Leaving The Village

18/07/2023

UPDATE: We only have 4 spots left! Let us know if you would like to come.

Tonight we are having a live zoom call with Kayla Felton MSW, LICSW. She grew up fundamentalist and then founded The Reclamation Collective, an organization committed to helping religious trauma survivors. Kayla has generously offered her time to speak with ATI survivors and help as they process the thoughts and emotions brought up by Shiny Happy People.

If you would like to join us tonight at 7:30 EDT just send us a DM and I will send you a zoom link. Due to the sensitive nature of what we will be discussing we only have room for 12 more people. I hope to see you there!

16/06/2023

Groomer culture indeed.

12/06/2023

Jess and I are busy recording interviews with survivors from Shiny Happy People this week!

We would like to hear from you all. What questions would you like us to ask about the documentary? We will select a few and ask them on air!

Let us know what you are wondering about and we will try to either answer ourselves or ask the right person!

10/06/2023

It’s been a difficult week since Shiny Happy People was released. We have had a lot of emotions and triggers to work through, individually and together as survivors. Yet there has been an underlying joy to see our stories told and for the truth made public on such a huge platform.

As we process and heal the Leaving the Village team realized we had different visions for moving forward. Kit has decided to leave LTV, and we wish her all the best in her future endeavors! Jess and Lex are remaining here and will continue to bring you podcasts about growing up in Bill Gothard’s cult, ATI.

We have exciting plans for the upcoming weeks. Jess and Lex will be sharing their thoughts about the documentary. We will be interviewing some of the survivors featured on the documentary. We even have an EXCLUSIVE interview with Heather Heath, featured on Shiny Happy People and author of Lovingly Abused.

We are excited to share more with you!

With love,
Jess and Lex

09/06/2023

The book of Ecclesiastes says that there is a time and purpose for everything. Some things last forever, and some things last for a season.

There’s been SO MUCH going on over the last week, since the release of Shiny, Happy, People. There have been incredibly mixed reactions amongst the survivor community.

As the three of us have been discussing the series, it has become increasingly clear through a number of conversations that we simply have not been able to align on how to proceed.

As a result, I am announcing my resignation from Leaving the Village, effective immediately. Jess, Alexis, and I hold nothing but love and respect for each other. Our parting is entirely amicable, and no one asked me to leave. This is simply what is best for all of us, and the podcast.

I have loved my time on LTV, and really wish it, Jess, and Lex, all the best.

If you want to continue following me and what I’m up to, you can find me on my blog, at dauntlessindenver.com

With all my love,
Kit

28/06/2022

The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) wrote the law at issue in Dobbs v. Jackson. They are directly responsible for Roe being overturned.

The ADF's president is evangelical homeschool leader Michael Farris.

Here's what you need to know about him:

https://rlstollar.com/2021/03/13/the-christian-nationalism-of-michael-farris/?fbclid=IwAR3pQMp7J_dRI7Pq19FylabOLYRC0JDBBsCh7jrBvQ2kBdTQKG_yM50wSWA&=1

Michael Farris’s repeated dismissal of Christian Nationalism is gaslighting.

09/06/2022

Hey! Lex here. I saw this and want to share it because it shows exactly why homeschooling can be dangerous. Some kids are never educated, some are used for free labor (Gothard sure used us that way), it is a way to isolate children so they are only exposed to their parents’ ideology leading to indoctrination. This isolation also is a breeding ground for abuse. And these are the major issues that immediately come to mind. There are more.

I (and LTV) aren’t saying homeschooling should be illegal. I personally have homeschooled both my children in different ways as well as having them in public school. However there needs to be major reform and oversight to protect innocent children.

29/05/2022

“Homeschool children and alumni need you to listen and learn from us about our experiences. Several states require no notice to homeschool a child, meaning there is no legal difference between homeschooling and truancy. In half of the United States, the only requirement homeschooling parents must fulfill is a notification form. Only two states — two — technically prevent convicted s*xual abusers from living in a home where homeschooling occurs, and neither of those states have realistic enforcement mechanisms (one of them is Arkansas, where the Duggars homeschool their children). There are only five states which require credibly evaluated portfolios, and only a few of those have methods for intervening if a child is being educationally neglected. “

Better policy — not bans — can prevent the abuses seen in fundamentalist Christian homeschool communities.

