Wait, now the whole clan was molested? I missed that. And last I checked, Amy was normal. If you haven’t watched, you wouldn’t see. Plus they didn’t ostracize her, did they? She went on trips with them, etc. Black sheep? I thought she was simply counterpoint.
Ok, crossposted. But all this is getting weirder and weirder.
And clearly some of their original presentation has changed. SNF if she’s now doing some I’d the same talk (re Jesus,)what says she’d harbor one of the girls?
@Madison85 I did not know that about Michelle’s sister. I have never watched the show- how do they handle that situation? Does Michelle talk about her sister not getting in to heaven? Are they estranged?
I didn’t know anything about this extended family! I become more intrigued by the second.
(Not enough to actually watch the show, but I am actually gaining hope that there might be an out for those who want it in the family.)
I don’t expect any real out for the older girls. I think that may be us, wishfully expressing our own values. The first two had their chance to delay pregnancy and didn’t.
I remember some of Michelle’s sisters once visited. They’re much older, live out of Arkansas, and supposedly the D’s do visit them once in a while.
Where are both sets of grandparents in all of this? For such a close “family” you don’t hear much about them.
@HarvestMoon1 - one of the grandmas lives with them. I think it’s Jim Bob’s mom. You rarely see her on camera, though. I think she is expected to hold down the fort when Jim Bob and Michelle travel.
They were close enough to his family, but his father died, then the mother moved in. Both of Michelle’s parents passed. I don’t know why I know all this, since I only catch it if it’s on as background noise.
I’m thinking many of the early impressions of them were misleading, to make them acceptable- I know that’s now a vast understatement.
I guess what really makes me sad, and mad at this point is how close the TLC production crew has gotten to this family. I can only speculate two things that might have happened: 1) either the crew honestly knew nothing, and has been totally naive up until this point or 2) they knew/suspected and didn’t say anything.
Just last week they aired an episode where they let the Duggars be the crew, and the crew was filmed and interviewed. I do believe the production crew has gotten enormously close to this family. On one of the trips to China I think, one of the producers traveled with them when she was over eight months pregnant, and ended up going into labor and having the baby in China. Of course, the two daughters who are midwife apprentices were there to help her, and you can tell she was so grateful for having familiar faces with her in a country where she had no idea what health care might be like (yea, she probably shouldn’t have traveled at that point in her pregnancy). But they filmed that labor and delivery, too, and showed parts of it last week.
I believe it is also the sound guy who has gotten very attached to this family. All the TLC production crew that they interviewed talked about how they consider the Duggars family now. So it makes me mad that they are now likely either 1) grieving the deception played on them or 2) were in on it and did nothing. I’d like to err on the side of the crew being naive, but how can you witness all this stuff (i.e., blanket training) and agree to continue being a part of it?
@teriwtt are you referring to the alleged abuse or just their life style in general? I was under the impression that the abuse took place years before any of the filming commenced.
My OB/GYN said it was only safe to travel in the 2nd trimester–not before and definitely NOT after. He was pretty emphatic and I was fine with listening.
Blanket training sounds like abuse. The TLC crew sounds like they need to step away from this family and cut their losses. What is really upsetting is the victims–so the boy “repented” and all is fine with him and his folks, but what about the VICTIMS?
Personally, I have never watched an episode and never will.
@HarvestMoon1 - I think both, and perhaps I wasn’t clear. People have wondered whether or not TLC knew of the reports before they started filming. I’d like to think they didn’t, but it’s not clear yet. If they didn’t, then I can understand how the crew might, in the beginning, get caught up in their lives and become closer. But as time passed and they spent more and more time with them, and had to have witnessed some of this stuff, how could they remain on this crew? I’m guessing the Duggars were probably nothing but kind to the crew, but even so, if I were in that environment and saw the parenting patterns you know the crew had to have started seeing, how could you in good conscience continue to contribute to this production? I have to think they really had the wool pulled over their eyes.
So, I’m not saying the crew was there filming during the abuse, but some have suggested, because of the non-aired Oprah episode, that word was out way back before they started the show and people at TLC knew. Even if they didn’t, after spending so many years there, how could they not start to question how some of this was just plain abuse? Those cameras were around a lot of time.
