Институт базовых жизненных принципов: Культ, скандалы и патриархат.

Christian organization in Oak Brook, Illinois, US

The Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) is a nondenominational Christian fundamentalist organization that serves as an umbrella organization for several ministries established by American Christian minister Bill Gothard in 1961. The stated purpose of the organization is to provide instruction on how to find success in life by following biblical principles. This involves programs that include seminars for ministry, community outreach, troubled youth mentoring, and an international ministry. The IBLP has been described as a cult. In 1979 IBLP bought a Learjet. IBLP does not post its financial information on its website and its IRS Form 990 information is not public. In 2008 the rise to celebrity status of one group of IBLP followers, the Duggar family, through the TLC series 17 Kids and Counting, brought a new wave of interest in the organization and its teachings. The controversy led to Gothard resigning in 2014, though not admitting to anything more than "a violation of trust"; IBLP's Board would accept his resignation, but after their own investigation concluded that Gothard had "acted in an inappropriate manner" and therefore was "not permitted to serve in any counseling, leadership, or Board role within the IBLP ministry". Since that time, Gothard has not been involved in any manner within IBLP, and the organization's website only mentions him in its historical section.

In addition to adherence to the Bible and their idea of Christian ideals, the IBLP considers men, in particular the patriarch of a family, to be superior, whereas women are expected to obey men in every way. This includes in the home, school, workplace, and marriage. Women are raised to learn how to become good wives and mothers, and to birth and raise children for the IBLP men chosen by the women's fathers to be their husbands; couples are matched after a complex courtship overseen by both sets of parents. Women are not allowed to date or flirt, and all attempts at flirting, as well as wearing makeup, perfume, nail polish and high heels, are seen as lustful. Women are also discouraged from attaining higher education. Some of Gothard's personal secretaries were allowed to wear red nail polish and heels. and do not often leave the complex, if at all. Certain toys such as Cabbage patch dolls are forbidden.

IBLP's curriculum focuses heavily on the roles and responsibilities of men and women within a marriage covenant. A husband's authority over his wife is God given, as is his wife's non negotiable duty to submit to him; she must respect his position regardless of his "deficiencies". Within marriage, IBLP teaches that God "grants spouses full access to each other’s bodies for sexual gratification" and warns against "resistance or indifference to a husband’s need for physical intimacy". Wives and children are occasionally referenced as "goods" belonging to the husband, which may be subjected to torment by Satan himself should the husband remove the home's spiritual protection by harboring unconfessed sins. A married woman should not seek financial independence, take "matters into her own hands", resist her husband's physical affection, or ask for outside counsel without her husband's permission. Inwardly, married women are admonished to nurture a meek and quiet spirit, while outwardly maintaining beauty, remaining "well groomed", and striving to dress to "please their husbands". In order to enroll in ATI, a family had to have attended both the Basic and Advanced Seminars and meet other requirements (ATI curriculum was, at the time, not available to the general public for use by other homeschool families). According to their website, ATI ceased to be an "enrollment program" in 2021. Of the original 54 booklets, 15 are now available for purchase by the general public from IBLP's online store.

James R. Leininger was a member of the organization's advisory board. Sam Johnson was a member of the organization's board of directors. Their former headquarters was a 223 acre compound in Hinsdale, the hometown of Gothard (though it would prominently feature its "Box One, Oak Brook, Illinois" mailing address on its promotional materials). At its peak the Hinsdale headquarters had 200 to 300 staffers. Staffers were housed in nearby buildings owned by the organization. In the 1980s and 1990s IBLP repeatedly proposed expansions of their presence in Hinsdale with office buildings, dozens of houses, and a hotel but was unable to do so due to community opposition. In 2000 David Green, President of Hobby Lobby, purchased the former Texas campus of Ambassador College located east of Big Sandy, Texas, and subsequently leased the facility to IBLP. The facility would initially house the ALERT program due to its size and location away from heavily populated areas. However, after Gothard's resignation in 2014, due in large part to declining financial support resulting from the numerous scandals surrounding IBLP, the organization would relocate its headquarters and the majority of its remaining operations to the Texas facility, and no longer has any operations in the Chicago area.

A number of former adherents of IBLP programmes have described the organization and/or associated circles as a cult. Don Veinot, president of Midwest Christian Outreach, says that the charismatic leader, authoritarian control, isolation of members, severe punishments, and demand for absolute and blind loyalty add up to IBLP being "cult like". According to accounts reported by Midwest Christian Outreach founders Ron and Joy Veinot (in their book A Matter of Basic Principles), the board recommended that Bill (who also admitted to sexual misconduct) resign from the board, which he did, only to take advantage of an ensuing power struggle to regain his position and control of IBLP, thereafter filling board positions with people absolutely loyal to him. In 2014, Gothard resigned as President of IBLP after reports that he had once again sexually harassed multiple women and failed to report allegations of child abuse in the organization. Gothard allegedly selected young women for administrative positions within the organization, then manipulated and harassed them while in his employment. Several of those accounts were featured on the website of Recovering Grace, a website and Christian ministry that functions as a support group for former students and members of IBLP. An investigation into the allegations by the IBLP board concluded he did not act "criminally" but did act "inappropriately", and (notwithstanding their loyalty to Gothard) notified him that he was permanently disqualified from returning to the organization in any capacity. On October 20, 2015, a civil lawsuit alleging a sex abuse cover up involving several minors was filed in DuPage County, Illinois against IBLP and its board of directors. Gretchen Wilkinson et al. vs. Institute in Basic Life Principles and William W. Gothard Jr. was brought on behalf of five female plaintiffs in order to "seek redress and damages for personal injuries based on the negligent and willful and wanton acts and omissions of the defendants with regard to sexual abuse and sexual harassment and similar allegations of malfeasance suffered by the plaintiffs." "Besides monetary damages, they have asked a DuPage County judge to bar IBLP leaders from alleged plans to liquidate resources estimated at more than $100 million while they close the institute's headquarters near Oak Brook and relocate to Texas, the lawsuit states." Five additional accusers joined the suit in January 2016, and even more in February 2016, bringing the grand total of complainants to sixteen women and two men. The case was voluntarily dismissed on February 26, 2018, due to statute of limitations.

Amazon Prime Video debuted the limited series Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets in June 2023. The series centers on the Duggar family's connections with the IBLP.