The Duggar Family is so Inspirational!!

[Gloria25]

Every family and individual has its faults.

 

I do actually get inspired by the Duggars. I might have even been idealizing them a little bit. But, like everyone else, they're not perfect.

 

Though the family has had to deal with something as major as indicated in the article, they seem to have kept strong in their faith. I do think God has the power to change people, and only God can truly take someone going down a dark and destructive path and turn him from those ways.

 

Oh crap, I'm behind in the "news" I guess....

 

Eh, and that's why I stick to a steady diet of cartoons, ID, and Law and Order...

[whichwayisup]

Pretty much most reality shows on TLC hit the skids. Either by divorce ( Jon and Kate plus 8, Little people big world to name a few) or some other scandal like what has come out about this creepy family. Never saw one episode, just read about them.

[writergal]

Eww The Duggar Family is not inspirational but perverted publicity hounds. Christian? Pft. Unless Christians hide their molester-family members from legal prosecution?

 

Jim Bob the dad is a slime ball. He waited more than one year to report his son Josh to police, who confessed to Jim Bob that he had molested 5 of his sisters. This was back in 2002. Supposedly, Josh snuck into his sisters' rooms and fondled them while they were asleep. I mean, what a sicko!

 

Then Jim Bob lied to police who had opened a felony investigation on Josh. Jim Bob told police he and his church had agreed to send Josh to a 3 month Christian treatment program. Total lie. The truth is that Josh went to live with a family friend (retired Arkansas state trooper Joseph Hutchens) who is now behind bars for 56 years for child pornography. That's 5 years for each of the 8 counts of child pornography charges against him. So, 5 x 8 = 56.

 

Since the statute of limitations ran out, Josh Duggar can't be charged with sex crimes against his sisters, or legally labeled as a sex offender (which he is, just like his pal Mr. Hutchens)

 

That whole family is a sick and twisted bunch.

 

I feel bad for the 5 sisters who Josh Duggar molested. Those poor girls.

[Gloria25]

IMO, all those "reality TV stars" are scum...

 

Anyone who would parade their private lives and that of their family on TV for 15 min of fame and a quick buck is scum...

[autumnnight]

What he did was very wrong and very distrubing.

 

But let's get some intelligent perspective. He was 14. Still wrong, but he's not Ted Bundy.

 

And he is ONE member of a family. Not sure how his wrong behavior at 14 makes an entire family bad.

 

Apparently, when it happened, they sent him away to do hard labor, and when he returned they had an officer talk very firmly and frankly with him. They also got him and the daughters counseling. He did not lie about it, even told his fiance.

 

Again, the molestation is VERY bad.

 

However, I think the real reason this has come out and been the "big news" is because of the groups that this family pissed off with their Biblical values.

 

It's funny, we're supposed to just go with it when the leader of our country gets blow jobs from his interns in the oval office. But let a 14 year old boy get handsy and have counseling....and suddenlt all hell breaks loose.

[xxoo]

What he did was very wrong and very distrubing.

 

But let's get some intelligent perspective. He was 14. Still wrong, but he's not Ted Bundy.

 

And he is ONE member of a family. Not sure how his wrong behavior at 14 makes an entire family bad.

 

Apparently, when it happened, they sent him away to do hard labor, and when he returned they had an officer talk very firmly and frankly with him. They also got him and the daughters counseling. He did not lie about it, even told his fiance.

 

I saw that Michelle admitted they did not get him counseling. Did you read something that says the victims got counseling? Counselors are mandatory reporters.

 

The parents hid the crime from the authorities and moved the molester back into the home with his victims. One of the victims is still underage, which means she was aged 5-8 at the time. I feel that knowingly bringing the teen molester back into the home with his victims should be a crime. A counselor would have flagged that for sure.

 

The officer that they chose to take him to, some kind of personal acquaintance who would keep it off the record, has since been convicted of possessing child pornography and is serving 56 years in prison. Something is seriously not right with this picture.

[amaysngrace]

What he did was very wrong and very distrubing.

 

But let's get some intelligent perspective. He was 14. Still wrong, but he's not Ted Bundy.

 

And he is ONE member of a family. Not sure how his wrong behavior at 14 makes an entire family bad.

