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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWho's Defending the Duggers Girls - The Real VICTIMS!
This post will be a LONG READ, and I'll try to limit my commentary.
It is disappointing to read some (a very small amount of folks) on DU question why folks are discussing Duggargate. These folks have wrote in just, "There is a Piling On" occurring and so on and so forth.
However, as questions rightfully are raised about who knew what when in the Duggar household, more than a moment of reflection needs to focus on the ACTUAL VICTIMS. Four of Josh's Sisters are those victims.
Jim Bob, Michelle and yes Josh are not in anyway more important than the YOUNG FEMALE VICTIMS who were taught by their "parents" all Men are the head of the household and to OBEY them.
Yes, OBEY which means if Jim Bob refused (which it is likely he did) to allow these VICTIMS who were his Daughters to have Counseling, Michelle Obeyed -- covered up this SICK PERVERTED behavior for not only her "Husband" but for Josh, the TLC Royalties, a new house (Built by TLC), fame and publicly. All of this at the expense of ignoring the VICTIMS -- Jim Bob and Michelle's Daughters - who were taught to OBEY, SHUT UP and SMILE.
These folks have no defense, period and should be charged with multiple crimes. Furthermore, I believe more than inappropriate touching likely occurred in the Duggar household and time will reveal the rest of this SICK story.
Meanwhile, the report from Gawker is damning -- to say the least:
"According to the police report released by InTouch, Joshs father Jim Bob (referred to in the report as James) first learned of Joshs behavior in March 2002, when one victim approached Jim Bob and said that Josh touched her breasts and genitals while she slept.
Jim Bob appears not to have acted on the accusation. In July 2002, Josh, then 14 years old, admitted to the behavior to his father, prompting Jim Bob to discipline Josh but not report the incident to the authorities.
In March 2003, according to the report, Josh fondled a victim while he read a book to her. Jim Bob was made aware of this and several more accusationsvictims accused Josh of touching their breasts and genitals while they slept, and sometimes while they were awake.
The police report suggests that four of Joshs sisters were victims. In 2002, there were five sisters living in the Duggar house: Jana, then 12; Jill, 11; Jessa, 10; Jinger, 9; and Joy-Anna, 5.
In March 2003, Jim Bob met with church elders to discuss Joshs behavior, and they decided Josh needed to enter a treatment program. He was sent to a Christian program consisting of hard physical work and counseling from March 2003 to July 2003. Joshs mother Michelle later admitted to police that Josh did not see a counselor, and was instead sent to a family friend who was in the home remodeling business in Little Rock, Arkansas.
When Josh returned home in July 2003, his father and church elders took him to a state trooper to confess what hed done. The trooper, Cpl. Hutchins, gave Josh a very stern talk but did not charge him with any crimes.
InTouch reports that Hutchins was later arrested on child pornography charges and is currently serving 56 years in prison.
Most of the rest of the world was first introduced to the Duggar family on September 6, 2005 with the one-hour Discovery Health special, 14 Children and Pregnant Again! The show followed the family as they prepared for their 15th child, Jackson, and paved the way for many similar specials, and, ultimately, 19 Kids and Counting on TLC.
According to the police report and InTouch, a Duggar family appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2006 was cancelled after a 61-year-old woman emailed Harpo Studios to warn producers about Joshs sexual misconduct. Harpo Studios forwarded the information to the Department of Human Services hotline, which trigged an investigation by the Springdale Police Department.
Its not clear who tipped Oprah off and how she knew about Joshs misconduct, but Jim Bob and Michelle told police that when Josh was accused of molesting his sisters, a family friend wrote down the accusations in a letter that was then placed in a book in the Duggars home. Sometime during 2006, the Duggars loaned the book to another person and the letter was discovered.
Throughout the Springdale Police Departments investigation, three more Duggar specials aired on Discovery Health in 2006: Raising 16 Children on March 13, 16 Children and Moving In on March 15, and On the Road with 16 Children on June 11.
In December 2006, Springdale police interviewed the Duggars about Joshs behavior. Jim Bob would not produce Josh for questioningper InTouch, when police asked Jim Bob to bring Josh in for an interview in 2006, he attempted to hire a lawyer and refused to produce his son for questioning. At least two lawyers refused to take his case.
Police ultimately did not file charges against Josh because the three-year statute of limitations had run out.
