Duggars Redux: 19 Felonies and Counting

[thneed]

Aug 21, 2015 6:35:11 GMT -4 putch said:

As far as Josh...karma will always come back to bite you in the butt. I can't wait until it hits JB and Michelle as hard. I only wish that Anna wouldn't be a doormat and think that his behavior was somehow her fault but at this point, I think she's beyond hope. Sadly, since she'll stay with him and he has to tow the line, I foresee many more children as per her wishes.

I don't believe in karma. The universe isn't some benevolent father making everything happy, the only way anything bites Josh in the butt is if people who see his ideology as damaging and his behaviour as the worst thing you can do to someone make their beliefs, their non-hateful, non-misogynist ideology the mainstream. And that only happens with hard work and constant pushing.

The people who love to snark on these guys always seem to hope that the revenge comes in one of the 19 kids discovering he/she's gay and moving to San Francisco and becoming some kind of vegan queer activist. That Jim Bob would be taken down a peg and it would be hilarious. It doesn't work like that.

The point is, Josh, his parents, the state trooper, the judge, and who knows who else suffer no punishment, criminal or civil for child molestation. He's still permitted to see his youngest sisters and daughters. The Christian community has an incentive to protect him, just as for years people kept quiet about Bill Cosby because they didn't want to bring down a successful black man.

It would be awesome if life were like an eighties movie and Anna dumped him and took the kids while a Mowtown song played in the background. But if we want Josh (and his father) punished, it's on us.

[famvir]

Do you all think if Josh had had proper counseling when he was "tickling" his sisters, would his adult sex life not be so f'ed up? Or is this born behavior, and the best we can hope for is to protect his victims and maybe get him to rein it in a little (be satisfied with his spouse and secret porn.)

[Deleted]

I definitely don't think this is inborn behavior. I think it's the direct result of being a male raised in a fundamentalist religion. You're taught from day one that you're somehow better, one of the chosen ones. Everything (and everyone) is there for the taking. It's your birthright to get what you want. Women are made out of you and must bow down to you.

[Deleted]

After the 19 Kids & Counting star fessed up to having a paid account on the infamous cheating site Ashley Madison, the Family Research Council's president, Tony Perkins, took to Facebook on Friday to bash his former Executive Director, writing:

"Last night we learned from online reports about allegations concerning Josh Duggar and then read his confession today. We are grieved by Josh's conduct and the devastating impact of his pornography addiction and marital unfaithfulness. Our hearts hurt for his family, and all those affected by Josh's actions. His deceitful behavior harms his family, his friends, his former coworkers, and the cause he has publicly espoused. Those of us who advocate for family values in the public square are held to a higher standard, and Josh's failures serve as a painful reminder of the destructive effects of not living with integrity. We are praying for the family."

No comments about this being Anna's fault, or that Josh fell victim to the evil lure of the internet, or that this is a heathen conspiracy. The statement basically says Josh, and only Josh, is a fuck up. That's gotta sting.

[smitten]

Yikes, I'm starting to kind of worry that the next story we here about him might be a suicide. How does he have any life after this. I know suicide is very against his religion, but so is everything else he's done.

[Baby Fish Mouth]

I bet people at FRC resented him from day one. Here comes this reality star with nothing to his resume but a high school equivalency and a used car lot, and he gets an executive director position? Some of them probably even suspected it, because there's no way Josh did all this online shit at home.

Couldn't have happened to a nicer organization.

[Ladybug]

Josh was probably not the only one at FRC to have an account at Ashley Madison. (The head of the Louisiana GOP had an account. He said he used it to "research" party opponents. Uh-huh)

If josh had seen a proper counselor, they probably would've encouraged him to date (not "court") girls and find some Victoria's Secret catalogs to satisfy his urges and curiosity. But being a normal adolescent interested in sex is horrible and sinful in Jim Bob and Michele's eyes. Pray, pray, pray all those urges away.

[thneed]

Aug 21, 2015 15:19:32 GMT -4 @highondegrassi said:

After the 19 Kids & Counting star fessed up to having a paid account on the infamous cheating site Ashley Madison, the Family Research Council's president, Tony Perkins, took to Facebook on Friday to bash his former Executive Director, writing:

"Last night we learned from online reports about allegations concerning Josh Duggar and then read his confession today. We are grieved by Josh's conduct and the devastating impact of his pornography addiction and marital unfaithfulness. Our hearts hurt for his family, and all those affected by Josh's actions. His deceitful behavior harms his family, his friends, his former coworkers, and the cause he has publicly espoused. Those of us who advocate for family values in the public square are held to a higher standard, and Josh's failures serve as a painful reminder of the destructive effects of not living with integrity. We are praying for the family."

No comments about this being Anna's fault, or that Josh fell victim to the evil lure of the internet, or that this is a heathen conspiracy. The statement basically says Josh, and only Josh, is a fuck up. That's gotta sting.

My new hope. Josh is so pissed off that the FRC is (in his mind) throwing him under the bus that he starts naming names. Of everyone in the fundamentalist movement who also looked at internet porn/cheated. I want a bitter, protracted internecine fight.

[celerydunk]

Aug 21, 2015 15:10:31 GMT -4 @mulva said:

I definitely don't think this is inborn behavior. I think it's the direct result of being a male raised in a fundamentalist religion. You're taught from day one that you're somehow better, one of the chosen ones. Everything (and everyone) is there for the taking. It's your birthright to get what you want. Women are made out of you and must bow down to you.

Also being taught that everything even remotely sexual is bad. Looking at a woman is bad, having any kind of sexual urge is bad, hugging someone with both of your arms is bad... These kids are taught nothing positive about their own bodies. On their scale, masturbating in private is just as bad as touching your sister. Its not healthy.

[kostgard]

It feels to me that this is just the perfect storm to create someone like Josh.

All the repression leads to issues. Repression often equals obsession. Looking at something naughty on the internet becomes far more thrilling and tantalizing because you are told it is very, very bad and you shouldn't do it instead of being taught "Dude, just about every guy does it. Just clear your browser history so your mom doesn't see." You get the thrill of doing something dangerous (and yes, believing that you are better than everyone else will also make you think you can do stupid stuff and get away with it - ETA: throw "fame" into that formula, and the "I'm untouchable!" tenancies get even worse).

But I also think there is something broken in him beyond the religious factor. There are plenty of teenage boys out there who are desperately curious about sex but aren't getting it - either by choice or by circumstance - who would not turn to their baby sisters to satiate that. I don't get why he didn't just try to convince some girl his own age at his church to fool around with him in the coat room the way most teenage boys would instead of bad-touching his very young sisters. That to me speaks beyond the usual repression-related issues.