UNITED STATES
Starcasm
Despite being some of the most devout Christians in popular culture, 19 Kids and Counting‘s Duggar family avoids publicly labeling their faith as anything more than “Christian.” But, among smaller circles, they are among the best-known advocates for Bill Gothard’s ATI homeschooling curriculum and Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) program.
Earlier this year, both of those programs were swept up in controversy as religious leader Bill Gothard was accused of sexually harassing more than 30 young IBLP secretaries throughout the past 40 years. Gothard, who’s helmed IBLP since its creation in 1961, reluctantly resigned from the board in early March so that he could focus on listening to those who “ought against” him.
Unfortunately, as many IBLP harassment survivors have noted on Recovering Grace, Gothard wasn’t the only corrupt person in power: Back in the early 1980s, his brother was forced to resign after several of his sexual relationships with IBLP secretaries were revealed. Today, another Recovering Grace moderator wrote about the widespread coverups of questionable incidents.
“Harassment was allowed in other departments and not dealt with correctly,” said the anonymous writer, who worked at the IBLP headquarters as a young woman. “Anything negative was kept quiet.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.