Michael Seewald: Josh Duggar Is ‘A Fraud’ Who ‘Deceived Us All’

Michael Seewald, the father-in-law of Jessa Duggar, has turned loose on his daughter-in-law’s now infamous brother Josh Duggar, and it isn’t pretty.

Seewald, in a recent post on the Seewalds blog entitled, “Grief, Shame, and Taking the LORD’s Name in Vain,” let Josh have it over the Ashley Madison scandal in which it was revealed that Duggar had been cheating on his wife.

This came on the heels of the public finding out that Josh had molested underage girls — including his younger sisters — when he was 15-years-old.

Michael starts by stating that he doesn’t want to bring any more grief upon Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, whom he respects, but he felt compelled to speak on the matter out of an “overwhelming desire to vindicate the name of God.”

Seewald then goes on to acknowledge that Christians, like anyone else, are imperfect creatures, and that it isn’t necessarily sin itself that makes Josh’s situation so distressing, but the “sum total of it.”

“It distresses me to say that Josh Duggar’s greatest sin is a byproduct of the sum total of his secretly sinful lifestyle,” he states. “That is, that by his hypocrisy, he blasphemed the name of God. He claimed to be a Christian, but by his deeds he has suggested otherwise.”

He continued.

“With the name of God on his lips he lived a covert and extensive lifestyle of evil. While proudly saying things like, ‘Our family is like the epitome of conservative values,’ he was looking at porn and soliciting affairs. He took a job at the Family Research Council that exists to promote the traditional family, all the while undermining his own family by violating his marriage covenant. He flourished in the fame of his family and the success of their television show, all the while betraying their trust and Christian values.”

For Michael Seewald, what is especially hurtful about the situation is that Josh was “a loud voice endorsing Christian ethics and he has been shown to be a fraud.”

“I am profoundly grieved that he attained such a platform only to bring shame on God’s holy name and the Christian faith. After hearing of Josh’s scandal when he was a teenager, I publicly stated that Josh appeared to be a changed man, was walking above reproach, and living out the faith that he professed. I stood in solidarity, encouraging him to use the scandal to build humility and grace. Sadly, he had deceived us all. The name of God has been blasphemed and God is jealous for his name.”

Even so, Michael Seewald believes there is hope for Josh Duggar and anyone afflicted by sin “in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

In a scathing recent op-ed for Huffington Post, columnist Jenny Block disagrees with the point Seewald is espousing here and claims that it is the fundamentalist values of the Duggars that created Josh. Do you believe Michael Seewald has the right idea or is he giving his own belief system a pass it doesn’t deserve? Sound off in the comments section.

[Image of Josh Duggar and wife Anna via Twitter]