19 Cults & Counting (Recap of Ep 1 of Shiny Happy People)

TW: religious abuse, sexual abuse, family cover-up of abuse

This is the first of a four episode series called Too Many Cults, where Krispin and Lindsay Strannigan (from The Holy Ghosting Podcast, and DL’s sister) recap the docuseries Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets on Amazon Prime.

We're calling the series Too Many Cults, inspired by the video Too Many Cooks, which you should go watch!

This episode we talk about how Bill Gothard’s teachings of the Institute of Basic Life Principles (IBLP) are incredibly similar to mainstream evangelicalism, and to the experiences of those of us who grew up with Focus on the Family. Bill Gothard and Dr. Dobson were incredibly similar, and created very similar dysfunctional family cultures (the latter just had fewer kids).

We’re recapping the episodes, talking about what stands out to us and processing some religious trauma along the way. We’re releasing episodes on both podcasts, a true crossover series.

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