The Feminist Homemaker

My spouse and I have shed patriarchy gradually and embraced gender equality together.

Awkward!:Jeri Lofland’s Story

Jeri Lofland blogs at Heresy in the Heartland. The following was originally published by Jeri on March 25, 2015, and is reprinted with permission. Recently a friend described a situation as “awkward” and I laughed. Not because it wasn’t true, but because I spent decades developing a resistance to awkwardness. It’s not that I don’t still feel it, I just have a

David Barton: Homespun History

“When Bill Gothard first distributed David Barton’s ‘America’s Godly Heritage’ to homeschooling families in his Advanced Training Institute, I was entranced.”

“Everyone is Forgiving”: Bill Gothard’s Bold-Faced Lies

“Former IBLP staff members take issue with Bill Gothard’s version of the facts. Gothard has made efforts to contact them, they say, and ‘grateful’ was not a word that came to mind.”

A *Real* Investigation into IBLP

Bill Gothard’s buddy David Gibbs, Jr. has now completed his “investigation” into allegations made against Gothard by former IBLP staff members. But here’s what a REAL investigation of IBLP might look.

Not On Your Side, Debi: Jeri Lofland’s Thoughts

“This week, embattled IBLP founder Bill Gothard received aid from an unexpected quarter–homeschool mom and popular author Debi Pearl… Debi came out swinging against IBLP victims who have gone public with their stories on ‘Recovering Grace’ and other websites.”

On Feeling Betrayed, Validated, and Brave: Jeri Lofland’s Thoughts

“Last week a shocking new series of revelations appeared on the Internet, exposing Bill Gothard, our cult leader of days long past, for the pathological fraud he was (and is). Reading the story as it dribbles out in serial form has been surreal. With each installment, I can picture my bedroom in Oak Brook, picture window facing Gothard’s office across the driveway.”

Bread, Stones, and Bad Fruit: Jeri Lofland’s Story

“My parents had only been married five years when they attended their first Youth Conflicts seminar: 40 hours of lectures over six days. Living in a new city with three preschoolers but few friends, they were lonely, stressed, and probably sleep-deprived. They were eager to be ‘real’ Christians.”

Jim Logan, the Stephen King of Fundamentalism: Jeri Lofland’s Thoughts

“Did you know that demons can be sexually transmitted? That many Vietnam veterans’ problems are caused by demons picked up from prostitutes? That a person can be ‘demonized’ through listening to music, watching TV, or by playing Dungeons & Dragons? Welcome to the world of Dr. James Logan, ‘the demon whisperer’, ‘the Stephen King of ATI’, pastor, adviser to missionaries, and conservative fundamentalist exorcist.”

In Which the Pieces Come Together: By Jeri Lofland

“In an odd way, I find it reassuring to discover that professionals can accurately describe the ways in which my siblings and I coped with our traumatic upbringing. We were not anomalies; we were not ‘broken’; we were not ‘messed up’. As children, we responded understandably — even predictably — to unsettling circumstances beyond our control.”