Scandal Fallout - MEGA MERGE

[Seasoner_Of_Life]

They aren't going to go into hiding or live in poverty. Judging by the leghumpers comments on social media, there are a ton of people who see this as a "powerful testimony to Christ's redemptive work." They will return to Arkansas, their church and the community will rally behind them, and they will continue much as normal. All their peers with whom they choose to associate will also believe that Josh was a victim of female immodesty and has been forgiven by God. TLC hasn't even officially cancelled the show, just temporarily removed it from the line up.

I live in the area and have to say I respectfully disagree a bit. I do think the majority of the mainstream Conservatives of the area will shun them. There will be fanatics and their "community", but the majority that respected them feel like they are nothing but frauds now.

[MalteseBaby]

The article wants the show to continue and become a true reality show- finally showing the real struggles of their family.

What the author doesn't understand is that's not going to happen. Neither TLC nor JimBob are going to change the sunny, innocent, and scripted show and "start getting real".

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertain ... story.html

That family doesn't know how to " get real" any more than my Maltese does!!!

( My parents were fundy and they never had a clue- not for all of my life with them).

[JenniferJuniper]

Yesterday someone posted video on Twitter of them driving along the road outside the Duggar house. There was a police car sitting outside by the gate. I'm assuming the Duggar clan is thanking God they have a grocery store full of food in the pantry so they can lie low for a while.

twitter.com/ItsSuperRyan/status/601830677726638080/video/1

That might not be a police detail. I read awhile back that they bought an old cop car and park it on the property as a sort of scarecrow to guard against over-jealous fans.

[LogansMama]

Two mystery people are bothering me.

1. Whistle blower - I still think it was someone on the inside. Somebody who knew what had happened and had something against the Duggars/show/Josh/JimBob or a very strong loyalty towards one of the victims.

2. Letter writer - who was compelled enough to write a letter and stick it in the book. Did they know it would eventually leave the house that way? Why were they unable to tell the authorities themselves? Was it really a "family friend" who wrote it, or did one of the kids write it?

I don't care to know specifically who they are, but I hope the universe rains happiness and joy on the person who alerted Harpo and the person at Harpo who made that call to make the report.

YES!! I'm been wondering who the letter writer was? A non-family member? They likely didn't have any friends outside their fundie community!

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the police officer that JB took Josh to (who is in jail for child porn) a member of Michelle's family? The last name Hutchens seems very familiar.

[Seasoner_Of_Life]

Now Thought on Whistleblower Identity

This story was just posted on the our local news station website out of NWA

http://5newsonline.com/2015/05/23/senat ... me-report/

It says the Springdale police chief is set to retire in June. This had to be a hush hush, everybody knows secret around the station but no one can do anything about it type of thing. Or at least in my mind! What if she is the whistle blower? What would she have to lose except exposing a child molester that was able to go untouched by law enforcement.

[carriedaway14]

Indeed. From the letter to Oprah: "They [the Duggars] are not what they seem to be. [Redacted] has molested [redacted] while [redacted] were sleeping and the parents have been hiding this secret for a long time. Jim Bob lies to his church and his friends to make him look good. At this moment he is in trouble with the church for lying about [redacted] and things that concern the way the church members reacted...They have been on TV before and come across as a perfect family, which couldn't be further from the truth. They jump from show to show to receive gifts for their family and to make them look really good to [sic]."

So if the letter writer is to be believed, then yes, lots of people knew and were upset. I wonder if that's why the Duggars withdrew to their own home church. (I don't know too much about the history of how and when their home church started.)

If the original letter was written by one of the girls, let's all remember we have a writing sample from one of the JSlaves. This is an article Jana wrote fro Journey to the Heart.

“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?â€

-Romans 8:32

The secret of the Christian’s success and joy in life is a burning desire to thank Jesus for what He has done for us and to tell others about Him.

When we put our faith in Jesus as our Saviour, what do we receive from God?

The answer is ALL THINGS!

1) GOD GIVES US HIMSELF.

• The gift of God is God himself Jesus. Our grace is brought to us by God himself, paying the price, delivering the gift. The gift and the Giver are the same.

2) GOD GIVES US RELEASE FROM OUR SINS.

• The Son is the sin-bearer.

