Shiny Happy People

Shiny Happy People was a docuseries released on Amazon on June 1, 2023. It primarily focused on the Institute of Biblical Life Principles (IBLP) and its founder/leader Bill Gothard. IBLP was brought to the public sphere via the Duggar family and their various specials and tv shows on TLC as well as appearances on the Today Show and various magazines. Throughout the series’ four episodes, the rampant sexual abuse and covering up of abuse was explored through interviews with various survivors, including Jill Dillard.

Please note that this docuseries discusses many sensitive subjects, such sexual assault, physical abuse, emotional and spiritual abuse, child sexual assault, and child sexual abuse material (CSAM), commonly referred to as child porn. These summaries may be triggering. Every episode touches upon at least one of these subjects.

If you or anyone you know is a victim of abuse, please check out our list of Support Resources for domestic and sexual abuse.

## Episode One: Meet The Duggars

The first episode introduces us to IBLP as well as the Duggar family through interviews with Jill and Derick Dillard, Deanna Duggar, Amy and Dillion King, and Jim and Bobye Holt, as well clips from the specials and shows on TLC. After a brief overview of what the docuseries will discuss, the episode starts with Jill choosing to tell her story “instead of the tabloids”. Through her interview, and clips of Michelle from IBLP conferences, she talks about how her parents met and started their family. Jill says none of her grandparents supported her parents’ decision to have “a million kids”. She says Jim Bob grew up poor with his sister, Deanna, who tells us how they were raised very conservatively. Deanna wasn’t allowed to be a cheerleader or wear jeans. Neither of them were allowed to attend school dances. From there we are introduced to Amy and Dillon, Deanna’s daughter and son and law.

In 1997 the Duggar family went to a pro life rally at the capitol “begging” their representatives to ban partial birth abortion. The ban was voted down and Jim Bob says he was then moved to run for public office. He ran twice and won twice. The family moved to Little Rock while the state congress was in session. There, Josh made friends and started a club called BoyCOT, Boys’ Christian Outreach Team, to boycott a store down the street that had begun selling alcohol or pornography. After serving four years, Jim Bob ran for US Senate in 2002. He was not elected.

Kristen Kobes Du Mez, a religious historian, discusses how the picture of Jim Bob and Michelle and the kids going to vote for him is what sparks interest on a national level, saying how Parents Magazine saw it and wanted to do an article about them, which brings in Discovery Health, who wants to do a one hour special. Jim Bob sees this as a way to spread his message throughout the country and make money. This special became 14 Children and Pregnant Again! which premiered in 2004.

This special also introduced us to Jim and Bobye Holt. Jim Bob and Jim grew up together; their families have always been friends. Jim says he was 19 when he met a 14 year old Bobye on a blind date, although he says he didn’t know her age, thinking she was 17 or 18 at the time. He says Jim Bob asked them to show up at the ice skating rink for the special and he now regrets it. Jim and Bobye’s eldest daughter, Kaeleigh, is only two days older than Josh.

The special did so well so they filmed more, resulting in five specials before the regular show started. Jim confirms that TLC put several hundred thousand dollars into the Duggar house to get it ready in time for filming the first season of 17 kids and counting. Amy discusses laundry and grocery shopping while clips of the family doing those chores from the specials are shown.

Jill realised they were big deal when they went to TLC headquarters and saw a giant family photo of them. Danielle Linderman, a professor of sociology and self described “evangelist for reality tv”, explains how TLC (and other networks) learned that reality tv is cheap to produce while bringing in tons of views, making the shows extremely profitable. *19 Kids and Counting* is calming and comforting because there is no drama. It allows people to go back to a non existent simpler time, while bringing in tons of money for the network. It essentially started the reality show trend, resulting in Discovery becoming a multibillion dollar company.

Jen Sutphin, a youtuber, speaks to how the Duggars now saw themselves as a “beacon” of christian fundamentalism. TLC started creating more shows, including one about the Bates family.

Jim Holt explains how he had a rough home life and Mary Duggar considered him another son, even though they had their own problems. Through IBLP clips, Jim Bob says he grew up in poverty; the power had been cut off more than once and the house had been in foreclosure. He blames this on his father not having “a spiritual focus in life”, which caused a lot of problems for his family.

In 1980 Jim and Jim Bob went to their first IBLP seminar and saw Bill Gothard for the first time.

Through interviews with Brooke Arnold, a former IBLP member, and Kristen both Bill Gothard and IBLP’s roots are discussed.

IBLP was started by Bill Gothard, the son of William Gothard (a pastor who was the head of the Gideon’s association) in 1961, despite Bill himself not being a pastor. As a child, Bill was “concerned with the wrong decisions many of his classmates were making”. He created the Basic Seminar which promised answers to many things, including resolving family conflicts, overcoming feelings of inferiority, removing guilt and bitterness, conquering destructive habits. Jim says the seminar was one of the best things he ever heard in his life.

Bill begins hosting workshops on how to parent and raise and discipline children in the way of god. He was promoting the prosperity gospel. He provided a simple program and way of life by giving everyone the answers to everything. There are seven basic principles: design, authority, responsibility, ownership, suffering, freedom, success. He says everyone wants equal authority but that’s not how god created our lives and discusses his umbrella of authority chart.

Quiverful, having as many children as possible, is heavily encouraged by Gothard and IBLP. The more children you have, the more blessed by god you are.

Derick mentions it is rooted in the bible and someone “ran with it”. Jill quotes psalms “As arrows in the hands of a mighty man so are children of one’s youth” and a clip of the Duggar children reciting a similar passage at a conference is shown along with one of Michelle and Jim Bob saying overpopulation is a myth and that the entire world’s population can fit inside Jacksonville Florida.

The Holts have eleven children.

In 2012 the entire Duggar family (Jim Bob, Michelle, their 19 biological children, a pregnant Anna, Mackynzie and Michael) went on the Today Show to announce Michelle was pregnant. She would miscarry within a few weeks. “Be fruitful and multiply” is what all the children, including Amy, were always told. “That’s crazy” according to Dillon.

Gothard travelled all over, giving speeches and drawing huge crowds. In 1984 he turned his seminars into a homeschool curriculum, ATI, the Advanced Training Institute. Jill says it to make sure the kids “turned out right” and how appealing it was. The Duggar show was a ministry to promote IBLP and lure more people into it. They legitimised IBLP much the same way Tom Cruise legitimised Scientology, as explained by Josh Pease, a reporter. After being on TV for ten years, Jim Bob and Michelle had written their second book and it was extremely popular.

In 2009, Josh and Anna went on the Today Show for the gender reveal of their first child, Mackynzie. Later, in 2013, Josh decided to take a job offer in DC, working for Family Research Council, a conservative political lobbying group.

Deanna says she thought the show was a good opportunity for the family, but claims she didn’t know everything. She didn’t know what was happening within the family. Then in 2015, the molestation scandal broke.

Jill chose not to speak about that. No one was ever supposed to find out about it. Derick says he knew because they were a married couple, but it was never supposed to be public knowledge. Throughout the interview Jill is visibility upset and at some points unable to speak.

