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Articles about how Bill Gothard mishandles the Bible to support his legalistic viewpoint.

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Stories and accounts of the destruction caused by the teachings of Bill Gothard.

Tag Archives: working-conditions

Defrauding: What does it mean?

27 February 2014, 06:00

Moderator

159

In February 1976, Bill Gothard confessed to the poorly-defined offense of “having ‘defrauded’ staff secretaries.” In a July 1980 meeting of the Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts (IBYC) board, it was confirmed that Bill Gothard was responsible for the “physical and emotional defrauding of several of his personal secretaries.” In February 1981, Bill once again […]

The GOTHARD Files: 1983 Transcript

26 February 2014, 06:00

Moderator

266

The following conference telephone call took place between approximately 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. (Portland, Oregon, time) on Tuesday, November 1, 1983. Those involved in the discussion were: [former IBYC staffer “Rebecca”], Mr. Larne Gabriel, Mrs. Ruth Gabriel, Reverend Richard Hagenbaugh, Dr. Earl Radmacher, and Dr. Gary Smalley. Dr. Earl Radmacher: …I am Earl Radmacher, and […]

The GOTHARD Files: The Scandal, 1980

20 February 2014, 06:00

Moderator

306

This is part two of a three-part series on the history of the Institute in Basic Life Principles, formerly known as the Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts (IBYC). Please click here to read the Introduction and here to read Part One. Previously we explored events leading up to the IBYC scandal that broke in 1980. […]

Gothard’s Process: Invite, Idealize, Isolate, Transgress, Rewrite

18 February 2014, 07:00

Moderator

75

 

Marcus’s Story: Touching the Invisible Electric Fence

17 February 2014, 08:00

Moderator

118

I was invited to work at the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) headquarters during the summer of 1992. I said goodbye to my family in Knoxville, Tennessee, where we had traveled to attend the yearly Advanced Training Institute (ATI) annual conference, and climbed aboard one of the many vans transporting IBLP staff back to Oak […]

Ruth’s Story

12 February 2014, 06:00

Larne G

241

As the jet taxied away from the terminal that winter day in 1970, the parents tearfully waving off their teenage daughter never imagined how many years would pass before she truly returned. She was embarking on a journey that would last nearly a decade, and when it was over no one would ever be able […]

Sacred Grooming, Part Five: A Secretary’s Account of Life With Bill Gothard

29 January 2014, 06:00

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76

[Editor’s Note: The young woman referred to only as “she” and “her” in the following account is the author herself, “Meg,” but she has written it in the third person. The author was twenty-one years old during the events in this post. The following is a true story. Click here for Part One of Meg’s […]

Third Witness: Sexual Harassment at Headquarters

8 April 2013, 06:00

Moderator

88

Editor’s note: This is the third article in a series of stories relating Bill Gothard’s sexual harassment of young girls at Headquarters. Click on these links to read the previous stories: Lizzie’s story Part 1 and Part 2, and Annette’s story, as well as a follow-up article, “A Call to Repentance.” My story begins like […]

Sonic Bloom: Untruth With An Agenda

21 March 2013, 06:00

Danielle Klueber

106

The author, other IBLP staff members and directors, and Bill Gothard in the Indianapolis South Campus green house

There is no denying that Bill Gothard has a persuasive way of presenting “newfound” products, ideas, and beliefs. Many trust that he is truthful in these things. They assume, as I did, that he would never purposefully deceive. During my time with IBLP (the Institute in Basic Life Principles) I was witness to a very […]

Parents in a Potemkin Village: Six Weeks in the Moscow Training Center

14 January 2013, 06:00

Diana Hall

62

A panoramic view of the Moscow Training Center assembled from four snapshots taken in Fall 1995

We entered the Advanced Training Institute (ATI) homeschool program when I was fifteen, and not much about my life changed. Our family attended functions here and there and added the Wisdom Booklets to our home school curriculum, but the more unique ATI teachings did not have much effect on us. Before we joined ATI we […]