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Ati/iblp


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Not following, but I did read that Gothard has been accused of inappropriate relations, and unlike some, whilst he denies the accusations, he has stepped aside from his position.
But I have not heard of any further developments.

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He stepped aside from his position only after being placed on administrative leave by the Board. I wouldn't give him too much credit.

Bill Gothard has been accused of sexual harassment by a couple dozen women, several of whose stories are on the site. I will be honest, I usually take such accusations with a grain of salt in cases like this when there seems to be anti-fundamentalist bias associated with the initial accusations. (ATI = Fundamentalism = IFB to some people, apparently.) However, after reading through stories, supporting materials, and realizing the sheer numbers involved, I have slowly come to accept the charges as truthful.  The actual charges may not seem like much, but when you understand the Institute limits on boy/girl interaction, and how much BG flaunted the limits he set himself, the seriousness of the issue becomes much more apparent.

As part of all this, the details of the 1980's scandal (of which I had heard only glimmerings) are being made known. I had heard something before about his brother getting into immorality, and it had bothered me that the whole affair seemed to be treated with some secrecy. Seeing what actually happened, the extent, and how BF knew about it for years without doing anything to stop it shows me that this man has not behaved in a godly manner since the 1970's and ATI as I knew it (growing up in the nineties) should never have been allowed to exist.

I'm also discovering that some of the 'basic' doctrines of ATI were outright antiBiblical. Like his definition of grace. Which I  accepted at the time, but can now see the falsity of. ATI's definition of grace is: "The desire and power to do God's will".  Can anyone tell me what's wrong with that? 

The Recovering Grace site has many people commenting on it. Some of them were raised in extreme or abusive fundamental churches and tend to lump all IFBs in the same pot as their unhealthy churches. I don't agree with everything the site says about doctrine, and am taking some things with a grain of salt lest I inherit their attitude, but for cold hard facts about what was really going on behind the scenes of ATI/IBLP (particularly with its leader!), it is an excellent source. This stuff needs to get told. It should have been told thirty years ago.

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I always thought Gothard had a credibility prOBlem. A bachelor giving marital advice? No thanks. Besides, there has always been something about him that has given me the "creeps" (cannot think of a better term). I hesitate to call it spiritual discernment, but I cannot think of another way to describe it.

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