Duggar Family

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not_nadine

Comfortably Roont
Nov 19, 2011
29,655
139,785
Behind you
These particular people are nutter butter, but please don't confuse the people with their religion. Although I don't and wouldn't practice as they do, I've known some very kind, sincere, decent people who have beliefs similar to the Duggars. We can't talk science (or I start pulling my hair out--lol), but the people that I've known that are similar just want to raise decent human beings in a tough old world. I'm trying to do the same, so we have a point of comparability, KWIM? I can respect strong belief even if I don't agree, as long as the person isn't insisting that because they've found their magic bullet to heaven that everyone else is wrong or must follow the prescriptions of the first person's faith.

I admire your restraint in posting in the recent threads here. I agree with all that you have stated, except for KWIM because I don't know what that means. :)
 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
It just goes to prove it's not wrong until you get caught, no matter who or how you worship. I've seen that proven time and time again for the better part of two decades Skimom. It really doesn't matter what religion they are, being religious doesn't make them immune to doing bad deeds any more than not being religious does. I've seen guys/girls that scalded their kids under hot water or broke their kid's arm or leg for not cleaning up their rooms loudly claim they were Christians who were just having a bad day that day. Course, that may just be a jaded old law enforcement point of view..lol
Totally agree with you there. What someone claims to be definitely doesn't mean they are what they claim. I hope it didn't look like I was defending anyone who hurts kids--my "no death penalty' stance is sorely tested there. If it was my kid, I'd likely be in prison right alongside the person who hurt them (if they made it to prison). Child sexual abuse is a prison the kid rarely gets out of, and never unscathed.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
sperminator.jpg
 

Dana Jean

Dirty Pirate Hooker, The Return
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
53,634
236,697
The High Seas
Wait. Am I reading 8 correctly. If you had to choose, no physical abuse or mighty in Spirit? It's almost saying go get abused so you can have a mighty spirit.

Yikes. This whole family is bizarre. I hope they are being investigated further.
 

bobledrew

Inveterate yammerer
May 13, 2010
2,782
1,924
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Not surprisingly given that I'm an atheist, but at some point if your religious beliefs believe that SIN is EVERYWHERE, that it's a heroic struggle just to keep from sinnin' all over the place, that men are beasts only capable of resisting their animal lusts with divine help, that subjugating half of the population to a subordinate position is okay, and suggesting that it's difficult for men to not be aroused by things like changing girls' diapers, so never mind if there's a little hanky panky... don't you at some point ask if your religion isn't the problem?

I'm reminded of that great line from Justified: "If you run into an ******* in the morning, you ran into an *******. If you run into *******s all day, you're the *******."
 

Lily Sawyer

B-ReadAndWed
Jun 27, 2009
6,625
15,016
South Carolina
I have a problem with the social irresponsibility of having 19 kids. A twentieth isn't cool, it's pathetic. I can't find a lot to admire about a family that has that many kids for over-population reasons, and I pity all the children. They don't know what it means to have quality one-on-one time with either of their parents.
 

hipmamajen

Rebel Rebel, your face is a mess.
Apr 4, 2008
4,650
6,090
Colorado

This is not what these verses mean, and the examples given aren't appropriate or responsible correlations for the aftermath of sexual abuse. This document seems to have been created not to foster any kind of Biblical understanding of the topic at hand, but to silence victims.

If there were a corrupt person who tried to write his own ticket to have access to abuse people in any Bible-believing group, he couldn't have done much better than this.

It makes my stomach hurt to read this....
 

Lepplady

Chillin' since 2006
Nov 30, 2006
12,498
65,639
Red Stick
Ok everyone, back up. I'm gonna rant and I don't want to get any of it on you...

I've homeschooled my kids my kids since the late 90s, when the internet was young and there weren't a lot of websites out there for people keeping their kids home. So, even though I'm not a fundamental Christian, I have a lot of friends in the community and I've traveled the same "news circles" as it were.

