tenets.
In today's atmosphere of political mistrust, questions regarding business ethics in an unstable economy, and sex scandals in the church, Wendy Duncan has written this book to alert the American public of another area of concern, that of spiritual abuse by church leaders. This is a timely and important contribution to resources available on the danger of cultic and abusive personalities and organizations.
Wendy's research includes mind control methods that cause members to be so crushed and shamed that they lose their personal identity. She likens the aftermath of separation from the cultic leadership and community to that of the grief process. In her last chapter "Hope for the Hopeless" Wendy gives encouragement to the reader as she discusses an understanding of thought reform techniques and the recovery process.
The book is well articulated and documented. Duncan has a keen sense of observation and has demonstrated courage in confronting and exposing Trinity leadership in the face of criticism and humiliation. Duncan writes with understanding, conviction, and intellectual honesty.
Wendy's purpose in writing this book is to enlighten others who find themselves in similar situations and to help them avoid some of the same pitfalls.
I highly recommend this book to recovering former cult members who are struggling to regain their identity and move on with their lives.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Nightmare on Columbia Revealed, July 18, 2006
I finished this book in one sitting. It carefully explains the writer's path into, through, and out of a real evangelical cult hidden away in plain sight. OMG, this is about her earnest quest for a spiritual life and the abuse she was handed in the name of God! I cried as I listened to her amazing ordeal and cried again as she explained her painstaking path back to God. This is a "must read" for anyone who is now, or contemplating a religious life outside the organized church... "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves (Matt. 7:15).
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very readable, a tragic story, and yet it is also a love story., July 16, 2006
I read this book in two days. In many people's quest to do what is right or find God, many may understandably look at someone who seems to have the "answer." This book is a tragic account of when a person has too much influence over many individuals' lives. If a person manipulates and does evil and says that it is in the name of God, is he evil? Hmmm? This book is a great read because it could happen to anyone who is interested in having a relationship with God and wants to do the right thing. It also gives an account of how Wendy recovers from an abusive relationship with her spriritual leader.
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