Bringing Up Bates’ Erin Paine denounces family’s religious group, the IBLP
Bringing Up Bates’ Erin Paine will apparently be bringing up her own children differently than her parents: Erin said she does “not support” the Institute in Basic Life Principles or its former leader Bill Gothard. That’s a big statement, considering Erin’s father and father-in-law serve on the IBLP board of directors — and she even presented Gothard with a personalized cake at her own wedding. Get a recent history of the IBLP’s controversy, which could explain her move away from the teachings.
Erin made the big revelation without fanfare in the comments section of an Instagram post: When someone said they could help her family get away from the ATI teachings (which is the curriculum side of IBLP), Erin responded, “We are not affiliated with the ministry or Mr. Gothard in anyway at all, nor do we support. Thank you for your concern.” When pressed by someone else who mentioned the family ties, Erin added, “I am speaking solely for Chad and I! Each family makes their own decisions. But for us, we do not support or encourage. Blessings!” Her brother Lawson Bates pointed out that Gothard doesn’t lead the IBLP anymore after stepping down amidst sexual misconduct accusations, but the key word of “ministry” makes it sound like Erin isn’t involved with the IBLP/ATI in any way.
That’s certainly a big shift for Erin and her husband, Chad Paine. Aside from growing up in the IBLP community and having their fathers serve on the IBLP board of directors, they served a special cake for Gothard at their own wedding in November 2013.
In the time since then, however, the accusations against Gothard became louder and more plentiful. Just last fall, Erin’s dad, Gil Bates, was named in a lawsuit against the IBLP — in which multiple plaintiffs accused the members of the board of directors were complicit in the abuse because they failed to report the “serious, potentially criminal allegations to law enforcement authorities or the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services,” despite “frequently” receiving reports of Gothard’s “sexual abuse, sexual harassment and inappropriate/unauthorized touching.” Nonetheless, the Bates and Duggar families have continued to support the IBLP since then by participating in and speaking at ATI conferences. Erin and her husband are the first in the families to publicly break away.
That doesn’t necessarily mean they are abandoning the beliefs they learned through their IBLP upbringings: Erin and Chad just announced they are expecting their second child, less than one year after son Carson was born. In her announcement, Erin made it clear she gives credit to God, “My family was completely and utterly shocked! With all of the previous trouble we had with miscarriages and pregnancy, I think they thought Chad and I would be the last married couple to announce baby news! It should come as no surprise that God’s plans are always better than mine, but in this case, the shock factor was very present!” Erin also credited her parents for her upbringing, saying, “We all felt like it wasn’t just a parent-child relationship. We were best friends. That’s the way I want it to be with our little baby, so it’s a hard responsibility.”
Congratulations to Erin and Chad on the baby news — and for looking at the IBLP’s teaching with a critical eye to make the decision that’s best for their family.