Because of this, I've been aware of the Duggar family and the Quiverful Movement since she was on kid 15 or so. For anyone not aware, members of the Quiverful Movement believe that all children are a blessing and families should take no measures to prevent them. That sounds a little crazy in today's world, but other faiths have the same belief, so it's not like they're alone in that idea.

They also believe in chaste courtship (no kissing until after marriage) and extremely modest dress, and other ideas that in and of themselves have worked at different times or in other places, and may even work well for some people now, but they are certainly not the norm. It's nothing most people would choose, but it would be hard to find something you could point to and say "This practice is objectively abusive, by anyone's standards." For example, they don't practice female circumcision, or marry underage girls off by the handful to creepy old men, or sacrifice children to volcanoes to appease the gods of the harvest.

If you think of them sort of like Amish people with technology and no Rumspringa, you might be getting close. Or Catholics with really, really strict parents, but Post-Vatican II enough to eat meat on Fridays and during Lent. I may just be making this worse....

From their perspective, they are using Biblical principles to raise their children in a world that's ever more out of balance and scary. They avoid most media, because in their minds it is just a way to invite filth into their home, and they instead focus on ideas and materials they consider uplifting and morally correct. Their hope is to raise a generation of righteous leaders who will bring more faith and goodness into the world.

***Please note: I am explaining this the best I can from my interactions with people who hold these beliefs, and I hope I am doing so correctly. If anyone knows more about this than I do, please feel free to fill in gaps or fix any mistakes I've made.***

Personally, I have no beef with another person's religious beliefs. I've been in the homeschooling movement long enough to be concerned for kids from families that "protect them from the evil world" by keeping them unaware of what's out there, because I've seen it go bad enough times to know where that road leads. (But that's a post for another day.)

But I do have an issue with the Duggars, and I've often wondered when the kids grew up and moved away, how long it would take for the "tell-all" books to start hitting the market. Not because they're religious, or because there are a lot of them, but because they are so invested in appearing to be a uniform and perfect product.

19 kids, their names all start with "J." Sweet mother of Abraham Lincoln! And when you see them the girls are all in matching dresses, the boys in matching shirts and pants. Perfectly ironed and unsullied from their hair bows to their toes. If anyone asks, each kid says everything is great, and they never show a messy room or one kid smacking another upside the head with a bowl of Cheerios.

This is not how normal families behave.

Every child is different. And there is no way you can birth 19 kids in a row who will be compliant at the levels those kids appeared to be every time we saw them. There was some serious "discipline" going on in that house. I don't think we've heard the last of the scandals from the Duggar Tribe, not by far.

I give the dad credit for trying to tell somebody what happened when he found out. But then he dropped the ball. Hard. God forbid he take any action, like bring the girls to see a therapist, or keeping the son in some kind of ongoing program. When the first time someone tries to get help for your molested daughters, it's freaking OPRAH, you're a screw up. Plain and simple.

I suspect they didn't want the world to find out that their stair step, matchy matchy, reality show family wasn't perfect, when that's what they were trying to sell us all the whole time. "Sure you think we're crazy, but you'll see. When our kids all turn out perfect, everyone will have to admit we've been right!"

And I'm sure they didn't want to see it, either. No parent does. But that's how parenting is, you keep your eyes open and do your best to help guide your kids, even if that means you have to swim right up "I'm a sh!t parent" creek when the world is watching.

I don't care what they believe. I don't care if they keep having kids until the last one comes out wearing her uterus for a hat. But I do have problems when they care more about what we (the public) think about their family than they do about what their kids need.

Rant over.
Very well said. This Stepford family gives me the creeps. Especially knowing that there are skeletons in the closet. A whole herd of 'em. I'm sure we haven't seen the last of what's been going on. There's a lot more to the story.
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Not to make light of the whole subject, but I coincidentally ran across this picture:

funny_picture_off_insect_repellent.jpg

I haven't been following the story - it's a shame that this happened, especially for the girl who was the victim.
I hope she gets some therapy or counseling as a result of it all.