Summary provided by: formergothardite

Bill Gothard is the head of IBLP and ATI. IBLP is a ministry that teaches that children can never leave home till they are married, that married men are still under the authority of their fathers, women can't work outside the home, adoption is bad, mental illness doesn't exist, circumcision is great, rock music is like crack, and a whole bunch of other crazy stuff.

ATI is the homeschooling section of IBLP where education is through Wisdom Booklets and the Bible.

The Institute for Basic Life Principles(IBLP) was founded in 1961 by Bill Gothard under the name Campus Teams. In 1974 the name was changed to The Institute for Basic Youth Conflicts to go along with Gothard's Basic Seminar. In 1989, since the organization had moved beyond just dealing with teen conflicts, the name was changed again to The Institute for Basic Life Principles.

The Basic Seminar, a week long event that focuses on Gothard's seven basic life principles, is the core of IBLP. In the past it was required that one attended a Basic Seminar before being allowed to attend any other IBLP attivities, but it appears that this in no longer the case

Basic Seminar - iblp.org/seminars-conferences/basic-seminar/basic-life-principles

The Advanced Seminar Gothard uses his seven principles to show how to have a successful marriage, family, life and finances. This seminar still requires attendence to the Basic Seminar before attending this one. It should be noted that Gothard has never personally used his principles to have a successful family or marriage.

There are a wide range of seminars offered by IBLP:

iblp.org/seminars

IBLP has a variety of programs for families ranging from a homeschooling curriculum(ATI) to a Christ centered, long distance college(TELOS). In the past Gothard spoke strongly against college of any form and encouraged youth to instead look for an internship program.

iblp.org/programs, but has changed his mind and now encourages teens to enroll in his colleges.

Training Centers:

IBLP set up training centers all over the world. Teens as young as 14 who are enrolled in ATI can pay to work at these training centers. They often stay for months without going home. Students(even adult ones) are not allowed any privacy at the training centers. Phone calls home are monitored and letters/emails are often open and read before being mailed out or being given to the students. Television, radio, most magazines, and any music with a beat are banned at the training centers. Men and women are not allowed to associate unless heavily supervised. All of these rules apply to adults who are volunteering at the training centers too. There have been a great deal of accusations of abuse and corruption from former students who lived at the training centers. IBLP has not addressed any of these accusations.

http://www.recoveringgrace.org/2013/01/ ... llage-mtc/

http://www.recoveringgrace.org/2012/01/ ... status-quo

Character First!:

Though not officially a part of IBLP, Character First! is a character program created by one of the IBLP board of directors and a close friend of Gothard. It is based around Gothard's 49 character qualities. The offices for CF! were originally in an IBLP training center and the program was taught in public schools by ATI students. Recently, though, the program has tried to distance itself from IBLP. It is still used in some public school systems to teach character.

characterfirst.com/aboutus/character-first-and-iblp/

Children's Institute:

These are sessions for children that are held during the Basic and Advanced seminars. It is a presentation of the the principles taught in the Basic Seminar in a way that children can explain. There are skits, crafts, stories and songs.

ALERT:

The Air, Land, Emergency Resource Team(ALERT) is an army like group that trains men ages 17 and up to meet the needs of people in need. ATI students can join without having a highschool diploma. Non-ATI students are allow to join but they do have to have completed highschool. The application for ALERT demands not only two recent pictures but also a family picture. They must also agree to not listen to new age, elevator(?!), modern era symponic, insistent rhythm, back-beat country/western, modern a cappella, rock, jazz, rap or post-modern music.

The ALERT application:

alertacademy.com/alert/pdf/alert-application.pdf

IBLP claims that ALERT has been asked by governments all over the world to assist during disasters.

Umbrella of Protection:

A key part of the teachings of IBLP is the Umbrella of Protection. It is taught that fathers are under the protection of Christ, mothers are under the protection of their husbands and children are under the protection of the mother/father. As long as everyone stays under their umbrella nothing will go wrong. Rebellion and leaving the protection of the umbrella is said to be witch craft. Female children stay under the umbrella of their parents until they marry and then they are under the protection of their husband. Male children, even after they marry and move out(adult children should live at home until marriage) will still be under the authority of their father.

