Josh Duggar resigns from Family Research Council after sexual abuse allegations

“Josh Duggar, of TLC’s ‘19 Kids and Counting,’ resigned his position at the Family Research Council Thursday after reports surfaced that he allegedly sexually assaulted four female siblings in the large family, plus an additional female victim.” Josh Duggar resigns

Related: What You Need to Know about the Josh Duggar Police Report

Discussion

You literally didn’t answer. Is Josh banned from ever being a pastor? If not, wouldn’t some secular job for the FRC be irrelevant?

1 Kings 8:60 - so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other.

the Duggars followed Gothard. They focused on quantity on children (.. And counting ..) instead of quality of child rearing

is josh a Christian? I don’t know but I presume so. Is he forgiven? I presume so! Is there something very strange, wrong, and incestuous about a boy fondling his sisters? Yup!,

is he disqualified from leadership in the FRC? He and they thought so and so do I. Link above:

“Josh believes that the situation will make it difficult for him to be effective in his current work. We believe this is the best decision for Josh

Could he ever be a pastor?

1 Kings 8:60 - so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other.

[James K]

You literally didn’t answer. Is Josh banned from ever being a pastor? If not, wouldn’t some secular job for the FRC be irrelevant?

The issue is not whether he is qualified to be a pastor or not (but he is not!). The secular job. Story: I know a woman who committed check fraud and was convicted of a felony. This happened before she was saved. I know her well (she worships with me) and is a genuine Christian and a lovely woman. No bank would hire her! No way … no felons make it into banking in the US. They may become felons and get fired but no convicted felons get hired in banking.

It’s relevant because the FRC has a position. And (as I cited above), he and they think it best that he not represent them.

Some sins have long shadows of consequences!

I have a grand niece who has a half-sister who steals candy bars. The niece is 10 and the half sister is 8 or 9. I wrote to my grand niece this week and spoke to this situation. I told her that when I was a kid I sometime stole candy bars from the store. That it was sin … that Christ has forgiven me.

That sin does not have a long shadow of consequence. Sin? Yes! Disqualifying sin? Well some might dispute this but I was considered qualified to pastor three different churches.

So murderers can be missionaries and tell others not to murder or even hate, but an unsaved young teen can’t be a pastor because of ______, per you.

1 Kings 8:60 - so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other.

[James K]

So murderers can be missionaries and tell others not to murder or even hate, but an unsaved young teen can’t be a pastor because of ______, per you.

I didn’t say that did I ?!

I presume you are referring to Paul!

I don’t think convicted murderers should be missionaries. And frankly in 45 years of ministry I don’t know any!

Good night

I guess I’m uneducated on these matters. But, is it really a crime for a 14 yr old kid who just went through puberty to inappropriately fondle a kid sister? Icky, yucky, wrong… yes…but criminal?

Now, clearly if an adult does this it is a major crime-big time. But really a 14 yr? Now, the cases where the sicko is 25 yr old and does this- Throw the book at him! Call the police!

I also need to state I haven’t read the particulars on the situation and the extent of the so-called charges.

Duggars 101: What you need to know:

As Independent Baptists, the children are all home-schooled and are exposed to select media, including TV and Internet. According to their website, the Duggars have been educated from materials that include the Institute of Basic Life Principles and Accelerated Christian Education. They wear modest clothing (and more than occasionally dress in coordinated outfits).

According to an essay by Michelle Duggar published at TLC, the family does not swim in public, wear shorts, tank tops, or for women, skirts that fall above the knee. She wrote, “In general we don’t do a lot of swimming events where swimming suits are worn because it’s just too hard for the guys to try to keep their eyes averted in those situations.”

[BrianW]

I guess I’m uneducated on these matters. But, is it really a crime for a 14 yr old kid who just went through puberty to inappropriately fondle a kid sister? Icky, yucky, wrong… yes…but criminal?

Now, clearly if an adult does this it is a major crime-big time. But really a 14 yr? Now, the cases where the sicko is 25 yr old and does this- Throw the book at him! Call the police!

I also need to state I haven’t read the particulars on the situation and the extent of the so-called charges.

Yes it is illegal. In many states it can be considered incest. Whether the child is a sister or a neighbor or a kid on the playground is irrelevant.

