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Joseph Duggar’s arrest on charges that he allegedly molested a 9-year-old girl sent shockwaves through the family.
But he is not the first of his siblings to be accused of sexually abusing a child.
Jinger and Jeremy know that fans and critics alike are discussing why this horror keeps happening.
They explain that the Duggar family is caught up in a bad theology that gets worse and worse over generations.
This ‘dangerous’ theology has done a lot of damage
During the most recent episode of their The Jinger & Jeremy Podcast, the eponymous hosts delved into Joseph’s arrest, Josh’s crimes, and the subculture that afflicts the family.
Jinger offered a brief explanation of Bill Gothard, his IBLP “movement” from many decades before she was born, and the “dangerous” environment it creates — especially for girls.
“A lot of families were well-meaning when they entered that setting,” she claimed.
“They thought, ‘Okay, I’m going to protect my family by putting up these very concrete rules for my kids to keep them safe, to keep them in,’” Jinger explained.
She continued: “‘To have friends that are going to be identical to us, that will shield our kids from the outside world almost, and let them be a light to the nations.’”
What Jinger is referring to here is the belief that the IBLP cult and similar Christian fundamentalist sects push: total cultural isolation.
Within these circles, there is a theological belief that the world has been supernaturally corrupted by the devil, and that isolating one’s children from other ideas — including other children — can keep them spiritually pure.
Mainstream Christianity generally acknowledges the idea that there are mechanisms for purifying oneself (though this varies, particularly between Protestants and Catholics) to meet their god’s standards.
(It is actually very normal for religions to both present non-physical problems and then provide remedies. Christianity’s involves a concept of “sin” and then methods of atonement.)
It is morally wrong to isolate one’s children from meeting their peers, preventing them from getting a real education or forming their own ideas. But, as Jinger’s husband points out, it’s also dangerous.
‘Lives are crumbling’
“And then decades later, it produced bad fruit,” Jeremy described.
He continued: “And decades later, it was exposed as false and lies.”
“And,” Jeremy remarked, “lives are crumbling.”
It is very natural for a Christian like Jeremy to view this as a topic of bad theology, first and foremost.
He and Jinger also delved into how the cult’s view of women and girls — as people whose “shameful” bodies entice men to experience lust — made gender into a prison.
However, Jeremy made sure to make it clear that they’re not claiming that Joseph, Josh, or anyone else are just victims of toxic theological teachings and thus blameless.
“Now, I’ll say this, you know, in reference to this direct topic regarding your brother, everyone is responsible for their actions,” he emphasized.
“So none of this is an excuse to say, ‘Oh, but the theology was poor, therefore someone’s not responsible for their actions,’” he affirmed.
Jeremy continued: “No, we fully, as the Bible teaches, the sword of justice is given to the government to punish evildoers.”
People of all faiths can likely agree that the government often fails to target all evildoers or to only target evildoers. But, in the case of Joseph’s charges, it sounds like the state is right on the money.
Jinger Duggar Exposes ‘Dangerous’ Cult Theology to Blame for Brothers’ … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.