Duggar Against Sloth? Derick Dillard’s Biblical Exhortation Provokes Questions From Viewers
Critics of the Duggar family have a laundry list of complaints: anti-gay activism, adherence to gender roles, and Josh Duggar’s past year of scandal and revelation, to name a few. One of the most common assertions, though, is that the Duggar family is lazy and that the family members are perpetually unemployed.
For a single example, check out the post below from the Duggar Family Official Facebook page.
[Image via Facebook]
However, what’s interesting here, at least as far as reflecting public opinion, is the comments beneath. The first shown is from a viewer who asserts that the Duggar offspring and spouses spend their days goofing off.
“Looks like these strong and able men hang out all day and do not work. Get a job and be productive.”
The second goes further, insinuating that a previous comment was removed by a Duggar Family Official page admin, and urging Ben Seewald and Joseph Duggar to seek employment.
“Who removed my comment? Was it to hard to hear?? Again…these two shoul learn to fill out a job application!!”
These comments are fairly typical feedback for the Duggar family, so perhaps Duggar son-in-law Derick Dillard’s exhortation this weekend that “slothful” people should be “put to forced labor” was a bit surprising to critics.
“The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.” -Proverbs 12:24
— Derick Dillard (@derick4Him) August 12, 2016
As employment goes, members of the Duggar family have been involved in a few things. Jana Duggar and Jill Dillard have both tried their hands at midwifery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8z_9qWekR4
Jill appears to be the only Duggar daughter to have received certification, though, and that certification has been questioned.
Derick worked for Walmart before quitting to travel with Jill and Israel. Radar Online reports that he left that job last summer.
Several Duggar family members have been employed by businesses Jim Bob Duggar owns, or worked odd jobs or otherwise informally. Jinger Duggar, for instance, was featured in a Jill & Jessa: Counting On episode, where she bought a used car to resell for profit, and the audience was informed that the Duggar sons do this frequently.
Before working for the Family Research Council, Josh Duggar reportedly sold cars at Jim Bob Duggar’s used car lot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtG6Z1c27UU
However, employment in the sense most people think of, in which one applies for a job from a company not owned by family, and works preset hours, has been less a part of the Duggar image. Perhaps this is in part because when Josh Duggar was only 4-years-old, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar began following the teachings of Bill Gothard and the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP). The IBLP teaches, among other things, that women should not seek financial independence.
“…if you seek to be financially independent, your self-sufficiency can crush your husband’s spirit.”
Of the nine Duggar offspring who are 18 or older, five are women, and two of those are married, so IBLP teachings could hold over half the Duggar adults off from seeking employment.
As for the Duggar males and the sons-in-law, the public isn’t always necessarily aware of everything the family is doing, but they do make some things public. Derick, for instance, has spent the last several months in Central America, where he and Jill say they are performing missionary duties — though some of their sharpest critics call it an extended vacation, as Raw Story reported last year.
Considering that Duggar detractors don’t consider Jill and Derick’s trip “work,” it’s little wonder that some responded with derision when the Duggar son-in-law tweeted about sloth.
Some responses focused more on the religious aspect than Duggar employment, though.
Whether or not you consider their time in Central America work, the couple has been clear about what they plan to do while they visit the Duggar family in Arkansas. They say the trip will “extend into the fall” (perhaps for Jinger Duggar’s wedding?) and that they will take Bible classes and continue to work in ministry from the U.S.
With Derick’s new denouncement of sloth, and the viewer response, can we expect Duggar employment to be a topic in the new season of Counting On?
[Image via TLC/YouTube]
