Gwen Shamblin

Infobox Writer
name = Gwen Shamblin


caption =
birthdate =
birthplace = Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
occupation = Author and Registered Dietician
genre = Self-help, Non-fiction
movement =
influences =
influenced =
website = http://www.gwenshamblin.org/

Gwen Shamblin is an American Christian non-fiction author and leader of the Remnant Fellowship Church. The most distinctive aspect of her writing is its combination of weight loss programs with Christianity. Shamblin is married and has two children. [cite web |url=http://www.annonline.com/interviews/000224/biography.html|title=Brief Biography |accessdate=2007-04-06 |work= annonline.com ]

According to her website, Ms. Shamblin is a registered dietitian, consultant and was an instructor of nutrition at the University of Memphis. [cite web |url=http://www.wdworkshop.com/gwen_bio.asp|title=Weigh Down Workshop |accessdate=2007-04-06 |work= wdworkshop.com ] Before she started writing, she earned a master’s degree in dietetics from University of Tennessee, in Knoxville. [cite web |url=http://lib.williamson-tn.org/Local_Authors/S.htm#_Shamblin,_Gwen|title=Williamson County Local Authors |accessdate=2007-04-25 |work= Williamson County Library website ]

The Weigh Down Diet

Gwen Shamblin is the author of "The Weigh Down Diet" (ISBN 0-385-49324-X). First published in 1997, this diet advises using spirituality to avoid overeating and has sold more than 1.2 million copies. [cite news | last=Stein | first=Joel| coauthors =| title = The Low-Carb Diet Craze| work = Time | pages =| language =eng | date =1999-10-24| url =http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,33169-3,00.html | accessdate =2007-05-20 ] Since that time she has written "Rise Above" (ISBN 0-7852-6876-6), a devotional book called "Exodus" (ISBN 1-892729-00-8) and most recently in 2007 "The Legend to The Treasure" (ISBN 1-892729-80-6).

Shamblin teaches that there are two very different needs in each person; a need for food and an emotional need. According to Ms. Shamblin, people should only eat when they feel real, physical hunger and stop when full; prayer and Bible reading will fill emotional needs instead of food. Overeating is equated with greed. A core principle of the Weigh Down Diet, when people feel an urge to snack but are not experiencing "true" physiological "hunger", Shamblin encourages participants to read the Bible instead. [cite news | last=Mulrine | first=Anna| coauthors =| title = A Godly Approach to Weight Loss| work = U.S. News & World Report | pages =| language =eng| publisher = | date =1997-04-27| url =http://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/970505/archive_006847.htm| accessdate =2007-04-06 ]

Remnant Fellowship Church

Gwen Shamblin is a leader in and a founder of the Remnant Fellowship Church. The church takes its name from the Book of Ezra 9:8-9, which mentions a "faithful remnant" of followers.cite news | last=Kennedy| first=John W.| coauthors =| title =New Sect: Weigh Down guru Gwen Shamblin's Remnant Fellowship grows. | work= Christianity Today | pages =| language =eng | date =12/9/2002| url =http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2002/december9/6.15.html| accessdate =2007-04-09] According to the church's website, it currently has over 120 locations worldwide. [cite web |url=http://www.remnantfellowship.org|title=Remnant Fellowship Church Homepage |accessdate=2007-04-06 |publisher= remnantfellowship.org] The church was started in 1999 in Brentwood, Tennessee.

In a 2001 interview with "The New Yorker," Shamblin stated that she felt called by God to start Remnant Fellowship after noticing that some users of the Weigh Down program were beginning to gain back their weight. This led her to theorize that the mainstream Protestant doctrine of "Eternal Security" leads some people to believe they have a license to sin. [cite news | last=Mead| first=Rebecca| coauthors =| title =Letter from Tennessee: Slim for Him|work= The New Yorker | pages =| language =eng | date =2001-01-15| url=http://www.rebeccamead.com/2001/2001_01_15_art_slim.htm | accessdate =2007-04-06]