Jim and Bobye confirm that Kaeleigh and Josh were courting with the intention of getting married. On March 30, 2003, they found out about Josh. Jim says Bobye\* said Josh had molested his sisters and Michelle responded with “don’t you say that again”. He had been “inappropriately touching his sisters” since 2000, a full two years earlier than had been previously known and reported. The Holts only found out when he was 15, while he was courting their daughter. They asked when Jim Bob and Michelle had intended to tell them about this, to which Michelle replied “We weren’t gonna have them tell you guys at all. We were gonna have Josh confess to Kaeleigh once they were married.” Jim says to Jim Bob “So are you basically saying you were kinda using my daughter as like a carrot to get him to behave the right way?” and Jim Bob responded with “Well, yeah, kind of.”

During his time in office, Jim Bob had written a bill that helped create a website to track sex offenders. Jim called him out on his hypocrisy, saying Josh belonged on the website. He encouraged Jim Bob to turn Josh in. Instead, Jim Bob took him to see a friend, Joseph Hutchens, who was a state trooper and also a pedophile. Although Jim went with them, he was unaware of their friendship. After that conversation, Jim Bob sent Josh to an IBLP facility in Little Rock, telling the others he went on a mission trip. However, the Parents magazine interview was about to take place, so Jim Bob brought Josh back home.

Clips of other survivors of such abuse within IBLP are shown in a sort of preview for the next episode.

\*Although the English captions here say "he (Jim Bob) said he (Josh) molested his sisters", it sounds like Jim is saying "you said he (Josh) molested his sisters" while looking at Bobye. Additionally, the Dutch captions say "you".

## Episode Two: Growing Up Gothard

The second episode opens with the revelation that Josh has molested his sister, and Derick saying Jill called him crying when the news broke. Deanna says she cried when she learned about it. Jill talks about how it became her responsibility to save the show, leading to the Megyn Kelly interview with Jim Bob and Michelle and then later with Jill and Jessa. Jim Holt calls out Jim Bob’s downplaying of events, saying everything he said was a lie. Jill says everything fell on her and Jessa.

And then the Ashley Madison website leak happened.

In clips from an IBLP conference, Jim Bob laughs, saying everyone probably knows about his family’s trials through TV. Deanna says Jim Bob needed to get Josh help while Michelle says she just needs to talk to God. At the time, Danica Dillon also spoke out about her relationship with Josh, where he paid her for rough sex while a pregnant Anna was at home with their three children.

This isn’t a story that is unique to the Duggars. Many families within IBLP go through this same thing, just not publicly on TV.

Survivors of IBLP who were interviewed include: Tara and Floyd Oathout, a married couple; Lara Smith; Heather Heath; Lindsey J Williams; Chad Harris; Tia Levings

Lindsey was introduced to IBLP when she was eight years old. She was taken out of school to be homeschooled. Floyd had hear of the Duggars long before they were on TV because of their speaking engagements at conferences. Tara’s parents homeschooled her as well. Lara started being homeschooled in second grade. Her siblings acted and interacted with each other in the same ways as the Duggar children. Chad was the first fully homeschooled child in his family. They were only supposed to watch IBLP approved material, which he says was very boring. His dad became a pastor within the organisation. Tia was introduced to IBLP as a new mom. Heather was homeschooled from the beginning. Her mother had a very abusive childhood so IBLP appealed to her with its promise of keeping her and her children safe.

Gothard was doing seminars once a week, always in different places. He was spreading his message in various churches throughout the country, spreading in the southern baptists churches. He used his teachings to exert control over anyone and everyone. He created a line of authority through his umbrellas of protection, with himself at the helm. He sold everyone on a fantastical past that never existed, where everything was better for the white protestant man. With white people not wanting their children going to integrated schools, part of the homeschooling movement was born. Gothard took full advantage of that, creating the Advanced Training Institute (ATI) a homeschooling curriculum, which the Duggars used. While Jill says people who used it were concerned their children would be brainwashed by the public school system, she admits she holds those same beliefs.

The Wisdom Booklets, which Gothard says took ten years to write, are the foundation of the ATI curriculum, despite proving next to no education. Lindsey tells us there were 54 booklets and categories within each booklet. Each week you would focus on one category. Floyd and Tara continue, saying at the end of the year you would start all over again. And that was school. That was it. Jill remembers reading the Wisdom Booklets, saying they would memorise the definitions. Chad says the teachers are based on the Sermon On The Mount. Brooke says Gothard promised this curriculum would have your children graduated with the equivalent to a high school diploma \*and\* a pre-law degree \*and\* a pre-med degree, so 16/17 year old kids are graduating with two bachelor’s degrees.

With clips from 17 kids and counting, we hear Jim Bob describing how they teach their children that evolution is a lie. Instead they take them to the creation museum where they are taught the earth is 4000 years old. Michelle insists this is all backed by science.

Danielle explains that this lack of education is by design while Chad says it was all “conjecture from Bill Gothard and from the other authors that he brought in to write his books .. utter made up nonsense.” He says a friend of his was never taught math beyond fractions because her father said she used them in baking and “that’s good enough”.

An excerpt from a Wisdom Book says “However, those who deny the Flood cugget (sic) that these fossils were laid down gradually over millions of years. These people are blind to the unique conditions required for fossil formation and perpetuate one of the greatest hoaxes ever suggested in the name of science. Fossils did not accumulate over millions of years; the (sic) were all formed simultaneously in one Great Flood.” Another excerpt says “hands are composed of nonliving atoms.”

Lindsey says the more seminars she went to, the more she lost rights and freedoms, such as what she could wear, what she could watch, what she could listen to. According the ATI curriculum, listening to rock music, even christian rock music, meant giving a piece of your soul to Satan. “The characteristic offbeat in today’s rock music has been traced to the satanic rituals in the jungles of West Africa. It was this type of drumbeat which certain tribe members were specially trained for in order to open the people to demonic control. It was used to accompany all manner of diabolical perversion and gross immorality.”

There were all sorts of “crazy” rules. The Game of Life was forbidden because the cars weren’t big enough for all your children. Instead they had their own games, like the Commands of Christ board game. Many families weren’t allowed to have Winnie the Pooh because it glorified depression. Barbie dolls were whores. Cabbage Patch dolls were demonic. (Gothard taught that the creator of the dolls was a warlock and personally cursed each doll with a demon.) Jill and her siblings were never allowed to have them. Tara says she was always afraid that her toys were bringing evil into her home.

Michelle’s meek and mild voice and attitude is something all women were taught to train themselves to do. Jill says her parents wanted all the girls in dresses, which Michelle says is to draw attention to their face. Chad discusses how they had instructions how women were to wear their hair. Lindsey explains how Gothard didn’t like that her hair wasn’t curly enough. In a clip from *17 Kids and Counting*, Jill says how their dad likes long. It was very common for women to keep their hair long and to curl it “ad nauseam”, which is very evident in how the Duggar and Bates girls kept their hair, as well as all the other women interviewed in this documentary.