Here is a blog that has a picture of the Umbrella of Protection. This is used in many of the teachings of IBLP:

thatmom.com/2012/07/30/does-it-matter-what-we-believe-about-complementarianism/comment-page-

Cabbage Patch Kids:

In 1986 IBLP, during Basic Seminars began to teach that the very popular Cabbage Patch dolls were causing children to behave in strange and destructive ways. The dolls were said to violate the first Commandment because children sign a piece of paper saying they will love and take care of the dolls. It was not enough to just throw the dolls away, they needed to be burned. He had stories of parents who saw a complete change in how their children behaved when CP dolls were brought in the house and the children went back to normal behaviour after the dolls were destroyed. In 1996, IBLP sent out a medical newsletter that said that Christian midwives found that having CP dolls and troll dolls in a house caused a mother have a difficult delivery. Destroying these items speeded up the delivery.

pfo.org/bgothard.htm

Rock Music:

Any sort of music with a back beat is banned by IBLP. In the book "How to Conquer the Addiction to Rock Music" rock music is said to be more addicting than crack( ). IBLP teaches that plants will die if exposed to rock music. It is taught that rock music is inherently evil so by listening to it you are opening your mind to being evil. The consequences of listening to rock music(note that the word "music" is inserted into Bible verse that have nothing to do with music and then used as "proof" that the Bible says rock music is bad):

http://www.recoveringgrace.org/media/Rock-Music.jpg

A Matter of Basic Principles:

In 2002 a book(A Matter of Basic Principles) criticizing Gothard and IBLP was published. It goes into detail about a scandal that occured in the 1970's in which Gothard's brother(who was vice president of IBLP at that time)admitted to sexual misconduct with several female staff. The book tells how Gothard not only chose to ignore this, but he tried to keep anyone else from bringing it to light. It did eventually come out around 1980 and his brother resigned as VP. Gothard himself at this time admitted to having "moral failures" with some of his female staff. It also has stories from former staff members about how IBLP refused to follow building saftey codes and attempted to threaten anyone who stood up to force them to fix the building problems.

http://www.amazon.com/Matter-Basic-Prin ... 0974252808

http://www.recoveringgrace.org/2012/03/ ... -a-review/

Medical Training Institute of America(MTIA):

MTIA is the part of IBLP that dispenses medical advice.

Mental illnesses are said to be caused by being irresponsible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4gieCr-YRk

What can be the result of following IBLP's teachings on mental illness:

http://www.recoveringgrace.org/2011/11/ ... y-murders/

Women are to "claim" a verse to say over and over during labor to make sure she doesn't end up with a c-section.

If a woman has been told by a doctor that another pregnancy would kill her the advice is:

"God wants to give a child to a couple, He is also able [to] give the level of health in the mother and the child that will bring the greatest glory to Him.â€3 Second, he says that “God has not given us a spirit of fear. Therefore, fear is from Satan and not from God. . . . If we make medical decisions based on the fear of what a doctor has predicted, we are in danger of overlooking the clear counsel of God and allowing the deceiver to gain a dangerous foothold"

midwestoutreach.org/journals/mystical_approach.htm

Circumcision is strongly pushed by IBLP:

billgothard.com/news/circumcision

IBLP also teaches: "uncircumcised men have, as a group, been more promiscuous than circumcised men"

Advanced Training Institute(ATI):

ATI is the homeschool part of IBLP. The application to join ATI is very detailed and if a parent is divorced or separated from another parent they must make a committment to try and rebuild the marriage. Families must agree to limit the amount of television/video/internet time. Members are strongly encouraged to get rid of the television all together. They must agree to only listen to music approved by IBLP. A family picture must be included and individual pictures of all children older than 14 must be submitted. No non-immediate family members are allowed to live in the home of a family enrolled in ATI. Any adopted children must be labeled as adopted so that the ATI staff can be prepared for the "unique pressures" adopted children bring to a family. Mothers cannot work outside the home. Membership costs $675 a year plus a $25 application fee.

The Bible is the main textbook of ATI and Wisdom Booklets are the curriculum. There are 54 Wisdom Booklets. The main teaching method of these booklets is relating academic facts to biblical principles. Sample of a Wisdom Booklet:

ati.iblp.org/ati/about/curriculum/wisdombooklets/

Adoption:

Adoption is said to be a modern concept:

"It is significant that our modern concept of adoption in unknown to the Law which God gave to Israel.†IBLP warns against adoption because it also teaches that a child inherits the sins of his father, so an adopted child is bringing sin into the home.

"Causes of Conflicts — Adopted children are affected by the sins of their natural parents, and these sins are usually very severe.â€

pfo.org/evol-fad.htm

Families that do adopted need to try and discover the sins of the adopted child's parents so they will be prepared to deal with them and to teach the child to deal with these sins.

Free Jinger's IBLP/ATI Discussions