In the media

Shamblin has recently been featured on "The Today Show," [cite web |url=http://www.weighdown.com/Today.htm |title="The Today Show" |accessdate= |publisher= NBC ] "DaySide," [cite web |url=http://www.foxnews.com/video2/launchPage.html?082306/082306_ds_faith&Faith-Based%20Diet%3F&DaySide&Can%20praying%20help%20you%20lose%20weight%3F&Health&-1&Faith-Based%20Diet%3F&Video%20Launch%20Page&News |title="Can Praying Help You Lose Weight?" |accessdate= |publisher= FOX News ] and "The Early Show." [cite web |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/earlyshow/main500202.shtml |title="The Early Show" |accessdate= |publisher= CBS ] Participants from the Weigh Down Workshop have been featured on the cover of "Good Housekeeping," [cite web |url= http://www.wdworkshop.com/GH2007.asp |title="Slim Down Secrets" |accessdate= |publisher= "Good Housekeeping" ] in the "Ladies' Home Journal," [cite web |url=http://www.wdworkshop.com/LHJ2007.asp |title= "Diet Help From on High" |accessdate= |publisher= "Ladies' Home Journal" ] "First" magazine, [cite web |url=http://www.wdworkshop.com/FFWCandaceAnger.asp |title= I stopped thinking about food and the fat fell off! |accessdate=2007-04-25 |publisher= "First" magazine ] "Quick and Simple," [cite web |url= http://www.quickandsimple.com/article.php?id=463&menu=&menu_cat= |title= How I Prayed Off the Pounds |accessdate=2007-05-29 |publisher= "Quick and Simple" ] and in numerous newspaper articles. Most recently, "The Tyra Banks Show" [cite web |url=http://tyranews.blogspot.com/search/label/cheap / |title= What's new on Tyra this week? Thursday, 10 May: Church of Thin |date= 5 May 2007 |publisher= tyranews ] devoted an hour long program to Shamblin, the Weigh Down Workshop, the Fellowship and participants from Weigh Down programs.

Criticism

Diet Principles

Other dietitians have questioned the soundness of Shamblin's diet advice, which focuses on faith instead of healthy eating habits or exercise. [cite news | last=Morning News| first=Dallas| coauthors =| title =God is Their Weight-Loss Guru | work =| pages =| language =eng| publisher = "The Dallas Morning News" | date =2006-04-14| url =http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/470079/god_is_their_weightloss_guru/index.html| accessdate =2007-04-09 ] [cite web |url=http://www.skinnyondiets.com/GwenShamblinsWeighDownWorkshop.html?b=8277&GCID=S15771x274&KEYWORD=gwen%20shamblin&gclid=CLK6suekgYwCFR05UQodDiLcwQ|title=Gwen Shamblin's Weigh Down Workshop |accessdate=2007-05-23 |publisher= skinnyondiets.com ] In the book "Born Again Bodies: Flesh and Spirit in American Christianity" (ISBN 0520242408), author Marie Griffith, a Princeton associate professor of religion, examines the trend of religion-based dieting. Griffith credits Shamblin for the new wave of interest in creating "a more holy body", and substantial sections of the work examine Shamblin's movement. [cite book | first=Marie | last=Griffith | year= 2004| title=Born Again Bodies: Flesh and Spirit in American Christianity | chapter= | editor= | others= | pages=337 | location=Los Angeles | publisher=University of California Press | id= | url=http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/10100.html | authorlink= ] Griffith notes "In Shamblin's world, people who don't lose weight often feel like failures. If they don't lose weight, it's a failure of discipline; it's a failure of obedience." [cite news | last=Allen| first=Patricia | coauthors =| title =Religion professor examines 'salvation by diet' phenomenon | work =| pages =| language =eng| publisher =News@Princeton | date =2005-01-27| url =http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S10/68/58G75/index.xml| accessdate =2007-05-23 ] At the same time, Griffith's work places Shamblin's movement squarely within a historical tradition of perfecting one's body in order to be more Christ-like, or fasting and dieting in order to feel closer to God.

