The Institute in Basic Life Principles

The Institute in Basic Life Principles

This article relates to A Well-Trained Wife

In the memoir A Well-Trained Wife, the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) serves as author Tia Levings' gateway from mainstream conservative Christianity into patriarchal Christian fundamentalism. Readers may already be aware of the IBLP thanks to the popular Amazon Prime documentary Shiny Happy People, which focuses on the abuses this ministry has enabled.

The Institute began as a series of seminars given by evangelical minister Bill Gothard in 1961. While Gothard was unmarried and childless (and has remained so), he spoke with authoritative confidence about how to be a good spouse and parent. At the core of the IBLP's teachings is the idea of a strict hierarchy: God is on top, below are pastors and church elders, then husbands, then wives, then children. The IBLP teaches that when someone steps out of that hierarchy, they are creating an opportunity for bad things to happen.

It also encourages homeschooling with its own curriculum and discourages any form of birth control. People who've had a vasectomy or tubal ligation before joining the movement are encouraged to reverse them. The Institute preaches strict modesty rules that go beyond the norm in conservative Christian circles. Women are told to wear long skirts and are barred from wearing pants.

Because the IBLP is not a denomination, but rather a movement built around conferences, camps, and a homeschool curriculum, its followers attend a variety of conservative-leaning churches. In her book, Levings writes about seeing IBLP followers in her church growing up, with their ultra-modest dress and big families, and revering them as especially devout Christians. In recent years, the IBLP has gained greater notoriety due to a variety of scandals. Amid allegations of sexual assault and harassment in 2014, Gothard resigned from the ministry's board and was prevented from returning. He denied criminal wrongdoing, but said: "My actions of holding of hands, hugs, and touching of feet or hair with young ladies crossed the boundaries of discretion and were wrong."

The poster family for the movement, the Duggar family, were the stars of the reality TV show 19 Kids and Counting. They faced a scandal of their own, disgraced after their son's sexual abuse of some of their daughters, which they hid from the public, came to light. The same son, Josh Duggar, was later imprisoned on child pornography charges. Two of the Duggars' daughters, Jill Dillard and Jinger Vuolo, wrote books criticizing the IBLP's influence on their childhoods.

While its heyday appears to be in the past, the IBLP lives on. But thanks to the growing wave of criticism from the popular media and former members of the movement, families and young people in the position Levings once was may be more likely to think twice before getting involved with it.

Filed under Places, Cultures & Identities

This article relates to A Well-Trained Wife. It first ran in the September 18, 2024 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.