The Duggar Family’s Religion: All About the Controversial Church IBLP

The Prime Video documentary 'Shiny Happy Things', which premiered June 2, exposes the Institute in Basic Life Principles and its ties to the Duggar family

The Duggar family gave the world a look into their strict Christian household throughout 10 seasons of the TLC show 19 Kids and Counting. The series, which aired from 2008 to 2015, highlighted many of the family’s ultra-conservative ways — including modest dressing, supervised courtships and abstaining from drugs and alcohol.

But the seemingly wholesome family was not without its own scandals, and their religion — known as the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) — was also controversial. And now, a Prime Video docuseries called Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets promises to expose them both.

The Duggars first came under fire in 2015 when it was revealed that their eldest son Josh had been accused of molesting underage girls as a teen. The same year, he was also caught in a cheating scandal and admitted to having a pornography addiction. (TLC canceled 19 Kids and Counting as a result of Josh’s actions.) In May 2022, Josh was sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison for receiving and possessing child pornography. The content, which a Homeland Security officer called “the worst of the worst” and involved minor children aged 18 months to 12, was described by a judge as “horrific and sick.”

Related: Duggar Family — and Their Religion — Exposed in Explosive Prime Video Docuseries Featuring Jill and Amy (Exclusive)

But the producers of Shiny Happy People refer to Josh’s experience as just “the tip of the iceberg” regarding the IBLP and its leaders. The explosive four-part documentary reveals the dark side of the radical religious organization — and how it shaped and negatively impacted the once-beloved Duggar brood.

Here’s everything to know about the Duggars' controversial church, the Institute in Basic Life Principles.

The organization was founded by Bill Gothard in 1961

The Institute in Basic Life Principles dates back to 1961 when Bill Gothard — who had just completed his degrees in Biblical studies and Christian education at Wheaton College — founded an organization called Campus Teams. The group was dedicated to helping “teenagers and their parents make wise choices” by sharing Christian scripture teachings with inner-city Chicago gangs, local youth groups, high school religious clubs and “families in crisis.” Gothard, the son of an evangelical ministry executive, initially ran the fledgling organization out of his La Grange, Illinois home, Chicago Magazine reported.

Throughout the 1960s and '70s, Gothard expanded Campus Teams to include a seminar called Basic Youth Conflicts, which was first taught at his alma mater Wheaton College. Basic Youth Conflicts grew in popularity and reach within less than a decade — with as many as 20,000 teens and adults reportedly attending at a time in cities across the country and Canada. By 1974, Gothard changed the organization's name from Campus Teams to the Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts.

In the '80s, Gothard added a Christianity-centered homeschool curriculum and Bible-based financial advice to the Institute’s repertoire, prompting a third (and final) name change. In 1989, the ministry was renamed to the Institute in Basic Life Principles to reflect its new scope.

Under Gothard, IBLP reportedly promoted “male superiority and female obedience”

Gothard’s teachings evolved into a detailed — and strict — blueprint for how IBLP followers should live. At the core of these guidelines, which were rooted in Gothard’s interpretation of the Bible, was a hierarchy of authority — which placed Jesus at the top, followed by church leaders, employers and husbands, per NBC News. And according to Gothard, authority must be respected at all costs.

As a result, IBLP became a movement that expected “male superiority and female obedience,” according to Chicago Magazine. A lawsuit filed against the Institute in 2015 claimed that females within the movement were “discouraged from attaining higher education of any kind” and told that their “sole purpose” is to marry a fellow IBLP man. These marriages are often arranged by fathers, who select a suitable partner for their daughters and then oversee the “courtship.”

Once married, the man is expected to provide “servant leadership” while the woman must give her husband “reverent submission and assistance,” NBC News reported — citing an IBLP article that has since been removed from the church's website. The 2015 lawsuit also alleged that the organization viewed women as existing solely “for the purposes of producing children, caring for the men, and rearing the children.”

IBLP rules reportedly prohibit everything from alcohol and drugs to Cabbage Patch dolls and blue jeans

Like many other religious fundamentalist groups, IBLP followers are expected to abstain from alcohol and drugs. But Gothard’s guidelines take conservative living to the extreme — and anyone who violated the strict rules would receive direct punishment from God.

