@jym626, I agree, and especially with young children who have this inflicted upon them, who cannot understand the ramifications, and don’t have a “normal” frame of reference with which to compare, can completely screw them up, imo.
Someone earlier suggested the show could continue and address this as a way of educating the general public. I find that notion horrifying, as the victims here deserve to have this handled privately and thoroughly by professionals experienced with this kind of abuse. The responsibility to educate the public should not be theirs, and I think that they would only be victimized another time by that kind of exposure.
The lawyers representing the parties are probably negotiating very hard as we speak to minimize the $$ damage and to make sure their party does not breach first. That’s the reason TLC has not cancelled the show yet, IMO.
I vaguely remember when TLC stood for “The Learning Channel.” It seems to be some kind of freak show. John & Kate, Honey Boo Boo, Dance Moms, Duggers, and the various little people families seem to be made only to appeal to people’s voyeuristic obsessions. Truly trash television.
I’m glad many members here have raised the alarm for the young girls involved. Nowhere else have I seen any concern or plan to help them through the fall out of the abuse. Apparently no concern from the parents. TLC must have vetted these people before signing them for a show so they knew.
The dad (Jim Bob?) had a best friend who was a state trooper. The trooper was later convicted of producing child porn. The dad (Jo Bob?) requires the females in the family to curl their hair because it pleases him. He married his wife when she was a teen. It sounds as if there is institutionalized pedophilia in their religious cult similar to Warren Jeffs in Utah.
I think Michelle was about 18 when they married. And the girls have said on broadcasts that the have their hair long because Daddy likes long hair; do we know it’s required by JB or someone just said that?. There are pix of them with straight hair (some seem to be naturally curly.) What they have said, is that marriage is a solution to the risk of wanton lust, as young men grow up. Jessa married at 22 and Jill at 23. Fwiw (and it may not be much,) this quote:
“The Duggars write in their second book, A Love That Multiplies: ‘Even though Wikipedia and some Internet blogs report that we are part of a QuiverFull movement, we are not. We are simply Bible-believing Christians who desire to follow God’s Word and apply it to our lives’ (page 92).”
Not defending them. It’s just that some of the links are repeating bits from other sites and it’s morphing and hard to get a handle on some aspects.
Well, I’ve not seen him described in the media as his best friend, but he was a friend, who was yes, later convicted on child porn charges.
Someone way up thread made a reference to blanket training, but I didn’t have time to look it up. I have now, and in my opinion, it’s child abuse. I honestly can’t believe that our country allows parents to spank their babies so that they’ll learn to stay on a blanket when they start rolling and crawling around. I think even those who believe in spanking their toddlers/preschoolers/school-aged children will agree that blanket training is child abuse.
It is a blog, like I indicated, about that subculture. While it seems the girls are sporting their straight hair more often now, an overwhelming majority of [the pictures of the girls](https://www.google.com/search?q=duggar+girls&tbm=isch) depicts them with curled hair. I was mainly responding to comments #305 and #306 re: Gothard.
Emeraldkity, talk about blaming the victim. I cannot comprehend that there are actually people who believe that changing a baby girl’s diaper, or giving her a bath, constitutes a temptation that might cause a teenage boy to become a pedophile, and should be avoided. Example: "It was not uncommon for my younger siblings to come out of their baths naked or with a towel.” The horror!
And I find it rather disturbing that the case talked about in these “materials” is of a boy molesting his younger sisters. It can’t be about the Duggars, because it apparently dates back to the 1990s, but I can’t help wondering if this is a common problem in these “modesty”-obsessed families.
1 Corinthians 11:14-15 reads: “Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is dishonor to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is glory to her?”
^^^ It doesn’t say anything about curled hair or straight. That is nonsense if that’s what they believe. What I don’t like about these representations of Christians is that it makes people think they are hypocritical loonies with crazy lives, when that is not what Christianity is supposed to be.
The Bible also says stuff about not shaving… and yet they seem mighty clean shaven.
But, like most hypocrites (and again, before anyone gets their panties in a bunch notice I said HYPOCRITES and not Christians), they pick and choose which “rules” apply to them (and others).
^ I agree. One of the problems people have is that they don’t understand what parts of the Bible do and do not apply to them. I wouldn’t say that I try to live under every sentence of the Bible because it’s not all written to me. But that’s getting too philosophical, so I’ll quit.
It’s a shame the all mighty dollar rules the day. The Duggars are a cash cow for TLC. I guess the show won’t be cancelled until advertisers feel the heat. I’m not sure that will happen in this case.