Blanket Training from a Bill Gothard Homeschooling Mothers' Support Network (1999)

The Advanced Training Institute (ATI) is the name of Bill Gothard's homeschooling program under the primary organization called the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP). This documentation turned up on a Yahoo Discussion Group for those who were considering leaving Gothard's system. I have met, in person, the woman who posted this information, and I confirmed the information which was also forwarded to me by the other administrator of the group at that time (ten years later). I've included the top of the email and the header from the administrator, and I've included choppy screen shots of a now defunct online forum where the information was also posted. (It still appears in the internet cache.) Two different administrators sent me identical information when I requested it directly from them.

The Day the Duggars Promoted Michael Pearl's "Family Friendly Products"

When controversy concerning Michael Pearl followed after the death of Lydia Schatz and the renal failure induced in her sister due to the use of Michael Pearl's techniques, the Duggar Family seemed quite happy to drop their open support of Pearl's “ministry.”

Their current website doesn't show past information about their “Amazon Blitz” book launch, but their support of Pearl and their “finest in family friendly, value-based” products can be viewed on the Internet Archive.

Both the Pearls and the Duggars attest that they are Independent Fundamental Baptists, and the materials of the Pearls saturated so many sectors of the Christian homeschooling community. Naturally, they included the Pearls' publications and their support of their organization in their own book campaign.

Blanket Time vs Blanket Training, the Rod, and the Duggars

  

The Duggars seem to skirt the issue of corporal punishment and offer what seems to be a retelling of the child training methods that are already popular within their Independent Baptist and homeschooling circles. They have also studied and recommended the writings of Michael Pearl in the past. 

Blanket training was adapted from Pearl to what has been renamed “blanket time” (as BabyWise/Gary Ezzo coined it) -- or what Michelle has coined here as “quiet and still.”  Perhaps the word "time" seems softer than "training," or at least more human -- for the whole method is based on how one goes about training animals.  She refers to the method in general terms (in their books and on their website), yet she still uses the shared language within these communities such as the reference to blanket training as “a playpen in a purse.”

Pressures on Children within Quiverfull And Patriarchy

In Chapter 3 of the recovery book, Take Back Your Life, Lalich and Tobias explain the additional pressures that children face from childhood into adulthood, all of which tend to keep them silent and powerless. I’ve listed only some of these pressures, personalizing them for those who grew up in the Quiverfull/Patriarchy Movement. To that list, I would add the lifelong physical consequences and the profound psychological toll associated with Developmental Trauma Disorder.

• The group’s world and perspective may be all that they’ve ever known. (How does a child do something that they have never experienced and lack the skills to accomplish and perhaps even the vocabulary to describe these tasks?)
• They fear the unsafe and evil outside world, both physically and in terms of ideas which are seen as more destructive. (See writings concerning young women in patriarchy.)
• Restricted self-determination, particularly for daughters, at the discretion of the visionary patriarch of the family for whom they exist to serve until given in marriage to their own new male covering.
• Unmarried girls are the de facto property of their parents, as the wife is considered the property of her husband.

What Those Outside the System and the Adult Recruit Take for Granted

When people outside of a spiritually abusive system or adults who choose to join a group consider the actions of a Second Generation Adult (SGA), they usually fail to take these developmental gaps into consideration. 

They also forget about the dependency of a child and the fact that the child doesn’t have the ability to challenge a parent through critical thinking. This generally does not start developing in the manner that most people expect until about age 12. This is why algebra is taught in high school and not taught to typical eight year olds. Younger children don’t yet have that ability.

Understanding Child Growth and Development in High Demand Groups

“Good enough” parenting gives a child sufficient resources for successful lifelong growth and development. Unfortunately, parents involved in a total institution often instill a different legacy – a difficult one – in their children.

Those who grow up in a high demand religious group classify as a “Second Generation Adults” (SGAs) – adults who grew up under parenting that was dictated by and within a closed ideological system. The needs of “SGAs” are very different from those of the adults who make the choice as adults to yield themselves to such a system. These children who are born or inducted into a group never had the luxury of making such an independent choice. Depending on the group, many of these SGAs find that the parenting they received fell well below a “good enough” standard.

