In her memoir, Jinger Duggar Vuolo compares Josh Duggar with the disgraced founder of IBLP, Bill Gothard.
That makes sense in many ways. Women, and especially girls, should never be left alone with either vile man. And both are form the same twisted cult.
But who exactly is Gothard?
Josh’s crimes are infamous. What did Gothard do to earn such widespread contempt?
We recently learned that Jinger Duggar’s autobiography “compares” her criminal brother, Josh Duggar, to Bill Gothard.
Jinger recalls how she was initially a devout follower within the IBLP cult.
However, in 2014, more than 30 women accused Gothard of sexual assault.
Church leaders conducted an “investigation” after so many women came forward so publicly.
It was, of course, an open secret for many years before that. Girls would tell each other that only the most lovely among them would be chosen to work with him directly.
As one might imagine, church leaders decided that Gothard had been “inappropriate” but allegedly not “criminal.”
Gothard didn’t even resign until a couple of years later.
When he did, it was in disgrace.
Jinger took all of that in, and processed that both the man and his teachings were not what she had once believed them to be.
“I realized that some of what I had been taught was hurtful and untrue,” Jinger wrote.
“I knew I needed to speak publicly about this,” she explained.
Jinger noted that this is “because I promoted teachings that I now believe are damaging.”
It was, Jinger shared, her brother-in-law Ben Seewald who introduced her to a new way to worship.
“I noticed his church read the Bible in its entirety and preached scripture that way,” Jinger observed
She remarked: “I feel like now I’m in a much better place. I see God as amazing.”
Bill Gothard founded the Institute in Basic Life Principles in 1961. It brands itself as a non-denominational Christian organization.
It is a twisted, toxic cult whose survivors have shared horror stories about its teachings, its culture, and its founder.
Simply put, the organization aims to train generations of fundamentalist Christians in a very specific ideology.
IBLP is infamous for its seminars, texts, training centers, and “educational” programs.
Part of this is simply materials that do not prepare people for the real world — only for interactions with members of the cult.
But it’s worse than that. The materials that IBLP pushes on people reinforce rape culture, telling victims — girls — that they are at fault. That they caused lustful thoughts in the predators who targeted them.
Gothard believed and taught numerous harmful ideas, including “male superiority and female obedience.”
These guidelines influenced everything from how people should dress to the homeschooling curriculum and more.
All of this has obviously had dire consequences on countless people’s lives. Josh was not the only predator who grew up in an environment where every victim would only blame themselves.
In fact, one IBLP survivor described suffering a series of sexual assaults while staying at one of their centers.
According to her, when Gothard learned of it, he asked for details in a manner that made her uncomfortable. Her perception was that he seemed inappropriately excited to hear more. That is the opposite of counseling. It is vile.
For Jinger to compare her brother to Gothard shows a startling level of awareness. But it is not one that all of her family shares — especially not sister-in-law Anna.
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