Religious Beliefs

Gwen Shamblin's weight loss programs were initially very well received within Christian churches. Tens of thousands of churches in many different denominations used her materials to teach her faith based weight loss program in the late 80s and early 90s. [cite web |url=http://www.midwestoutreach.org/journals/weighed.htm|title=Weighed Down With False Doctrine |accessdate=2007-04-06 |publisher= Midwest Outreach website ] Controversy arose when she began to teach that the doctrine of the Trinity was not Biblical, which led Thomas Nelson Publishers to cancel the publication of "Exodus", her next work. [cite web |url=http://www.bpnews.net/printerfriendly.asp?ID=6481|title=Thomas Nelson pulls plug on Gwen Shamblin's book |accessdate=2007-04-06 |publisher= Baptist Press ] In a letter to her followers sent to clarify her position on the Trinity, Shamblin wrote : "The reason all of this is important is that if you do not understand that God is the clear authority and that Jesus was under God's authority, then you will not have a clear picture of what it means to be Christ like. Jesus suffered, obeyed, submitted, denied his will, and made it his food to do the will of the Father." [cite news | last=Veenker | first=Jody| coauthors =| title =The Weigh Is Narrow | work =| pages =| language =eng| publisher = "Christianity Today" | date =September 1, 2000| url =http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2000/septemberweb-only/53.0a.html| accessdate =2007-04-09]

Remnant Fellowship Church

Some people have said that Remnant Church members are encouraged to move to Tennessee to be closer to the church if possible; about 650 members are estimated to have moved. [cite news | last=Bartlett| first=Jennifer | coauthors =| title =Cults are not the way to lose weight | work= The Kingman Daily Miner | pages =| language =eng| publisher = | date =2007-04-30| url =http://www.kingmandailyminer.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=11978| accessdate =2007-05-11 ] In an interview where Shamblin was asked if Remnant is encouraging families to move to the Nashville area from elsewhere, she replied "We had 80 members for a long time. We bought that land. And we were building the church at that time. It just grew little by little by little. Then inside the last year, when all of a sudden all these people wanted to move, well, I'm not going to tell them where to live. And I said, "Are you sure God is asking you to sell your land?" And they would say, "We feel God calling us to move. And we want to move. Every time we come down to visit we don't want to leave because we have such a good time."cite news | last=Burch| first=Bonnie| coauthors =| title =Remnant founder says church not politically involved | work =| pages =| language =eng| publisher = "The Tennessean" | date =2005-04-21| url =http://www.tennessean.com/williamsonam/news/archives/05/03/68490782.shtml| accessdate =2007-04-09 ]

Legal cases

Employee Lawsuits

In 2000, Shamblin began to advocate specific ideas about Christian theology and began to form her own church. At this time, according to a former Weigh Down employee, approximately forty Weigh Down employees were encouraged to resign or let go for disagreements related to the change in how Weigh Down principles would be communicated.cite journal |last=Kennedy| first=John W.| coauthors= |year=2000 |month=November |title=The Weigh Down Heresy |journal= SBC Life: Journal of the Southern Baptist Convention |volume= |issue= |pages=|url=http://www.sbclife.org/Articles/2000/11/Sla7.asp | accessdate=2007-04-06] Several of these former employees then sued Shamblin on the grounds of religious discrimination. [cite news | last=Dugan| first=Ianthe Jeanne| coauthors =| title =Church Lady of Diet Weighs In On Trinity and Her Flock Flees | work =| pages =| language =eng| publisher= "The Wall Street Journal" | date =2000-10-30| url=http://www.karlloren.com/Diabetes/p31.htm| accessdate =2007-04-09 ] These employee lawsuits were settled out of court, and as part of the settlement the exact amount of proceeds generated by the for-profit Weigh Down workshop were sealed.cite news | last=Williams| first=Phil | coauthors =| title =Firm Beliefs | work =| pages =| language =eng| publisher= WTVF "NewsChannel 5" | date =02/05/2004| url=http://www.rickross.com/reference/weighdown/weighdown4.html| accessdate =2007-04-10]

