’19 Kids and Counting’ Star Josh Duggar a Hypocrite
19 Kids and Counting star Josh Duggar is a hypocrite.
People from all sides of the religious and secular worlds have come out and either denounced the 27-year-old Duggar or held him up as an example of what the power of forgiveness and religion can do. Here’s the deal: molestation is a choice. It is not a mistake where the then-14-year-old inadvertently woke with his hands on his female victim’s body in whatever location, as can sometimes happen when one is sleeping. He did not accidentally put cream in someone’s coffee. He molested someone; in fact, several “someones” were molested, and very little was done about it.
Full support should be given to those who seek forgiveness and genuine rehabilitation for their crimes. Crimes are done by conscious choice to do so, usually, unless when done in self-defense. While many can appreciate a parent’s reluctance to turn their son or daughter in when they commit a crime – it is, of course, their own flesh and blood – crimes of a sexual nature are particularly heinous. Molestation can take a lifetime to get over, and Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, Josh Duggar’s parents, should have ensured that their son received the benefit of counseling from professionals that could have examined the boy for a predilection for sexual crimes. Instead, he was sent to Bill Gothard’s Advanced Training Institute, and given a platform where it appears that victim blaming was encouraged rather than ownership for his own role in his choices. In addition, the crime was not even reported to police until nearly four years after the actual crimes were committed – well after the statute of limitations would have passed. Not only is the eldest Duggar boy two-faced for espousing “Christian values” while effectively hiding these crimes, since they were never revealed until recently, his parents are as well.
19 Kids and Counting star Josh Duggar is a family man with three children of his own and another on the way. As a parent, it can be argued that Duggar will do everything humanly possible to protect his children and uphold their safety; however, because he was not sent to a psychotherapist, psychiatrist or even sent before the courts to answer to his crimes and why he chose to molest some of his sisters and another female – all of whom have apparently forgiven him – he is at risk for recidivism. In other words, he could very well commit the same crime he committed as a boy again. While “the variation in recidivism rates suggests that not all sex offenders should be treated the same,” according to a report issued by Public Safety Canada, Josh Duggar should not have been allowed the opportunity to potentially reoffend and cause further damage to his sisters and his other victim.
Duggar is a hypocrite because the Christian faith he holds in high regard encourages love of all and forgiveness of those who did you wrong, loosely speaking. It does not encourage visiting untold harm upon family and friends that you hold dear, which is exactly what he did. He stood up as a member of FRC Action for years before this news broke and espoused the virtues of the family. It should sicken everyone, Christian and agnostic alike, that this man and his family have stood up and promoted family values while hiding the truth of who he is. Mike Huckabee and others who are defending the man should seriously reconsider that approach. 19 Kids and Counting‘s Josh Duggar is despicable, and so are his parents. His parents should have reported him immediately and ensured he had no opportunity to visit further harm upon his siblings, who will doubtless need further counseling now that this news has broken.
[Photo by Tengrain/Flickr]
