Josh Duggar resigns from Family Research Council after sexual abuse allegations

You posted 1 Peter 2:13-15 ESV “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.”

So do you speed? Do you turn yourself in when you do? Why wait for a police officer to bust you. You are to subject yourself to the civil authorities or it is sin my friend.

Craziness.

The Duggar children are victims of:

1. The parents for selling their lives to the public eye.

2. Harmful theology and bad parenting.

3. Consumers who paid to see the train wreck (mainly believers).

4. A national media that thrives on dirty laundry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzT10MSgKtU

The Duggar parents, the media, consumers, and many Christians continue to victimize the children. Josh Duggar lit a match (for which he has repented, and should at this point be forgiven). Jim Bob, Michelle, the networks, consumers, and the blogs have blown it into a forest fire. Time to make it go away. Jim Bob should get off the TV, the Gothard camp should rethink their theology and parenting, and Christian consumers should turn to something more edifying.

[Jim]

jimcarwest wrote:

Jim, it appears that you are in agreement, not only with the accusations, but also with the tone. Here there is ridicule for Independent Baptists, for the concept of the father as head of the family, clean living that must be hypocrisy, strict rules, modesty

• I am an independent Baptist
• I wholeheartedly agree with the concept of the father as the head of the family
• Clean living … well I shower ever day :)
• Modesty - check!
• Strict rules … every family has their own set of rules

You are projecting something on me … unjustly and harshly!

No intention to sound harsh. Guess I just wasn’t sophisticated enough to understand where you were getting the information you were posting. I took it to be your own organizing of Twitter feeds.

[Sean Fericks]

Josh Duggar lit a match (for which he has repented, and should at this point be forgiven).

Well, at least one person acknowledges that he repented and should be forgiven! I appreciate that.

David did God no favors. He had a man killed to hide adultery! And God remembers him as a friend and lists

him in Hebrews 11 in the faith hall of fame.

I think you need to consider that there might be a categorical difference between saying in public that another Christian has done wrong and … I’m not sure what you think I’m doing to them, petitioning for them to have their names blotted out? Equivocation much?

So do you speed? Do you turn yourself in when you do? Why wait for a police officer to bust you. You are to subject yourself to the civil authorities or it is sin my friend.

Yes, I sometimes speed. While both speeding and sibling molestation are illegal, I think there is a difference. I think the authorities, our society, and God recognizes a difference as well. I wonder what would happen to me if I went down to the local PD to turn myself in next time I realize I’m speeding. They might arrest me for wasting their time.

Now if I were speeding and as a result damaged some property or hurt someone, now we’re getting closer to some equivalence. And then, yes, I should turn myself in.

[GregH]

Mark_Smith wrote:

If you, like GregH (see above comment by him), apparently think there is no such thing, you are not paying attention.

Mark, try to at least be somewhat honest in how you represent me. I did not say that there was no anti-christian movement in America. Of course there is but it is the distinct minority. What I said was that in a place where 70-80% claim Christianity, it is basically absurd to take the position that Christians can really be persecuted (except in isolated instances).

What some people call persecution is simply Christians being called out on hypocrisy and sin. That was true with Phil Robertson. It is true here. Even if the Duggars handled the situation right in your opinion, it is not hard to see why the world can look at them and see hypocrisy.

No persecution in America? 70-80% Christians in America? The persecution is not beheadings, yes, but does official government and media ridicule qualify as persecution and official opposition? If some are going to accuse Christians of being hypocritical and give that a pass, then we are allowing such criticism to come from atheists, public adulterers and fornicators in the media, gays, etc., etc. who may just be reprobates. Any inconsistency on the part of Christians is labeled as hypocrisy by this crowd. Are their criticisms of Christians somehow infallible? Shall we shrink before them because we are not perfect in their eyes?

Jim, the wood is still very green, what will you do in the dry?

[DavidO]

Mark,

Take David for instance. He had his sin pointed out, exposed, and endured lifelong consequences.

If you want to interact with the very pertinent scripture I posted, feel free.

It’s not that I have no compassion for the Duggars at all, but excusing all their behavior is a huge mistake and does no one, not us, not them, and not God, any favors.

The statement — “excusing all their behavior is a huge mistake” — and doesn’t make sense. Absolutely no one on this blog has excused all their behavior. If anything, there has simply been push-back to a host of posts that have found nothing right about the Dugger family, or its handling of the reports, or its efforts to deal with this problem of abuse that occurred in their family. If it had occurred in your family or that of any one of us, the discussion would be about us, and believe me, a lot of people would be crucifying us for failing in some way to deal with the situation to everyone’s satisfaction. I must admit that I have done a lot more critiquing the Duggers than praying for them since this all came out.

Jim,

I’ll retract “excusing all” and replace it with “excusing or minimizing some or, really, any of their alleged wrong doings”.

You might similarly consider your use of “a host of posts that have found nothing right about the Dugger [sic] family, or its handling of the reports, or its efforts to deal with this problem of abuse that occurred in their family.” (Emphasis mine.)

There. Now we can talk.

[DavidO]

Jim,

I’ll retract “excusing all” and replace it with “excusing or minimizing some or, really, any of their alleged wrong doings”.

You might similarly consider your use of “a host of posts that have found nothing right about the Dugger [sic] family, or its handling of the reports, or its efforts to deal with this problem of abuse that occurred in their family.” (Emphasis mine.)

There. Now we can talk.

Probably most (a host of) the posts have involved attacks on the Duggars. So, now we can talk.

Most of them. Stand by your words if you’re fine with them. It was just a suggestion.

But you make it sound like any criticism (what you call “attacks,” a nice little inflammatory term) of the Duggars is wrong. If that’s your take, I just don’t agree and I’ve explained why. So if I think they did something wrong, tell me what I should or should not say about it on SI and why.

Wow, this thread has completely gone to pieces. Oy.

The Duggar parents are exceedingly fortunate, as they can (and should, IMO) be charged with failure to report and possibly criminal accessory. There is no way they should have minimized this crime, and their failure to handle it properly screams volumes to me about their judgment and understanding.

As for Josh, I’ve got a feeling that this is the tip of the iceberg. I’m glad that he resigned his position, but he really belongs in jail.

Bert Perry said this:

One note on the side; Julie Anne’s definition of repentance is not the Bible’s. The Bible defines it as more or less agreeing with God about the significance of the sin, but does not say that the accused gives carte blanche to the state to have its way with him.

Here’s her definition: What does repentance look like? Repentance is about giving up your rights. It’s about focusing on the healing/recovery of those you have harmed. You don’t defend yourself anymore.

Julie and I have mixed it up a few times on this thread, but I don’t think that’s what she is saying. I think what she is saying is that if a person is repentant, they will be willing to do anything to make it right.

Finally, I started a different thread yesterday along a similar vein - helping those who are victims of criminal sexual assault, rape, incest, or general abuse. I would prefer that we not discuss the specifics of the Duggar case there - I’m more interested in finding solutions and methods to help the surviving victims and family members. If anyone would like to participate, the thread is here.

I agree, Jay, this is getting crazy. We are all convinced we are pursuing the right counsel, based upon the information we have. After over 800 posts, I can see this going nowhere that leads to any agreement. So I’ll just opt out from the discussion. If that leads some to believe I have changed my opinion, so be it. None of us have any influence over the outcome. Only God can defend the Duggers to the extent they need to be defended. God bless you all.