 

Apparently, when it happened, they sent him away to do hard labor, and when he returned they had an officer talk very firmly and frankly with him. They also got him and the daughters counseling. He did not lie about it, even told his fiance.

 

Again, the molestation is VERY bad.

 

However, I think the real reason this has come out and been the "big news" is because of the groups that this family pissed off with their Biblical values.

 

It's funny, we're supposed to just go with it when the leader of our country gets blow jobs from his interns in the oval office. But let a 14 year old boy get handsy and have counseling....and suddenlt all hell breaks loose.

 

It isn't intelligent to say that molesting your sisters isn't as bad as murdering them or that it's on par with a man getting a blowjob from another consenting adult.

 

It's just an attempt to provide a distraction from discussing the actual topic.

[d0nnivain]

Michelle & Bob are more at fault then Josh What Josh did was wrong but he was still a teen. Children do stupid things. Had the parents acted with more integrity this would be easier to deal with. I think I read that some of the girls he molested were his own sisters.

[d0nnivain]

Unless Christians hide their molester-family members from legal prosecution?

 

The Catholic church hid a lot more than a teenaged boy who touched sleeping teens.

 

What Josh did was wrong but you can't condemn all of Christianity for it any more than every Catholic is responsible for a few pedophile priest.

[autumnnight]

It isn't intelligent to say that molesting your sisters isn't as bad as murdering them or that it's on par with a man getting a blowjob from another consenting adult.

 

It's just an attempt to provide a distraction from discussing the actual topic.

 

If you can show me where I said that, I'll concur.

 

Bottom line, even if he is garbage, that does not mean that the other 20 people in the family are.

 

BTW, I am a victim of molestation. I KNOW hoe damaging it can be.

[autumnnight]

I saw that Michelle admitted they did not get him counseling. Did you read something that says the victims got counseling? Counselors are mandatory reporters.

 

The parents hid the crime from the authorities and moved the molester back into the home with his victims. One of the victims is still underage, which means she was aged 5-8 at the time. I feel that knowingly bringing the teen molester back into the home with his victims should be a crime. A counselor would have flagged that for sure.

 

The officer that they chose to take him to, some kind of personal acquaintance who would keep it off the record, has since been convicted of possessing child pornography and is serving 56 years in prison. Something is seriously not right with this picture.

 

YOu have found info I have not found. This info, if correct, definitely changes things.

 

I want to make it clear that I am not excusing what he did. I am just saying that there are other agendas to villifying the entire family besides just the abuse. And for the record, the faith guru that they follow is, IMO, a legalistic tyrant.

[writergal]

What he did was very wrong and very distrubing.

 

But let's get some intelligent perspective. He was 14. Still wrong, but he's not Ted Bundy.

 

And he is ONE member of a family. Not sure how his wrong behavior at 14 makes an entire family bad.

 

Apparently, when it happened, they sent him away to do hard labor, and when he returned they had an officer talk very firmly and frankly with him. They also got him and the daughters counseling. He did not lie about it, even told his fiance.

 

Again, the molestation is VERY bad.

 

However, I think the real reason this has come out and been the "big news" is because of the groups that this family pissed off with their Biblical values.

 

It's funny, we're supposed to just go with it when the leader of our country gets blow jobs from his interns in the oval office. But let a 14 year old boy get handsy and have counseling....and suddenlt all hell breaks loose.

 

If you can show me where I said that, I'll concur.

 

Bottom line, even if he is garbage, that does not mean that the other 20 people in the family are.

 

BTW, I am a victim of molestation. I KNOW hoe damaging it can be.

 

Michelle and Jim Bob admitted they did not take Josh to that Christian treatment program for 3 months but put him with their retired state trooper friend who is now behind bars for 56 years for child pornography.

 

Michelle and Bob are garbage for letting their pedophile son Josh back into their home (definition of pedophile: a person who is sexually attracted to children).

 

And you contradict yourself when you say that you're a victim of molestation and know how damaging it can be, yet you try to downplay Josh Duggar's actions as not that serious:

 

It's funny, we're supposed to just go with it when the leader of our country gets blow jobs from his interns in the oval office. But let a 14 year old boy get handsy and have counseling....and sudden lt all hell breaks loose.