Josef Smith Case and Shamblin on Child Discipline

Although the case (Georgia v. Smith), prompted authorities to raid the Weigh Down Workshop's Franklin headquarters in 2004, church officials were not charged with wrongdoing in the case. Police investigators who testified in court said they could not find any link between the boy's death and the church. Josef Smith's parents were sentenced to life in prison in February of 2007. The Smiths were convicted of manslaughter. Remnant Fellowship Church funded the defense of the parents and continues to support for them via the internet. Supporters of the Smiths argue that the Smiths never stood a chance for a fair trial because the media had deemed them guilty for the 3 year time period between their sons death and their trial. The website TheSmithsAreInnocent.com (http://www.thesmithsareinnocent.com) states: "after three years of false accusations and rush to judgments followed by only 7 hours of defense in the courtroom - a jury was left in confusion, leading to undeserved convictions of these innocent parents in 2007." This website also includes pictures and other information which was not allowed in the trial. Supports of the Smiths say this additional information could have made the difference in the verdict. [cite news | last=French| first=Rose| coauthors =| title =Church leading appeal of Ga. parents sentenced in child’s death | work =| pages =| language =eng| publisher = Associated Press| date =2007-03-28| url =http://www.dailyreportonline.com/Editorial/News/new_singleEdit.asp?individual_SQL=3%2F28%2F2007%4014364_Public_.htm| accessdate =2007-04-06 ] According to WTVF "NewsChannel 5" Nashville, "Even Remnant's most vocal critics insist they do not believe Ms. Shamblin or anyone ever intended for child abuse to occur."cite news | last=Williams| first=Phil| coauthors =| title =Religious Movement at Center of Child Death Investigation | work =| pages =| language =eng| publisher= WTVF "NewsChannel 5" | date =2004-02-04| url =http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=5412250&nav=menu374_2| accessdate =2007-04-06 ]

Website Libel and Defamation Lawsuit

On March 15, 2007, Shamblin and Remnant Fellowship members filed a libel suit against an anonymous blogger and Rafael Martinez, the creator of Spirit Watch. The websites claimed the Remnant Fellowship Church advocates abuse and starvation of children. The Remnant Church said the claims are false.cite news | last=Bottorff| first=Christian| coauthors =| title =Brentwood church files Web-based libel suit | work =| pages =| language =eng| publisher = "The Tennessean" | date =2007-03-15| url =http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:UhfDCrzpV10J:www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article%3FDate%3D20070315%26Category%3DNEWS01%26ArtNo%3D703150391%26Template%3Dprintart+%22Brentwood+church+files+Web-based+libel+suit%22&hl=en&strip=1 | accessdate =2007-04-06 ] cite news | title =Remnant Church Files Defamation Lawsuit | work =| pages =| language =eng| publisher = WKRN-TV "News 2" Nashville | date =2007-03-26| url =http://www.wkrn.com/nashville/news/remnant-church-files-defamation-lawsuit/85157.htm | accessdate =2007-05-03 ] Remnant Fellowship lawyer Samuel J. Harris told the press that the blogger "...ran a website that put pictures of remnant children up and put in statements that came from Mr. Martinez site that remnant advocates the abuse of children... Not true.... And also that they advocate the starvation of children.... Not true.” Mr. Martinez stated that all of the information on his website was factual, and that he believed the lawsuit was a ploy by Remnant Fellowship to silence their critics. The attorney representing the church said the lawsuit was not an effort to silence Martinez' criticism and that the church would consider dropping the lawsuit if Martinez said that Remnant Church and Shamblin do not advocate starvation and torture of children. The anonymous blogger took down the blog site and on April 11, Martinez announced that the lawsuit against him had been dropped. [cite web |url =http://spiritwatch.org/shamblie2.htm|title=Statements On Gwen Shamblin et al Litigation Filed Against Spiritwatch Ministries |accessdate =2007-04-26 | publisher= spiritwatch.org ]

References

External links

* [http://www.weighdown.com Weigh Down Workshop Website] link retrieved 10/02/2008
* [http://www.remnantfellowship.org Remnant Fellowship Church Website] link retrieved 10/02/2008
* [http://www.TheSmithsAreInnocent.com Joseph & Sonya Smith Website] link retrieved 10/02/2008