It just grates on me a bit to think that she is doing just as well as I am, even though I feel like I am making the better choice. I will fully admit this is cognitive dissonance, but knowing that doesn’t make it any easer. That’s probably the #1 reason I say some crappy things about them sometimes. Which is very sad.

That wasn’t my point. My point was that their recklessness affects other people. Smokers and other people who lead unhealthy lifestyles get criticized all the time for how much they cost the system. So why lay off the Duggars? I don’t think there should be laws passed, but like Anna, I firmly believe that criticism is perfectly valid, even for the reasons Hemant mentioned in the op (though like I said before, those are not my main concerns). What these people do with their kids–filming them doing their normal kid stuff in the privacy of their own homes for money, most would call exploitation. The kids don’t have a choice. Are the Duggars saving some of the money they are making for them? Who knows! Those are the kinds of questions we should be asking. So I guess my question here is “Why should we be tolerant of it?” We aren’t tolerant of other things that are wrong, and while what these people do to their kids may not be illegal, it still cripples them. They aren’t prepared for life outside the Duggar compound, and that coupled with a belief system that isn’t exactly shown on TLC is what is so dangerous. The Duggars choose to be on television, and as such, they open up their lives and their belief systems up to be criticized. If they were private people, I think there would be more of a point to be made to lay off and be tolerant. But they aren’t; they are public figures.

They do cost people money living recklessly, and what they do to their kids is wrong, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. TLC romanticizes this, and that is also wrong. Gothard is not so happy and rosy once you’re inside it, and while I think people have the right to live the way they choose, that right does not include living without criticism if what you do is unhealthy for others.

In reality, the Duggars are criminals. They tax our collective resources, which are desperately limited, and they are reducing the genetic diversity of our species, which limits our adaptability and our chances for survival.

Like any other criminals, the Duggars need to be punished. Forced sterilization of the Duggar parents, as well as all of their children, is both fair and just. Such punishment mitigates the damage they have caused and preserves the rights (and lives) of others.

Seems sensible to me: I assume hand-me-downs are the norm, so labeling everything ‘J. Duggar’ saves a bunch.

As someone committed to *not* having children, I find the very idea of 19 kids repulsive. I’m fine with other people squirting them out like hypersexual ferrets if they so wish, assuming they can care for them financially and emotionally.

That said, I personally have never understood any of the arguments for having your own rather than adoption, aside from the financial one. Want to do something good in the world? How about adopting a special-needs kid? Yes, it’s hard, but remember: you’re “blessed by the Lord”, right? I’m sure he’ll pitch in…

Also: If we have no problem telling someone that they can’t adopt five kids, why can’t we tell them they can’t have five kids biologically? Either the rules for adoption are too strict, or the ‘rules’ for biological reproduction aren’t strict enough.

As for the forced sterilization thing; say a woman who had been convicted – hell, let’s say she confessed, unrepentant – of sexually abusing her children, and that woman announced her intention to have as many kids as she could upon release…how far would it have to go for you to support her forced sterilization? How about a woman who doesn’t “believe in” contraception, and prefers abortion when her own system -based on, say, the font used in the first ad in that day’s National Enquirer- fails? How about a mentally retarded woman who just wants to have ‘billions of babies cuz babies are cute’?

The overpopulation argument is almost entirely without merit. There is no difference in resource use between 19 children from one family and 19 children from 19 different families. I’m sure we could find 19 couples who have chosen not to have children.

I’m glad to see CatBallou supports cap-and-trade for children.

Oh, that would explain why this post is so mind-bogglingly stupid.

The Duggars are, to put it simply, child abusers. Anyone defending them is guilty by assocation. Full stop. Don’t yammer about their “freedom” – they live off their community and their supporters all know it, all the while trying to shift the focus off this fact by sneering about how “well, at least they’re not on welfare”, with all the dogwhistle racism that entails.

You should be better than this, Hemant. That you aren’t makes me honestly wonder how smart you really are.

I believe it is perfectly acceptable to criticize the Duggars, and criticize them strongly. Their reproductive choices are irresponsible and could very well lead to the the death of Michelle and/or any future offspring, but they will not stop having children as long as they are physically able. Their homeschooling is limited and factually incorrect. Their parenting is harsh, misogynistic, and isolating. Their political beliefs are extreme and the movement they are part of is essentially breeding an army of God’s warriors with the ultimate goal of taking over the United States government.

Should we not speak up and criticize that? What is seen on television is a watered-down version of their lives and their beliefs. It’s all very “family-friendly” and “wholesome,” but viewers do not see any of what’s lurking under the surface.

Why aren’t they adopting?

Let them have a few biologically and adopt the rest.

The Duggars are followers of Bill Gothard, who discourages adoption:

“Adopted children are affected by the sins of their natural parents, and these sins are usually very severe.”

Once I saw the mother disciplining one of the younger children, and she did it in such a loving and non-shaming way that it was so dear to witness their interaction. And the kid got it, he understood. I think she’s a gifted mother.

Appearances can be very deceiving! You should know that people in this lifestyle do not discipline their children in a loving, non-shaming way. The discipline that you will not see on television takes place behind closed doors and involves ritualized corporal punishment administered with implements. And that’s just once they reach a certain age. They use “blanet training” for babies in order to instill obedience in infancy. The Duggars will not talk about such matters on camera. They refer vaguely to “training” and “correction,” but please be aware that there is a quite a bit that viewers do not see.