 

So what are you saying? It's ok for Josh Duggar to sexually molest his sisters? So, his molestation isn't as bad as who molested you? Or what Josh Duggar did isn't as bad as what Clinton and Lewinsky did? They aren't even the same thing by the way: What Clinton and Lewinsky did was consenual. What Josh Duggar did to his 5 sisters (who did NOT receive counseling b/c that would have been reported since counselors are mandated by state law to report it) is not consenual.

 

Bottom line: There is something very wrong with the ENTIRE Duggar family. Don't tell me that none of the other children didn't know about what their brother did. They knew. But they were probably told to keep quiet by their parents Michelle and Jim Bob whose greed for money motivates their actions -- not God, but money. They're all guilty except for the sisters who were victims, as far as I"m concerned. All of them.

[writergal]

YOu have found info I have not found. This info, if correct, definitely changes things.

 

I want to make it clear that I am not excusing what he did. I am just saying that there are other agendas to villifying the entire family besides just the abuse. And for the record, the faith guru that they follow is, IMO, a legalistic tyrant.

 

Other agendas to vilifying a family? What are you on about? What other agendas? That family is sick and twisted for what they covered up and lied about. They are a morally bankrupt group of people.

 

There are no other agendas. What other agendas would people have for bringing the Duggars to justice for what they allowed to happen to 5 of their own daughters by one of their own sons?

[pureinheart]

However, I think the real reason this has come out and been the "big news" is because of the groups that this family pissed off with their Biblical values.

 

 

This is pretty much it IMO... let's nail to the cross the one Christian that does one bad thing so we don't have to deal with ISIS.

[writergal]

Michelle & Bob are more at fault then Josh What Josh did was wrong but he was still a teen. Children do stupid things. Had the parents acted with more integrity this would be easier to deal with. I think I read that some of the girls he molested were his own sisters.

 

You know it really irritates me when people claim that teenagers who molest other children shouldn't be taken seriously. Children do stupid things, yes. But molesting his own sisters is beyond stupid. It's the act of a sexual predator. I'm really shocked that you don't take what Josh Duggar did as serious. Because it is serious. Very serious.

 

The fact that he molested his first victims as a teenager doesn't excuse him from being held accountable by the law. But his parents made sure that didn't happen, by not telling authorities for more than one year and now in 2015 the legal statute of limitations as run out, so Josh Duggar can't be convicted of molesting his sisters.

 

How can you make light of this? I'm really surprised that you would. Doesn't matter what age a child molester is. Children who molest other children have something psychologically wrong with them.

 

The Catholic church hid a lot more than a teenaged boy who touched sleeping teens.

 

What Josh did was wrong but you can't condemn all of Christianity for it any more than every Catholic is responsible for a few pedophile priest.

 

I don't have to condemn the Catholic Church. It's doing that for me based on how many sexual predatory priests it protects, and how it lets those priests continue to molest parishioners' children with no consequences until those children's parents or the children as adults, sue the priest who molested them.

 

Pretty much every priest is a child molester that the Church has gone to great lengths to cover up. Just like how far Michelle and Jim Bob went to cover up their own son Josh's sexual predatory behavior on their own children.

 

What the Duggars should have done is reported Josh to the police, had him arrested and put in jail because when you molest a child you are a sexual predator. You cant argue with me on that because that is a fact.

[xxoo]

This is pretty much it IMO... let's nail to the cross the one Christian that does one bad thing so we don't have to deal with ISIS.

 

It seems obvious to me that we should deal seriously with both ISIS and families/organizations that cover up for child molesters.

[xxoo]

The Duggars were more concerned with protecting Josh than protecting their daughters. They protected the predator over the victims. Plus, they continued to have more children, putting additional kids are risk with a known sexual predator in the home.

 

Their connection with Joseph T. Hutchens is extremely disturbing, and raises the question about how deep this cover up actually goes. Is it really a coincidence that the trooper the church leaders chose to talk to Josh, knowing he would keep it quiet for them, was arrested later that same year on child pornography charges? How did they know that trooper would fail to report? What else did they know about him? What other "favors" had that trooper done for the church leaders?

[d0nnivain]

When an adult molests a child the adult is a sexual predator. When two underage kids touch each other that is not an act of a predator. The fact that Josh touched his sleeping sisters as a teen makes him a bit twisted but I can't help but wonder how much his parents' do as I say, not as I did attitude colors this. Remember the parents both went to public schools and were not raised as strictly as they raise their own children. They kissed before marriage. They joke that Michelle used to wear bikinis to mow the law.