Jill Mytton: Growing Up in a High Demand (Christian Fundamentalist) Group

Jill Mytton grew up in a cultic Christian fundamentalist sect and describes some of the difficulties that one faces when they know nothing about what life is like outside of their group. How does a blind person conceive of what color is? How does a lame person or someone with no legs walk? In many ways, the person who grows up in a group struggles to learn what they never knew before so that they can leave.  Why is it so hard?

This video (embedded below) touches on the pressure of bounded choice, but the lack of resources – abilities and experience that the adult never developed because they were micromanged actually present a different pressure that intensifies things for those who grow up in a group.

At Least Two Types of Bounded Choice

Bounded choice is a term that describes a situation wherein a person appears to have choices, but none of them are really attainable or viable. For Second Generation Adults – those who were raised in high demand religion, I believe that they face at least two specific kinds of bounded choice. One involves ignorance of alternatives. The other involves double binds.

Ignorance about a Better Way

Imagine asking a blind person to describe color or a deaf person that has never heard any sound to understand and describe music. Children who grow up very cloistered will understand their baseline as a normal, healthy life, and they will not conceive of anything outside of their small world. I recently spoke to a woman who was raised in a very isolated cult, and her family didn't have a telephone or a television. As an adult, someone asked her why she didn't phone the police when she was assaulted. 

Having spent most of her life without a telephone and without observing adults using phones, that option didn't occur to her – had a phone even been available. She didn't have television, so she never saw a newscast or a drama where someone in danger phoned the police for help. Not until years later did she realize that she was completely ignorant about what our society considers a typical and healthy response.

Gothard Requires Woman to Repent for her Part in the Sin of her Rape as a Child

Link to Article

IFB Belief that Young Children Solicit Sexual Attention from Men

The following essay appears on the website of a church for the purpose of defaming the wearing of pants by women. It is revealing, however, that Patti Williams reveals her own beliefs about the alleged power of a small child to sexually entice grown men. She claims that she sought such attention from men at a young age but also goes on to ascribe this same motive and desire to all girls.

Note also that her dedication to this concept if not a fear of the consequences extends to her infants whom she clothed in dresses as soon as possible. She does to to ensure their purity and their identity as if a dress over a onesie had a mystical power of protection and somehow made her infants more appropriate to others.

Significant sections are highlighted below.

Blog Host: Please note that I corrected the many misspellings and punctuation errors which says quite a bit for me because I'm a terrible editor. But I did so because I found it so distracting. Forgive any that I missed. It was hard enough to read without the corrections.

Index of Posts about the Strange Woman According to Ron Williams

This post is part of a series examining the “strange woman” doctrine.

Please find the Introduction here.

The concept of a “strange woman” is an unofficial doctrine** held by some Independent Fundamental Baptists concerning sexually abused girls: They become human garbage and things to be used, to be dispensed with in whatever way is convenient to those who have charge over them. Note that many doctrines in a high demand group are not formally documented but become part of the oral tradition or the hidden curriculum** of their culture and are often more powerful rules than the formally stated ones.

Ron Williams of Hephzibah House offers a very lengthy sermon about this insidiously taught doctrine causing pastors confront occurrences of sexual abuse in their congregations and in educational settings. (Full sermon transcript available HERE. Audio available HERE.)

The IFB's Strange Woman? An Introduction

Loud and Stubborn (The IFB's Strange Woman)

Honorable Women Suffer (The IFB's Strange Woman)

This post is part of a series examining the “strange woman” doctrine.

Please find the Introduction here.

The concept of a “strange woman” is an unofficial doctrine** held by some Independent Fundamental Baptists concerning sexually abused girls: They become human garbage and things to be used, to be dispensed with in whatever way is convenient to those who have charge over them. Note that many doctrines in a high demand group are not formally documented but become part of the oral tradition or the hidden curriculum** of their culture and are often more powerful rules than the formally stated ones.

Different Rules for Men and Favorites (The IFB's Strange Woman)

 

This post is part of a series examining the “strange woman” doctrine.

Please find the Introduction here.

