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Saturday, December 10, 2005
I remember when Mr. Gothard...
Reader forlibery sends in his recollections of Mr. Gothard from his days as a staffer. Have your own story? Send them here.
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I only had a few, but they were enough for my lifetime.
FUCH and Such
During a seminar on the West Coast, an admiring alumnus took Mr. G and the staff out for a ride on his yacht. The alumnus happened to bring a friend who didn't know Uncle Bill from Adam. I suspect the alumnus was hoping that the aura from the master would rub off on his friend. Alas, the opposite may have occurred, as this guy entertained us with a lengthy etymology of the F word. It was entertaining, really, esp. watching Mr. G. just listen and smile at the appropriate times.
Yes Men
One thing that helped open my eyes was my observation of Mr. G's interactions with others in IBLP leadership. They treated him like a god. I expected that from the average IBLPer, but I was surprised to see people I thought would stand up to him bow down and worship. From my few observations, it appeared that nobody had the will to say, "That's the craziest thing I've ever heard!"
Except his mom. According to a friend of mine, she gave him a reality check a few times during a trip to Taiwan. He shared some rhema, and she said, "Bill, now where do you get that from? I don't see that there." And when he "suggested" a fast to everyone, she pulled out a chocolate bar and started munching away.
No Bubble Zone
Most Westerners have a "personal space bubble," but this saint is free of the inhibitions that afflict the rest of us. One time, he reclined his car seat back...all the way back, so that his head was literally in my lap. Alas, we were all "under the influence," so nobody told him to quit being rude.
The Dilbert Principle
There was one thing that made me feel sorry for the man, but I suppose it's his own fault. I had the "privilege" of being his assistant for a day, and in his directions, he treated me like a child. He couldn't just tell me to send a letter for him; he had to explain how to fold it, how to seal the envelope, and oh, remember to put a stamp on it. It was so laughable, but apparently he was accustomed to incompetent help. Scott Adams' maxim is true, at least in IBLP; only the incompetent get promoted, and the right-hand man position is reserved for the most incompetent of all.
(No offense to any ex-right-hand men out there, but that's the only conclusion I could draw from his strange behavior.)
forliberty
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14 Comments:
Good for his mom. Apparently it is true: "Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor." :P
hey... that's so awesome.... amen to the chocolate!!!! Wait, a fast?..... are you saying we're to eat our chocolates fast? oh ok.... well, if I'm going to eat my chocolate fast, I have to have more..... two secnds later: AAAARRRR MORE CHOCO-LATE!!!!!! yum yum yum!!!!
..... that's so bad.... I love it!!!!!
Hot blondes get promoted directly to HQ. The hotter-blonder-sexier - the better!
Chyca that is so true. I was always suprised with the rule book only said "soft curls" instead of soft blond curls. Personally, I find long soft blonde curls defrauding and think they should all be shaved bald immediately to keep the Godly young men from having wicked thoughts.
What do you mean, he just sat and listened and smiled in all the right places? Whatever happened to, "This conversation is not glorifying to God and I can't take part in it."? I remember one girl giving testimony at Indy that she'd been so rebuked -- by a fellow student -- for a joke she told.
Do you remember the joke?
She didn't tell the joke, of course. I've wondered ever since what sort of horrible, sinful joke a well-meaning Christian girl would tell as an ice-breaker.
She then got to the TC (the joke rebuke was in the van from the airport) and was taken to task for something wrong in her dress. After that testimony, I was terrified lest someone take me aside to tell me that my character deficiencies were showing.
Anyway, this stroll down memory lane is all to say that for years I've felt I should say something if the conversation wasn't Godly enough, and that I was compromising if I didn't, and now to find out that maybe BG finds it just as awkward to do?!
In his defence, he probably makes a distiction between someone who "should know better" and someone who is a "sinful pagan".
At least, that is what I do. I don't expect my non Christian co workers and friends to conform to my morality.
Mrs. Gothard was at my 15th bday party. Talk about calling a spade, a spade. You know what always tickled me ? That Billy G said he still lived at home. WTH ? Anyhow...His mom was cool and crazy and didn't let her son pull any crap. I've been to their home in LaGange and their church. How can someone from such normal parents ( i knew his father too) from the 'burbs, go start a crazy cult ? Im confident that his parents were horrified.
Actually, his parents were big supporters, as is his older sister and her husband (Phil and Anne Garvin).
Phil, by the way, is absolutely awesome. Great guy. Down to earth, uses (horrors!) Christian tracts to "go fishing" and he is really successful. He always says, I go to catch fish, not drown worms:)
I don't know Anne at all. She is older than Big G, so...
I don't get it. When Mr. Gothard first started talking and rhemas, he said, in effect, that they were few and far between. Now it seems like he gets one every other day.
It's true, BG is neurotic when it comes to stamps. When I worked at HQ (ATI Dept.), all stamps were to be applied 1/4" in from the corner and placed completely even.
Its interesting the situation with BG's mom. It reminds me of a situation I was in while over seas with ATI. I had to have a "correction" from Mr. G personally, due to the fact that the back of my hand and the back a a girls hand intentionally met momentarily on a crowded bus. This girl happend to be two years older than me and Mr.G's conclution was that my relationship with my mom was somehow deficent or disfunctional because I was attracted to an older girl. I wonder what part of the mother son relationship created the smooth casanova we know as Mr. G?
I had a friend that had to sit through a Bill Gothard talking (mixed group)on how the girls needed to sit under a heat lamp while they were on "their-time-of-the-month" because that is what they do for some animal or something in who knows where. I'm sure the boys had no clue what he was talking about. The man knows about everything!
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