From Bondage unto Bondage: Reflections on Bill Gothard and “Shiny Happy People”

Author’s note: I published this article on my Facebook page shortly after the documentary “Shiny, Happy People” came out. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive, so I decided to repost it here. I’ve made only a few minor changes from the original.

For years I have studiously avoided writing about Bill Gothard and my involvement in his IBLP ministry. So it is as big a surprise to me as to anybody that I find myself posting about the subject here for the second time in as many months.

In May I posted a review of Jinger Duggar Vuolo’s book “Becoming Free Indeed“, which garnered considerably more interest than my book reviews generally do. After that, I thought that I wouldn’t be bringing the subject up at all for a long time…if ever.

Then the Amazon Prime documentary “Shiny Happy People” came out. I had no idea anything like this was in the works, and found out about it on social media, where several Christians of varying degrees of prominence gave it almost unfettered praise. Having some down time last night, I decided to watch it.

And now I have to post.

First, about IBLP. The Institute in Basic Life Principles began in the ’70s as a series of seminars given by founder Bill Gothard. In them, people learned “universal, non-optional principles” which, when applied, would bring success in life. Many, many good Christian people, like my family, were drawn into this ministry because it seemed to offer an antidote to the increasing secularism and perversity of the culture at large.

And make no mistake – the increasing secularism and perversity of the culture at large is a thing.

So IBLP (and later the Advanced Training Institute, Gothard’s home schooling movement) purported to meet a very real need.

Added to this was Gothard’s own personal magnetism. He was not eloquent in the traditional sense, but he had a compelling manner of speaking, coupled with an understated, self-deprecating sense of humor that made his hour-and-a-half-long sessions easy to sit through. Simple diagrams and slick (for the ’80s) presentation technology added to the appeal. At its height, Gothard was packing out convention centers for his seminars.

Unfortunately, Gothard’s teaching was built on a foundation of legalism (with an unhealthy dose of Arminianism), and thus, as the years continued, his teachings became more and more bizarre. His confusion on the concepts of Law and Grace led him to suggest that, for a Christian to truly please God, he must follow Old Testament rules…or at least Gothard’s modern iteration of such rules. Thus, for example, women were told not to mixed fabrics in their clothes, circumcision ceremonies were prescribed for newborns, and (this one hit me hard) cheeseburgers were frowned upon due to a bizarre interpretation of the Old Testament injunction not to cook a kid in its mother’s milk.

But there were also more sinister aspects to the ministry than these quirky rules. Gothard’s exaggerated view of biblical authority gave cover for abuse and cover-up within many homes, and for breaking the spirit (and ultimately the faith) of a multitude young people. Bad theology has consequences, and, watching the documentary, those consequences become painfully obvious.

Of course I did not need the documentary, because I know firsthand of many spiritual casualties of the Gothard movement.

I want to point out here that the reason I am not one of the casualties is due to my parents. While they joined the home-schooling movement, they did not necessarily buy into everything it taught. They never tried to isolate us from society. They sent me to Brazil, by myself, when I was 17. My Dad had a library full of books, which I devoured.

One memory that has stayed with me over the years is of a conversation I had with my Dad in relation to the IBLP organization, where he told me “Never feel like you have to quote the party line.”

That stuck with me, in more than just the IBLP context.

But my experience was not the experience of many ATI students. And several of these are front and center in the documentary.

So let’s talk about the documentary itself. None of the facts that are brought out are really new to me, except perhaps some of the details relating to the Duggar family. They were not really on my radar until very recently. How those parents thought that putting their family in front of the camera 24/7 would end up well is beyond me, principally when they knew their oldest had the kind of issues he had. And I was genuinely horrified at the footage of the Dugger daughters being forced to run interference for their brother and their family on national TV.

And then of course there are Gothard’s own abusive relationships with his “secretaries”. Such things were forbidden whispers back when I was in the program, but have become common knowledge since then, mostly through the work of a group called Recovering Grace. And while I have not been a participant in Recovering Grace, I do know some who are, and I am very glad for the work they have done, including giving the women who suffered abuse at the hands of Bill Gothard the voice they needed.

I feel it necessary to say that because of what I am going to say a little further down.

But back to the documentary. There is one thing that needs to be remembered as one watches it: The people who made “Shiny Happy People” are the enemies of Christ.

It’s not their exposing of Gothard and IBLP that makes them enemies of Christ. Gothard and IBLP needed to be exposed (and have been, to varying degrees over the last decade or so). Rather, it is their obvious motive in producing the documentary that shows them for who they are.

The victims of Gothard/IBLP can be excused for any bitterness they demonstrate (although that won’t serve them well in the long run). But there are many “experts” who are brought in for commentary who are known for being opposed to any kind of biblical Christianity. And these people are given a disproportionate amount of air time.

But it’s more than that. Several fringe practices (like husbands spanking their wives, for example) are presented in a way that make it seem like such a thing is common not only in ATI (which it wasn’t) but also in broader Christian circles (which it most certainly isn’t).

One of the most laughable parts of the series was in the fourth episode, where they talk about a “plot for world domination” on the part of ATI and other conservative Christian groups. Laughable, because the breathless accusations of “infiltrating institutions” were being made by leftists who were pretending they had never read Gramsci.

And what was the evidence of the success of this nefarious conservative Christian plot for “world domination” (their term)? Why, the overturning of Roe v Wade, of course. The horror.

Seriously, if the overturning of Roe was the result of an overall plan, then we need to do more planning like that.

And that brings me to my number one reason for posting this article. It goes back to the unqualified praise I see from many Christian quarters on social media. There is enthusiastic promotion of a piece that was designed specifically to drive people away from Christ. And that seems like it should bother people who are…you know…Christians.

There appears to be a fair amount of “spiking the football” from some in the Recovering Grace crowd. One of the reasons I liked Recovering Grace when I first found it was that there was an emphasis on dealing with the doctrinal issues underpinning Gothard’s false teaching, and a genuine desire to point people to Christ. Has that changed? At the time of this writing Recovering Grace has a banner on their home page advertising the documentary, and I can find no attempt at bringing people who do watch it to a fuller, better understanding of Christianity.

There is a real need for discernment here, and unfortunately I’m not seeing a lot of it.

IBLP’s false doctrine is dangerous. Gothard’s abuse (spiritual and physical) is evil. ALSO, the systematic dismembering of a baby in the womb is evil, and I guarantee you that some of the same people “shocked” at the abuses perpetrated on the Duggar kids have absolutely no problem with puberty blockers and castration for minors in the name of the trans movement.

I am well aware that God has repeatedly used His enemies to judge His people, and it is quite possible that this is what is happening in this specific case. But the whole point of that judgment is for God’s people to return to a right worship of Him, not bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue.

As we (rightly) rejoice at the fall of Gothard’s empire, let us spare at least a moment to weep for those who, freed from the spiritual bondage of IBLP, have handed themselves over to the bondage of this world.

Banner Image: A group shot from an IBLP/ATI missions trip to Moscow in 1992. I’m in there somewhere.

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