Seminars were held on how women should dress to avoid “eye traps” for me. There were drawings where girls and women were supposed to identify the eye traps in each outfit, which could be lace around the collarbone or a small slit in a skirt. “The shorter the skirt, the more vicious the eye trap.” In another clip from 18 kids and counting, Mary explains how Joy uses her hand to cover up women on the tv in “immodest dress” while Jana informs us that the girls will yell “Nike” while out in public if they see a woman dressed immodestly so the boys will all immediately look at the ground.

More from the Wisdom Booklets: “Those who fall to her whoredom are stripped of resources and vibrancy of life.”

Eve Ettinger, another survivor, discusses how girls are always on display, so if they’re being molested, it’s their own fault. Heather explains how older brothers are not to change diapers at all, but especially not of their baby sisters because he will be tempted to touch her. Brooke says sexuality is repressed at all costs while Eve says it ends up doing the complete opposite.

Gothard preaches against pornography, saying “the one who made pornography popular in America had done more damage in America than a hundred Hitlers.” Jim Bob makes the claim that a lot of newspaper inserts are actually pornography while Michelle says romance novels are like pornography. Amy says they had a huge bonfire where they got rid of everything that was evil, including everything Disney. Chad says some people asked Gothard to “cleanse” their home for them, meaning he would go through their house and pray that any demons would be cleansed by Jesus. Jim Bob explains that allowing any holes in the umbrella (of authority) allows Satan to come in and attack.

Fear was always used as a motivating factor during the seminars, as Floyd recalls. A clip of the Duggar children singing at a seminar is shown, where they are singing “why should I not be put in hell to suffer for all time?” Lara says everyone is on high alert all the time to make sure they aren't doing or thinking anything that would make you hellbound. In childhood, she would dream of being burned alive over minor childish infractions, like being angry at her brother that day. In a clip from a self published video, Jinger says she realised that she was a sinner, she had sinned against god, and she could not save herself from her sins. Eve further explains that critical thinking is turned inward so people are consumed with examining themselves and have no time to question the system itself.

According to Gothard, everyone has a spiritual gift, and we will all be happier if we see our lives “through our particular spiritual gift”. Chad says everyone is to use their gift for the ministry. The problem that men are always prophets, which Brooke tells us gives them a free pass to be jerks, while women are always mercy givers, which means they take everything and deal with it. To no surprise, Jill’s spiritual gift was mercy giver.

This leads to parentification of the older children. Gothard encourages the older children to care for the younger children, which Jill reconfirms with her explanation of the buddy system and buddy teams. Eve says it is still one of her biggest trauma, as her childhood looked very much like the early days of the Duggar’s early days. Tia points out that while 11 year old girls are raising their infant and toddler siblings, no one is making sure anyone is raising them.

Lara comments that seeing the the Duggar children being so calm, so quiet, was actually heartbreaking for her because she “knew what it took to get there”, which leads to a disturbing clip from a seminar where Bill Ligon “borrows” a random boy from the audience to show “how to spank a boy and bless him at the same time.” While pretending to be the boy’s father on stage, Bill pretends to spank the boy multiple times before asking for a hug. When the boy doesn’t hug him hard enough, Bill says the boy needs another spanking. He repeats the process and this time the boy bears hugs. The audience laughs the entire time.

Chad explains how physical punishment was used for everything. One time his mother spanked him for an hour in an effort to “break his will”. He says it was treated as a funny family story where everyone laughed, except him. Jill says she was discouraged from voicing her opinion or her feelings, both through IBLP and her parents. While the show portrays happy and perfect children, Lara sees the broken spirits behind those smiles.

At a parenting seminar, Michelle shows a clip of toddler Josie excitedly saying “instant obedience to initial prompting of god’s spirit.” Another parents speaks to how her 8th child “resisted every bit of training.” At 14 months old he was “shaming his mother” and she “didn’t know what to do with him.” So she would spank him all day long. To Train Up A Child by Michael and Debi Pearl was standard reading. Michael and Debi are notorious for their book, which is considered a child abuse manual and has been linked to the deaths of several children. In another parenting seminar, he says “a little psychological terror is sometimes more effective than the pain.” Eve calls them “some motherfuckers”. Tia explains how Michael teaches parents to beat their children and not get in trouble for it.

Amy says her aunt and uncle called it “encouragement”. Chad mentions blanket training, which Michelle has never denied using. The idea is to put a child on a blanket and leave a toy off the blanket but within reach. If they reach for the toy, you hit them. This is supposed to teach the child to not leave the blanket. Ever. As Eve points out, this type of training teaches children to not avoid predators, setting them up to be victims for abuse. According to Gothard, you are only free when you learn the wishes of your authority.

Floyd reveals that his father went to prison over molestation charges when Floyd was 12 years old. His mother was encouraged to stay with his father and keep the family together, which she did.

As Chad explains, everyone was encouraged to court, rather than date. It put the parents in charge of the relationships. It wasn’t very different from an arranged marriage. Kristen continues, saying courtship is designed to guarantee sexual purity. Tia says 17 kids and counting really romanticised it.

A clip from Josh and Anna’s wedding is shown, where Jim Bob is presenting Josh with a book and CD from Ed Wheat about how the wedding night should go. Tia says it has one sexual position and instruction on how to give a good hand job as well as telling women they need to be available at all times. The scene is played as a joke but as Tia points out, we know that Josh had already molested his sisters at that point so he was well aware of female anatomy. She goes on to say that women aren’t really allowed to say no whichever man wants them. If a man shows up and says he wants you, then he’s god’s man for you. She says she didn’t feel safe around the men who would become her husband but she needed to bend her will around that.

At Josh and Anna’s wedding, Anna’s father says he is transferring his authority over her to Josh because that’s how god designed it. Brooke tells us women are not allowed to have authority over themselves.

Tia’s remained pure throughout her entire engagement. Her parents gave her the wedding of her dreams when she was 19 years old. She reveals she was raped three times on her wedding night by her new husband resulting in her having her first child at the age of 20. Within ten years she had five children. Her Gothard mentors told her to be a better wife and that would solve her marital problems, ie her abuse. If the baby cried at night then her husband wouldn’t get any sleep and “there was going to be violence.” Referring back to To Train Up A Child, Tia confirms that fundamentalist children are spanked all the way up to adulthood, including older daughters and even wives. There is a domestic discipline contract with rules, such as if you are allowed to cry, if you will be sitting in the corner, if sex will be expected afterward. “No matter how old you are, the whole point is to inflict pain until you have the submissive confession that the oppressor wants.”

When *17 Kids and Counting* first premiered, Tia wanted to know if they were really going to show America what her life was like and how they would react. Of course they didn’t do that. It was “very shined up”. She still cannot believe how long the show lasted and how long Jim Bob got away with everything.

Back to the Megyn Kelly interview, Jim Bob reveals just how common sexual abuse is in their community. No one in Heather’s circle was surprised by the molestation scandal. It was just that common. “That’s what happens, brothers do that”.

Jill says they were hiding from paparazzi and having a family meeting about what to do next. Jim Bob’s PR representative, who also worked for Mike Huckabee, Chad Gallagher, was there. It was Chad who set up the Megyn Kelly interview in an effort to keep the show on TLC. Danielle notes how the girls were basically forced to give this interview and downplay their own abuse, while Jill says she regrets doing it. Derick says it was a suicide mission. “The show cannot fail”. They were just collateral damage.

