Photo:Peter Kramer/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty
Peter Kramer/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty
TheDuggar familygave the world a look into their strict Christian household throughout 10 seasons of the TLC show19 Kids and Counting. The series, which aired from 2008 to 2015, highlighted many of the family’s ultra-conservative ways — including modest dressing, supervised courtships and abstaining from drugs and alcohol.
But the seemingly wholesome family was not withoutits own scandals, and their religion — known as the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) — was also controversial. And now, a Prime Video docuseries calledShiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secretsexposes them both.
But the producers ofShiny Happy Peoplerefer to Josh’s experience as just“the tip of the iceberg”regarding the IBLP and its leaders. The explosive four-part documentaryreveals the dark sideof the radical religious organization — and how it shaped and negatively impacted the once-beloved Duggar brood.
Here’s everything to know about the Duggars' controversial church, the Institute in Basic Life Principles.
Institute in Basic Life Principles
Throughout the 1960s and ’70s, Gothard expanded Campus Teams to include a seminar called Basic Youth Conflicts, which was first taught at his alma mater Wheaton College. Basic Youth Conflicts grew in popularity and reach within less than a decade — with as many as 20,000 teens and adults reportedly attending at a time in cities across the country and Canada. By 1974, Gothard changed the organization’s name from Campus Teams to the Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts.
In the ’80s, Gothard added a Christianity-centered homeschool curriculum and Bible-based financial advice to the Institute’s repertoire, prompting a third (and final) name change. In 1989, the ministry was renamed to the Institute in Basic Life Principles to reflect its new scope.
Under Gothard, IBLP reportedly promoted “male superiority and female obedience”
Once married, the man is expected to provide “servant leadership” while the woman must give her husband “reverent submission and assistance,” NBC News reported — citing an IBLP article that has since been removed from the church’s website. The 2015 lawsuit also alleged that the organization viewed women as existing solely “for the purposes of producing children, caring for the men, and rearing the children.”
IBLP rules reportedly prohibit everything from alcohol and drugs to Cabbage Patch dolls and blue jeans
Ida Mae Astute/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty
Like many other religious fundamentalist groups, IBLP followers are expected toabstain from alcoholand drugs. But Gothard’s guidelines take conservative living to the extreme — and anyone who violated the strict rules would receive direct punishment from God.
“[Gothard’s] teachings in a nutshell are based on fear and superstition and leave you in a place where you feel like, ‘I don’t know what God expects of me,’ ” Jinger Duggar Vuolo told PEOPLE about IBLP in January 2023. “The fear kept mecrippled with anxiety. I was terrified of the outside world.”
And much of the outside world is prohibited:Television, movies and rock music (or any music with a strong drum beat) are reportedly not allowed. Neither is dancing, dating or reading most books (except for the Bible). Gothard reportedly even went as far as forbidding Cabbage Patch Dolls for causing “strange, destructive behavior,” according to a 1999 article in theBroward Palm Beach New Times.
There are also detailed rules for how IBLP followers dress, specifically women. Females are not only expected to dress modestly, but they also have to avoid anything that potentially draws attention to their bodies — including pants, skirts above the knee, sleeveless shirts and long necklaces.
“I thoughtI had to wear only skirts and dressesto please God,” Vuolo told PEOPLE. “And if I step outside of what I think is expected of me, I would think God’s going to be so displeased with me and it could bring harm on myself.”
Gothard’s brother, Steve Gothard, was accused of having sex with female IBLP staffers in the 1980s
The affairs reportedly occurred at IBLP’s Northwoods campus, a 3,000-acre retreat center in Michigan where Gothard would send young women to serve on his brother’s staff. One such woman, a former personal assistant of Gothard’s named Ruth, claimed that Steve psychologically abused her for several months before coercing her to have sex with him,The New Republicreported.
Steve was forced to resign from his role as administrative director as a result, according to theChicago Sun-Times, though there was no finding of criminal misconduct. But Gothard also faced criticism and was accused of knowing about his brother’s misconduct and failing to take action for years. He was pressured to step down as president of the IBLP — but was reinstated to his role after just three weeks.
Gothard resigned as head of the IBLP in 2014 after allegations of sexual harassment
The IBLP board placed Gothard on administrative leave while they conducted an investigation into the allegations, theChristian Post reported; in March 2014, Gothard resigned as head of the organization. In a since-deleted statement, the minister apologized for the “holding of hands, hugs and touching of feet or hair with young ladies,” but denied that any of the contact was sexual. The internal investigation also concluded that Gothard acted inappropriately, but not criminally.
In testimony on hispersonal website, Gothard called all of the allegations “false accusations” that were aimed at destroying him and the IBLP. “There was never a hint of harassment because there was none,” Gothard claimed.