“[Gothard’s] teachings in a nutshell are based on fear and superstition and leave you in a place where you feel like, ‘I don’t know what God expects of me,’ ” Jinger Duggar Vuolo told PEOPLE about IBLP in January 2023. “The fear kept me crippled with anxiety. I was terrified of the outside world.”

And much of the outside world is prohibited: Television, movies and rock music (or any music with a strong drum beat) are reportedly not allowed. Neither is dancing, dating or reading most books (except for the Bible). Gothard reportedly even went as far as forbidding Cabbage Patch Dolls for causing “strange, destructive behavior,” according to a 1999 article in the Broward Palm Beach New Times.

There are also detailed rules for how IBLP followers dress, specifically women. Females are not only expected to dress modestly, but they also have to avoid anything that potentially draws attention to their bodies — including pants, skirts above the knee, sleeveless shirts and long necklaces.

“I thought I had to wear only skirts and dresses to please God,” Vuolo told PEOPLE. “And if I step outside of what I think is expected of me, I would think God’s going to be so displeased with me and it could bring harm on myself.”

Gothard’s brother, Steve Gothard, was accused of having sex with female IBLP staffers in the 1980s

The IBLP’s first brush with scandal came in the 1980s when Gothard’s brother Steve — who was employed by the organization at the time — was accused of having sex with several female staffers, according to The New Republic and Chicago Magazine.

The affairs reportedly occurred at IBLP’s Northwoods campus, a 3,000-acre retreat center in Michigan where Gothard would send young women to serve on his brother’s staff. One such woman, a former personal assistant of Gothard’s named Ruth, claimed that Steve psychologically abused her for several months before coercing her to have sex with him, The New Republic reported.

Steve was forced to resign from his role as administrative director as a result, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, though there was no finding of criminal misconduct. But Gothard also faced criticism and was accused of knowing about his brother’s misconduct and failing to take action for years. He was pressured to step down as president of the IBLP — but was reinstated to his role after just three weeks.

Gothard resigned as head of the IBLP in 2014 after allegations of sexual harassment

In 2012, Recovering Grace (a website for those “whose lives have been impacted by the teachings of Bill Gothard, the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), and the Advanced Training Institute (ATI)”) published a first-hand account by a former Gothard staffer accusing the leader of sexual harassment. Stories from more than 30 women, all with similar allegations, followed — accusing Gothard of targeting teen girls and young women to be on his staff, making unwanted and inappropriate physical contact and failing to report child abuse cases.

The IBLP board placed Gothard on administrative leave while they conducted an investigation into the allegations, the Christian Post reported; in March 2014, Gothard resigned as head of the organization. In a since-deleted statement, the minister apologized for the “holding of hands, hugs and touching of feet or hair with young ladies,” but denied that any of the contact was sexual. The internal investigation also concluded that Gothard acted inappropriately, but not criminally.

In testimony on his personal website, Gothard called all of the allegations “false accusations” that were aimed at destroying him and the IBLP. “There was never a hint of harassment because there was none,” Gothard claimed.

The Duggars maintained their support of the IBLP, despite the accusations against Gothard. “The public accusations against Dr. Gothard in recent years are troubling and grievous. However, our faith in God is not based on following a fallible human man. ... Truth is truth, even if the messenger fails,” Jim Bob and Michelle told NBC News in a statement.

Josh Duggar was sent to an IBLP facility as a teenager after molesting five underage girls

The bad press for the IBLP continued in May 2015, when a leaked police report revealed that Josh Duggar had molested five underage girls, including his sisters Jessa and Jill.

In a statement to PEOPLE, Josh publicly apologized for the abuse. “I confessed this to my parents who took several steps to help me address the situation,” he said. “We spoke with the authorities where I confessed my wrongdoing, and my parents arranged for me and those affected by my actions to receive counseling.”

Related: Jill Dillard Speaks Out: Jessa and I 'Are Victims' of Molestation

That counseling occurred at an Institute in Basic Life Principles treatment center in Little Rock, Arkansas. Josh lived at the center for three months and participated in manual labor and intensive prayer.

