“The Duggars: Abuse and Conservative Religion”

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Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar; Josh Duggar (inset)

The article I’m going to post is about half a year old, and was written following the sexual abuse scandal involving Josh Duggar (the Duggar’s oldest son) of the reality show 19 Kids and Counting.   I haven’t watched all the episodes, but I firmly believe that sexual abuse as well as malignant narcissism is a huge problem in the Duggar family.   Josh is probably not the first abuser.  His parents, Michelle and Jim Bob, are both very controlling and both use their ultra-conservative religion to control and shame, and isolate their kids from learning anything on their own.   The fame and fortune from their reality show no doubt provides a ton of narcissistic supply to both Michelle and Jim Bob.  I see many of their kids as scapegoats and flying monkeys.   Josh seemed like he was a Golden Child.

I’m posting this article now because it’s still relevant. Sexual abuse is not going away anytime soon and has been with us probably as long as human beings have been around.  What do you think of the Duggars?  Do you think Jim Bob and Michelle genuinely love their children, or are their children just props in the narrative of moral and religious “perfection” they’re selling to the world?  Will any of them ever dare to break free of the prison of their huge, dysfunctional family and its narcissistic rulers?

The Duggars: Abuse and Conservative Religion

Posted on June 18, 2015 by Lou (Loukavar.com)

Until a few weeks ago, I had no idea who the Duggar family was. To my surprise, it appears that many people in North America have been following this conservative Christian family. Further, the Duggar’s seem to be very influenctial among various Evangelical Christian lobbying groups. It seems that they have become a sensation because of their reality TV show, 19 Kids and Counting. Even as I read some things about the family in the news in recent weeks, it seemed to me that the Duggar’s were faux celebrities much like the Kardashian’s and Paris Hilton: they never really did anything but yet they seem to be famous.

I received an email from one of my colleagues, a psychologist in another part of the country, who asked what I thought of the Duggar’s and the current sexual abuse scandal. It was her question that prompted me to learn more about the family. While I have clearly never met the Duggar’s nor have I watched their TV show, what I found in the press seemed to fit the pattern of domestic abuse.

Read the rest of Lou’s article here.

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20 thoughts on ““The Duggars: Abuse and Conservative Religion””

  1. The parents are freaks and they were irresponsible for bringing that many kids into the world considering how overcrowded we are in the world and we are overextended in our global resources.

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  2. I believe they love their kids. I believe they love their God. They screwed up majorly – I do NOT believe they deserve to be in the public eye like some model family, but then I never did.

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    • They are public figures, so they are fair game for criticism. My opinion’s just an opinion though. They definitely screwed up. I don’t think having a reality show really did their kids any favors.

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  3. Your questions at the end of your own commentary made me think of soap operas back in the day when they were on the radio and an announcer would come on at the end of them and ask questions like the ones you wrote.

    As for the Duggar’s I don’t know if they love their kids. But it doesn’t seem like healthy parental love to me from the little I know. In the past I’ve caught mere moments of their show while channel surfing. Now I don’t even watch TV. But when I heard about this story, I thought and still think Josh’s behavior is a symptom of something much much deeper. That sort of thing doesn’t go on with emotionally healthy people.

    He was also still a kid himself when he did it. It seems like a witch hunt concerning him and it seems like people forget his age. I’m not saying that his behavior was ok or that the girls should not have been protected though. Of course they should’ve been. But I think much of the responsibility lies with the parents.

    I also understand from reading about them, that the parents pawn the little kids off on the older kids, while she continually pops out more babies. There’s something sick about turning your older kids into parents of their own siblings.

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  5. Media setup, is what it sounds like. TV has never been Christ-friendly, and never will be. Same goes with those country songs which drop the Name of Christ, when in reality, the musicians and producers are light years from Him.

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  6. I don’t watch tv but I have heard about them. Disgusting bunch of people! About the sexual abuse, yep it’s as old as cain and abel! What’s worse is, it’s still happening!

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