2007: Duggar message boards reveal Joshs sexual abuse
Though Jim Bob and Michelle decidedly hid Joshs misconduct from the press and protected him from arrest, the secret had gotten out. They told police in 2006 that several members of their church were aware of the situation and had been supportive of the family.
In May 2007, the allegations surfaced online in a comment on a blog about the Duggars. Commenter Alicewho has since been referred to on various Duggar message boards as the originator of the rumorwrote (emphasis added):Let me tell you something about the precious Duggars that you dont know. ... In January, the whole family went to Chicago and taped Oprah Winfrey show. Oprah wined and dined them for one week. You know that had to cost some pretty pennies. As you may have noticed, that show never aired and it never will. Oprah was informed that Josh, the oldest son, had been molesting his sisters. Yes, this is the truth. Oprah turned them over to the Arkansas State Police Child Protection Agency and the Washington County Child Protection Agency.
They have been investigated to some length. Jim Bob Duggar told the producers of the show that he built a small church out back for his followers. HIS FOLLOWERS. GET REAL. THE MAN IS A FRAUD. In April, they were in court with their story. They have to report to Arkansas Department of Human Services every six months..
They have lied and lied about their son to protect him at their daughters expense.
For some unknown reason the boy is still in the home with the girls. God only know if this is still going on. In my eyes he is a CHILD MOLESTOR. HE SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM THE HOME. What kind of parents cover up for one child and hurt the others. I do not believe that this is what God has in mind for them. Frauding the American people and taking their money and living off of it.They did not build their home by themselves. They hired it done. TheDiscovery Health Channel and the TLC channel wrote them a check for over $200,000. for the to build the house. Everything inside the house was given to them except the kitchen. They did buy that themselves. The rest is all free. ...
Alice added, Gods honest truth that the molestation happened. It happened to four of his 5 sisters. The oldest daughter was not touched. The second daughter is the one who caught him doing this. There was no rape involved, but molested. I could go into detail, but I wont. Of course, you can find nothing about the charges. The Duggars want to keep this hid. Wouldnt you?
Read More: http://defamer.gawker.com/the-web-has-known-about-josh-duggar-for-years-when-did-1706258269?utm_campaign=socialflow_gawker_twitter&utm_source=gawker_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow
There is NO DEFENDING this FAMILY and this is a story which should indeed be talked about!
hollysmom
(5,946 posts)to serve men, In exchange the men will protect them unless they want to abuse and use them, thebn, well, it is their fault for being women, they deserve it, even if they are 8 years old. Women don't get a proper education or any independence, can't have a job without the husbands permission. and they really shouldn't speak out unless they want to tear down other women.
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)LovingA2andMI
(7,006 posts)Not good at all and rather SICK behavior!
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)to be okay with the police and even though it was perhaps mostly in the family but there was violations and there are victims. I don't know how the parents of these girls did a cover job in favor of one child over victims. Thanks for your post.
hollysmom
(5,946 posts)Look, I came from a catholic upbringing and my parents loved me. But when it came to college, I had to pay for it myself because my parents would need money to send my brothers to college. They were younger than me. Now my mother would slip me a 5 every couple of weeks so I could eat on weekends if I was not out on a date, but tuition was scholarship, room and board and books and fees and clothing and transportation et al, they were all what I earned in the summer after I paid my parents room and board.
basically, in most of America, only the boys counted.
LovingA2andMI
(7,006 posts)Things like this really get under my skin!
I was a victim of a prior boyfriend of my Mother's. My Mom did not know this man was like this. After going to his home, he asked me to "braid his hair" and then proceed to touch me in the wrong way. I was eight years old.
Lucky I was able to get away by aiming my knee toward a sensitive part of the molester's body, and ran as fast as I could towards my Grandparents Town Home. After immediately telling my Grandpa -who called my Mother- he went upstairs, grabbed his shotgun and headed outside toward to molesters home.
Then, my Mom who was not far away arrived to my Grandpa holding a gun to the molesters face. Police were called by neighbors, he was arrested and moved from the complex shortly there after.
If I did not have the wherewithal to kick my knee at a certain part, more would have happened. I'm sure of it. This is why I firmly believe, more than what we know now have occurred in the Duggar home.
Thirty plus years removed from this incident, I have NEVER forgot about it and likely the Young Duggar Girls who were victims of Josh, have not either.
LovingA2andMI
(7,006 posts)The Church. This is important as Jim Bob used the excuse of his first and second home was a "Church" to avoid taxes. As most folks know, churches are normally 501.c.3's and as a result are not liable for State or Federal Taxes.