While Jessa insists during the interview that none of the victims knew what happened until Josh confessed, Amy says the whole thing felt scripted and that Jill fought back and hit Josh when he tried to touch her.

Mike Huckabee, among others, defended Jim Bob and Michelle, as well as Josh, saying others didn’t know the family the way he did and didn’t know what they were talking about.

In previews for the next episode, despite Jill doing everything she was asked to do, the show was still cancelled, but Jim Bob wanted the show back. And so *Jill and Jessa: Counting On* was created. Even though Jill didn’t want to do it, she felt she had no choice because of the teachings of IBLP, which have started to infiltrate schools and prisons.

## Episode Three: Under Authority

The third episode starts with the Megyn Kelly interview with Jill and Jessa, and Jill reiterating that she is not proud of it. In regards to filming the shows, she says they were taken advantage of while a clip plays of Jim Bob saying it’s not invasive and the kids have learned to ignore the cameras and Gothard says everyone should be in full time Christian work. Floyd and Tara also mention a contract over behaviour while Chad says IBLP exploits desperate people. Amy wonders if more secrets will come out.

*Jill and Jessa: Counting On* starts in 2015 with the adults children and Anna speaking out about Josh’s then current scandals, the molestation scandal and the Ashley Madison scandal. Tia sees the spin off show as further exploitation.

Danielle points out that the show portrays Jim Bob as a “lovable lug” who never yells or gets angry. In 2013, *19 Kids and Counting* took the entire family to Asia where they went on a Japanese game show and the eldest girls were done up in traditional Geisha attire. In a later clip the sons in law discuss the 45 page application Jim Bob has for any man who wants to court his daughters where he “grills” them about their financial situation.

Before going off to Napal, Derick reached out to Jim Bob about being his prayer partner. Some time later Jim Bob gave Derick Jill’s number. She had two dates coming up with two different guys; Jim Bob wanted to make sure he got his hand picked guy there first. They officially started courting in 2014 while Jill was visiting Derick in Napal.

The father has complete control and authority over the daughter until she marries. Jill and Derick had no say in having their wedding aired on TV. The day before their wedding they were told to sign a contract, which they did without reading. It was until later that they realised they signed a five year commitment to the show. In April 2015, Jill was preparing to give birth to their first child, Israel. She and Derick stated they didn’t want anyone present at birth, citing Anna’s birth specials as their reason. Although no one from the production crew was present at the birth, cameras were still set up and it was filmed for TV.

Danielle compares the Duggar women drawing in viewers with their reproduction to the Kardashians doing the same, only they got paid while the Duggar women did not. All the money went to Jim Bob.

Jill asked TLC to cover the out of pocket expenses for Israel’s birth but was told they had already paid her dad and to talk to him. Heather explains how it is “normal” (her air quotes) for the father to have all the money. He’s in charge so of course he has it. The producers ask Jill and Derick if they ever got a distribution during the show. Jill says no, saying she never received any payout, “no check, no cash, no nothing. For seven and half years of my adult life, I was never paid.”

A 2009 clip of 18 Kids and Counting shows the boys doing construction on the Bates’ house. Michelle is commenting on how hard working the boys are and how much can get done when “a group of children are willing to work.”

Floyd explains that you were expected to serve solely for the purpose of serving. Gothard had many programs and training centers for teens and young adults. Parents would unknowingly send their children there to work 16-18hr days. Brooke explains that Gothard would tell parents to send their children to his homeschool program and then send them to him to work for free. And many parents did just that.

Jim and Bobye Holt again confirm that while Josh was “away” he was doing construction work at an IBLP facility as one of his punishments. Floyd says they were expected to set up for conferences and tear down the sets afterward as well. “Gothard loved some potted plants.” Throughout the entire IBLP network, children were performing manual labor.

Heather says its hard to describe what IBLP looks like. “It’s in every home but there’s a headquarters and then there’s all the training centers all over the place. And it just got bigger and bigger.” There’s a training center for Character First, one for Excel, one for Commit, one for Telos, one for Alert, one for Verity, one for Sound Foundations, one for Equip. The centers are spread throughout the Bible Belt and all function differently. “It’s super confusing”.

All of these centers are acronyms. IBLP is the Institute of Basic Life Principles. ATI is the Advanced Training Institute. Commit is Cultivating Obedience Ministering Mercy Internalizing Truth. Excel is Excellence in Character Education Leadership. Alert is Air Land Emergency Resource Team. It’s done to confuse people and make it sound appealing. Alert Academy sounds nice. Paramilitary group of teenage boys with little to no education sounds scary.

Heather doesn’t think the parents realised just how intense it was or what exactly was happening at these places. Everything you did there was control. Disobedience would get you locked in the prayer room, be it hours, days, weeks. It was an empty room with nothing but a bible. Lara tells about a time when her team leader didn’t like her shoes because they had a small heel. She was locked in the prayer room for four days. She was 16.

During a trip to Walmart, Heather bought a box of tampons. When she returned to the training center, they went through her stuff and took away the tampons, calling them devil sticks and saying they were used for pleasure. They shamed her for taking her own virginity by using them and denying her future husband the privilege of breaking her hymen.

Floyd says they were put through sessions where they were grilled over what they did wrong and how to correct it, forcing confessions over and over. He and Tara say shame was used a lot.

At the center in Oklahoma City Heather says the windows were sealed shut as a means of preventing suicides.

Lindsey Williams says she saw her housemate put a knife to own throat, citing a bible passage that read “it is better to put a knife to your throat than to be a glutton.” Women needed to be perfect, godly wives for their husbands, so they were very concerned about their weight. People needed help but all anyone ever did was pray. She says they were all brainwashed by Bill Gothard.

Lara says how Gothard lived everywhere, constantly visiting all the centers all the time. He acted like he was living a very modest lifestyle but as Brooke later found out, that was a lie. The entire Gothard family was living rather extravagant lifestyles. Josh Pease notes IBLP had planes and gold-plated hallways. Meanwhile Brooke is saying how her family struggled to pay for the seminar because it was so expensive, as was the homeschool program.

IBLP grew into a huge organization with a lot of political power and wealth. The training centers started campaigning during elections. Gothard was connecting with people like Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Sonny Perdue, Rick Perry. The biggest donor is David Green, the CEO of Hobby Lobby. The training centers themselves were gifts from politicians and local governments.

Groups starting pushing to have morality taught in the public schools, using materials published by IBLP called Character First, which Gothard insists has “no overt references to god or the bible.” Despite this, Heather tells us the kids at the training centers were taught how to gaslight the public school kids into bible studies. Lara backs up this claim, saying they were “absolutely indoctrinating” the kids.

It wasn’t only public schools. Brooke explains the teachings made it into the private prison system as well. Correction Corporation America (now called CoreCivic) claims to have the program in 28 of their facilities, saying “this year” (year unknown) they will be adding it to 12 more facilities. In 2016 they had 65 facilities, meaning nearly 62% of their prisons use this program. At this point IBLP teachings are spreading into the military and police.

