Little soldiers in the culture war - New Times Broward-Palm Beach

Little soldiers in the culture war - New Times Broward-Palm Beach

The culture war continues - New Times Broward-Palm Beach

Religious overtones cloud teaching of values - Detroit News

Michigan Lawmakers consider character legislation - Freedom Forum

Discord in a City of Character - Oregon Live

Faith Under Fire Part 1 - WishTV 8 News Team

Faith Under Fire Part 2 - WishTV 8 News Team

Growing Concerns Surround Training Center - WishTV 8 News Team

Entire Faith Under Fire Link Page - WishTV 8 News Team

State Releases Findings into the Indy Training Center - WishTV (Follow Up)

Questionable Character - County program has secret link to evangelical radical

Feedback for the Questionable Character Story - Rebuttal for the previous story.

Character training draws critics - St. Petersburg Times

Bill Gothard, Character First & the IBLP

Institute in Basic Life Principles - Apologetics Index

Bill Gothard and the Institute of Basic Life Principles - Midwest Christian Outreach

Bill Gothard Discussion Forum - Newsgroup for active and former institute members

My Personal Experiences With Bill Gothard - Author Unknown

Bill Gothard - General Teachings/Activities - Author Unknown

The Dangerous Leanings of Bill Gothard's Teachings - Personal Freedom Outreach

Benevolent Ministry or Bondage Making? - Personal Freedom Outreach

Issues of Concern - Bill Gothard and the Bible

Bill Gothard & Character First - The Biblical Examiner

Archive of posts that appeared on the Three Rivers Site

Articles Written by the Liberty1st Group

Letter to the editor #1 (Three Rivers Commercial) by Jim Brooks

Letter to the editor #2 (Three Rivers Commercial) by Jim Brooks

Never Judge a Book by its Cover  by The Cause

Gentle Tyranny by Gretta Schermerhorn

Letter to the editor #3 (Three Rivers Commercial) by Bill Schermerhorn & Jim Brooks

Other Character Training Links

Character Training for Global Citizenship - Kjos Ministries

Freedom of Religion

Because religious belief, or non-belief, is such an important part of every person's life, freedom of religion affects every individual. Religious institutions that use government power in support of themselves and force their views on persons of other faiths, or of no faith, undermine all our civil rights. Moreover, state support of an established religion tends to make the clergy unresponsive to their own people, and leads to corruption within religion itself. Erecting the "wall of separation between church and state," therefore, is absolutely essential in a free society. - Thomas Jefferson

Our Mission Statement

We, a group of citizens in Three Rivers, Michigan formed Liberty1st to oppose government sanctioned character training, specifically the Character First program. We believe that the Character First program is based solely on the teachings of a religious and very controversial organization known as the Institute of Basic Life Principles. We believe that local government involvement with this program is in direct violation of our first amendment rights, specifically the separation of church and state. We are calling for the city's immediate withdrawal from the Character First program and removal of the Character City label that has been placed on the city of Three Rivers. - Liberty 1st