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Bill Gothard Ousted - IBLP/ATI scandal - Merge


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Maybe he isn't real and is just made of wax, and people prop him up standing in various places at his events (explaining why he never changes and looks the same in every photo). But this wax figure got possessed by the spirit of a pedophile (sort of like Chucky) and just pretends to not be real when people are around.

Weekend at Gothard's :lol:

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Recovering Grace has posted a new article, "The GOTHARD Files: The Sleeping Giant." They will be posting a new series about the scandal from the 80's. RG writes:

We have been entrusted with information that has been carefully preserved all these years, and we confess that we are feeling the pressure to do this story justice. Some of these letters are so personal to the individuals who shared them that we feel obliged to keep them to ourselves for now. But as hard as it was to learn the details, we have been given a unique opportunity to share what happened during the Scandal and to do our part in helping right these wrongs. What we have decided to do at the beginning of our series is to tell you a story. We have checked and crosschecked our sources, and we can honestly say that our information comes from the mouths of “two or three witnesses.†In the coming days, we’ll share documentation and personal stories that will expound on our “Scandal†series. This information should never have been forced into secrecy. This is a story of family, of faith, of failure, and of betrayal—and in the center of it all was a 46-year-old man named Bill Gothard. The purpose here is to do our part in accomplishing that final step of Matthew 18.

Source: recoveringgrace.org/2014/02/the-gothard-files-sleeping-giant/

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I hope all the details about what really happened comes out. Before now it has been very vague with Gothard just saying he behaved in an innapropriate way. His worshippers like Alfred claim that just means he did some minor thing like hug a female staff member. I think it was a hell of a lot more. I'm interested to find out what he did back then.

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I hate to be cynical here, but it's hard not to be. What good will it do to 'expose' something that happened 30 years ago? Even if it was with underage females, would it set a precedent so that an investigation might be started on his current activities with the young women at his headquarters? Recovering Grace is going into this with the aim of getting Bill Gothard to repent. He will not do this, as it would require him to admit wrongdoing, both ethically/morally and *legally.*

The aim of any investigation into Bill Gothard should be to prevent any other young women from being victims of this, as the title in the article above calls him, sexual predator. As someone who was the recipient of unwanted attention from a male teacher in middle school- and knowing how it has affected me, I can only imagine how these young women have felt, growing up in a world that tells you that it's the woman's job to keep a man from stumbling.

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I went on vacation with my family last summer, and we stopped at a wax museum. Two of the exhibits there looked exactly like Gothard, I kid you not.

Every time I see his face now, I always think of that museum.

Was it in the Chamber of Horrors?

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I hate to be cynical here, but it's hard not to be. What good will it do to 'expose' something that happened 30 years ago? Even if it was with underage females, would it set a precedent so that an investigation might be started on his current activities with the young women at his headquarters? Recovering Grace is going into this with the aim of getting Bill Gothard to repent. He will not do this, as it would require him to admit wrongdoing, both ethically/morally and *legally.*

The aim of any investigation into Bill Gothard should be to prevent any other young women from being victims of this, as the title in the article above calls him, sexual predator. As someone who was the recipient of unwanted attention from a male teacher in middle school- and knowing how it has affected me, I can only imagine how these young women have felt, growing up in a world that tells you that it's the woman's job to keep a man from stumbling.

I have no idea if it will actually do any good especially since RG seems to focus on getting him to repent(which will never happen), but I'm super nosy and want to know what happened back in the 80's.

Googling Bill Gothard/ATIA and getting hits like RG might stop people from joining but members like Alfred, Gil and Kelly, and Jim Bob and Michelle will not have their faith in Gothard shaken by these stories.

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I haven't been following that closely but have gleaned, not just from RG, that going after young women has been a known and ongoing problem with Gothard. Charlotte may just be the tip of the iceberg. If so, he should be stopped and prosecuted before he goes after more teenage girls. I'm more concerned about pressing charges on Gothard for alleged sexual abuse of minors than the sexual harrassment claims, nasty as they are.

Again, not-a-lawyer-and-don't-play-one-on-FJ: It seems that the SOLs for sexual abuse of minors is varies among states. Some have no SOL, some have extended SOLs for sexual abuse of minors, and some are around the 7 year mark. Then there is this thing called laches. I think it means that the longer you wait to file then the more likely the case will be dismissed but it's definitely a lot more complicated than that!