“The problem was corrected. ... The fact that he became an outstanding young man would indicate that kind of success,” Gothard told the Chicago Tribune in 2015 about Josh, who is currently serving a 12-year federal prison sentence for a child pornography conviction.

Lawsuits filed in 2015 and 2016 accused the IBLP and Gothard of sexual abuse

Despite stepping down as head of the IBLP, Gothard’s troubles continued: In October 2015, five women sued the Institute in Basic Life Principles for enabling and covering up sexual abuse and harassment, the Washington Post reported.

In January 2016, the lawsuit was expanded. This time, it included 10 women and named Gothard personally — accusing him and IBLP leaders of sexual abuse, harassment and cover-up. The lawsuit also alleged that Gothard had raped a woman, according to the Washington Post.

“That’s horrible,” Gothard told the outlet about the rape allegations. “Never in my life have I touched a girl sexually. I’m shocked to even hear that.”

By February 2016, the lawsuit grew to 18 plaintiffs: 16 women and two men. In addition to the rape charge, the suit also alleged that an IBLP leader groped a girl as young as 13 and that a male was molested by a male IBLP counselor.

“More and more victims keep coming forward telling the same story,” David Gibbs, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, told the newspaper. However, in 2018, the suit against Gothard was dropped and he has continued to deny any wrongdoing.

Several Duggar children have spoken against their religious upbringing and left the IBLP

On 19 Kids and Counting, the lives of the Duggar children gave the public a view into the world of IBLP followers. But as they became adults, several of the Duggars have distanced themselves from the group and its controversial teachings.

In 2017, Jill Duggar Dillard and her husband, Derick Dillard, surprised fans when they exited the family's spinoff series, Counting On. A few years later, Dillard opened up about her decision to distance herself from her family to PEOPLE, saying, "We’re not on the best terms with some of my family. We’ve had some disagreements, but we’re working towards healing definitely and restoration, but we’re having to kind of just take some time and heal.”

Dillard has also gotten a nose ring, worn jeans, drank alcohol and openly spoken about her decision to take birth control — all things that are in direct conflict with her conservative upbringing and IBLP rules.

“I’m okay with people not being okay with it,” Dillard told PEOPLE. “Sometimes it’s a good thing.”

She recently announced her plans to release a new book titled Counting the Costs, which is expected to share “the unedited truth about the Duggars."

Jinger Duggar Vuolo, the sixth of Jim Bob and Michelle’s 19 children, has also been vocal about her decision to leave the IBLP. Vuolo penned the 2023 book Becoming Free Indeed about her “spiritual journey” away from the fundamentalist group.

“I have ... rejected much of the teaching I heard for many years,” Vuolo said about her upbringing in the IBLP. “My faith is still intact, but it has changed. Instead of leaving the faith entirely, I've been disentangling it.”

And while Jessa Duggar Seewald, another of Jim Bob and Michelle's children, hasn’t spoken publicly on the matter either, her Instagram account shows her publicly going against several of the IBLP’s strict policies — including wearing pants and short dresses and letting her children dance around.

Vuolo referred to the IBLP as “cult-like”

Vuolo, who left the Institute in Basic Life Principles in 2017, has since reevaluated the group and its strict teachings that left her “terrified” as a child.

“Fear was a huge part of my childhood,” she told PEOPLE about her upbringing in IBLP. Even leaving the house on a family outing would leave Vuolo scared they were doing something against God’s will.

“I thought I could be killed in a car accident on the way, because I didn't know if God wanted me to stay home and read my Bible instead,” she shared.

Vuolo also described Gothard’s principles as “harmful” — and the IBLP as “cult-like.”

Related: Jinger Duggar Vuolo on Growing Up Under 'Cult-Like' Religious Beliefs: 'I Was Terrified of the Outside World'

“There are a lot of cult-like tendencies,” she shared with PEOPLE.

Since leaving the group, Vuolo has changed her views on many of the IBLP teachings she learned during her strict Christian childhood — including dating, alcohol and birth control.

“On every topic, I have had to come back and say, ‘Well, what does God's word actually say?’ ” she explained.

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