Thread by @R_Denhollander

If you have not watched “Shiny Happy People” on Amazon, do. If you are in the evangelical circles, please, you really should. Most importantly, we need to consider the breadth of IBLP’s influence and teachings, and ask how this affects what we see happening today...

Much has (rightly) been made of Josh Duggar’s abuse, how it was minimized and glossed over. How the girls were pressured into acting like it was ok. How the focus was immediately on forgiveness, and not on caring for survivors or assessing real change in an abuser...

How everyone defended the Duggar’s handling of it and ignored the dangers of failing to get Josh and his sisters help. But did you know that the Duggar’s pastor when the story first broke and all of that was happening, was eventual SBC Executive Committee President Ronnie Floyd?

You can read Dr. Floyd’s response to the revelations and all of those dynamics, here. people.com/tv/duggars-pas…

And you can read how Dr. Floyd responded to the SBC abuse crisis and a high profile case of abuse in the SBC, in this report here by searching for his name. documentcloud.org/documents/2203….

Mishandling of abuse doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Especially in the evangelical world. There are teachings, people and ideas that long predated where we are now. That set the stage, that formed the framework.

And if you haven’t been immersed in this world and done a deep dive into key figures like Gothard, you may be completely unaware of some of the ideas and theologies that formed even your own foundation, and certainly helped shape the framework you operate in.

Happy Shiny People is worth the watch. So is asking the hard questions, looking for the connections, being willing to see the patterns, and then truly examining where those things may have impacted your own community, and even your own underlying assumptions, ideas and beliefs.

Then look at those ideas and beliefs, and “search the Scriptures to see if these things be so."

It's not about destroying the church or the gospel. It's about *rescuing it* from such gross misrepresentation and abuse.

It's not about "destroying a godly man". It's about following Biblical standards for what leaders should be. About the accountability for teachers that Scripture commands. And *that* is about love for Christ, and love for others.

I am so proud of the survivors for raising their voice. But imagine how many could have been saved, if other leaders alongside Gothard, had stood directly against what he taught, and did it publicly and zealously?

Why did the wounded have to carry that load again?

We can't change the failures from before. But we can do everything in power to make sure we don't repeat them, and to tear down false ideologies that lead to such deep harm. If we are willing to ask the hard questions and see the real answers.