The concept of a “strange woman” is an unofficial doctrine** held by some Independent Fundamental Baptists concerning sexually abused girls: They become human garbage and things to be used, to be dispensed with in whatever way is convenient to those who have charge over them. Note that many doctrines in a high demand group are not formally documented but become part of the oral tradition or the hidden curriculum** of their culture and are often more powerful rules than the formally stated ones.

Any and ALL Attractiveness is Sinfull (The IFB's Strange Woman)

This post is part of a series examining the “strange woman” doctrine.

Please find the Introduction here.

The concept of a “strange woman” is an unofficial doctrine** held by some Independent Fundamental Baptists concerning sexually abused girls: They become human garbage and things to be used, to be dispensed with in whatever way is convenient to those who have charge over them. Note that many doctrines in a high demand group are not formally documented but become part of the oral tradition or the hidden curriculum** of their culture and are often more powerful rules than the formally stated ones.

All Women are Easily Deceived (The IFB's Strange Woman)

This post is part of a series examining the “strange woman” doctrine.

Please find the Introduction here.

The concept of a “strange woman” is an unofficial doctrine** held by some Independent Fundamental Baptists concerning sexually abused girls: They become human garbage and things to be used, to be dispensed with in whatever way is convenient to those who have charge over them. Note that many doctrines in a high demand group are not formally documented but become part of the oral tradition or the hidden curriculum** of their culture and are often more powerful rules than the formally stated ones.

No True Adulthood in Patriarchy (The IFB's Strange Woman)

This post is part of a series examining the “strange woman” doctrine.

Please find the Introduction here.

The concept of a “strange woman” is an unofficial doctrine** held by some Independent Fundamental Baptists concerning sexually abused girls: They become human garbage and things to be used, to be dispensed with in whatever way is convenient to those who have charge over them. Note that many doctrines in a high demand group are not formally documented but become part of the oral tradition or the hidden curriculum** of their culture and are often more powerful rules than the formally stated ones.

Ron Williams of Hephzibah House offers a very lengthy sermon about this insidiously taught doctrine causing pastors confront occurrences of sexual abuse in their congregations and in educational settings. (Full sermon transcript available HERE. Audio available HERE.)

Doctrine of Separation Cures Everything (The IFB's Strange Woman)

Anti-intellectualism and Secular Knowledge as Evil (The IFB's Strange Woman)

This post is part of a series examining the “strange woman” doctrine.

Please find the Introduction here.

The concept of a “strange woman” is an unofficial doctrine** held by some Independent Fundamental Baptists concerning sexually abused girls: They become human garbage and things to be used, to be dispensed with in whatever way is convenient to those who have charge over them. Note that many doctrines in a high demand group are not formally documented but become part of the oral tradition or the hidden curriculum** of their culture and are often more powerful rules than the formally stated ones.

Ron Williams of Hephzibah House offers a very lengthy sermon about this insidiously taught doctrine causing pastors confront occurrences of sexual abuse in their congregations and in educational settings. (Full sermon transcript available HERE. Audio available HERE.)

The Impotent God of Ron Williams (The IFB's Strange Woman)

  This post is part of a series examining the “strange woman” doctrine.

Please find the Introduction here.

The concept of a “strange woman” is an unofficial doctrine** held by some Independent Fundamental Baptists concerning sexually abused girls: They become human garbage and things to be used, to be dispensed with in whatever way is convenient to those who have charge over them. Note that many doctrines in a high demand group are not formally documented but become part of the oral tradition or the hidden curriculum** of their culture and are often more powerful rules than the formally stated ones.

Ron Williams of Hephzibah House offers a very lengthy sermon about this insidiously taught doctrine causing pastors confront occurrences of sexual abuse in their congregations and in educational settings. (Full sermon transcript available HERE. Audio available HERE.)

Rape Prevention: Cry Out! (The IFB's Strange Woman)

This post is part of a series examining the “strange woman” doctrine.

Please find the Introduction here.

The concept of a “strange woman” is an unofficial doctrine** held by some Independent Fundamental Baptists concerning sexually abused girls: They become human garbage and things to be used, to be dispensed with in whatever way is convenient to those who have charge over them. Note that many doctrines in a high demand group are not formally documented but become part of the oral tradition or the hidden curriculum** of their culture and are often more powerful rules than the formally stated ones.