Another important fact about "The Church".
The primary members of "The Church" were the Duggar Family. Another family from my memory of watching the Discovery Channel Specials back in 2006 - occasionally "visiting" the Church last name was Holt. The Holt's have a Daughter and it is suspected she is one of Josh's other victims.
Not only was Jim Bob the YOUNG VICTIMS Father, Head of the Household BUT -- he was also their Preacher. Let that sink into the brain for a minute...
Jim Bob and of Course Michelle pounded into these YOUNG VICTIMS head to Obey God, Obey their "Parents", Obey Men in general, Obey the leader of the Church -- who happened to be their FATHER.
How likely is it that the YOUNG VICTIMS were awake during some of these SICK, PERVERTED incidents. According to the Gawker report, one and more the likely many more of Josh's molestation's of his Sister's occurred while he was supposedly "reading the girl a book".
What was the book?
Remember, the type of Books in the Duggar Household besides the Bible, where the teachings of the Quiverful Movement and basic educational publications while Michelle claimed she was "Home-Schooling" the kids. Even those books had to be approved by Jim Bob and the Quiverful so called religious "movement".
It should not be hard at all to guess more than what has been revealed by a FOIA Request from In-Touch Magazine, likely occurred in the Duggar household. Yet, another question to be determined is -- has Josh continued his molesting behavior of the "past" on other daughters in the Duggar home, or worst -- female children in Josh and Anna's home.
REMEMBER -- Josh and Anna have lived in primarily in Washington, D.C. since he was hired (but now Fired) by the Family Research Council. Far away from Arkansas, out of the eye of folks fully knowing about this questionable past and with a Wife willing to OBEY him as the Quiverful Movement, demands.
cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)If this "Alice" person knew the details (and it sure seems like she did, and yes, this has been widely rumored for years) then the four of the five sisters at the time who were abused were ages 5-11, and the 12 year old was not.
I'm going to repeat that for emphasis: FIVE. NINE. TEN. And ELEVEN.
Which means he wasn't engaged in some weird sheltered doctor playing, he was specifically targeting the girls who weren't yet pubescent.
That's some sick shit, and that's the kind of sick shit that actual professionals (and not bible camp and a few months of construction work) can't fix.
And his own daughter is five.
LovingA2andMI
(7,006 posts)Josh and Anna's first born Daughter, is Five Years old.... I just can't think, no change that we must think about how covering up for Josh's Molestation of his Sister's - has seeded a pattern of "covering-up" in the Duggar family and maybe in Josh and Anna's Washington, D.C. based home.
6000eliot
(5,643 posts)A guy who until two days ago made his living spreading hateful lies about LGBT people.
LovingA2andMI
(7,006 posts)Which is a twist way of defending the indefensible.
I know DU is Non-Religious for the most part, and I respect that. However, in this case a quote is most appropriate:
"Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O manyou who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourselfthat you will escape the judgment of God?" -- Romans 2:1-3.
The Duggars fit this quote hook, line and sinker!
6000eliot
(5,643 posts)LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)And when she's on the right side of any issue it'll be the first time.
At least she's predictable.
Triana
(22,666 posts)pa28
(6,145 posts)Or no thought at all.
pnwmom
(108,975 posts)because it justified their hatred of the parents.
I think all the children in that family, boys and girls, have suffered, albeit in different ways. This isn't to excuse what Josh did to his sisters. But all of them have grown up in the same sick family system
It is the adults we should be focused on -- the Duggars and all the other adults tied to them.
cali
(114,904 posts)DUers behaving "almost gleefully" about what happened to these girls. And, sorry, but Josh doesn't get a pass because he grew up in the same sick family system.
LovingA2andMI
(7,006 posts)Receives no pass. There are 14 year old children sentenced as Adults in our Criminal Justice System in America. Yet, it is amazing Josh is suppose to "get a pass" for molesting his Sister's at 14. Not here.
polly7
(20,582 posts)And no, it's the girls that need to be focused on. Sexual assault and molestation is something that never, ever leaves you and these girls have the added horror of parents that didn't protect them, didn't notice anything wrong and allowed their molester to be back living with them.
How do you think they see their own self-worth when not even their own parents made sure they were alright, instead choosing to keep filming as though nothing was wrong. They needed professional counseling and to be far away from him.
As brainwashed as they all are and taught to believe God has a reason for everything and to forgive will make it all be ok .... they had to have suffered badly at the hands of their own brother. It would be hard for an adult to reconcile what they endured, let alone a child.