“ATI was not just an academic curriculum. World domination was the goal” Chad explains as he and Josh Pease list off the different countries where training centers have been established, such as Russia, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore.

As others have also pointed out, Josh Pease repeats that *19 Kids and Counting* was used as a recruitment tool. Danielle continues on that note, saying these programs, which really started with the Duggars, built TLC into an “international empire.” In a clip from a morning show interview, Jim Bob says the show gives them the opportunity to use the show to show off their biblical principles and how they live by them. Because of the show, they’ve taken it all over the world. The family themselves have gone on several international trips that were filmed for the show. They’ve been to El Salvador, Japan, The UK, Israel.

In 2016, Jill and Derick moved to El Salvador. The spin off show had just started and TLC was pressuring them to come back. For the first time, the two of them put their foot down and said they had committed to ten months there and they were staying. Jim Bob sent them the obligation page of the contract as well as the signature page. That’s when they realised what the contract they had signed the day before their wedding actually said. Derick claims it’s fraud as they were not made aware of what they were signing. Jill was worried they would arrested when they arrived back in the United States.

Derick said if they were giving up something, they should get something in return. Jim Bob asked what they wanted, offering them $10/hr. Derick asked what it was worth. They went back and forth for a bit before Jim Bob said he would pay $10/hr. The two of them wanted to talk to TLC but Chad Gallagher said they couldn’t talk to TLC without him being on the phone as well since the contract wasn’t with them. They never did talk to TLC.

They both say they were struggling financially due to Jim Bob “stealing” their money, forcing them to rely on food banks. After that, according to Jill, Jim Bob says he is going to pay some people thanks to Derick, give the older kids a lump sum. The money would help the older boys who wanted to start businesses of their own. Derick says the amount of money equated to minimum wage, but there was still a catch. Jill says in order to get the money, everyone had to sign a new contract with Jim Bob “that would be like forever.” They declined the offer. Derick says they learned via social media that their relationship with TLC was over by that point, if it even ever existed. In a clip from their Youtube channel, Jill says it was a difficult decision but one they knew they had to make. She says she’s not on the best terms with some of her family.

After this, Derick received anonymous threats via text message from a burner phone. It said things like “JB had done you no evil, and you have done him great evil.” The producer asks if Jim Bob sent the message. Derick says he can’t speculate; Jill says she doesn’t think he did. They reported the threats to the police.

Derick says “disobedience doesn’t mean dishonor.” Jill explains that back then honor, respect, obey were all on the same level.

Josh Pease discusses the power dynamic within the IBLP culture and how it turned to abuse due to the power being completely unchecked. Floyd expands on this, saying your parents being your authority wasn’t always true; it was whoever was in charge of you at that particular moment in time. Lara adds that it was the oldest male who was in charge. She says while she was at a training center one night the oldest boy came into her room and climbed into her bed. She didn’t have the words to say “no” or tell him to get out. She confirms that sexual assault at the training centers is “very real and rampant.”

It turns out Bill Gothard was involved in a sex scandal in 1980. His brother, Steve, was sexually harassing young girls and forcing them to perform sex acts on him. More people came forward about Steve so Bill simply sent him to a different location, Northwoods in Michigan, with less oversight. It had its own landing strip for their learjet. This became the location where girls were sent if they disobeyed Bill. Eventually Bill is caught in a cabin with a young girl. The brothers were confronted. Desperate to keep Steve in the organization, Bill suggests he marry one of the girls. The board disapproved and Steve was out.

But Bill wasn’t done. He created a new rule using Matthew 18 as his justification: gossip was now forbidden. As Kristen points out, gossip includes making allegations against those in authority. The Duggars also adopted this rule. The four older girls spoke at an IBLP conference where Jill reads “praise publicly, and if you have something negative to say, just go to that person privately.” It essentially made abuse impossible to report.

Another survivor, Emily Elizabeth Anderson, listened to the sessions Jim Bob and Michelle did, wishing her parents had that kind of marriage. When she was 10 years old her father molested her. Her mom knew but she “was in a cult, too.” Three years later, she caught the attention of Bill Gothard. She was 13. He was 71. He wanted to quit homeschool when she turned 14, move to headquarters in Chicago, and live there. Indefinitely. He told one of his female assistants to not let her go.

Over time, Bill Gothard’s type becomes quite obvious. Even Jill notes that the blonde girls got picked.

Journey to the Heart is mentioned, a 10 day training session the older Duggar daughters attended. Everyone who attended the training got personal one on one counselling with Gothard, which Jill also confirms. Derick believes JTTH is a vetting process to see which girls will be invited to stay long term.

Lindsey met Gothard when she was 18. He asked her to come work at headquarters, which was the highest position a woman could get within the organization. “If this is what Gothard wants, then this is what god wants.”

Emily equates meeting Gothard to “meeting the pope, the president, and Justin Beiber all rolled into one.”

Brooke comments on Gothard’s “odd physical appearance”, saying he has a lego-shaped head and wears suits that don’t fit him. Heathers says “he can just draw anybody in”, comparing him to Kaa from The Jungle Book.

Despite giving out marriage and parenting advice, encouraging everyone to have as many children as possible, Gothard never married nor had children. In separate interviews, Emily as well as Amy and Dillon comment on this, with Emily saying no one ever questioned it, and he got his revelations directly from god anyway.

Lara describes how some girls, all of whom were under 18, were chosen to ride in Gothard’s van. He would always be seated next to a girl and touching would occur, be it on the knee or up the skirt. The girls never talked about it.

At 18, Emily ended up at headquarters in Chicago. Gothard called up her father, the man who had previously molested her, and told him how Emily wanted to learn how to respect him, all while he was winking at Emily. Afterward, he told Emily her father no longer had authority over her; he was her authority now.

Lindsey says at headquarters they would have something like a therapy session and Gothard would always wait for his assistant to leave. She describes how he asked her about her virginity even though she had no idea what sex was. He tells her to get on her knees to pray to god. While she is in her praying position, he started rubbing her hand. Lindsey says this became a routine that would occur three or four times a week.

Gothard told Emily she “belonged” at headquarters and that he loved her. “Your father doesn’t love you but I love you.” She says he played with her hair and rubbed her shoulders before putting his hand on her thigh. At that point he took her up to his office. When they got there, he was surprised to see a male staff assistant was still there.

When she got home from headquarters, Emily says the abuse got “significantly worse” because Gothard had made promises to her father. He was expecting Emily to be much more submissive.

Lindsey continues to reveal that she is one of “many” young ladies who were taken advantage of by Bill Gothard. Although many girls were experiencing the same things, none of them realised they could tell anyone. No one would hear them and even if they did, the girls would be blamed for tempting him.

In Wisdom Book 36 Brooke explains the teaching of the law of crying out. “God has established some very strict guidelines of responsibility for a woman who is attacked. She is to cry out for help. The victim who fails to do this is equally guilty with the attacker.” It’s victim blaming. If she doesn’t scream out, then it’s her fault as well.