Referring to the talk about courtship a few pages back, from what I’ve heard in the few churchy Christian circles I’ve been in briefly, courting is different in dating in that a) there is more of an emphasis on the marriage possibility then is necessarily in some dating (not all, mind you) and b) most of the time is spent with others doing group events, not one-on-one. As for a, yippee if that’s what you’re aiming for. As for b, that may or may not be a good thing - if physical boundaries become an issue, it can be better to have a 3rd or 4th party around, but on the other hand, shouldn’t you really have time to be alone with someone you’re thinking to marry in order to get to really know him/her? The courting stuff sounds nice (and especially righteous) [-O< but there could obviously be some issues with it, just like there can be with dating. There’s no exact formula for getting to know someone before marrying them, so claiming that courtship is “God’s only approved manner” or something of that nature would be stupid, IMHO.
Re: an earlier discussion about the kissing before marriage thing. My fiance’s girlfriend before me wanted to wait until their wedding day to kiss. They were allowed to hang out, hold hands, etc but she decided no kissing until marriage. That was pretty much the end of their relationship. No sex until marriage was fine, but he’s not all that religious and that was too out there for him.
Second, as someone who is getting married in a week and a half and going through the stress (and trust me- I’ve had a very stress-free wedding process) associated with that, I cannot imagine what it would be like to have the added stress of your first kiss in front of your closest family and friends. That’s such a private moment because it can be SO awkward.
I also can’t imagine not really getting to know someone before committing to spend the next 60+ years with them. I just can’t imagine that a “god” who supposedly values marriage so much would want partners going in nearly blind. That’s just me though. (Typical disclaimer that I feel the need to put on all my posts on this thread now… I am referring to their twisted interpretation of “religion” and not any religion in general.)
Aww, that poor little Josh should have to relive his “nightmare.” Wouldn’t want to hurt his feelings, after all HE’S been through SO much. I mean never mind the girls, let’s not upset Josh.
Pardon me, but who is she to claim to know what’s in the mind of God? Seems a mite presumptive to me. And God is not responsible for making EVERY action and occurrence in this world. He CAN make anything happen and can PREVENT anything from happening that he wills, but he also allows the evil power to exist and function (aka Satan.) Christians do not live in a bubble that cannot be punctured by evil in the material sense, especially since we are all sinners at heart. I’m not so sure that the Duggars tv show would be in great favor to God - they are certainly misrepresenting His teachings to millions of people in more than one way, at least in my opinion. But could Satan gain from it? People could view Christians (or at least this particular brand of Christians) as weekly nutcases prior to this news about Josh and child molesters and DEFENDERS of child molesters with airy religious pronouncements, the last of which is probably worst offense of all. Does the visibility of the Duggars help Christianity in general or hurt it? I would have to say it can only hurt it. Airing somebody simply reading the Bible would be more useful, though no doubt the followership would be far less because it wouldn’t be such a freak show like the Duggars are.
I think it’s Josiah who is 17 and is “courting” someone. I realized that without marriage, these people will never be able to release their sexual tension. No wonder they want to get married at the earliest possible time.
From this blanket training (and how horrific is that!) through being under such extreme parental control, it almost sounds like the Duggar children have a touch of Stockholm Syndrome.
I believe to NOBODY who is anyhow connected to entertainment of government, NONE are credible in my eyes. We simply do not know what happened or not. Everybody is making the living, and this is the only fact that I fully trust and absolutely NOTHING else.
The worst aspect of this story, of course, is that young girls were molested by a family member, and that his acts were covered up. But I’m also appalled by the disciplinary methods these parents have chosen. Until this thread, I had no idea there was such a thing as blanket training. I can’t imagine the thought process that leads to a parent saying “That sounds like a good idea.”
JimBob’s father’s illness and death were included on the show. Grandma Duggar is a regular, though rarely featured character. Michelle’s family is less shown. I recall a travel episode where they made a stop for a family reunion on her side, maybe to Ohio?
For those of you who never have seen the show, there is virtually no mention of anything political. There is no discussion of anything related to LGBT, abortion, elections. Michelle may make robocalls in real life but TLC clearly knows that would not play well on the show. The Duggars draw in a mixed crowd. The would never get the ratings they have if they had to rely on just their own kind watching. I’ve been a pretty regular viewer and I’m quite liberal and do not in any way share their religious perspective. I feel for the girls having this made public, it must feel like being victimized again.
Electronblue, yes, we can all be outraged, but the girls have to be so sorry that this came out. People want to know which sisters, just 'cause.