Josh Duggar...Sadly...Again

[Scarlett O.]

Today marks the third time that Josh Duggar is accused of immoral behavior.

1. 2002-2003 - Accused of molesting his sisters and another underage girl when he was between 14 and 15. Five underage girls in all. His father was the one to turn him in to police. And his father took the issue to the church elders. Their mother began locking the girls' bedrooms at night. The girls were made to "forgive and forget". That's fine. Forgiveness, but what about consequences for Josh? What about help for him AND the girls?

2. 2015 - Accused of pornography addiction, adultery [with at least one porn star], and having an Ashley Madison account [website for adulterers]. He confessed to it all and sought some kind of 60-day faith-based treatment.

3. 2021 [yesterday] - Arrested by federal agents for allegedly having child porn on his computer - some images of children under 12. He is being held without bond.

His wife just announced last week that she is pregnant with their 7th child. She need treatment herself so badly.

I said all this to say this.

1. It's getting WORSE every time. This is the pattern for people with these kinds of problems who get no quality treatment and pay no consequence.

2. His wife "stands by her man". What is she going to do if this is true and he has turned to child pornography with children under 12? She HAS several children under 12.

3. This kind of sin is grievous. Too grievous to just "bring it to the church elders" who try to make it go away.

4. I think, if this is true, that he needs to go to prison. And receive LONG term treatment that has proven at least somewhat successful.

5. I think, if this is true, that his wife need to keep him separate from the children until they are ALL over the age of 18.

6. He needs to pay a significant consequence. He needs powerful treatment. He needs Christ.

 

[percho]

John 3:7

 

[evenifigoalone]

I remember hearing about the first scandal, and back then my views/reaction was very colored by a hopeful outlook, a mindset of "but people change!" (Cuz of personal experience with similar stuff and believing that my perp changed in my case.) I've since learned better, done research, been in peer groups where we learn about the cycle of abuse. This guy needs Jesus, or at least needs to sincerely repent if he already knows Jesus, and in addition to that he needs to take some counseling sessions and work through his issues to see what patterns have led to his behavior.

 

[Aaron]

Shake any family tree and a perv will fall out. Wondering if the comments here are more about the Duggars than Josh.

 

[evenifigoalone]

For my part, nah. I know very little about the Duggars other than they are homeschoolers and come from a similar background that I did, except probably more extreme. I don't know that their background could be considered healthy, but that has little if anything to do with my comments here.

It is by and large abused people who go on to abuse others (my molester had been severely abused & traumatized), but I don't know if that's the case here.

 

[evenifigoalone]

Oh, I do remember looking at some of the material the Duggars' church used to counsel victims of abuse and molestation, and I do remember that the material was quite.....infuriating ("if the abused is not at fault", etc) But that wasn't even in my mind when I made my first post.

 

[evenifigoalone]

Oh, I do remember looking at some of the material the Duggars' church used to counsel victims of abuse and molestation, and I do remember that the material was quite.....infuriating ("if the abused is not at fault", etc) But that wasn't even in my mind when I made my first post.

Found a scan of the page & an explanation on why the counsel contained therein is faulty and harmful:
How “Counseling Sexual Abuse” Blames and Shames Survivors

 

[Aaron]

Ah yes. That's what I thought. It's because the Duggars promote the Gothard material. This is about blaming the material, not Josh.

I'm very familiar with the Gothard material. Much is really good. Some is erroneous. But Feminists are really mad at it, and mad at the women who accept it.

There is no counseling, secular or religious that will set him free. Only the Spirit of God can break those bonds. And if the Spirit doesn't move, there is only one recourse. Josh needs to be delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. That means excommunicated and divorced, so he can give full vent to his lusts and to reap the consequences thereof. That's the only thing, barring a miracle, that will purge the flesh from the life of a Christian in the bonds of inquity.

But marriage has become an idol in evangelicalism, and that's not because of Gothard. And Feminism blames men for all the sins of the woman.

 

[evenifigoalone]

I don't know anything about Gothard, and in the end it may or may not have anything to do with Josh Duggar's issues. I only brought it up at all because your post accusing us all of having beef with the Duggars reminded me of it.
But sure, keep looking for stuff that isn't there I guess.

 

[evenifigoalone]

I guess t's really, really bizzarre to me that none of us said anything about the Duggars themselves, and yet here we have people immediately jumping to their defense.
But I digress. I can't speak on the case of the Duggar family and their case, so I'm not. But coming from a family that has a history of trauma and abuse, the environment you grow up in definitely, definitely influences your actions. Especially when trauma is involved. To avoid giving a summary, I will just say that I can see how trauma influenced my family, particularly my bio father, to develop the patterns of behavior we have and have had, and it directly led to my perp (who was a family member) molesting me. That doesn't excuse the perp's actions, mind you--unless you're certifiably insane, you are responsible for your actions, period, no matter who or what may have influenced you. But it does explain things, and if the individual is willing, they can learn why they have the tendencies they do and they can learn what the root cause is and that will help them learn to cease the behavior.

Again, I can't speak for Josh Duggar. I don't know if he has a history of trauma that would explain his actions or not, and I don't know to what extent his family and churchs' counsel may or may not have led to him being able to abuse his power. But unlearning behaviors is something that can be done, if the individual is willing.

 

[Scarlett O.]

Shake any family tree and a perv will fall out. Wondering if the comments here are more about the Duggars than Josh.

And Feminism blames men for all the sins of the woman.

This was not my intention in bringing this to the BB.

But carry on, I'll leave the thread with you.

 

[Aaron]

This was not my intention in bringing this to the BB.

But carry on, I'll leave the thread with you.

That's okay. I'm done here.

 

[Hackberry]

Jesus said, "See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven."

 

[Hackberry]

Half a century or more ago, missionaries encountered people in very remote locations who would not permit themselves to be photographed, fearing that the process would steal their souls. At the time, I thought they were wrong. Now I find Josh Duggar providing evidence that perhaps they were right.

As for people who produce, upload or download this sort of photograph, Jesus used the word millstone. I'm sure he meant it.