. . .gave him up for us all

Our sins and their consequences were taken up and dealt with by Jesus personally and in a costly way.

3) GOD GIVES US THE GUARANTEE OF ALL HIS OTHER GIFTS.

Since God did not spare even his own Son, but gave him up for us all, won’t God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else? (Rom. 8:32, NLT)

This reminds me… My mom shares that shortly after she was born again that God began to convict her about a relationship she had developed with a certain young man, who was not a Christian. A wise Christian counselor asked her, “Michelle, have you trusted Christ to take you to Heaven?†She replied, “Yes!†then he responded, “Don’t you think you can trust Him with your love life?â€

That day she prayed & gave that area of her life to God! Shortly after that God miraculously brought my Father into her life!

God cares about every area of our life. He loves us and wants to lovingly guide us.

We receive the gift of new life through Christ, by receiving Christ as our Saviour and Lord – we put our trust in him.

. . . along with him

The grace of God and his other gifts do not come to people apart from faith in Christ – ie. relationship with him.

Since God has done the greater, greatest thing (given up his Son for us), he will surely give us lesser and other things along with Christ!

What are these other things? All things?

Romans 8 is a summary of the many gifts that come with the grace of God in Christ:

• No condemnation

• No guilt

• No weakness

• No defeat

• No despair

• No want

• No separation from God.

Our calling every day of our lives is to appreciate the benefits of Christ’s saving death for us.

“God the Father had but two grand gifts to bestow; and when once they were given, He had left then nothing that was great (comparatively) to give, for they contained all good in them. These two gifts were his Son, who was his promise in the Old Testament, and his Spirit, the promise of the New. “ (Thomas Goodwin)

Main Point: The gift of Christ to us includes all the other gifts of God.

~Jana Duggar

This was obviously an assignment Jana complete at JTTH and they published it online to show people the Duggars went there, so what we need to look at is the writing that's not a regurgitated prayer/sermon.

If the Oprah Letter we have with the removed names is written exactly as the original letter was written, the use of ellipses and short sentences to state main a point, makes me think that one of the girls wrote the Oprah letter and passed it off to one of Michelle's relatives (who have not been seen on 19 Kids and Counting since the first season). The JSlaves were all taught by the same person (JChelle) and their writing styles and use of grammar wouldn't have that much variation.

[Bridge14]

I think there will be a network sit down after a few months. The girls will be included and act like this was all blown out of proportion and make excuses for Josh and play up that he is a great man now and they are so close, etc. Josh will appear and actually act remorseful and not at all smug. Their goal is going to be to change perception to get the show back on the air. I'm sure tlc already has a public image plan in the works. It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out over the next six months.

[sidehugger]

Gawker has a story up that Michelle got a gay crew member removed from production, according to someone who used to work for 19KAC: http://defamer.gawker.com/tell-your-dug ... socialflow

Kudos to this writer for digging. Send any tips you have about other stories to her.

[novelistofdreams]

My prediction for TLC is: they drop it completely for several months. Around late August they slowly bring late night reruns into play. Once a week at 1am or so. The reruns get closer and closer to prime viewer time. In November Jessa's Baby is born. TLC airs a special as they did with Jill. Jess may well cooperate unless Ben can get a decent job soon. Especially if they pay her directly (not JB) and cover childbirth costs. TLC then keeps an eye on ratings and backlash.

If it goes poorly, the family disappears. Until somebody breaks out and writes a tell-all book (still hoping).

But if it goes well... if it goes well we get a renamed, rebranded Duggar series. It follows the married girls as well as Joseph at college. Michelle gives the occasional interview. But JB and his dirt bag oldest son are never heard from again.

[Hera]

Honestly, think the fallout should involve at least a visit, hopefully leading to a thorough investigation, by the child welfare officials in the state of Arkansas into practices in both the TTH and Josh's home and evaluations of all of the minor children in each one. I have no idea how Josh was allowed to remain in the same home as his victims and was not required to get any real counseling if CPS was actually involved at the time this stuff happened. That suggests more levels of impropriety and cover up. I hope that isn't yet another level of protection that failed these kids, after their parents, church leaders and police did the same, and that somehow CPS was not involved back then.

