Josh Duggar Exemplifies Why I’m A Liberal

Josh Duggar Exemplifies Why I’m A Liberal September 2, 2015

The scandals unfolding around Josh Duggar exemplify the reason I’m a liberal Democrat.

For those of you unfamiliar with the name, the Duggars are an enormous clan of hard-core evangelical Christians who had a TV show for many years showing their devout lifestyle with their family of 19 children. That’s right: nineteen.

The eldest child, Josh, married young after a courtship (meaning that he had no physical contact with his bride before they married and they spent only a few months getting to know each other). He’s 27 and is already a father to four children himself.

He had a job until recently working to make his family’s agenda into law, preaching against homosexuality, birth control, and freedoms for women.

And then it came to light that when he was a teenager he had molested several underage girls. A lot of work went into covering that up for many years. As if that wasn’t enough, it was then discovered that he had accounts on the Internet at a website for helping people have extramarital affairs and a secret Facebook account where he was friends with only strippers and lingerie models.

This is exactly why I don’t believe in a rigid code of sexual purity and judgement.

It’s just one more hypocrite in a movement that seems to be completely made up of hypocrites. The people in Josh’s political circles gleefully pass intense judgement on anyone who doesn’t live up to their standards. They look down on others and try to legislate harsh punishments for other people’s “sins.”

They act like they aren’t also “sinners.” Like they don’t fall short just as much as the people they preach against. It’s the hypocrisy that hurts their cause.

The sad thing is I believe in family and virtue and doing everything in your power to be the best person you can be. (Unlike the Duggars and their ilk, when I say I believe in family that is not code for being hateful towards people who are gay. I think family can be built however you darn well please, in whatever way makes you happy.) I believe in family and human goodness. But the Duggar agenda can’t possibly go very far when even they themselves are completely unable to live up to it.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/96024429@N00/17966165892/ AuthorTengrain
https://www.flickr.com/photos/96024429@N00/17966165892/
Author Tengrain

What do I think Josh should have done?

First of all I think he should not have been raised in such an oppressive and controlling environment that he was unable to get any healthy communication about sexuality at a young age. He should have been able to ask questions and learn about the physical parts of life. I don’t know if that would have prevented him molesting young girls but I do think it could have helped.

Second I think he should not have married so young. He should have had time and freedom to find out what he needed from a physical relationship rather than having his needs repressed so he could live out this fantasy image of the “perfect Christian man.”

I am just about everything the Duggars hate. I’m a non-Christian woman who speaks her mind and didn’t wait until marriage to be intimate. Yet I have a much happier and healthier marriage than any of them. It’s funny to me that I’m living a fulfilled and honest life full of happiness and a strong connection to divinity by being exactly the sort of person that they condemn.


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