Rachel Lees, an IBLP survivor

Rachel Lees, an IBLP survivor, is an award-winning New Zealand writer in Tauranga and the author of “Sacred Grooming”. The online memoir details her experience of being hand-selected at 20 and groomed over the years by American fundamentalist cult leader Bill Gothard of the Institute in Ba

sic Life Principles (IBLP). As one of the whistle-blowers which led to the downfall of the Christofascist organisation and resignation of the leader, and then filing a lawsuit against Gothard in 2015, Rachel withstood many personal attacks against her. She is finally pursuing her academic education in the Social Sciences to write and speak more on predatory grooming and the healing that comes from the pursuit of justice.

Rachel will be speaking at Decult 2024 - make sure you don't miss out on purchasing tickets. A link to purchase tickets can be found in the comments of this post.

https://decult.net/

CultNEWS101 Articles: 5/22/2023 (Jehovah Witnesses, Book, Podcast, Toxic Positivity, Institute in Basic Life Principles)

Jehovah Witnesses, Book, Podcast, Toxic Positivity, Institute in Basic Life Principles

Let Your Light Shine: Secrets in the Shadows

"This book is about Lucia's experience of being raised within a religious cult. She left at the age of sixteen where she had to choose between her family and her own life. Lucia was then out in the world where she had to face some harsh realities, but also experienced freedom and the wilder side of life. She later explored other spiritual paths that were the start of a fascinating journey."

The IndoctriNation Podcast: Analyzing Word Salad w/ Kayla from Keya's World

"Kayla is a YouTube creator and launched her channel Keya's World back in 2021 to discuss toxic positivity, hustle culture, self-help, spirituality, scams, and everything in between."

People: The dark side of the infamous Duggar family is set to be exposed in an explosive new Prime Video docuseries — and PEOPLE has the exclusive first look.

"The limited series, Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, aims to go beneath the surface as it explores the wholesome family's troubling ties to a radical religious organization, the Institute in Basic Life Principles. In doing so, it unveils how the organization has shaped — and negatively impacted — the once-beloved TLC brood, which has since experienced a series of controversial scandals."

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Duggar Family - and Their Religion - Exposed in Explosive Prime Video Docuseries Featuring Jill and Amy (Exclusive)

Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets premieres June 2 on Prime Video

People

By Dory Jackson

May 18, 2023 Share

The dark side of the infamous Duggar family is set to be exposed in an explosive new Prime Video docuseries — and PEOPLE has the exclusive first look.

The limited series, Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, aims to go beneath the surface as it explores the wholesome family's troubling ties to a radical religious organization, the Institute in Basic Life Principles. In doing so, it unveils how the organization has shaped — and negatively impacted — the once-beloved TLC brood, which has since experienced a series of controversial scandals.

In PEOPLE's exclusive look at the first trailer, a man claims: "World domination was the goal."

"The IBLP teachings aren't Christianity," a woman then alleges. "They're something entirely different."

 A History of the Ups & Downs of the Duggar Family

The trailer eventually teases Jill (Duggar) Dillard, Derick Dillard and Amy (Duggar) King's involvement.

"There's a story that's going to be told," Jill, 32, says. "And I would rather be the one telling it."

Thinking back to her upbringing, Jill adds of her family: "We were part of IBLP as early as I can remember."

More accusations fly throughout the trailer, as one man alleges that IBLP founder Bill Gothard "turned every father into a cult leader and every home into an island."

At one point, a lady equates her experience within the organization to Hulu's acclaimed Handmaid's Tale series, which sees women being subjugated in extreme ways.

Another woman alleges that "the institute raises little predators." Following that, a news announcer speaks about the Duggars's "dark family secret" involving Jill's brother, Josh Duggar.

 Jinger Duggar Says She Hasn't Seen 'True Change' in Brother Josh Duggar: 'I Just Pray for the Victims'

The 35-year-old was found guilty in December 2021 of knowingly receiving and possessing child pornography. Before that, Josh admitted in a police report that he molested four Jane Does when he was between the ages of 12 and 15. Two of the victims that came forward were his sisters Jill and Jessa (Duggar) Seewald.

"It's like the epitome of evil," a woman says. "It breaks my heart to think about the girls."

Despite the insidiousness within the family, the docuseries declares that "this is much bigger than the Duggars."

 Amy Duggar King Say It's 'Ok to Have Huge Boundaries' with Family amid Josh Duggar Legal Drama

Another woman alleges that IBLP is "playing the long game" in hopes of getting kids within the devoted base "training in political engagement" to get them prominent roles in office. (As some may recall, Duggar family patriarch Jim Bob Duggar previously served in the Arkansas House of Representatives and later had several unsuccessful attempts seeking higher office.)

"The shiny, happy images is the sugar, and we're all high on it," a different woman says. "They were just deceiving us all."

Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets premieres June 2 on Prime Video

 

https://people.com/tv/duggar-family-prime-video-docuseries-shiny-happy-people-trailer-exclusive/

 

'I broke away from a strict homeschooling community cult'

BBC News

February 2, 2018

When you're very young, your parents or guardians are responsible for nurturing and teaching you as you grow up, but how do you know if you are getting a good upbringing?

The news that a teenager escaped from her home in California, where she and her 12 siblings were held in shackles by their parents, sent shockwaves across the world.

But what happens to children who are brought up under such restricted conditions?

Judy (not her real name) told the BBC about what life was like for her living in a "homeschool community" in Oregon, USA.

'His word was law'

"I was raised in a homeschool religious cult which encouraged parents to set up their own little schools and renew their marriage vows, just like the Turpin family. I recognise some of their behaviours.

"When my parents got together they were disenchanted by the overly free and 'hippy' style of living that was sweeping across the country. They wanted children to live a different life instead of one with no morals or rules.

"They had heard about Bill Gothard, founder of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), who was a really big deal in Oregon. They attended his seminars and embraced the IBLP homeschooling curriculum wholeheartedly.

"He was an icon, kind of like a prophet. The seminars involved a week of intensive brainwashing. He was the authority. His word was the law.

"My parents started homeschooling in the late 1980s and for over 30 years our family became part of this closed community with similar values."

'Strict and abusive'

"There was a lot of heavy-handed smacking from our parents. To disobey them, was to disobey God. The system was especially awful for the little ones. At Bill Gothard's seminars he used to talk about 'breaking their will'.

"They were quite abusive, but we knew other families who had it worse than us. When I was little, we lived in a mobile home. It was really inadequate - there were four or five of us in a room.

"Under the IBLP system, adults were not allowed to get into debt or have a mortgage, so my parents built a house. While it was being constructed we lived in a garage. I lived in a proper house at 15 and shared a bedroom with one or two sisters. It seemed fine at the time but as I grew up, it was more and more difficult having no space to myself."

Judy believes there is a connection between the Turpin family and Bill Gothard and the IBLP:

"He's very big in Texas. I met the Duggar family (who have 19 children) at one of the seminars. The real emphasis is on families, big ones."

'You don't know what's normal'

"The world outside our community was presented to us as an evil, bad place that we were protected from.

"We were required to memorise a lot of scriptures - chapters and chapters of the bible, to the point at which we could quote them off by heart.

"I got on with my siblings. You had to - that's one of the commands. I might not have in normal circumstances. There was definitely a pecking order and a lot of bullying in the family.

"Abuse in homeschool communities is often normalised or well-hidden and all too common.

"You don't know what's normal. There was no TV and no communication with anyone outside our circle. We watched movies once a week at our grandparents' house.

"We would have been seen and heard as there was a park and playgrounds near our house where we could play. But we didn't integrate outside the family."

'I was a second mum'

"We were fed well. All of us had braces on our teeth and we were healthy.

"I am the second eldest of nine siblings and when my mother gave birth I had childcare responsibilities.

"Girls weren't encouraged to pursue careers. They were expected to stay at home and help out with the family, and I was kept busy with lots of domestic work.

"I did pretty much everything. I was like a second mum, especially while my mum suffered from depression after she miscarried child number 10.

"My dad was away a lot on business during the spring and summer. But when he was around, he was most definitely in charge."
The outside world

"Under Bill Gothard's teachings, I was sent to Taiwan aged 21 to teach English for six months.

"After a year back in Oregon, I went to mainland China. In a sense, I didn't really leave my family. I was still very much connected by phone calls and emails.

"Living in China, I got to know 'normal' Americans who hadn't been homeschooled. That was a bit of a culture shock.

"I met a British man there and soon realised how different my life was back in Oregon. We decided to get married in the US."
Cutting ties

"I didn't realise how much of a hold the cult had on me. My husband and I stayed in the US for a while, but soon realised it was better for us to remove ourselves from the community completely. My family didn't really like my husband although he was really good with them.

"My husband encouraged me to stay in touch with my family. It took a lot for him to see that they were never going to change. But I have not seen my family since I left. I'm now in my 30s.

"A lot of people ask if it's hard to cut yourself off from your family. It was an upheaval but I was lucky to have the support of my husband who helped me to find the strength to leave my community and country. I couldn't have done it alone.

"It's taken me a long time to realise the extent of the abuse I encountered. Now that I have three lovely children of my own and am part of a real community and church, I realise my upbringing was not normal."

The Washington Post reported that Bill Gothard resigned from the IBLP ministry in 2014 amid allegations of sexual abuse, which he denied, and in 2016 there were further details of a lawsuit filed by 10 women.


