Growing up fundamentalist has been fascinating me lately. In some ways, I've been there, done that, bought the T-shirt, but that's not the same as understanding it. I've been watching lots of shows about fundamentalist Mormons, and the Amish, the Duggars, and anything else from any religion that strikes the same chords. My sister posted a little news on Facebook that brought all this research back to my home front. Bill Gothard has resigned from his Institute on Basic Youth Conflicts because of bad behavior with at least thirty-six of the many teenage girls that he recruited to work at his headquarters.
We had our share of Bill Gothard stuff around our house. I can't remember if my parents went to his Basic Seminar or not. His idea about the umbrella of protection made my mother miserable for years, turns out that was just a way to make the girls more compliant. He wasn't a second god for us, just a guy with strong ideas and a huge following. As I got older he seemed strange to me. His behavior didn't meet the standards healthy men had set for themselves. Everyone said it couldn't be true of such a well-known teacher, but it just had to be. It is.
When I was a kid I loved the moment in the story where the wicked witch was defeated and all the evil is overturned. Finding out I was right about Bill Gothard restored my faith in my radar. It brought men back into the realm of the knowable.
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