Ron Williams of Hephzibah House offers a very lengthy sermon about this insidiously taught doctrine causing pastors confront occurrences of sexual abuse in their congregations and in educational settings. (Full sermon transcript available HERE. Audio available HERE.)

The Character Assasination of Rachel (The IFB's Strange Woman)

Natural Curiosity is Unhealthy (The IFB's Strange Woman)

This post is part of a series examining the “strange woman” doctrine.

Please find the Introduction here.

The concept of a “strange woman” is an unofficial doctrine** held by some Independent Fundamental Baptists concerning sexually abused girls: They become human garbage and things to be used, to be dispensed with in whatever way is convenient to those who have charge over them. Note that many doctrines in a high demand group are not formally documented but become part of the oral tradition or the hidden curriculum** of their culture and are often more powerful rules than the formally stated ones.

Ron Williams of Hephzibah House offers a very lengthy sermon about this insidiously taught doctrine causing pastors confront occurrences of sexual abuse in their congregations and in educational settings. (Full sermon transcript available HERE. Audio available HERE.)

Defiled Women are Beyond Hope (The IFB's Strange Woman)

Magical Male Covering and Authority Keeps You Safe (The IFB's Strange Woman)

This post is part of a series examining the “strange woman” doctrine.

Please find the Introduction here.

The concept of a “strange woman” is an unofficial doctrine** held by some Independent Fundamental Baptists concerning sexually abused girls: They become human garbage and things to be used, to be dispensed with in whatever way is convenient to those who have charge over them. Note that many doctrines in a high demand group are not formally documented but become part of the oral tradition or the hidden curriculum** of their culture and are often more powerful rules than the formally stated ones.

Ron Williams of Hephzibah House offers a very lengthy sermon about this insidiously taught doctrine causing pastors confront occurrences of sexual abuse in their congregations and in educational settings. (Full sermon transcript available HERE. Audio available HERE.)

The Defaming of Dinah

This post is part of a series examining the “strange woman” doctrine. 

Please find the Introduction here.

The concept of a “strange woman” is an unofficial doctrine** held by some Independent Fundamental Baptists concerning sexually abused girls: They become human garbage and things to be used, to be dispensed with in whatever way is convenient to those who have charge over them. Note that many doctrines in a high demand group are not formally documented but become part of the oral tradition or the hidden curriculum** of their culture and are often more powerful rules than the formally stated ones.

Ron Williams of Hephzibah House offers a very lengthy sermon about this insidiously taught doctrine causing pastors confront occurrences of sexual abuse in their congregations and in educational settings. (Full sermon transcript available HERE. Audio available HERE.)

Dinah at Fault for Her Own Rape

This post is part of a series examining the “strange woman” doctrine.

Please find the Introduction here.

The concept of a “strange woman” is an unofficial doctrine** held by some Independent Fundamental Baptists concerning sexually abused girls: They become human garbage and things to be used, to be dispensed with in whatever way is convenient to those who have charge over them. Note that many doctrines in a high demand group are not formally documented but become part of the oral tradition or the hidden curriculum** of their culture and are often more powerful rules than the formally stated ones.

Ron Williams of Hephzibah House offers a very lengthy sermon about this insidiously taught doctrine causing pastors confront occurrences of sexual abuse in their congregations and in educational settings. (Full sermon transcript available HERE. Audio available HERE.)

A Theological Review of First Time Obedience in the Christian Homeschooling and Quiverfull Movement

A Summary from Under Much Grace.

From the original March 2011 posting:

I've spent a great deal of time on this blog developing ideas about the problems with First Time Obedience (FTO), but I'd like to quickly revisit the concept before moving on to some new alternatives for parents, in light of how the topic relates to the Pearl Method of Child Training through aggressive spanking.

When Lydia Shatz died last year after abuse with the Pearl-recommended Teflon reinforced plumbing supply hose, it was noted by some who knew the family that the Shatz family also ascribed to a theological idea that it was possible for a Christian to completely attain a sinless life. Those who follow the idea of FTO often rely upon techniques like the Pearl or the Ezzo Methods to accomplish those ends, what some describe as an attempt at training human nature and the resultant proclivity to sin out of children in order to obtain perfection.