The Duggars maintained their support of the IBLP, despite the accusations against Gothard. “The public accusations against Dr. Gothard in recent years are troubling and grievous. However, our faith in God is not based on following a fallible human man. … Truth is truth, even if the messenger fails,” Jim Bob and Michelle told NBC News in a statement.
Josh Duggar was sent to an IBLP facility as a teenager after molesting five underage girls
Kris Connor/Getty Images
The bad press for the IBLP continued in May 2015, when a leaked police report revealed thatJosh Duggarhadmolested five underage girls, includinghis sisters Jessa and Jill.
That counselingoccurred at an Institute in Basic Life Principles treatment centerin Little Rock, Arkansas. Josh lived at the center for three months and participated in manual labor and intensive prayer.
“The problem was corrected. … The fact that he became an outstanding young man would indicate that kind of success,” Gothard told theChicago Tribunein 2015 about Josh, who is currentlyserving a 12-year federal prison sentencefor a child pornography conviction.
Lawsuits filed in 2015 and 2016 accused the IBLP and Gothard of sexual abuse
Despite stepping down as head of the IBLP, Gothard’s troubles continued: In October 2015, five women sued the Institute in Basic Life Principles for enabling and covering up sexual abuse and harassment, theWashington Postreported.
In January 2016, the lawsuit was expanded. This time, it included 10 women and named Gothard personally — accusing him and IBLP leaders of sexual abuse, harassment and cover-up. The lawsuit also alleged that Gothard had raped a woman, according to theWashington Post.
“That’s horrible,” Gothard told the outlet about the rape allegations. “Never in my life have I touched a girl sexually. I’m shocked to even hear that.”
“More and more victims keep coming forward telling the same story,” David Gibbs, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, told the newspaper. However, in 2018, the suit against Gothard was dropped and he has continued to deny any wrongdoing.
Several Duggar children have spoken against their religious upbringing and left the IBLP
Jessa Seewald Instagram
On19 Kids and Counting, the lives of the Duggar children gave the public a view into the world of IBLP followers. But as they became adults, several of the Duggars have distanced themselves from the group and its controversial teachings.
In 2017,Jill Duggar Dillardand her husband, Derick Dillard, surprised fans when they exited the family’s spinoff series,Counting On. A few years later, Dillard opened up about herdecision to distance herself from her familyto PEOPLE, saying, “We’re not on the best terms with some of my family. We’ve had some disagreements, but we’re working towards healing definitely and restoration, but we’re having to kind of just take some time and heal.”
Dillard has also gotten a nose ring,worn jeans,drank alcoholand openly spoken abouther decision to take birth control— all things that are in direct conflict with her conservative upbringing and IBLP rules.
“I’m okay with people not being okay with it,” Dillard told PEOPLE. “Sometimes it’s a good thing.”
In May 2023, she announced her plans torelease a new book titledCounting the Cost, which is expected to share “the unedited truth about the Duggars.” The book is set to bereleased on Sept. 12.
Jinger Duggar Vuolo, the sixth of Jim Bob and Michelle’s 19 children, has also been vocal about her decision to leave the IBLP. Vuolopenned the 2023 bookBecoming Free Indeedabout her “spiritual journey” away from the fundamentalist group.
“I have … rejected much of the teaching I heard for many years,” Vuolo said about her upbringing in the IBLP. “My faith is still intact, but it has changed. Instead of leaving the faith entirely, I’ve been disentangling it.”
And whileJessa Duggar Seewald, another of Jim Bob and Michelle’s children, hasn’t spoken publicly on the matter either, her Instagram account shows her publicly going against several of the IBLP’s strict policies — includingwearing pantsandshort dressesand letting herchildren dance around.
Vuolo referred to the IBLP as “cult-like”
Jinger & Jeremy Vuolo
Vuolo, who left the Institute in Basic Life Principles in 2017, has since reevaluated the group and its strict teachings that left her “terrified” as a child.
“Fear was a huge part of my childhood,” she told PEOPLE about her upbringing in IBLP. Even leaving the house on a family outing would leave Vuolo scared they were doing something against God’s will.
“I thought I could be killed in a car accident on the way, because I didn’t know if God wanted me to stay home and read my Bible instead,” she shared.
Vuolo also described Gothard’s principles as “harmful” — and the IBLP as “cult-like.”
“There are a lot of cult-like tendencies,” she shared with PEOPLE.
Since leaving the group, Vuolo has changed her views on many of the IBLP teachings she learned during her strict Christian childhood — including dating, alcohol and birth control.
“On every topic, I have had to come back and say, ‘Well, what does God’s word actually say?’ ” she explained.
source: people.com