Of course the adults need to be focused on too, but people here seem to have much sympathy for these girls and anger at how they were abused.
And, Josh didn't suffer. He was sent to a family friend's for a couple of months to help build a house. He married, got a good paying job and had children. Doesn't look to me like he suffered at all, until he was forced to apologize in public once he absolutely had to all these years later. His apology focused on himself and how he knew he had to change in order to make his life better. Not much at all about his victims.
justiceischeap
(14,040 posts)I'm pretty much over being molested. I have trust issues with males I don't know and I haven't had a relationship in over 10 years but, yeah, I'm pretty much over it (that's a bit of tongue and cheek, there). I also get irrationally crazed when I read or hear people say, "But he was a kid too!" My abuser started grooming me when I was about 5, which would have made him 11. I don't recall exactly when the first sexual contact took place but I know it ended when I was 12 and he was 18.
However, my deepest scar (once I got over the whole blaming myself thing) is when I finally got the courage to tell my parents about it happening at the age of 18. My abuser was going to come for a visit and I wasn't comfortable being in the same house with him. Unfortunately, my parents didn't believe me. For the life of me I can't figure out why I'd lie about it but I ended up staying elsewhere while he visited because they wouldn't ask him to stay at a hotel and I didn't feel safe staying in the same house with him.
This has damaged my relationship with my parents because of this, especially after my abuser was arrested and found guilty of molesting his step-daughters (which is when they finally believed what I told them--I was in my 30s by then, so how many children had he molested in the meantime?). I'm in my early 40's now and I don't talk with my parents often because they should have protected me when I told them and they didn't. My way of handling things may not be the healthiest but it keeps me sane, so that's all that matters.
These girls may not be manifesting any signs of what happened to them now but they could easily show up in their romantic relationships later on. They may not even realize that their issues are related to what happened to them, especially if they've been taught that the molestation was their fault in some way. Meanwhile, Josh Duggar gets lauded by some for his "courage" to come forward and admit his "mistakes." I've always thought of a mistake as something that happened once, not repeatedly. The attitude is sickeningly reminiscent of the old "Boys will be boys" adage. No, not all boys look at their 4 year sister and think, "Yeah, she's a good target of my sexual lust" and then act out on it. That's not a mistake, that's a behavior.
Solly Mack
(90,762 posts)polly7
(20,582 posts)I can't imagine having your parents not believe you. Well, actually I can imagine it from my mom, but my dad would have gone nuts.
I was never actually sexually assaulted as a child (I was raped as an adult) but had two men we 'called' uncles who tried to fondle me - one even in the back seat of the car with my dad driving. If I had told my dad he would have stopped the car and probably killed him. I was more worried about not causing sadness or trouble for my dad and just kept shoving his hands off. Then, being followed everywhere I went for about three years by a boy in town who would pleasure himself where I could see. I didn't tell my dad that for the same reason, plus, the boy never touched me. And another time my older sister's friend asked me if I wanted to go for a motorbike ride, I think I was about 11, and I said yes!!! - he stopped way out in the sticks and pushed me on the ground. I fought him back and he must have had second thoughts, because right away he let me go to run all the way back home. I never told anyone that either.
(I think the desire to protect my dad from any sort of trouble stemmed from watching my authoritarian, mean! (very abusive towards some of us verbally, physically and emotionally) mother treat him like crap at home so often. He was my hero and I was his shadow, lol.)
Your way of handling your experience is yours, and no one can tell you that you handled it wrong. I'm so, so sorry ... it must have been horrific.
Yes, my main concern is with these girls. I think this is really going to hurt them in many ways probably for the rest of their lives because I doubt the 'counseling' they got was professional or probably helpful at all. It really pisses me off that they had no protection from him and had to probably wash his clothes, make his meals and look at his nasty mug until he left home.
KingCharlemagne
(7,908 posts)shine through here.
justiceischeap
(14,040 posts)One of the things I learned long ago was talking about what happened, without shame, freed me in many ways. If I allowed the shame to eat at me, then my abuser still had a hold on me. I also refuse to accept his apology. That's all about making him feel better, not me and I don't want him to feel better about what he did.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)of others.
It is always fantastic when the truth about anti gay bigots and moral frauds comes to light, even better when the entire global network of religious figures who denigrate LGBT people to cover up their own crimes is so quickly displayed for all to see.
