{"id":16750,"date":"2023-02-07T11:35:18","date_gmt":"2023-02-07T16:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=16750"},"modified":"2023-03-16T16:14:05","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T20:14:05","slug":"jinger-dugger-vuolo-details-her-life-after-her-cult-like-religious-childhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/02\/jinger-dugger-vuolo-details-her-life-after-her-cult-like-religious-childhood","title":{"rendered":"Jinger Dugger Vuolo Details Her Life After Her “Cult-Like” Religious Childhood"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tamron Hall Show\/YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jinger Duggar Vuolo finally feels \u201cfree\u201d after being raised to follow religious teachings that she says were \u201ccult-like in nature.\u201d The former \u201cCounting On\u201d star has written a book titled\u00a0\u201cBecoming Free Indeed:\u00a0My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear<\/a>.\u201d<\/em> It explores her strict upbringing and what compelled her to walk away from the \u201cfalse teachings\u201d of Bill Gothard.<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old told Fox News Digital, \u201cI would definitely say that [his philosophy] was cult-like in nature. I can\u2019t say, \u2018Oh, it was a cult.\u2019 I will leave that to the experts. But I will say that a lot of things make it tough for kids to leave or families to leave because the community is so tight-knit. The teachings are based on rules \u2013 man-made rules.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gothard, a prominent Christian evangelist, founded the Institute for Basic Life Principles (IBLP) in 1961. His organization has conducted Bible-based seminars around the country since the \u201960s on subjects ranging from conflict resolution to achieving financial success. His so-called \u201cchain of command\u201d teachings promote the belief that God put bosses, city leaders, and husbands in elevated positions.<\/p>\n

Duggar Vuolo alleged that Gothard\u2019s teachings \u201care based on fear and superstition,\u201d which left her with a crippling anxiety that she still struggles with today.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a healthy fear of God\u00a0that the Bible speaks of, but it\u2019s more of an awe reverence, realizing the greatness of God,\u201d she explained. \u201cBut sadly, Bill Gothard would take one verse of the Bible and make it say whatever he wanted it to say, and he would make up his own man-made rules and say, \u2018This is the Bible.\u2019 And then he would have you vow to God to keep this principle. It was very binding. He would say, \u2018Never break your vow before God.\u2019 It was fear-based.\u201d<\/p>\n