In another Wisdom book, Heather says they had the girls go around and talk about if they had been attacked or molested or raped, and what they all did to deserve what they got.

In a clip from an IBLP conference, Michelle mentions how she was involved in cheerleading and gymnastics. Jim Bob said she was dancing around in short skirts and she had no clue what she was doing. Michelle agrees, saying she didn’t know how defrauding she was. She goes on to explain that defrauding is “stirring up desires in someone that cannot be righteously fulfilled.”

Heather goes on, saying all the examples were girls simply existing. “You can’t exist without being accused of tempting a man to attack you.” She says they glorified being attacked, to the point where she almost found herself jealous of the girls who got raped. Being attacked meant god was using you for something and you were now “spiritually mighty”, so god wanted them to use them for more things. They were special.

Josh Pease accuses Gothard of being a narcissist. A powerful narcissist, but still a narcissist. He created a culture where there were no checks and balances. In every family, on every campus, abuse is rampant.

After Emily returned home from headquarters she discovered Recovering Grace, a website and online community for ex-fundies to gather together and work on deconstructing. Chad explains it was for people to post their own stories as well. It was thanks to this community that so many women were able to get together and push back against Gothard’s sexual harassment.

Emily came across an article entitled “Sexual Harassment at Headquarters” and immediately commented it was her story. Within a few days Gothard had called her, demanding she take it down, berating her for an hour. He called over and over.

Tying this back to the Duggars, Brooke notes the parallel of Gothard abusing young girls in his training programs and Josh abusing his younger sisters at home.

Throughout the Recovering Grace community, more and more stories about Gothard came out. He was accused of grooming behavior, petting hair, touching hair, long and uncomfortable hugs. One woman said he was sitting at his desk and staring at her while he had an erection. Another said he would play footsie with her. At least one woman accused Gothard of raping her.

At a conference, Gothard revealed the Seven Vital Steps to Take When You Are Criticized, saying when you and he are “falsely accused” it’s like having a cup of “bitter water” and going through a “public test.” Still, he was removed from leadership. In 2018 he was forcibly removed from an IBLP conference by Alert security. All of his material is still on the website at this point and it’s still being used; they just aren’t mentioning his name.

Chad says the organization covered up for Gothard for as long as he was useful. Once he was a liability, they took his teaching and ditched him. Brooke says the institute had a value of around $90M, noting that whoever ran the organization would have access to all that money. Jim and Bobye Holt say from their understanding, Jim Bob and Michelle are set to replace him.

Jim Holt says Jim Bob has changed so much and he doesn’t know if Jim Bob is even the same person anymore. Bobye says the show gave them a platform to recruit people into IBLP and encourage people to move to Arkansas.

Tia says the Duggars believe everyone should live the way they live, however she doesn’t think America really understands what fundamentalist families look like anymore. “It’s been shined up and put on TLC.”

Previewing the final episode, Amy says the last time she spoke to Jim Bob was 2019. Dillon called him saying he was seeing something about a Homeland Security raid, that reporters from other countries were asking him questions and he had no idea what was going on. Clips from Josh’s arrest are shown as well as audio from Homeland Security interviewing Josh.

## Episode Four: Arrows Activated

*Trigger Warning: while all the episodes in this series have touched on extremely sensitive subjects, the final episode goes even further, diving into the material Josh was viewing.*

*As a final note, we here at Fundie Wiki have stated before that we support the movement to call CSAM what it is. The terms “child porn” and “child pornography” will be only used when necessary as those are still the legal terms.*

The final episode starts with the audio clips from the Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) raid on Josh’s car lot back in 2019, where he was told child pornography had been traced back to his IP address. News reports stated “HSI was in Springdale investigating a business associated with Josh Duggar.” Deanna asked Jim Bob what was going on and he gave her the same story he gave everyone else: nothing was going on and the reports were all lies. In a clip from an IBLP conference Michelle sighs while reciting a verse about children bringing their mothers shame when left alone, saying it’s “so true.” The Sun showed up at Jill and Derick’s house asking if Josh was about to be arrested; Jill didn’t comment. News clips are shown of Josh’s arrest on April 29, 2021 and the revelation of reason for the arrest, which wasn’t publicly revealed until after his arraignment the next day. Amy couldn’t believe what was happening while Bobye thought they were living in the Twilight Zone. The news clips continue, stating Josh was indicted for receiving and possessing child pornography. At this point, TLC was done and Counting On was cancelled.

In November 2019 Homeland Security came to the Holt residence, saying their investigation was about new stuff. Meanwhile Derick texted Josh asking if the rumors were true. Josh replied saying it was “absolutely not'' true. At the same time, Chad Gallagher released a statement saying “as to any investigation being conducted, to our knowledge, no member of our family is a target of any investigation of any kind by any local, state, or federal agency.” Derick comments that Jim Bob and Michelle released the family statement while they knew Josh was under investigation for child pornography, saying people were going to figure it out.

The first day of testimony in Josh’s trial was December 1, 2021. News clips give a brief overview of the day, saying prosecutors presented the jury with a computer from Josh’s car lot. As Jen points out, the entire fundie snark community followed this story. Investigators were able to pinpoint exactly when Josh downloaded the material. Despite Josh having the Covenant Eyes program on his computer, he was able to bypass that by splitting the harddrive.

Excerpts from the trial transcript are shown, detailing the material that was found. “.. infant, approximately three or four months old, .. sexually abused .. tortured .. in visible pain .. screaming” while quoting HSI SA Faulkner saying it was in the top five worst he had ever had to examine, and Amy says it broke her heart.

Jim Holt says he felt like he failed. Bobye says she cries because it was a friend doing “something so vile and so wicked.” “They seemed like such good people, the sweetest family.” She confirms that the family put on a facade for the cameras while clips from Josh and Anna’s engagement play.

The news reported that if Josh was convicted, he could face up to twenty years in prison.

At the evidentiary hearing on November 29, 2021, Jill and Derick attended, with Jill prepared to testify against her brother regarding the molestation if necessary. Ultimately she didn’t testify as both Bobye and Jim Holt did. Bobye told the jury everything, exposing Josh’s pattern and how he constantly got away with it because everyone covered it up. They both say Jim Bob accused Jim of being jealous.

Referring back to the hearing, Jim Bob testified about what Josh told him. He responded to most questions by saying he didn’t recall and didn’t remember. Amy says it makes her sick that he claims to not remember his own daughters being molested. Jim says Jim Bob “flat out lied”. Jill says the hardest part was “the old stuff being brought up that should have never been out there.”

The clips jump to December 8th, when the trial went to the jury, then to clips from October 29, 2021 when Jim Bob announced he was running for the Arkansas State Senate District 7 seat. (The documentary is implying the announcement happened during the trial, when it in fact happened a month before.) Bobye could not believe Jim Bob would run for office at the time. She says he texted Jim, sending him the donation page for his website. Jill says she found out when she got a news alert on her phone about the candidacy.

