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Articles about how Bill Gothard mishandles the Bible to support his legalistic viewpoint.

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Author Archives: Moderator

The Shame of Beauty

16 April 2015, 06:00

Moderator

142

Before I was born my parents started following the teaching of Bill Gothard and IBLP, and when I was 5, they joined ATI (Advanced Training Institute), the homeschool program that Gothard developed for the families of his Basic and Advanced Seminars. Gothard emphasized “principles” which simply meant there were many different rules that dictated specific activities in my […]

Through the Tainted Window

14 April 2015, 06:00

Moderator

21

Through a cold and tainted window Of reflections from my past I watched silent from a distance At a life that I once had   The movement of the players Well rehearsed and finely tuned Not one line misspoken Not a person missed a queue   I touched the darkened window As if my soul […]

Belonging

9 April 2015, 06:00

Moderator

31

In groups like the Advanced Training Institute, we have an identity and a community. We might not always like it, but it gives us a level of security. We are surrounded by people who think like us. We speak a different language from other people around us, using words like “courtship,” “motivational gift,” “rhema” and […]

Resurrection Rhythms

4 April 2015, 11:26

Moderator

6

As Easter approaches with its commercialization of eggs and bunnies, the irony of new life is not lost upon those whose thoughts turn towards the events of Holy Week. In the first century a new faith came on the scene of the pagan Greco Roman world that literally turned that culture on its head. Its […]

In Search of Peace

2 April 2015, 06:00

Moderator

98

One of my earliest memories was walking down the hall from my Sunday school class to the sanctuary, pondering in perfect happiness the most important thing I knew: Jesus loved me, and his Father, God, loved me. They loved me even more than my Mommy and Daddy loved me. And that’s how much I loved […]

Ignorance Is Not Bliss

31 March 2015, 06:00

Moderator

13

Ever since our pastor announced that Bill Gothard stepped down, I feel like I have been in a state of shock. I have always been famous for saying, “Ignorance is not bliss.” Now I know just how right I was. I have to reconcile myself to the fact that I was living in ignorance, and […]

ATI: Designed Around a False Education “Principle” (Part 2)

26 March 2015, 06:00

Moderator

37

by Myron Horst Click here to read Part 1. The Dangers of Analogies Donald Simanek, physics professor at Lock Haven University, wrote and an excellent article on the dangers of analogies (click here to read). His perspective is from the field of physics, in which there are many concepts that are in the abstract and […]

ATI: Designed Around a False Education “Principle” (Part 1)

23 March 2015, 06:03

Moderator

38

by Myron Horst The Advanced Training Institute (ATI) curriculum was promoted and sold to pastors and homeschool parents as the best homeschool curriculum in the world. Instead of being the best, it has failed horribly in many ways. The ATI curriculum was produced by Bill Gothard and his Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) and […]

Manipulation by Humiliation

8 March 2015, 14:13

Moderator

33

Every once in a while a light shines out revealing the truth of our surroundings. Sometimes it only lasts a moment, but we gain insights that change our understanding of the world. Suddenly, the explanation we have been looking for explodes like a flash of lightning. For several years we observed a phenomenon we struggled […]

Sorry, Mom and Dad. We DO Have Regrets

22 January 2015, 06:00

Moderator

237

Growing up in ATI, our parents often told us, “Because of the way we’re raising you, you won’t have any regrets.”  Their regrets included broken relationships, sexual sins, temptations, “wasted” years and the like.  All of which we would to avoid because of our sheltered, carefully controlled upbringing. We don’t know if our parents honestly […]