Interview by Sherie Ryder, UGC and Social News team

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42701297

Melbourne base of US religious cult sells for $9.5 million

THE Australian base of a US religious cult — whose founder quit amid a wave of allegations of sexual assault — has sold for $3.5 million more than its quoted price on Melbourne’s fringe.

Scott Carbines
Herald Sun
OCTOBER 20, 2017

THE Australian base of a US religious cult — whose founder quit amid a wave of allegations of sexual assault — has sold for $9.5 million on Melbourne’s fringe.

The Institute in Basic Life Principles’ 3.36ha “Yarra training ­facility” at 111 Mangans Rd, Lilydale, was on the market for $6 million.

The IBLP has run its home school program and seminars from the property, which features on-site houses, apartment complexes, conference centres and a commercial kitchen.

IBLP Australian director Robin Harrison said he believed developer Westrock had purchased the site to turn into housing lots.

“We were sort of driven out really by the cost of utilities,” he said.

“Mainly electricity got beyond the capacity of the families to support, so we’re looking around for another home for the institute ... the electricity bill just doubled in one year. It was $7000 a month just for electricity, so that’s what tipped it over. It’s a pity to lose the open spaces.”

Mr Harrison said the group would be looking for a new base in the local area and would vacate its Mangans Rd home of 17 years mid 2018.

Westrock director John Delaney would not comment to the Herald Sun on whether it had purchased the site, adding “we’re private people.”

A mix of developers, retirement village operators and church or not-for-profit organisations had shown interest in the site, according to MBA Multisell director Mike Brown.

But Mr Brown would not take a call from the Herald Sun about the sale.

The IBLP claims millions have ­attended its seminars since it was founded by Bill Gothard in 1961.

The group states its purpose is to provide instruction on how to “succeed in life” by following principles found in Scripture — but it has been marred by serious allegations in the US of sexual harassment and abuse as well as cover-ups.

The IBLP incorporates several “programs”, including its advanced training institute, which has a branch at the Lilydale property.

That is a Bible-based homeschooling program whose most notorious alumni are the stars of canned US reality TV show 19 Kids and Counting.

The show was engulfed by scandal in 2015 after the eldest son admitted sexually abusing girls, including several of his sisters.

He is believed to have attended a IBLP-run facility after admitting the abuse.

Mr Gothard resigned in 2014 after more than 30 women made sexual harassment and molestation claims against him.

A lawsuit against him and the cult was launched by ex-members last year alleging physical and sexual abuse.

He has denied all the claims.

The lawsuit alleges that IBLP is liquidating its assets and calls for a trust to be established to ensure alleged victims can be compensated.

The controversial founder is listed as a seminar instructor on the IBLP Australia website.

Marketed as a “developer’s dream,” the 3.36ha Lilydale property includes training areas, two 24-bedroom apartment complexes, two four-bedroom “American-style” homes and one three-bedroom “manager’s home”.

It also features three large office complexes, one large conference centre, two smaller conference rooms and a commercial kitchen with seating for more than 100 people.

The IBLP Australia website advertises seminars at the Lilydale property until January 2018.

scott.carbines@news.com.au

Originally published as US cult’s Melbourne base sells for $9.5m

http://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/melbourne-base-of-us-religious-cult-sells-for-95-million/news-story/1e91b90487f4e5127887898d30320884

Five women sue Bill Gothard’s ministry that has ties to the Duggars

Sarah Posner
Washington Post
October 22, 2015

 

Jim Bob Duggar and his wife Michelle
with 12 of their 13 children, May 21, 2002.

Five women have sued the Institute in Basic Life Principles, once a leader in the Christian homeschooling movement, charging that the organization and its board of directors enabled and covered up sexual abuse and harassment of interns, employees, and other participants in its programs.

Each of the plaintiffs — Gretchen Wilkinson, Charis Barker, Rachel Frost, Rachel Lees and a Jane Doe — seeks $50,000 in damages, alleging that the organization and its board acted negligently, with willful and wanton disregard for them, and engaged in a civil conspiracy to conceal the wrongdoing.

The lawsuit is the latest chapter in a long-simmering scandal that has engulfed the ministry once admired by conservative Christian parents for teaching them how to raise obedient, devout and chaste children since the 1960s. The ministry has found dedicated followers in politics, including Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.), who sought to replace Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) as House Speaker, and in entertainment.

Last year, IBLP’s founder and longtime president, Bill Gothard, resigned amid allegations by more than 30 women that he had sexually harassed them. Former followers have said that Gothard was revered as an almost saint-like figure, and that members of IBLP’s homeschooling arm, the Advanced Training Institute, feared questioning him.

Earlier this year, IBLP was once again in the headlines after the gossip magazine In Touch reported that Josh Duggar, the eldest son of reality television stars and longtime Advanced Training Institute members Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, had been sent to an IBLP training center as a teenager after he admitted he had sexually abused four of his younger sisters and a family friend.