 

Jim Bob is a well known real estate broker in the area and served several terms in the Arkansas state legislature. Their decision to shield Josh was somewhat understandable: Shame, guilt, the desire to protect their child all play into this. Nevertheless the better thing for them to have done would have been to have come clean.

 

Without more facts, I have a hard time labeling him as a predator as opposed to a horny teenaged boy who was living in a repressed household. If at 15 he fondled his date's boobs or even had "consensual" sex with her, nobody would be screaming.

 

When dealing with teens and crime, I am a firm believer that for 1st time offenders, when the crime is not murder, rehabilitation not punishment and retribution ought to be the starting point.

 

As somebody else pointed out I find the actions of the former President from Arkansas more reprehensible then I do the shortcomings of teenager. The President previously graduated from law school when he manipulated his power & position to seduce an intern. Josh was a teenager.

 

Maybe it's the water in Arkansas?

[Mr Scorpio]

However, I think the real reason this has come out and been the "big news" is because of the groups that this family pissed off with their Biblical values.

 

The family has/had their own television show. That makes them celebrities. The American media foams at the mouth over anything to do with celebrities. Why? Because reporting about celebrities makes money. Ergo, this has become "big news" because it will make money.

 

Beyond that? Yeah, there is the stink of hypocrisy. Not every Christian brow-beats their fellow man with moral condemnation. Some do. It just happens that this skeevy perv was one such individual.

 

Of course, there is also the "liberal homosexual mafia that controls the media is out to shame Christians" angle. Really no different than some people getting up in arms because Al Gore owns 343 houses while decrying the harms of global warming. Hypocrisy is everywhere.

 

Finally, perhaps we should temper attributing "biblical values" to this family, at least where this particular incident is concerned?

[xxoo]

Mutually touching between teens is normal.

 

Non-consensual touch of younger siblings (down to pre-pubescent), is not normal, and is predatory.

[writergal]

You're wrong d0nnivain about Josh Duggar. He snuck into his sisters' rooms and fondled them while they were ASLEEP. He also fondled them while they were awake. It was not consensual with his sisters. So he IS a pedophile. Josh Dugar IS a sexual predator. A bit twisted? Not even close. Why are you trying to defend him? I mean, really?!

 

So, it's because the parents went to public schools and weren't raised strictly, and kissed before marriage...those are the reasons you're saying is why their son Josh Duggar is a child molester? Ok, wow. Yeah that's why. So, every parent who sends their children to public schools, who kiss before marriage, who weren't raised in strict homes are all raising child molesters? Is that the argument that you're making? Really?

 

I assume you meant that Josh Duggar is a horny teenager in your post? A horny teenager who lives in a repressed, religious household does not molest his sisters unless there is something seriously psychologically wrong with him.

 

Why are you denying that fact? And what facts do you need to justify Josh Duggar as a sexual predator? He molested his own sisters and he LIED about it and his parents and his siblings all LIED about it. If Josh Duggar was just a horny teenager he would masturbate to Playboy like other normal teenage boys do; not molest his sisters while they were asleep and then again while they were awake, against their consent.

 

And excuse me, but if he was on a date with a girl and fondled her boobs or had consensual sex with her that again is completely different than sneaking into his sisters' rooms and fondling them while they were asleep, and again while they were awake, especially the sister who was under 5 years old. I think you are trying to compare apples and oranges here; two teens on a consensual date vs. a teen boy who molests his sister as young as 5 and his other sisters who were younger than him, against their will.

 

Sexual molestation is just as bad as murder. The Duggars should have put their son Josh in juvenile detention or jail when he was 14 and had him labeled as a sexual predator because in my strong opinion that's what he is. The fact that Josh Duggar can go on and get married and pretend he didn't molest his own sisters shows me that he is a sociopath in a way. No one who molests another human being is someone who can ever be trusted. Normal people don't fondle their own siblings while their siblings are asleep!

 

When an adult molests a child the adult is a sexual predator. When two underage kids touch each other that is not an act of a predator. The fact that Josh touched his sleeping sisters as a teen makes him a bit twisted but I can't help but wonder how much his parents' do as I say, not as I did attitude colors this. Remember the parents both went to public schools and were not raised as strictly as they raise their own children. They kissed before marriage. They joke that Michelle used to wear bikinis to mow the law.