If there are more recent instances then Charlotte and the SOL is up for her charges, Charlotte may still be helpful in building a case. The fondling that Charlotte describes would be a lot more than just creepy and would certainly be illegal sexual abuse of a minor -- of course, if it happened and she was a minor. Example: John Geoghan was given a ten year sentence for grabbing a boy's bottom at a swimming pool as opposed to actual rape of a minor. Although he probably did that too.

RG can definitely hit Gothard where it hurts with the decades old stories but runs the risk of potentially messing up a prosecution. True believers are not going to believe the stories on RG anyway. People who are waivering may not let their daughters anywhere near BG.

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You mean Louis Theroux? I'm not sure he's one for breaking a scandal, his style is more just letting the crazy speak for itself.

No, I mean having him go inside IBLP/ATI and do a documentary like he did with Westboro.

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I've just read the latest update on the Gothard saga on Recovering Grace. Today they posted Ruth's story, a woman who spent 10 years with the organization from 70 - 80 and suffered sexual abuse. I'm so fucking pissed. Gothard is one sick bastard, and he needs to be brought down. Furthermore, he needs to be made to pay for what he's done. He directly contributed to this woman's death, as she was diagnosed with advanced, aggressive breast cancer at only 37 years of age. Her doctor told her that prolonged stress was a big factor contributing to her susceptibility to the disease at that young age. She had confided to her husband and journaled about how haunted she was, even years later, because of her 10 years spent in torment with that awful organization. She died much too young, leaving behind a husband who clearly loved her deeply and 2 young children. It's truly horrifying what this man has done and gotten away with for far too long. Fuck's sake, he's got this woman's death on his hands now as far as I'm concerned.

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I'm waiting for Alfred to show up and say how either this story is made up or Gothard was just behaving in an innocent way.

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Question - in Canada, a private person can lay charges. It's a holdover from the British common law. Has this been struck off the books (as you will) in the United States?

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Question - in Canada, a private person can lay charges. It's a holdover from the British common law. Has this been struck off the books (as you will) in the United States?

If you mean a "Citizens Arrest" I believe that law is still on the books.

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I'm waiting for Alfred to show up and say how either this story is made up or Gothard was just behaving in an innocent way.

I was thinking about this today. I suspect Alfred is much less likely to openly challenge the "testimony" of a male than a female, so I'm not surprised he hasn't shown up yet. He may prove me wrong, but I really think he's one of those people who won't believe a woman until a man backs her up.

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I was thinking about this today. I suspect Alfred is much less likely to openly challenge the "testimony" of a male than a female, so I'm not surprised he hasn't shown up yet. He may prove me wrong, but I really think he's one of those people who won't believe a woman until a man backs her up.

I didn't think about how Gothard might not question a man. This is a woman's story, but being told by her husband. Am I understanding it correctly that Alfred already knew that Gothard had been caught with a nearly naked young lady sitting in his lap but he didn't think it was a big deal because the guy who originally caught him and quit over it decided to come back to ATI?

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I didn't think about how Gothard might not question a man. This is a woman's story, but being told by her husband. Am I understanding it correctly that Alfred already knew that Gothard had been caught with a nearly naked young lady sitting in his lap but he didn't think it was a big deal because the guy who originally caught him and quit over it decided to come back to ATI?

I honestly can't recall if this newest post about Grace is the first accusation of having a girl or woman sit in his lap. The stories are all so depressingly similar and consistent that they are beginning to run together in my mind. I do remember how Alfred reacted to Charlotte's accusations of Gothard's groping of her with his typical mansplaining and evasion. As far as I can tell, he has never responded to posters who have repeatedly asked him how we would respond if Gothard did these things to one of his daughters. He is completely brainwashed.

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I honestly can't recall if this newest post about Grace is the first accusation of having a girl or woman sit in his lap. The stories are all so depressingly similar and consistent that they are beginning to run together in my mind. I do remember how Alfred reacted to Charlotte's accusations of Gothard's groping of her with his typical mansplaining and evasion. As far as I can tell, he has never responded to posters who have repeatedly asked him how we would respond if Gothard did these things to one of his daughters. He is completely brainwashed.

