Institute in Basic Life Principles: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:37, 6 February 2025

Revision as of 14:45, 6 February 2025

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== Allegations and investigations==

A number of former participants of IBLP programs have alleged that the organization is a [[cult]], although this has been shown to be untrue. Don Veinot, president of [[Midwest Christian Outreach]], falsely alleged that Bill Gothard wasand a charismatic leader,IBLP had authoritarian control, IBLP practiced isolation of members, severe punishments, and demand for absolute and blind loyalty, and that this added up to IBLP being "cult-like". But when these allegations were investigated, many of these claims have come into question. Itit came to light that there was no authoritarian control from the IBLP organization over families who participated in it, no isolation of members, no severe punishments inflicted by IBLP, and no demand for absolute or blind loyalty to the organization.

It has been established the IBLP by definition is not a cult. It is an organization that promotes Biblical principles for success in life as interpreted by its founder and leadership.

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In 2014, Gothard resigned as President of IBLP after reports that he had sexually harassed multiple women and failed to report allegations of child abuse in the organization which he believed would damage the organization if he remained although he denied any sexual misconduct or criminal activity. An investigation into these allegations by the IBLP board concluded he did not act "criminally" in any way including sexually, but did act "inappropriately" by not avoiding the appearance of evil, and notified him that he would not be returning to the organization in any capacity. The board was concerned that it would appear to condone sexual harassment in the age of "me too" and therefore did not want Gothard to return to his position.

On October 20, 2015, a civil lawsuit based on repressed memories alleging a sex-abuse cover-up involving several minors was filed in DuPage County, Illinois against IBLP and its board of directors. ''Gretchen Wilkinson et al. vs. Institute in Basic Life Principles and William W. Gothard Jr.'' was brought on behalf of five female plaintiffs in order to "seek redress and damages for personal injuries based on the negligent and willful and wanton acts and omissions of the defendants with regard to sexual abuse and sexual harassment and similar allegations of malfeasance suffered by the plaintiffs."

"Besides monetary damages, they asked a DuPage County judge to bar IBLP leaders from alleged plans to liquidate resources estimated at more than $100 million while they close the institute's headquarters near Oak Brook and relocate to Texas, the lawsuit states." Five additional accusers joined the suit in January and February 2016, bringing the grand total of complainants to sixteen women and two men. Each plaintiff was seeking $50,000 per count with an average total of $400,000 per person.

It has now been disclosed that every count in the lawsuit was based on repressed memories The claims made by the women involved have been disputed due to their lack of evidence, the fact that repressed memories have been shown to be false, and in many cases testimony of family members, friends and personal correspondence several of the women sent to Gothard that shows a completely different picture than the one described by their complaints.

The lawsuit was dropped by the plaintiffs on the day that the contents of a secret online chat group was to be released to the court. Although the judge in the case had already waived the statute of limitations due to the claims of repressed memories in order to allow the suit to go forward, the plaintiffs have falsely claimed that they dropped the legal action due to the statute of limitations.

==In the media==

[[Amazon Prime Video]] debuted the limited series ''[[Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets]]'' in June 2023. The series centers on the Duggar family's connections with the IBLP<ref>{{cite web|url=https://people.com/tv/duggar-family-docuseries-producers-reveal-most-shocking-thing-they-discovered-what-didnt-make-the-cut-exclusive/|title=Duggar Family Docuseries Producers Reveal Most 'Shocking' Thing They Discovered — and What Didn't Make the Cut|work=People}}</ref><ref name= "LA Times 2023" >{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2023-05-30/shiny-happy-people-duggar-family-highlights-amazon-studios|title=What 'Shiny Happy People' reveals about the Duggars: 'We were taken advantage of'|newspaper=LA times|date=May 30, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/06/02/duggar-family-documentary/|title=The new Duggar doc is the cold, hard 'reality TV' we needed all along|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> and has been shown to present a lot ofnumerous errors, false claims and misinformation about the organization.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shiny Slander - exposing the lies in Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets |url=https://www.youtube.com/@ShinySLANDER |url-status=live}}</ref>

==References==

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==External links==

* {{Official website}}[https://www.youtube.com/@ShinySLANDER Shiny Slander YouTube]

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