[Duggar sisters Jessa Seewald and Jill Dillard to star in TLC specials]

The new lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in DuPage County Circuit Court in Illinois, where IBLP’s headquarters is located, charges that IBLP, its employees and directors “frequently received reports” of “sexual abuse, sexual harassment and inappropriate/unauthorized touching.” But, the lawsuit said, they never reported “these serious, potentially criminal allegations to law enforcement authorities or the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services” as required by state law.

David Gibbs III, the attorney representing the women, said in an interview the women decided to litigate only after unsuccessful efforts to address the issues with the IBLP board of directors, who are also named in the lawsuit. Gibbs added that his clients did not want to sue, but that the board “rather stubbornly and in my opinion rather arrogantly basically challenged the girls to bring the case.”

The board, he said, “is not operating in a spirit of transparency or openness,” and has not discussed the allegations with the victims.

IBLP did not respond to a request for comment.

Founded in 1961, and led by Gothard until his resignation last year, IBLP was once highly regarded among conservative Christians for its conferences and teaching materials that focused on “biblical character” development.

The organization’s culture and teachings were depicted in the Duggars’ reality show, “19 Kids and Counting,” until TLC canceled it in the wake of the revelations about Josh Duggar. But IBLP’s philosophy continues to be shown on “Bringing Up Bates,” a reality show on the Up television network, about another family with 19 children, whose patriarch, Gil Bates, serves on the IBLP board and is named in the lawsuit.

Despite the positive depictions on reality television, IBLP recently has seen a decline in support, particularly since the Web site Recovering Grace, created by disaffected former followers, began drawing attention to the sexual harassment charges in 2012. Recovering Grace compiled the stories of more than 30 women who said they had been sexually “groomed” and inappropriately touched by Gothard over a three-decade period, and sought to address the charges internally at IBLP.

About the lawsuit, John Cornish, a spokesman for Recovering Grace, said, “Our goal and our hope is the same as it’s been all along — that they will be accountable for what’s taken place, that Bill [Gothard] and the board would repent, and that the victims will finally be acknowledged and taken care of in the right manner.”

The longtime founder and head of the ministry, Gothard, who is now 80, has long denied the sexual harassment charges, even as he resigned as president of the organization in March 2014. (Gothard is not named in the lawsuit because, Gibbs said, he is no longer affiliated with the organization.) That year, IBLP conducted an internal investigation (with which David Gibbs, Jr., Gibbs’s father, was involved), after which it concluded “no criminal activity has been discovered,” but that “Mr. Gothard has acted in an inappropriate manner.”

But the plaintiffs say the internal investigation amounted to sweeping a pattern of abuse and possible criminal activity under the rug. The victims, said the younger Gibbs, were as young as 13 or 14 years old, and often had been subjected at home to physical, sexual and other abuse or neglect. The “pattern” common among the plaintiffs, he said, was that the girl would “act out” as a result of the abuse at home; her parents would then send her to IBLP for counseling.

Other women who have been counseled by Gothard have said he questioned sexual assault victims about whether they were dressed immodestly or had “lustful” thoughts. He also taught that sexual assault victims must “cry out to God” to stop the assault; if she does not, Gothard has taught, she is equally guilty with her assailant.

Gothard, said Gibbs, was aware of the abuse the girls had suffered at home, and would offer to counsel them at IBLP headquarters. When they were alone with him, they say he inappropriately touched them. Sometimes, he added in an interview, a driver would take the pair out for ice cream, for example, and “inappropriate touching” would take place in the back seat of the car.

If they pulled away or rejected the advances, Gibbs charged, Gothard or another IBLP leader would “call the parents and share with them all the allegations of abuse that were shared in counseling, and then send the children back into those environments.”

No one answered the phone at Gothard’s home on Thursday, nor was there a voicemail system or answering machine.

Although they were reluctant to sue, Gibbs said, his clients want to hold the organization accountable for “perpetuating this philosophy and culture of abuse.” He said since filing the lawsuits, other women with similar experiences have contacted him.

The lawsuit further charges that IBLP is seeking to liquidate its sizeable real estate assets, now located in seven states (the organization’s most recent tax return values these holdings at nearly $80 million). Gibbs also said the organization is seeking to relocate its headquarters to Texas, where, he said, the courts are less aggressive than those in Illinois in handling sexual abuse cases.

Cornish, the Recovering Grace spokesman, emphasized IBLP’s own claims to act biblically and morally. “For an organization that has always prided itself on doing the right thing, it’s a bit of a shame that it’s taken legal action for them to even have a discussion with the victims about this,” he said.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/10/22/five-women-sue-bill-gothards-ministry-that-has-ties-to-the-duggars/