In one of the comments sections of another post(I'll go see if I can figure out which one) Alfred brought up the story of Gothard being caught with a mostly naked woman on his lap before Ruth's story had been published. Alfred is just really disturbing.

Found it. It is in the comment section of the Feb. 11th post:

Just a note . . . the man who observed the "lap sitting" incident in Bill's Northwoods cabin was Gary Smalley, I am told. Gary was in the middle of the investigation that followed the revelation of Steve's immorality. He knew . . . everything. We are told here he "resigned in disgrace". These are things that have been told to me by people who would know.

It is noteworthy that, after a long, successful ministry of his own he has in recent years been an open friend of Bill and the ministry, speaking at ATI conferences with me in attendance, featured in "Embassy University". This is something I know. Seems incongruous

And then this:

If Mr. Gothard could, he would ban all ATIers from contact with this site.

Oh, I bet Gothard would ban anyone and everyone from reading these things about him. Major red flag, but Alfred is too drunk on koolaid to see it.

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In one of the comments sections of another post(I'll go see if I can figure out which one) Alfred brought up the story of Gothard being caught with a mostly naked woman on his lap before Ruth's story had been published. Alfred is just really disturbing.

Found it. It is in the comment section of the Feb. 11th post:

Just a note . . . the man who observed the "lap sitting" incident in Bill's Northwoods cabin was Gary Smalley, I am told. Gary was in the middle of the investigation that followed the revelation of Steve's immorality. He knew . . . everything. We are told here he "resigned in disgrace". These are things that have been told to me by people who would know.

It is noteworthy that, after a long, successful ministry of his own he has in recent years been an open friend of Bill and the ministry, speaking at ATI conferences with me in attendance, featured in "Embassy University". This is something I know. Seems incongruous

And then this:

If Mr. Gothard could, he would ban all ATIers from contact with this site.

Oh, I bet Gothard would ban anyone and everyone from reading these things about him. Major red flag, but Alfred is too drunk on koolaid to see it.

Thanks. I found the post last night--for some reason my browser wasn't refreshing automatically so I'd missed it.

The creep factor went up exponentially with this entry. A remote, isolated compound where attractive and naive young women were sent to be groomed and groped by Steve and Bill?? Disgusting. And there are still people saying, but it's not abuse, it's not even sexual harassment because this was a ministry, not an employer. Bullshit. It may not look as bad to outsiders as the IFB or SGM abuse, but these women were brainwashed and controlled and it was abuse, damn it.

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I wonder where Steve is now?

What is it about these fundie cult leaders and coming from a family of people who are as bad as they are-Doug's brothers are douchebags too.

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I think it's their effed up families that allow them to come out as twisted as they do. I'm not saying every twisted person came from a bad family, but in some of these cases you can clearly see how the family enabled their behavior. There was likely something very, VERY wrong in the background of this family which produced these 2 brothers who are so controlling and abusive. A lot of skeletons in that closet. And just to be clear, coming from a screwed up family does not in any way excuse the behavior of the children as adults. Bill and Steve Gothard are sick, evil bastards who need to pay for their wrongs, no matter what shitty things may have been going on in their family as they grew up.

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If you search FB for Friends of Mr. G you will see the ATI reaction to this. One guy keeps saying that the fabrications in Charlotte's stories are obvious, but when questioned refuses to say what the fabrications are. And another guy says that it doesn't matter if everything is true he will still be Gothard's friend and that it would just show that he has frailties like everyone else. Except most people don't spend 40 years using their power and teachings to manipulate young teens and women into being quiet about how they were sexually harassed.

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If you search FB for Friends of Mr. G you will see the ATI reaction to this. One guy keeps saying that the fabrications in Charlotte's stories are obvious, but when questioned refuses to say what the fabrications are. And another guy says that it doesn't matter if everything is true he will still be Gothard's friend and that it would just show that he has frailties like everyone else. Except most people don't spend 40 years using their power and teachings to manipulate young teens and women into being quiet about how they were sexually harassed.

Except for that other peoples "frailties" are not molesting underage girls...

I cant believe people are defending this evil man.

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