More people learned about Gothard a few weeks ago when Colorado church shooter http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=2659 was identified as having been raised and home-schooled in an extreme Gothardite program
http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=2817
http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=2712
As recently reported, presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee has close ties to fringe evangelist/tycoon Bill Gothard, who runs the little-known Chicago-area Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) and a string of affiliated businesses. It’s been widely reported that Gothard’s organizations advocate strict authoritarianism and blind obedience. Allegations of child abuse such as locking kids for extended periods in “prayer closets” and other misconduct have led to investigations.
According to a recent In These Times cover story, “The Cult of Character,” Gothard oversees an evangelical empire “which brings in an estimated profit of at least $63 million annually.” For example, see these photos of “IBLP’s beautiful Guadalajara Training Center property” which looks like a 5-star resort. Among the many hats Gothard wears, he’s “Chancellor” of a non-accredited school and founder of the “Medical Training Institute of America” which recommends such unconventional treatments as calling “elders of the church for prayer before receiving medical treatment for a serious illness” and anointing with oils. Then there’s the “Character Cities” movement, Gothard’s secular front which infiltrates the public sector and chips away at the wall between church and state by bringing their quasi-religious programs into schools, prisons, police departments, etc. – sometimes on the taxpayer dollar.