Tout ce qui brille n'est pas or

I've spent a lifetime trying to explain my life in IBLP/ATI and I was extremely nervous about how this docuseries would present it. The sense of relief and validation after watching Shiny Happy People (several times) is indescribable. I'm thrilled to be able to point people towards this now and not have to explain the abuse and horror over and over again. Thank you to each one who told their story. It's incredible to see other people who I've never met tell of such similar experiences. Trying to navigate the world around me after learning only what Bill Gothard wanted was nearly impossible, and this series pointed out so many of the deeply ingrained reasons why.

I expected the Duggars (specifically Jim Bob and Michelle, not the children) to be absolutely evicerated during this series. While their hippocracy is indeed exposed, this is more or less a documentary exposing the IPLB and it's cult-like teachings. I think even when the show with the Duggars was at it's apex, even then people with eyes could see that something wasn't quite right with them, how they were raising their kids, or their nutty Christian belief system. This documentary doesn't really explore that much more than what we've all come to learn about them already. What this documentary does explore is the IBLP and how influential it has become to so many families, and how the Duggars made it all look so normal. If anything, it's a great watch exposing another cult, and how so often organized religion is bent and warped in a way to keep people (primarily women and children) down while a precious few thrive at their expense. Good watch overall, just don't expect to learn much more about the Duggars than you already know though.

I did not grow up in IBLP and have never met the Duggars or Bill Gothard. However, I did grow up in a different cult, and I know people who have met Gothard and/or grew up under his teachings. Every issue that the show highlights-authority (especially patriarchal), the submission of women, instant obedience from children, spanking, the elevation of servant hood, child labor, the constant fear of breaking a rule or causing someone else to "stumble," etc-I have seen in the lives of those who experienced the teachings of IBLP. Even my family's watching of "19 Kids and Counting" impacted my parents' decisions toward my dating (sorry, courting) experience. The important thing about Gothard's influence, and the show does a fantastic job of highlighting it, is IBLP's influence on American society at large. People need to know that this isn't a freak occurrence: this is real, it's now, and it has lasting consequences on individuals and society as a whole. Well done to the creators of the show, and thanks to everyone who has the courage to be involved. Your voice makes a difference.

This video is NOT just a Duggar video. I think the Duggars are featured because most of America knows who the Duggars are. It is about the cult, Institute of Basic Life Principles (IBLP), which the Duggars are a member of. From what I have read about this cult, this documentary barely scratches the surface. It is hard to believe modern, intelligent Americans would just blindly follow this cult leadership and raise children in this environment. There needs to be more of a deeper dive into this cult and other similar cults. I hope there is a follow up documentary providing more information. America needs to watch this, wake up and be aware of these cults.

Like I suppose many people I only had heard of the Duggars, I knew they had lots of kids, I knew they had been on a reality show which I never saw, but I knew nothing about the core belief system that guided them. This docuseries, four parts on Amazon Prime, digs into all that. The main interview contributors are some of the Duggar children, now adults, and friends and relatives who know them well.

Jim Bob and his wife Michelle came to be Fundamental Christians on their own, but then were greatly influenced by the IBLP religion espoused by what many now call a cult leader, Bill Gothard. A basic tenet is the husband is the absolute head of the family and the wife submits to him. Plus children are home-schooled as a way to shield them from the many sins of society.

But a deeper and more sinister goal was for couples to have as many children as they could (19 for the Duggars, with at least one miscarriage) as an ultimate goal to have armies of followers to infiltrate government, and especially the Supreme Court, as a mechanism to converting, over a few generations, the country into a deeply Christian country embracing only fundamental Christian values.

The problem with a strong leader and his cult is that eventually a few, or many, will see the light and the truth and will break away. That is the source of this docuseries, former IBLP devotees who now are eager to expose the truth. Jim Bob and Michelle, as well as Gothard, all declined input into this series but now that it is out issued this statement, "The recent 'documentary' that talks about our family is sad because in it we see the media and those with ill intentions hurting people we love," and calling it "derogatory and sensationalized."

My wife and I found the series fascinating. In some ways it reminded me of a documentary a couple of years ago that revealed sexual abuse of minor girls in some cult-ish Amish communities, covered up and never reported to authorities.

Streaming on Amazom prime in four parts, roughly 3 hours total running time.