Josh worked for FRC, headed by Tony Perkins, who was invited by the Vatican to attend their anti marriage equality conference in November, Francis was the keynote speaker and all the anti gay folks flocked together.
They were all so proud when they gathered in Rome. RCC, FRC, NOM, LDS, SBC....they were united.
Igel
(35,296 posts)Something that happened over a decade ago?
From the failure of society to tell everybody that they were molested? (Hey, I know if I were molested I'd be telling everybody as many embarrassing, humiliating details as possible. And really appreciate it if others went around getting outraged or horny as they related the details I left out.)
I wonder if they'd want their brother prosecuted at this point. Some people value repentance and forgiveness as a Xian virtue. (Surely nobody that's really a Xian. I mean, Jesus went around helping the poor. But forgiveness played no part in anything he said or did, and at no point did he think anybody could or should change. That's so ... uh ... Squirrel!)
What this guy did was wrong. Sentencing a 14-year-old to jail as a felon is probably a bit harsh. (But here we're in the twilight zone: for some things, a 12 or 13-year-old is capable of making adult decisions, but 17-year-olds need to be protected from zero-tolerance regs.)
The problem is nobody liked the Duggars or their defenders/backers/supporters/fellow-travellers to begin with. The girls are tools to be exploited for political points. The guy--now in his mid-late 20s--is also a tool to be exploited for political points.
Otherwise the focus would be on the victims. And the first thing that the magazine that broke the story would have done, if not after readership, money, and prestige, is ask the girls if they wanted their privacy violated. (And then probably said, "Ah, false consciousness, we know what they want better than those poor, weak, pathetic, duped creatures ever could."
I put all of this under the category of politically expedient gossip or using others without their permission to further personal goals. Neither strikes me as particularly virtuous.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)I do not agree with this thinking which says religious people are allowed to spew invective at others but when religious people are found to be moral frauds they must not be criticized.
Sweet Freedom
(3,995 posts)regular, unknown American family, CPS would be launching an investigation into Josh and his enabling parents and would remove the kids from both households as a precaution.
LovingA2andMI
(7,006 posts)Thank you for saying this.
In_The_Wind
(72,300 posts)Jamastiene
(38,187 posts)uber religious. I know down here in my area of NC, nothing gets done to preachers who are known to molest children until they absolutely mess with the wrong parents' kids. Usually, they have to molest kids that belong to a more powerful family to ever get that kind of action. The rest are on our own. It is usually covered up and the girls are sent to "therapy" to teach them not to "tell lies" about good Christian men like that. Never mind that they are telling the truth. The girls get punished and the men get away with it.
The running "joke" I have heard people tell (it is NOT funny, but people tell it a lot) wouldn't exist if that wasn't true: How do you find a 10 year old virgin in the Bible Belt? You find a 10 year old girl who can outrun her preacher, her teachers, her cousins, her brothers, her uncles, AND her father.
Like I said, it's not funny, but there is a basis of truth to that "joke."
libdem4life
(13,877 posts)Maybe the title could be Mea Culpa or something like that with tears splashing the title page.
Edit: Surely his "Church" will no longer be tax deductible...so they'll have to pay taxes now on whatever they earn.
Boomer
(4,168 posts)It's pretty obvious that their concern for children was lip-service. It was just an excuse for their own hate-mongering.
lostnfound
(16,171 posts)So did the girls.
I hope they break free of the cult. I will be interesting to see as the the family gets older that surely some of them will break free and become their own people, questioning the patriarchal bullshit that they've been taught.
Thirteen year olds are irrational basket cases and he had just turned 14 that month. His father raised him to think 1) he was entitled as a male, and 2) that all sexual urges are supposed to be repressed. Repress what is natural, and sometimes it comes out in unnatural ways. I'm assuming that he didn't rape them (no penetration); and that the girls were ages 9-12 at the time; there were no details on whether they were clothed and whether he groped them suddenly through their pajamas or something more. Siblings close in age often try to torment each other; a wicked childhood classmate (age 13 or so) of mine used to put her sleeping little brother's hand (age 9 or 10) in cold water to make him pee in his sleep when she had friends over, humiliating him in the process in front of her friends. More than once. She probably chalked it up as a prank but there was some kind of sexual element to that.
The Duggars are not much different than a Jim Jones cult in terms of how I'd assign blame to children for their actions. The father Jim Bob is a bigoted selfish egomaniacal ideologue, and his wife is an irresponsible enabler. They cut their kids off from outside cultural influences and brainwash them in weird ways.