27/05/2022

I opted not to record with Jess on Wednesday, because the sentence triggered a significant trauma response for me. We all decided, as a team, that I should, however, go live at some point. Because this is the reality of life after a cult.

25/05/2022

Josh Duggar sentencing update:

Today, May 25, 2022, Josh Duggar was sentenced to 151 months in prison, roughly 12 and a half years. He was facing up to 20 years for his possession of child s*xual abuse material. One charge of possession was dropped without prejudice during today’s sentencing.

We are recording our reactions and thoughts today and will post that episode for you all as soon as we can.

The following video explains more about the terms of his sentencing and what happens after.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTdnKUDeR/?k=1

25/05/2022

Josh Duggar is being sentenced this afternoon. We will keep you updated as we hear more.

25/05/2022

I still remember when this was taken. These were supposed to be my senior pictures. It was Aprilish of 2001. I was so excited to get some done, even if they were just at Walmart. Since my older sister hadn’t been homeschooled, I remembered her Senior pictures in 1994. She got the whole big photo shoot with cap and gown and outfit changes. Her pictures were stunning. I knew I wasn’t going to get the big shoot, but that was okay. We went in, and my mom decided she wasn’t okay with me getting solo pictures. After all, I wasn’t an individual unit, I was a part of the family unit. A solo picture would be asserting my independence from the family. And that, of course would be a sin. God didn’t make individuals, he made families. So we got family pictures, and my mom insisted on calling them my Senior photos. This was the picture framed at the reception for the graduation my church held for the several homeschooling graduates that year, almost all of whom were in ATI. I was so mortified. Know why? Every last one of them had an actual senior photo shoot. Even the families who could much less afford it. Not only did I just have a studio photo, but it was a family photo, at that. The other ATI kids may have had individual shoots, but Gothard’s teachings definitely leant itself to this kind of extreme interpretation. We all had different things we were extreme about; another kid I graduated with came from a family who wouldn’t eat “unclean” meat as defined in the Old Testament. Also not common in our church, but not uncommon in ATI. Every time I see this picture, taken 21 years ago, I still get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. The degree to which my independence and individuality was stifled, was just so extreme. And it still makes me so sad. This kind of trauma doesn’t go away overnight. It takes a literal lifetime to work through. This is why ATI and cults like it are so damaging and dangerous. They’re not innocuous odd groups of people. They’re deeply damaging, and that damage lasts forever, regardless of the healing work the person manages to do. ~Kit

14/05/2022

It’s terrifying that a man who preaches the word of god is using his position to convince people that a man like Josh should not only be around children but that children need him for spiritual authority. This is just one example of the toxic teaching of Gothard. Families like the Duggars and the Wallers believe that without a male authority figure the entire family is left without spiritual protection, leaving them open for not only spiritual harm but also physical harm. What’s really important for us to point out here, is that this is full following of ATI/IBLP teachings. This is not the extreme beliefs of a couple families.

13/05/2022

https://www.rawstory.com/josh-duggar-abuse-sentencing-documents/?fbclid=IwAR3FCVl5iHGcs5tqHqGfHaWcSN80n_U-5GCoASEV8yonNcCcWeaEw479Flo

Federal prosecutors are asking courts to give Josh Duggar the maximum sentence in his case. Duggar was found guilty of receipt of child po*******hy and possession of child po*******hy in December 2021. Two of the charges were dismissed, so Duggar can only get 20 years as a maximum. Nonetheless, this...

12/05/2022

Kit pops in for an update on the Duggar sentencing recommendations.

28/04/2022

Answering questions and reacting to comments on the demise of ATI

28/04/2022

We want to recognize that today’s news is causing each of us survivors to experience a wide range of emotions. There is anger that Gothard’s teachings are still available. There is sorrow that what we survived is being erased. There is celebration that ATI has been stripped of its power. We support our fellow survivors as they experience the feelings that come and as we journey together towards healing.

