*Sidebar: The opinions expressed here are my own (or those of the guest writer); I do not speak for any other person, group or organization; nor do I imply that the opinions expressed here reflect those of any other person, group or organization unless I say so specifically. Before commenting read the entire post and the \u201cNote to commenters\u201d at its end.*<\/em><\/p>\nWhat especially caught my reader\u2019s and my attention is the following quote from the article that contains a quote from a \u201cclose friend\u201d of Pence: \u201cAnother close friend of Pence\u2019s explained it to me this way: \u2018His faith teaches that you\u2019re under authority at all times. Christ is under God\u2019s authority, man is under Christ\u2019s authority, children are under the parents\u2019 authority, employees are under the employer\u2019s authority\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anyone who lived in the heart of American evangelicalism during the 1970s and 1980s and has a good memory will immediately recognize the source and name of this teaching and belief.<\/p>\n
Pause to remember\u2026.<\/p>\n
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s virtually every American evangelical Christian heard about, if not attended, something called a \u201cBasic Youth Conflicts Seminar\u201d led by evangelist Bill Gothard (b. 1934). These mostly weekend events were held around the country in almost every major metropolitan area and people drove hundreds of miles to attend them. The printed materials could not be purchased outside one of the seminars and the seminars, to the best of my knowledge, never appeared on television and could not be accessed except by registering for and attending one. They were held in large auditoriums packed with mostly young-ish, almost middle aged parents and their pre-teen and teen children. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of sermons in evangelical churches were preached based on Gothard\u2019s teachings.<\/p>\n
The core teaching was \u201cGod\u2019s chain of command.\u201d According to Gothard (and this information is culled from numerous articles written by people who did attend the seminars or read the printed materials obtained from people who did attend at least one) God has established a \u201cchain of command\u201d in which every human being, but especially every God-follower, is under someone else\u2019s authority and many are in authority over others. The whole secret of living a happy, successful life is to find one\u2019s \u201cplace\u201d in God\u2019s \u201cchain of command\u201d and live in submission and exercise God-given authority properly.<\/p>\n
This is, of course, the medieval feudal system given quasi- or pseudo-biblical support and applied to then-contemporary (1970s and 1980s) life. According to people who attended several of the seminars and communicated ideas learned there to me, Gothard taught that wives who obey their husbands are not held accountable (guilty) by God even if obeying their husbands involves doing things that are ordinarily not \u201cright.\u201d Exactly what that meant \u201con the ground,\u201d in practical terms, was not clear to the people who reported what they heard to me.<\/p>\n
During the 1970s I served as associate pastor of a medium-sized evangelical church while attending seminary. Many of the church\u2019s members attended Gothard seminars as did some of my fellow seminary students. They all reported the same teachings to me. Some agreed with them and some disagreed and some simply declined to state an opinion. However, I came to know many people over the ensuing years (throughout the 1980s) who became dedicated, devoted, uncritical adherents of Gothard\u2019s teaching about \u201cGod\u2019s chain of command\u201d and interpreted it to mean that a Christian should never question someone in authority over them.<\/p>\n
In one chapel service I attended the speaker, who I knew to be influenced by Gothard, told the students that even if they should happen to know about unethical behavior by the school\u2019s administrators (which some students did know about) they had no business questioning them. Their only \u201cduty\u201d was to pray for them. Otherwise, they were stepping outside \u201cGod\u2019s chain of command.\u201d (Ironically, that pastor himself took his church out of the denomination and eventually ran for public office against an incumbent congressman. He lost.)<\/p>\n
Most people have forgotten all about Gothard if they ever heard of him. However, I cannot help but assume that, insofar as his friend\u2019s report is accurate, Pence has been influenced by Gothardism. Gothardism almost in the White House; having influence in the halls of power of the U.S. government. Very, very strange. As a friend of mine used to say \u201cWho would have thunk it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Eventually, sometime in the 1980s, at least two major evangelical publications dared to challenge Gothard about his central doctrine of \u201cGod\u2019s chain of command.\u201d Then there were some questions raised about ethical practices in his organization. I don\u2019t know what became of his organization or him although, apparently, he is still alive. I know his ideas about authority are still alive and well and influencing American politics and government at the highest levels.<\/p>\n
*Note to commenters:<\/em> This blog is not a discussion board; please respond with a question or comment only to me. If you do not share my evangelical Christian perspective (very broadly defined), feel free to ask a question for clarification, but know that this is not a space for debating incommensurate perspectives\/worldviews. In any case, know that there is no guarantee that your question or comment will be posted by the moderator or answered by the writer. If you hope for your question or comment to appear here and be answered or responded to, make sure it is civil, respectful, and \u201con topic.\u201d Do not comment if you have not read the entire post and do not misrepresent what it says. Keep any comment (including questions) to minimal length; do not post essays, sermons or testimonies here. Do not post links to internet sites here. This is a space for expressions of the blogger\u2019s (or guest writers\u2019) opinions and constructive dialogue among evangelical Christians (very broadly defined).<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"How an Old Religious Idea \u201cTrickles Down\u201d into Contemporary American Politics One of my observant and astute blog visitors pointed me to the current issue of The Atlantic\u2014an influential American magazine filled with in depth cultural and political analysis and commentary. The following article in the December 5, 2017 issue (on line) caught his attention […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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