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Thursday, December 24th, 2015

Prison Chaplain Charged With Rape Studied Minister Accused of Sex Abuse

Author:     Suzi Parker
Source:     The Daily Beast
Publication Date:     12.21.151:05 AM ET
 Link: Prison Chaplain Charged With Rape Studied Minister Accused of Sex Abuse
Stephan:   Let me say what I have said numerous times in the past. Fundamentalism is a mental illness syndrome couched in a religious context and expressed in religious self-righteousness. It justifies its behavior by citing late Bronze Age, early Iron Age legends and myths, and one of the central signs of this syndrome is an assertive patriarchal conviction that men are inherently superior by God's edict. In that sense it is less about sex than it is about power. The social manifestation of the syndrome is deeply dysfunctional sexuality. I see stories illustrating this syndrome almost every day, indeed could do a daily publication just covering this trend. This one stood out for me because like child sex abuse, it brings the power aspect into close focus. Also it show the networking aspect, and the common perspective.
Prison Chaplain Kenneth L. Dewitt

Prison Chaplain Kenneth L. Dewitt

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas prison chaplain Kenneth L. Dewitt was charged last week with 50 counts of third-degree sexual assault for allegedly pressuring three inmates at a women’s state prison into providing him sexual favors.

Dewitt based his prison classes on the teachings of Bill Gothard, an influential evangelical minister who is also accused of sexually harassing as many as 30 women under his influence. Gothard has deep ties to former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who opened prisons to his teachings, and the Duggar family, who sent their son Josh to be counseled under a Gothard program after he molested two of his sisters.

Gothard, who received a degree in biblical studies from Wheaton College, became popular in the 1970s with a program called Basic Youth Conflicts, which focused on seven life principles based on the Bible. In 1989, he changed the name of the program, which by now had become a profitable business, to Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), based in […]

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