28/04/2022

ATI announces they are closing their doors this coming school year. It’s been a long, hard fight. Many people have sacrificed so much in this battle to make sure ATI will no longer harm another innocent child. We did it!

Tomorrow morning our thoughts and reactions episode will go live! See you then!

28/04/2022

Huge breaking news coming later tonight!! Follow us here and on Twitter to hear more.

20/02/2022

Hey, friends! It’s Lex. This picture came across my path in the last week. I am on the right and Jess is
on the left. We were about 15 and 14. As best as I can remember, it’s been a while, we were returning from some sort of ATI event we had attended together and Jess was calling her parents.

I hope y’all enjoyed this trip down memory lane as much as we did!

17/02/2022

Kit and I talked about this quote last week in part 9 of our Handmaid’s Tale book club. The Commander makes this joke and it brought me up short. It immediately jumped out to me that this speaks to the massive power dynamic between the Commander and Offred. In Part 10, this week, when it comes back up in Chapter 30, it got me thinking:

For a man in the Commander’s position in Gilead, women could be collected and owned. A wife. A Martha. A Handmaid. Even a Concubine if he was discrete about it. One and one and one and one, for HIM, _could_ equal four. But not for the women. As Offred says,

“What the Commander said is true. One and one and one and one doesn’t equal four. Each one remains unique, there is no way of joining them together. They cannot be exchanged, one for the other. They cannot replace each other. Nick for Luke or Luke for Nick. Should does not apply.”

As cult survivors, Kit and I had a lot of feelings about this. What about you? How does this resonate with your own lived experiences? We would love to hear your thoughts!

15/02/2022

These came from the Men’s Manual Vol. 2, published by IBLP. This was required reading for ATI fathers.

H/T R.L.Stollar

13/02/2022

Hi Villagers! I am so excited to join the Leaving The Village team! My name is Alexis Grey, or Lex. My pronouns are They/Them. I was homeschooled from third grade on and my family was in ATI. I will be doing a lot of social media work and you will also hear me on our podcast occasionally.

10/02/2022

Corporal punishment was highly encouraged as godly discipline in ATI. IBLP/ATI sold books that instructed parents to start when babies were four months old.

Not only is corporal punishment damaging to children it has a history many do not know about. It has been used to colonize and oppress for centuries.

Jesuit education of the Huron became the primary vehicle for the French to religiously manipulate, subdue, and colonize the natives, and the most important component of that vehicle was strict and …

10/02/2022

You can now follow us on Twitter and Pinterest. We can't wait to see you there!

Pinterest-
Twitter-

09/02/2022

This is precisely why it is so encouraging to see ATI/IBLP’s income and assets steadily decrease. It’s time they stop destroying lives.

Image Description: A Tweet from BozLaw PA that reads: Sometimes an abuse producing system has to be starved to death by depriving it of money an people. Feeding it will empower it and provide it with more precious lives to consume and destroy.

09/02/2022

The article that prompted IBLP to release a public statement was published this week. It is an excellent overview of the cult, it's abuses, and it's impact on American culture.

" ‘When you look at evangelicalism as a consumer culture … at books on marriage, s*x and how to be a Christian man or woman, you can see Gothard’s fingerprints all over the place, even though they’re not citing him,” she said. “It ends up shaping conservative evangelicalism for generations.’ "

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ministry-nourished-duggar-familys-faith-falls-grace-rcna14024?fbclid=IwAR26U4jQEQUx6WQ5nsTTTuU3OZ7woMaB_r9eER8Xuc6G_wbjgeTIc8Ugw6s

Scandal brought “19 Kids and Counting” to an end, coinciding with the waning influence of the Institute in Basic Life Principles.

01/02/2022

Can y’all believe it’s already been a year?! 😱 We just hit the one year anniversary of the launch of LTV. And we are so excited for this next year! We finally both got healthy enough to sit down and record the story of our first meeting—in person! Our impromptu getting of matching tattoos! 😜 And all the latest in our lives over the holiday season. Don’t miss this episode kicking off the new year, new season, of Leaving The Village! {Link in the bio}

08/12/2021

For those of you that are confused, this is a good quick synopsis of what is the deal with Covenant Eyes, related to the Josh Duggar trial.