To Josh Duggar, from a secular academic, on staying Christian

In other words, even though you are certainly persona non grata in American Protestantism for very good reasons and although you shouldn’t be hanging around children or put in powerful patriarchal positions where your perversions are open for all to see, my unprofessional opinion is that you’d have a great ecclesial future outside of Western Christianity. In fact, living and working from within the orientation of Eastern Christianity could very well be the penance you’ve been looking for. First, we’d all be spared from having to hear your confessions and deciding on whether we need to give you absolution, not least because you wouldn’t be under Protestant jurisdiction anymore. Second, you’d have to engage in solidarity with people who are not Americans. You would have no obligation to save them – in fact, they’re already saved, and they might even save you! – and because of this, you’d have to put others before yourself. Third, you could probably eventually regain your career as a political lobbyist of some sort, but as the ultimate penance, you’d have to reject every political ideology you’ve had thus far and lobby for causes that decenter American imperialism, white supremacy, Protestant privilege, and patriarchal misogyny. If that happens, then perhaps we could even become professionally acquainted, although we’d only meet in public places without my wife and future kids, because then your practice of Christianity would lead to an appreciation of a healthy secularism, the kind that I practice as an academic in a public university, the type where we teach all theologies, not just a privileged one, in the deeply spiritual practice of embracing the other as a person, not as an object of sexual domination.

Humbly yours,
Justin

POSTSCRIPT: It has come to Gawker’s attention – and therefore the social media reading public’s attention – that Sam Rader of viral pregnancy surprise vlogging fame was also outed for being on Ashley Madison. Therefore, he should read this post too.