 

Jim Bob is a well known real estate broker in the area and served several terms in the Arkansas state legislature. Their decision to shield Josh was somewhat understandable: Shame, guilt, the desire to protect their child all play into this. Nevertheless the better thing for them to have done would have been to have come clean.

 

Without more facts, I have a hard time labeling him as a predator as opposed to a horny teenaged boy who was living in a repressed household. If at 15 he fondled his date's boobs or even had "consensual" sex with her, nobody would be screaming.

 

When dealing with teens and crime, I am a firm believer that for 1st time offenders, when the crime is not murder, rehabilitation not punishment and retribution ought to be the starting point.

 

As somebody else pointed out I find the actions of the former President from Arkansas more reprehensible then I do the shortcomings of teenager. The President previously graduated from law school when he manipulated his power & position to seduce an intern. Josh was a teenager.

 

Maybe it's the water in Arkansas?

[Tayla]

Writergal , the definition needs qualified. pedophiles are "adults" that carry this convoluted desire. Josh was Not an adult. The act is none the less the act of violating a non consenting minor. Otherwise your definition alone would qualify alot of teens who date.. or have moments with other teens in their age range as being pedophiles.

 

I had to step back and see each side, parents who Did actively work towards acknowledging and getting their son help, outside the publics eye. It wasn't to hide this, it was to handle it with discretion for all involved. We are getting tidbits of media hyped information without full disclosure. Because of that I remain neutral that the parents were negligent.

 

I am a sinner and work diligently to strive to do what my faith deems, and there are epic moments in which I have had stones cast my way for such deeds. Its demeaning, yet thru it and in the end, its between the God of my understanding and my deep desire to be forgiven. We can accept that this child ( teen) acted in sin and learn that he came clean...

For some of us who did have child molestation ( aka rape) ... we would have welcomed our parents acknowledging it and working towards change and healing. Some families stay in denial... for a lifetime.

 

The duggars are not any less human for this

[writergal]

The age a person can become a legitimately labeled pedophile is 16 years of age. So, although Josh Duggar missed that by 2 years, his actions of becoming sexually aroused when he fondled his 5 sisters in their sleep and again while they were awake, non-consensual touch, still makes him, in my belief, a pedophile, a sexual predator.

 

So we can argue labels all day long but the fact remains is that child on child sex abuse (which is what this is with Josh Duggar and his sisters), is a real thing.

 

According to the National Incident Based Reporting System, these are the characteristics of juvenile sex offenders:

 

◆ Juveniles account for more than one-third

(35.6 percent) of those known to police to have committed sex offenses

against minors.

 

◆ Juveniles who commit sex offenses against other children are more likely than adult sex offenders to offend in groups and at schools and to have

more male victims and younger victims.

 

◆ The number of youth coming to the attention of police for sex offenses increases sharply at age 12 and plateaus after age 14. Early adolescence is the peak age for offenses against younger children. Offenses against teenagers surge during mid to late adolescence, while offenses against victims under age 12 decline.

 

◆ A small number of juvenile offenders—1 out of 8—are younger than age 12.

 

Handle with discretion? How can you justify that for the way the Duggars handled this? The media isn't hyping anything. They media has published police reports, and other documents that destroy any doubt about the facts in this case.

 

Negligent? Michelle and Jim Bob were more than negligent. They were enablers. They enabled Josh to come back into their home after he lived with that child pornographer retired sheriff. As as result, they enabled Josh to have access to his victims again.

 

The Duggar parents were active participants in Josh' offending because they didn't report his crime to the police -- they lied about it for over a year when police came to first investigate.

 

The Duggars hid behind the Church and just let Josh hang out with a non-convinced child pornographer for a few months, then let him come back home without any legal involvement. Doesn't anyone else question Michelle and Jim Bob's decision making process in that case? What else is being covered up about the Duggars and their social connections with convicted child pornographers? Those people are as dirty as the next criminal for the way they have handled their son's sexual abuse against his own sisters.

 

That's beyond negligent. That's morally wrong. The Duggars should be held accountable for their actions. They are not above the law because they are on reality tv (or were, now that their series has been pulled off the air waves), or because of their religious beliefs.