Heather notes how bold it is to run for office while all of this was going on but says it is “basically the embodiment of a fundamentalist dad.” News clips quote Jim Bob as saying he is “running because of .. out of control bureaucrats”

Derick says they heard reports of the conspiracy theories that Josh’s trial was part of the liberal agenda and the judge was an Obama appointed judge. Jill says he was “grasping for anything.” Heather doesn’t believe Jim Bob ever thought he did anything wrong. This was all a distraction by Satan to bring down the family and destroy the ministry. He needed to continue to do god’s work by running for office. Chad agrees, saying there is a mindset that Satan is controlling the world, while a clip of Bill Gothard plays with him saying “we are in a culture war. We wanna see that culture war won by the lord.”

Jim Bob lost his election.

Chad goes on to discuss the goal of getting an entire generation to run for public office and “essentially (take) over the entire world for Jesus Christ.” Kristen continues, saying “there is always a bigger agenda.”

Floyd says “you wouldn’t go to war in ancient times with a quiver of arrows that only has one or two arrows in it. You want as many arrows as you can shoot at the enemy.” A clip of Jim Bob continues “that’s what we’re supposed to do with our children” so they can impact the world.

Alex Harris, a former IBLP member with a law degree from Harvard who clerked for Justice Kennedy on the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS), discusses this movement, saying it was called the Joshua Generation. Alex used to be a leader of the movement. He describes the movement as a “decades long multi-generational plan to raise up an elite strike force of Christian homeschool graduates to infiltrate the highest levels of government.”

Eve says the Gothard was the template for the Joshua Generation, saying the men who came up with the idea followed quiverfull ideals and attended IBLP conferences. Their children were supposed to conquer the world for god. Alex says the whole point was to put the best kids in the best positions of power within the government. They wanted these kids who had graduated from the Christian homeschool program to be members of congress, presidents, SCOTUS members. All of this was to make the US a Christian theocracy, which they believed was its rightful place.

As Eve tells us, it all starts in highschool where Generation Joshua and TeenPact material was used as civics training. They had homeschool debate clubs where they believed they could debunk any argument from a liberal or atheist point of view. Heather says she and her family went to the capitol all the time, that she knew all of their representatives and senators. They did this so they could influence them to vote how they wanted them to vote. And Kristin notes that they later take these kids, give them training, and then send them to congress, or the White House as interns.

They also set them up in certain schools, such as Patrick Henry College, which boasted having graduates who served as press secretaries in the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives, as well as accomplishing positions within the FBI, CIA, and Homeland Security. Eve expands on that, saying some graduates clerked for SCOTUS justices and some were in Trump’s cabinet.

A news clip introduces Elise Hall, a 21 year old who was elected to the Oklahoma State House of Representatives. Another clip shows Madison Cawthorn, a former US Representative from North Carolina, giving a speech on the House floor. Both were members of the Joshua Generation.

Cawthorn was eventually exposed for his predatory behavior, as well as several derelictions. Kristen notes how the most prominent members always seem to get caught up in abuse scandals while the community just moves on.

The next news clip shows Jedidiah’s bid in 2020 for Arkansas State Representative. In his  promotional video Jed says “I’m a Christian, and I will stand up for religious liberties. I’m pro-life and I will be an advocate for the unborn.”  And then a clip from June 24, 2022 is shown, but SCOTUS overturned Roe V Wade, the 1972 decision granting women the right to choose, among many other things. As Kristen states, it wasn’t about passing a law in the moment, it was about changing entire generations.

Eve says they were always encouraged to use any technology they could to push their agenda. So of course the Duggars would use a reality show to be influencers, which led to the rise of Christian influencers on social media, such as Paul and Morgan.

Paul and Morgan say they met tinder, which is an unconventional way for Christians. Clips from their youtube channel are shown as are clips from an IBLP conference where a woman talks about submitting to her husband. Jen says people like Paul and Morgan are making these ideals “cool and trendy.”

A producer askes Paul and Morgan about the role of the wife. Morgan mocks the answer by saying the role is to submit and then says it's a scary word, which Paul repeats as mocks it as well. More clips from their channel, where they spew bigotry, are shown.

As Kristen talks about social media taking fringe ideas and bringing them to the forefront, clips from other Christian influencers are shown, such as Bethany Beal and Kristen Clark from Girl Defined. Chad adds that mainstream Christians are posting about the umbrella of authority. He says it was made by a cult leader as a clip of Jill Rodrigues is shown from her youtube channel. “You wouldn’t repost something by Charles Manson. Don’t do this.” Other influencers are shown, including Brittany Dawn and more Girl Defined.

“And that is the Joshua Generation”

Jumping to December 9th 2021, a verdict is reached in the Josh Duggar case. He was found guilty on both counts.

Amy called her mother about the verdict, who told her justice was served. Bobye said she felt relief for all the girls as a headline from May 25, 2022 is shown when Josh was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison. She says she and Jim hugged and “it felt like it was gonna finally come to an end.”

Deanna says she hasn't spoken to Jim Bob about any of this, saying he needs to apologize to so many people. Jill says he controls a lot of things within the family and confirmed that family relationships were already kind of rocky. She reached out to TLC for copies of all the contracts that had included her. Jim Bob and Michelle had signed for several of their adult children. Despite becoming an adult in 2009, Michelle was still signing for Jill several years later. Nothing was updated to reflect the children ageing into adulthood.

Everything within the family dynamic has changed in a negative way. Derick says they are on the outside with the family. Amy and Dillon say the family won’t talk to them so they don’t know what’s going on. They learn about the same way we do - through the media.

Bobye and Jim say they’ve lost their best friends; Jim Bob and Michelle are not the same people they loved.

Jill says it has completely changed their family.

Amy has a notebook of things she and her cousins were taught by Jim Bob. It includes such things as “values to be a good wife”.  “Loyalty can be demonstrated only in adversity”. As clips from Josh and Anna’s wedding play, Amy explains how that teaches you to have no way out, that you must stay through the adversity to show your loyalty.

In another IBLP clip, Anna says “be loyal to god, be loyal to your parents and that authority, and be willing to love your spouse even when it hurts.” This plays over a video of Anna walking out of the court house after Josh’s sentencing.

Tia asks the question many have been asking: why doesn’t Anna leave? She explains that Anna was raised with no education. She was chosen for Josh and must fulfil her duties to him. Plus she has seven children with him. While we all know that she would find resources, that she would get a book deal “so fast”, Tia opines that Anna doesn’t know that and may not even know the whole truth about her situation. A clip from the first special post *19 Kids and Counting* is played where Anna says she prayed for god to help her get through the molestation and Ashley Madison scandals.

Home videos of Tia are shown as she describes the night she left her abusive husband. It was October 2007. With a piece of firewood in his hands, her husband followed her around the house for hours, threatening to kill her with it. Eventually he left the house. She took the opportunity to gather up her children and leave. What she didn’t realise was her husband had left to get his gun. She escaped, although it was very difficult.

For Lara, and many other survivors, Josh’s trial gave them a lot of hope that this kind of thing wouldn’t continue to be covered up.