They should be now, though. If kids can get home visits after their parents allow them to walk two blocks alone and Brittany Spears can get one after someone saw her with her kid not restrained in a car seat, then surely two parents publicly admitting that they allowed sexual abuse to occur in their home and did not report it or seek treatmental for the abuser or his victims and instead just covered it up and did little to nothing should warrant a visit. Ditto for Josh publicly admitting he molested a four year old. Both of these things are crimes, and even if the statute of limitations has passed for prosecution, that does not mean that the current conditions in these homes do not present a danger to the minor kids.

I have no idea whether Josh is a pedophile or likly to reoffend. No one does, really, because he never got treatment. Is he reformed or was he just denied access to the littlest girls and married off before he could molest them? Who knows? Is he a danger to his daughter(s)? Who knows? Someone should find out, though. And Anna certainly isn't asking those questions.

As for the TTH, even if no sexual abuse is present, what about physical abuse. One of the kids reported being beaten with a rod so hard it left bruises. That's a crime. Not to mention potential neglect and emotional abuse issues.

Best thing that could ever happen for these kids is for the state to get involved and monitor their access to education and make sure that no further abuses occur. God knows no one in this clusterfrak of a religion is going to do it. These people need to understand that while you have the right to raise your kids as you please, you do not have the right to not educate them and abuse in any manner them and that if you are caught doing those things, there will be consequences, Jesus's "forgiveness" or not.

[singsingsing]

In my opinion it's always wrong to beat a child with a rod no matter what, but in the police report when asked if they ever left bruising, the child replied, "No."

[RosyDaisy]

Lumping all Christians together is a bad idea. In my definition of Christian, the Duggars are not really Christian. Just because they quote the bible (mostly out of context) and talk constantly about Jesus, does not make them Christian. They are deluded. They have followed false teachings by others, and are not smart enough to realize their error in judgment and faith.

As a Christian, I don't consider fringe elements like the WestBoro Baptist Church Christians, or Steve Anderson and Zsu and so on. They have warped Christianity into something unrecognizable.

Throughout history, the pendulum of Christianity has swung between a liberal and welcoming faith to one of extreme conservatism and fire and brimstone. Perhaps this Duggar ordeal will speed up the pendulum to start to move the other direction.

A faith based life can be very fulfilling and wonderful for many people. Not all people need this or want this, but for those of us who do, I pray that soon we can have more reasonable public Christian figures who will support and encourage free will, equality, peace and justice and acceptance of others who believe or feel differently.

This! Excellent post!

[Lady Grass Lake]

Thinking about how sheltered this culture is, I think it might be very easy for Jim Bob and Michelle to simply declare that they have decided that the family has become too worldly and they are going to stop the TV show and the public appearances and go back to their life before the show.

The kids know very little if anything about the laws governing children, television outside of the Today Show, magazines, and movies. They are trained to believe that as head of the family Jim Bob expects any decision he makes is to be followed without question. Josh and Anna can say they feel their life in DC is a bad influence on their lives and children and they want to come home to Arkansas.

For all we know, this is not even a blip on the family radar outside of what Jim Bob and Michelle know and won't tell the kids about. If they were smart and saved and/or invested everything, they could live comfortably for a long time in the paid for houses, and just collect the rents. They could spin things so that if/when they do go out in public, that people jealous or evil and should be ignored. This could drive the family to become as isolated as the Maxwells. If they suspect family members of being one of the leaks, that person could be banned as harmful to the family's welfare. I think it would be easy to turn this into a non-event.

[lascuba]

I'm really not ok with the "they're not real Christians" statements. Let's not with the No True Scotsman fallacy. The Duggars are Christians. They are an embarrassment to Christians who don't follow their extreme beliefs, but they are Christians.

ETA: This sums it up well: http://www.shakesville.com/2009/09/on-r ... stian.html

[aggieluv17]

In my opinion it's always wrong to beat a child with a rod no matter what, but in the police report when asked if they ever left bruising, the child replied, "No."

I mean, were they beat or were they spanked? Because there is a difference. I'm having a hard time imagining how you would spank someone with a rod, but I know people use different mediums. I don't see a problem with spanking, personally. But if they were beating thing kids, then that's definitely wrong.

[singsingsing]

I mean, were they beat or were they spanked? Because there is a difference. I'm having a hard time imagining how you would spank someone with a rod, but I know people use different mediums. I don't see a problem with spanking, personally. But if they were beating thing kids, then that's definitely wrong.

