The Cincinnati Beacon
Huckabee Hearts Gothard
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
 Character Cities uses Huckabee Letter to Sell Program
Photo: Mrs. Arkansas (Mary Elizabeth Tate) and Gov. Mike Huckabee proclaim “Character Education Month” in Arkansas.
As reported by The Beacon, last week’s Colorado papers reported that Matthew Murray, the young shooter who killed a bunch of churchgoers, had been raised according to the teachings of Chicago evangelist Bill Gothard.
“I remember the beatings and the fighting and yelling and insane rules and all the Bill Gothard bull---- and then trancing out,” he wrote Dec. 1 under the monicker “nghtmrchld26” on a Web forum for former Pentecostal Christians. Bill Gothard is the founder of the Institute in Basic Life Principles in Illinois, which promotes a Christian home-education program. “I remember how it was like every day was Mission Impossible trying to keep the rules or not get caught and just . . . survive every single (expletive) day,” Murray wrote.
When it comes to criticizing Gothardism, Murray wasn’t the only one:
Gothard’s teachings have been criticized by other conservative Christians who allege he has deviated from true Bible teaching and that his stand against rock music - even Christian rock - suspicion of modern medicine, belief in spiritual roots of disease, and opposition to women working outside the home and “evil” toys are wrong. Gothard warned followers in a 1986 letter that Cabbage Patch dolls can cause “strange, destructive behavior.”
What last week’s reports didn’t mention is that political man of the moment Mike Huckabee is a “long-time admirer” of Gothard. In fact, “Character Cities,” the secular front organization which Gothard uses to infiltrate city governments, uses a letter from the former Arkansas governor to promote their program. From the training manual, ”How to Build a Character City”:
Make an appointment with your local leaders and write letters to more distant officials seeking their support and endorsement of the local coalition’s efforts. Leaders to approach would include the state governor, federal congressman and senator, state representatives and senators, federal and state attorney generals, county commissioner, local judges, key business leaders, key faith community leaders, local celebrities of good character, etc. Ask them for a letter of support for the character-building efforts of the community, something you take to other community members in gathering their support. (See attached letter from Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.)
According to a March 10, 1997 Ocala Star-Banner article, Gothard sounded ready to take over Arkansas’s entire social infrastucture with Huckabee’s blessing:
Just this year, Gothard’s advocacy for teaching public school children character qualities such as obedience, gratefulness and attentiveness brought him to a southern state capitol. But Little Rock, Ark., had already been established as friendly terrain for Gothard. Two of his long-time admirers—Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee and Little Rock Mayor Jim Dailey, a Democrat—are loyal advocates of Gothard’s agenda and have encouraged him to expand juvenile rehabilitation programs there.
Gothard has described his meeting in Little Rock as the start of something big. He said it laid the groundwork for “the most exciting opportunity I can imagine” to merge the institute’s teachings with government programs. In a letter published on the institute’s Internet site, Gothard said his organization has been asked to “present a plan and contract to restructure ( Arkansas’ ) welfare program, their educational system and their juvenile justice methods.” He also claims that Gov. Huckabee’s aides “have already begun taking steps” to put the proposal into action.
According to the website of Gothard’s Institute in Basic Life Principles, the governor jumped in with both feet:
Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas stated, “As a person who has actually been through the Basic Seminar, I am confident that these are some of the best programs available for instilling character into the lives of people.”
A 2002 New Times expose describes how Gothard’s program instilled character into the lives of young people in Indianapolis:
Inside a converted 300-room hotel, the prayer closet is a little room where kids are taken when they disobey staff at the Indianapolis Training Center (ITC). Once locked inside, the misbehaving youths are forced to sit and pray to Jesus, sometimes for days at a time. Some juvenile ITC residents have said the evangelical Christian teens and young adults who staffed the center sometimes forbade them from going to the bathroom, forcing them to sit in their own urine for hours. Some have complained of beatings with paddles by untrained staff that left bruises and welts. When not in isolation, the kids are forced to march and chant and pray, with gospel music playing almost constantly.
From yesterday’s New York Times Magazine cover story about Huckabee:
Like his father before him, he (and his wife) administered corporal punishment to their three children.
Mike Huckabee may be the first Presidential candidate to admit that he beats his kids.
The Times story doesn’t say if the Huckabee home has a prayer closet. If he gets elected, I’m sure his friend Bill Gothard will be available to install one in the White House.
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