In 2015, a lawsuit was filed against IBLP (and eventually Gothard as well) by several women over allegations of sexual abuse and harassment. The organization knew about it and did nothing. Lindsey was aware of the lawsuit because she was asked to be part of it, but she turned it down out of fear. Emily, however, chose to join the lawsuit as Jane Doe III. She explains how much of an emotional toll such a lawsuit has on a person. Between that and the statute of limitations, the lawsuit was dismissed in 2018. Gothard hailed it as a victory, saying the conspiracy was exposed. Since Gothard had enough money and resources, Brooke explains how he countersued the women. Emily say he wanted them to pay $18k a piece.

The hearing is held in Chicago and Brooke is in attendance. She meets up with John Cornish, one of the founders of Recovering Grace, who gives her Gothard’s phone number. Brooke goes to see him. He had been living in the same home his entire life, surrounded by boxes of his self published books. Gothard tells her he wants to pray for her. After looking down and closing her eyes, she changes her mind and opens her eyes only to find him staring at her.

Emily testified in court. During her testimony she locked eyes with him and, in her words, taken back her power and her voice. The judge denied Gothard’s sanctions. The women owed him nothing.

By 2022, ATI is no longer sold as a homeschool curriculum. Heather tells her mom the site says it was a homeschooling program from 1984 to 2021. The program is still sold, but it’s been rebranded as a bible study program. It may be a small victory but Heather reminds us that IBLP still exists. Chad went on his Youtube channel to say it was the first time he and several other survivors were hearing about it. Brooke says ATI stole their childhoods, calling it an educationally neglectful homeschool program, and admits to rebelling against it.

Eve says she read Handmaid’s Tale in college and realised it was her life. She was dealing with a power struggle with her father and if he saw her as an adult or someone still under his authority. It pushed her to really understand what this entire thing with IBLP and ATI was.

Tara and Floyd married in 2005 and by 2012 “the curtain dropped”. She had a lot of medical issues arrive after having their son. Floyd started drinking and they separated.

Lara says the whole appeal of the cult is to keep your kids from doing drugs or ending up in jail, but she still ended up in jail. As a young adult, she began shoplifting and landed in jail on multiple occasions. She ended up in an addiction recovery program and started confronting her childhood.

Chad started going to a counsellor after experiencing panic attacks. His therapist encouraged him to reach out to others and attend a different church.

Lara starts describing deconstruction and how it looks different for everyone. Heather says it is an exhausting process. You have to learn a completely new way of thinking. During her own deconstruction, Brooke went to college and earned a PhD.

The clip of Jinger talking about sinning that was shown in the second episode is shown again, with an updated interview from her book tour where she says she’s changed a lot. In that interview she says they followed Bill Gothard and the show influenced a lot of people to join IBLP, but it was a mistake, and her book is meant to be a correction, calling IBLP “harmful.”

Amy says she is proud of the changes Jill has made. Jill says if you’ve been part of IBLP or ATI you have to go through hell before you realise you would risk everything to get out. “Eventually you start making your own decisions” like getting a nose ring.

Brooke says the last step in deconstructing is speaking out. Eve says “we’ve lived it. They made us live it, and we have some things to say.” Chad says that the little voice inside saying “this is wrong” is right and to not lose it. Floyd says “you are trustworthy, and you can believe in yourself.” Tara says the girls who are still trapped there do not have to own any of the shame that others are putting on them. Lindsey says she made this life for herself and no one told her she could or couldn’t.

Tara assures anyone who needs to leave, that while you may be out there “flailing like a fish”, there are people there to catch you.

Chad says they watched as people celebrated the lifestyle that was abusing them and they weren’t able to tell their stories.

Jill says she believes victims should be protected and cared for, always.

Chad says they always had the power. They were ultimately what the people in charge feared. All they ever had to do was talk.

Bill Gothard declined to comment. He has previously sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations made against him.

Jim Bob and Michelle stated, through Chad Gallagher, that they “love each of their children tremendously and always desire each life their god-designed lives to the fullest.” They otherwise declined to comment.

## Statements

### Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar

Almost immediately after the docuseries being released, Jim Bob and Michelle put out a statement. It reads: The recent "documentary" that talks about our family is sad because in it we see the media and those will ill intentions hurting people we love. Like other families, ours too has experienced the joys and heartbreaks of life, just in a very public format. This "documentary" paints so much and so many in a derogatory and sensationalized way because sadly that's the direction of entertainment these days. We have always believed that the best chance to repair damaged relationships, or to reconcile difference, is through love in a private setting. We love every member of our family and will continue to do all we can to have a good relationship with each one. Through both the triumphs and the trials we have clung to our fait all the more and discovered that through the love and grace of Jesus, we find strength, comfort, and purpose.

### IBLP

The following day, on June 2, IBLP released a statement on their website. It reads: The most recent “documentary” about IBLP is a reflection of today’s culture. Its misleading and untruthful commentary mocks that which is good and moral in the most sensationalized way possible, both for shock value and for profit. Media story makers are anything but fair and balanced. They produce attractively packaged content to push an agenda, increase viewership, and pursue revenue. We do not want to minimize perspectives that individual people have experienced or expressed, but the creators of these types of “documentaries” have a different agenda than perhaps even those interviewed by them. One-sided and manipulative “journalistic” tactics offer no alternative perspectives for the viewers, and many good people are manipulated and used while others are maligned and attacked.

IBLP is neither a church nor a religion but rather a nondenominational Christian ministry that desires to introduce individuals to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and to help them apply Christian principles found in God’s Word. IBLP affirms and teaches historic Christianity.

For more than sixty years, these principles of God’s Word were taught through the Basic Seminar and other ministries. While selected sound bites of the Seminar teaching may be found on the internet, anyone who wants to know the full context of the teaching, can view the Basic Seminar, free of charge, at basicseminar.com. Several million people from around the world and from many different walks of life, churches, denominations, nationalities, and personal Christian experiences have been positively impacted by our ministry.

Only the Bible can guide us in these and other areas of life, and IBLP exists to help believers on this journey. Our sincere desire is to help families discover the Lord Jesus Christ, the Scriptures, salvation, and sanctification only by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

The founder, Bill Gothard, resigned from IBLP in 2014 and is no longer associated with the IBLP ministry. The focus of this ministry is the Lord Jesus Christ and the practical truths found in Scripture, and not any single person or family. IBLP will always be about helping people find Christ and the timeless values of the Bible that bring hope and stability to each facet of life. Ultimately, every one of us will give an account to God for our lives and choices and those will be evaluated against the perfect standards of His Word.

These attacks, as salacious and false as they may be, will cause many to search out our ministry and discover the truth for themselves. For this we are grateful because we know that our aim and our efforts are all designed to help people find God’s love, redemption, and the best for their lives.

Sadly, we live in a day where this Gospel is not accepted readily but is, even vehemently, rejected. We affirm the Bible as our final authority, and sadly, this life-changing Book is also rejected by the world. Our desire is that the Person of Jesus Christ would be lifted up and that all men would be drawn to Him, as Jesus stated in John 12:32: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”

## References

1. ↑ https://www.duggarfamily.com/2023/06/a-note-from-jim-bob-and-michelle/
2. ↑ https://iblp.org/a-statement-on-recent-media-coverage/