Well, that's an issue of terminology. 'Spanking' means different things to different people. Some people called beating their children so hard that they bleed 'spanking', but some people think of 'spanking' as a few light swats to the bum.

[ILoveJellybeans]

I mean, were they beat or were they spanked? Because there is a difference. I'm having a hard time imagining how you would spank someone with a rod, but I know people use different mediums. I don't see a problem with spanking, personally. But if they were beating thing kids, then that's definitely wrong.

I think if someone hits their kid with an object, then it has crossed the line. I do kinda judge parents who spank their kids with their hand, but I wouldn't consider it being a CPS issue, but beating with a stick/rod/paddle/plumbing line, that's always wrong.

[RosyDaisy]

Gawker has a story up that Michelle got a gay crew member removed from production, according to someone who used to work for 19KAC: http://defamer.gawker.com/tell-your-dug ... socialflow

Kudos to this writer for digging. Send any tips you have about other stories to her.

My SIL and her fiancée just read this with me, and are dropping too many F-bombs. I'll add another one. FUCK YOU, MICHELLE!

[Kris_Kartrashion]

Honestly, I don't see any major changes for the Duggars, aside from not being filmed regularly.

They have bought into their lifestyle SO HARD that if they allowed a single chip in the Gothard armor, their entire structure would crumble like a house of cards. Every decision they have ever made would have to be re-examined and most people aren't strong enough to deal with that.

They will say that Josh has been punished enough and lay the blame at the feet of the secular world. They'll say they did the best they could. Maybe they could have done more (be sweet!) but that's the closest they'll ever come to accountability. Instead, I think they'll double down, viewing this as a spiritual battle; an affront to their religious liberty.

Maybe one or two of the kids will spring free but that's probably it. It's kind of the way cults go,right?

J'chelle probably has a secret stash of essential oils that she thinks mimic xanax somewhere. JimBoob is spending 50% of his time hating on Josh and the other 50% telling him that family sticks together. Neither one are taking responsibility for the fact that they chose to have 19 kids. The state sets higher accredited daycare standards than these two provide! Neither will acknowledge that their daughters have value outside of God, their husband, or their vaginas- in that order. The Leghumpers will keep supporting them and market this into testimony.

My fear is that Jill will be pressured to become the new breadwinner. If she and/or Jessa get a show, you can bet that Papa Smurf is going to guilt them into sharing the wealth (because if it wasn't for the family, they'd still be wearing those polygamous Warren Jeffs smocks). The cycle of life continues!

[Nowyn]

I think if someone hits their kid with an object, then it has crossed the line. I do kinda judge parents who spank their kids with their hand, but I wouldn't consider it being a CPS issue, but beating with a stick/rod/paddle/plumbing line, that's always wrong.

Whatever the medium, physical discipline is wrong. There is a wide array of evidence that backs it up. It doesn't work well and harms in most cases. People who say that they were spanked and it did no harm are just lucky.

[calimojo]

I suspect that Josiah's courtship will end. This is a lot for a 17 year old girl to take on.

While I think Josiah and Marjorie are far to young to be in a serious courtship yet, I would not be sad to think that Josiah leaves the Duggar home and ends up with his future in laws. Of course I don't know much about them, so may be awful too, but it seems they are a bit more mainstream.

If Marjorie jumped into the courtship with stars in her eyes and aspirations for fame, she may find herself much less interested in Josiah, no matter how good his sense of humor may be.

[Toothfairy]

The judge who just ordered Josh Duggar's record to be destroyed was appointed by Mike Huckabee, .

[Toothfairy]

One of the thumpers https://twitter.com/aurosan/status/602131215248920579

[SPHASH]

The judge who just ordered Josh Duggar's record to be destroyed was appointed by Mike Huckabee, .

FFS

[eh02]

The judge who just ordered Josh Duggar's record to be destroyed was appointed by Mike Huckabee, .

Of course...

Boob and Huckabee probably have some kind of business contract to have each other's back in times of crisis. I honestly can't imagine any other reason Huckabee would be so stupid to align himself with them right now. Surely despite any personal connections he has to the Duggars, he has some advisers telling him what a mistake it is...