Jim, you obviously have an axe to grind against Gothard (have at that one). You have repeatedly made this an issue about him.

Your additions to God’s word as to who can or can’t be a missionary or pastor are noted though. I wonder how far you would push the issue of sexual sin (before salvation) disqualifying someone.

1 Kings 8:60 - so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other.

[Jim]

Duggars 101: What you need to know:

As Independent Baptists, the children are all home-schooled and are exposed to select media, including TV and Internet. According to their website, the Duggars have been educated from materials that include the Institute of Basic Life Principles and Accelerated Christian Education. They wear modest clothing (and more than occasionally dress in coordinated outfits).

According to an essay by Michelle Duggar published at TLC, the family does not swim in public, wear shorts, tank tops, or for women, skirts that fall above the knee. She wrote, “In general we don’t do a lot of swimming events where swimming suits are worn because it’s just too hard for the guys to try to keep their eyes averted in those situations.”

I homeschool and limited the exposure to TV and internet as well. I hope every Christian parent does. I do not use and never will use the IBLP curriculum. My kids are modest. I don’t agree with the no mixed swimming standard, but is it wrong for them to take that position? What was your point here Jim? They sound like another run of the mill fundy family.

1 Kings 8:60 - so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other.

[GregH]

It would seem to me that this situation is very damaging not just because of what Josh did but what happened afterward and how it was handled. Yes Josh can be forgiven but I am not sure that is the point. Here are some of my questions:

1) Did the Duggars warn their good friends they spent time with of the problem Josh had? (Maybe they did and maybe not; I don’t know. I am skeptical that they did because if they had, I think this would have been public sooner.)

2) Why did they not report it to the police until forced to four years later? Why was it Oprah who had to start the ball rolling?

3) Why did Jim Duggar apparently stonewall the police in producing Josh?

4) Why did they choose the “counseling” option that they did?

5) Why have they presented themselves as a model family with this just waiting to be uncovered from the past as if they were blissfully ignorant of the incredible damage this would do to the reputation of Christianity? (Perhaps the biggest surprise from this is that it took this long to come out.)

6) Why did Josh take the job he did (without telling his employer about this)? How could he possibly think his pontificating on the dangers of homosexuality in such a public way would not come back to make him look like a fool and biggest hypocrite of 2015 when this came out? That was breathtakingly ignorant and frankly, incredibly selfish.

So yes, by all means, Josh should get a second chance and should be forgiven. But that is just a piece of this. In retrospect, the Duggars should never have done the show with this in their closet unless they could have found a way to come clean about it (without jeopardizing the identities of victims).

Maybe one should walk a mile in Jim Duggar’s sandals before indicating with six points just how you would have handled the matter. There may be good answers to your questions that would put the whole matter in a different light. The question is: Did the police conclude that a crime had been committed or that something should have been done that was not? Maybe we ought to leave it there. Since there is no guideline in Scripture for handling such a situation, maybe there is room for differing opinions as to how the church should respond unless a crime had been committed, and that is for the police to decide, isn’t it?

[Jim]

James K wrote:

So murderers can be missionaries and tell others not to murder or even hate, but an unsaved young teen can’t be a pastor because of ______, per you.

I didn’t say that did I ?!

I presume you are referring to Paul!

I don’t think convicted murderers should be missionaries. And frankly in 45 years of ministry I don’t know any!

Good night

You corrected yourself by citing the Apostle Paul, but then you backtracked to your original contention. A little inconsistent. Just what sins disqualify one from being a missionary? Or for that matter from being any kind of vocational minister?

[Jim]

They focused on quantity on children (.. And counting ..) instead of quality of child rearing

Put away the broad brush, Jim. Seriously. Your disgust for all things Gothard (and that is shared by most of us) is blinding you.
Quantity of children and Quality of parenting are two COMPLETELY different issues. I don’t think anyone who knows the Duggars or have watched the show would accuse them of sacrificing quality of parenting. They love their children and they parent well. Differently than I would or you might, but well. Frankly, how many kids a couple has — be it one or twenty-one — is no one’s business. I know some really, really BAD parents who have only one child. There is no correlation between quality and quantity in this setting.