Duggars Redux: 19 Felonies and Counting

[prisma]

Completely off-topic, but reading this thread made me think about someone I worked with when I waited tables right after I graduated from college whose name was Israel. He was a busboy. The restaurant industry can be pretty seedy but he was so nice and sweet and had the best attitude which was notable, because busboy was the bottom of the totem pole. I hadn't thought about him in ages so I just googled him since his last name was unusual too and he's now a PhD and an instructor at a pretty major medical school. Wow, it is such a leap to go (in my head) from busboy to medical science prof. He looks great too--I suspect clean living may be partially responsible.

Thanks to this thread for the trip down memory lane.

[americanchai]

Jinger speaks out!

It's been a long time since I've thought about the Duggars beyond hoping Josh would get pummelled in prison. As I recall Jinger was the receptacle for our hopes that somebody in the family would be freed, i.e. "Free Jinger", maybe because she had the most f'd spelling of her name to fit their stupid "J" naming scheme. Interesting that she is now the one that is vocally speaking out. And it's actually less speaking against the family than speaking against the head of the church they followed which was basically just the head of another fundamentalist family. She's still a Christian, just not that flavor. Grain of salt but at least she's freed herself from some of the crazier thinking.

[famvir]

I thought her name was Jinger.. like Jing (rhymes was badda-bing) grrrr (rhymes was sir). Not Ginger. I was so disappointed….

[Sunnyhorse]

I wish she'd flip her folks the metaphorical bird by legally changing the spelling of her name.

[scarlet]

Feb 1, 2023 2:38:15 GMT -4 Sunnyhorse said:

I wish she'd flip her folks the metaphorical bird by legally changing the spelling of her name.

That would probably give Michelle a nervous breakdown.

I saw a snippet of an interview Jinger gave where the interviewer said "so no 19 kids for you?" and she laughed and said she and her husband were happy with their two and *maybe* they'd have a third at some point, but sounded pretty definitive that that was it.

[cremetangerine82]

I always had hope for Jinger; she seemed liked the most likely to rebel according to the TWOP recaps. This interview confirms some of that. Does she do anything for a living or is a stay-at-home mom?

P.S. - featherhat, that dampens my enthusiasm a bit, but I'm glad she not going to be a baby factory like her mother.

[prisma]

This is not involve the Duggars directly but made me think of the Ginger discussion going on here.

An account I follow on Instagram just posted this super cringey and unbelievably uncomfortable video of a dad from the late 80s/early 90s singing about choosing not to leave his daughters' mom. And the daughters are in the video with him like props and clearly not into it. They're supposed to be singing with him! I was fascinated by it because it reminds me of feeling trapped in the religious environment I grew up in and having no escape and really even no language to describe what about it felt wrong to me. The comment section is hilarious because everyone is concerned about the girls and freaked out by the dad.

The son of one of the girls in the video saw this post and connected his mom with the guy behind the account. And it turns out she's now a professional counselor who specializes in healing religious trauma. I looked through the account for her counseling business and it is clear she has worked through a LOT. It has been a crazy thing to first see the video and think, "That's messed up!" and then be presented with confirmation that, yes, this poor kid was scarred by this but managed to work through it and as an adult is able to be of service to others in similar situations.

The guy behind the account said he's trying to schedule an IG Live with her and I will 100% tune in because I'd like to hear what she has to say. Some of the stuff she has on her IG account has been helpful to me because, even though I'm no longer affiliated with the religious tradition I grew up in, my whole family is still involved so I feel like I am never far away from it.

Anyhoo, hopefully Jinger will have a similar healing journey.

[FiggyPudding]

Jan 31, 2023 17:55:52 GMT -4 famvir said:

I thought her name was Jinger.. like Jing (rhymes was badda-bing) grrrr (rhymes was sir). Not Ginger. I was so disappointed….

Whenever I see her name I always think it sounds like ring-grrr... and then I remember. It's the worst.

Then I think "It just bothers me so much!" but I hear it in Rosie Perez's voice in Untamed Heart when she's talking about another character's hair. I'm not kidding. I'm petty.

[featherhat]

Feb 3, 2023 1:56:47 GMT -4 cremetangerine82 said:

Yes! I always had hope for Jinger; she seemed liked the most likely to rebel according to the TWOP recaps. This interview confirms it. Does she due anything for a living or is a stay-at-home mom? Either/or, I'm so proud of her!

I think she's basically a "Christian Influencer" or was last time I really looked into what she Jill and Jessa were doing. Jill and Derek were actually the first ones that broke away publicly and became "just" regular conservative Christians and has publicly talked about using birth control.

From what I can see Jinger is shifting a LOT of the blame on to Gothard (who is an abusive creep and 100% deserves everything) but still says her parents were awesome, not that I am necessarily expecting her to turn against her parents. She and Jeremy are part of Grace Community Church which has had it's share of controversies and claims against it and IMHO is pretty damaging in some of its teaching.

[prisma]

The NYT has an article about Jinger today. While I think it's great that she is using her platform to speak out, I still cringed at the description of her current church in the middle paragraph below:

Mrs. Vuolo characterizes her current church in Southern California as very different than the environment she was raised in. The church, Grace Community Church, is led by John MacArthur, a popular pastor known for his rigorous preaching style, his opposition to “superstitious” charismatic theology and, more recently, his resistance to keeping his church closed in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.

The church is conservative on issues like homosexuality, gender, and women in church leadership. Christianity Today reported this week that leaders at the church repeatedly advised women to avoid reporting their abusive husbands and fathers to authorities, and instead to forgive and submit to them.

In a statement posted online, the church said “Myriads of Grace Church members who have sought counsel at our church will testify that the counsel they receive is biblical, charitable, supportive, and liberating.”