 

 

Writergal , the definition needs qualified. pedophiles are "adults" that carry this convoluted desire. Josh was Not an adult. The act is none the less the act of violating a non consenting minor. Otherwise your definition alone would qualify alot of teens who date.. or have moments with other teens in their age range as being pedophiles.

 

I had to step back and see each side, parents who Did actively work towards acknowledging and getting their son help, outside the publics eye. It wasn't to hide this, it was to handle it with discretion for all involved. We are getting tidbits of media hyped information without full disclosure. Because of that I remain neutral that the parents were negligent.

 

I am a sinner and work diligently to strive to do what my faith deems, and there are epic moments in which I have had stones cast my way for such deeds. Its demeaning, yet thru it and in the end, its between the God of my understanding and my deep desire to be forgiven. We can accept that this child ( teen) acted in sin and learn that he came clean...

For some of us who did have child molestation ( aka rape) ... we would have welcomed our parents acknowledging it and working towards change and healing. Some families stay in denial... for a lifetime.

 

The duggars are not any less human for this

[Tayla]

The age a person can become a legitimately labeled pedophile is 16 years of age. So, although Josh Duggar missed that by 2 years, his actions of becoming sexually aroused when he fondled his 5 sisters in their sleep and again while they were awake, non-consensual touch, still makes him, in my belief, a pedophile, a sexual predator.

 

So we can argue labels all day long but the fact remains is that child on child sex abuse (which is what this is with Josh Duggar and his sisters), is a real thing.

 

 

 

Handle with discretion? How can you justify that for the way the Duggars handled this? The media isn't hyping anything. They media has published police reports, and other documents that destroy any doubt about the facts in this case.

 

Negligent? Michelle and Jim Bob were more than negligent. They were enablers. They enabled Josh to come back into their home after he lived with that child pornographer retired sheriff. As as result, they enabled Josh to have access to his victims again.

 

The Duggar parents were active participants in Josh' offending because they didn't report his crime to the police -- they lied about it for over a year when police came to first investigate.

 

The Duggars hid behind the Church and just let Josh hang out with a non-convinced child pornographer for a few months, then let him come back home without any legal involvement. Doesn't anyone else question Michelle and Jim Bob's decision making process in that case? What else is being covered up about the Duggars and their social connections with convicted child pornographers? Those people are as dirty as the next criminal for the way they have handled their son's sexual abuse against his own sisters.

 

That's beyond negligent. That's morally wrong. The Duggars should be held accountable for their actions. They are not above the law because they are on reality tv (or were, now that their series has been pulled off the air waves), or because of their religious beliefs.

 

As much as i respect your passion for speaking out on this deplorable act ... I respectfully disagree with the notion that my view is justifying and not open to consideration. Seems when someone states a fact that brings more light to the matter, you refuse to acknowledge that side. Which is equally important when considering all sides.

We agree to disagree here. Yes Discretion sometimes can be a healthy avenue , it allows the family to heal without the jury of public opinion having to thwart such. I remain open to further facts that may or may not change this stance.

 

The parents took action ( therefore negligence cannot be grounds),it might not have been the way you would have handled , yet its their family. Are you alleging that the parents willfully knew and orchestrated that their son stay with a pedophile or did they perhaps consider this other adult a neutral party with them not having knowledge of his private behaviors? I"m a bit hazy on understanding that part.., so any clarification would be welcomed...

[xxoo]

 

The parents took action ( therefore negligence cannot be grounds),it might not have been the way you would have handled , yet its their family. Are you alleging that the parents willfully knew and orchestrated that their son stay with a pedophile or did they perhaps consider this other adult a neutral party with them not having knowledge of his private behaviors? I"m a bit hazy on understanding that part.., so any clarification would be welcomed...

 

I think the pedophile trooper (Joseph T Hutchens) is a different person, and not the party that kept Josh for 4 months to mentor him, or whatever.

 

From what I've read, Jim Bob and the church leaders took Josh to Hutchens specifically to have him "talk" to him and keep the issue off the record. How they were connected to Hutchens and knew that he would lend that favor I don't know, but Hutchens was arrested later that year on child pornography charges. It really doesn't look good that they church elders single out that man to talk to Josh about his actions and they knew he'd keep it quiet. Who owed who a favor, and why?