Ex-Members Say Duggar Cult Enabled Sexual Abuse

The New York Post reports:

People familiar with the family’s particular sect of fundamentalist Christianity, the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), claim it has played a role in enabling abuse by Josh Duggar and others. Michelle and Jim Bob were expected to speak at an IBLP conference before their son’s arrest. The many Duggar children were home-schooled using a faith-based program called Advanced Training Institute (ATI).

“A lot of abuse occurred” because of the group’s teachings, Lara Smith, a former ATI member, told The Post. “With [abusers like] Josh, the whole environment set him up for success in his disgustingness.” “We were taught our bodies don’t belong to us. They belong to God. And so in that realm, anything that happens, God wants it to happen,” Smith, 35, said of the lessons she learned through ATI and IBLP.

Read the full article.

Duggar ‘cult’ enabled sexual abuse, former members say https://t.co/0ssyGDJJaj pic.twitter.com/GH1RJNL9Ur

— New York Post (@nypost) May 19, 2021