But the fact that Josh is now an adult carrying on the family tradition of bigotry, I think it is good that he has to face the consequences of his own hypocrisy.
diabeticman
(3,121 posts)My wife read your post. She cried, she suffered a sexual assult as a teenager and she loved your words.
She said everyone does forget that fact. The girls are the real victims who are no doubt suffering.
Her friend who is a big Duggar fan figured out it was Joy-Anna before her name was mentioned.
Her --now ex-friend --- is actually defending Josh Duggar and the family.
My wife went off and basically said:
First fans are complaining that Jana isn't married yet--Would you want to marry especially someone with your family's derange religious views. She is probably very untrusting of men right now.
second of all her ex friend was up in arms because Jessa married a man younger than she is. My wife-- Oh yes, a man should be older than the woman so he can control her and she know her place---Knowing your older brother did what he did to you and knowing the type of respect that family demands all women to show men in that family are you really going to want to be put in your place any longer?
Third--her friend complained how Joy-Anna never seemed to get much time on the show. my wife-- she probably embarrassed and angry and even scared. Not very many people are good enough actors to pretend everything is so great in a house of horrors.
I apologized yesterday because I didn't have all the fact that were still developing and I think I owe another apology to the real victims. For not being sensitive enough to stop getting wrapped up in all the headlines and not thinking of the young girls sooner.
My wife doesn't speak much about her experience ( she had been kidnapped and assaulted by a stranger.) BUT she gave me she understand of what those girls probably still feel the guilt and the mis-trust and the fear they may still experience in one form or another.
LovingA2andMI
(7,006 posts)And your Wife is right on point on all aspects.
Jamastiene
(38,187 posts)got no justice at all. The victims get no justice in this case, not one bit. Being angry about that is not piling on. It is actually caring about the victims.
CoffeeCat
(24,411 posts)Two of the Duggar girls, Jessa and Jill took to social media yesterday, to post selfies. They were all smiles amid this disaster.
This alone, caused me to stop reading about this sick family, and here is why.
A woman had been posting on message boards for years about Josh. I am assuming this was the mother of the girl who was molested by Josh. She described in detail, what Josh had done and that the family was covering up. She also said the 12-year old girl in the home was not molested, but the other 4 were. This matches with the police report that details 4 Duggar girls being molested.
Jessa and Jill (the one who posted on social media) would have been 11 and 10 at the time and living in the home. It's highly likely they were victims, as was Jinger and Joy, ages 9 and 5, respectively.
And they're on social media, smiling for the cameras--once again.
These girls never received counseling or help. They were never allowed to feel. They were never allowed to heal. They were forced to do what they're doing now--smile for the cameras and hide the pain. The molestations went on for a year--after Jim Bob knew these assaults were happening. God only knows how long it had been happening. Also, Josh was allowed to remain in the house with those girls. Without any therapy or help.
It's just so sick. These girls are in denial. Most likely, they will be for the rest of their lives. As unhealed victims who haven't processed their own emotions, they are at risk for marrying an abusive man and becoming a silent codependent like their mother was. Their children are at risk too.
It's a very sad, sick cycle. I've lived it. I was the only one in my family who escaped the madness and it took ten years of therapy to undo the damage. And I didn't have the pressures of a television show to further entrench my denial--and the world watching this process.
I hope that someone in this family can escape the mental cruelty and abuse that this sick, twisted family has inflicted on them. The odds are not good though. Denial in these cases is very tough to crack. Denial is a gift though--it keeps you from falling apart until you can handle it.
Lighting a candle for each of them is a good idea. They are going to need a million candles to light their way out of this darkness.
http://perezhilton.com/2015-05-22-jessa-duggar-jill-duggar-ignore-josh-duggar-scandal#.VWDOG0tg0R8
LovingA2andMI
(7,006 posts)What if Jill or Jessa, or a combination of both - were the ones who "outed" Josh incestuous behavior publicly?
Remember both Jill and Jessa are married to Men outside the Duggar Cult. Jessa Husband Derrick in particular was not raised in the Quiverful Movement at all. What if now that Jessa is pregnant and Jill - who just had her first child recently - had to fess up the family secret to their Husbands.
Any right thinking Husband would NOT want Josh Duggar around their children. Especially, if those children at anytime could be in the custody of Jim Bob and Michelle -- who covered up Josh's molestation.
Just me, but -- I believe there was plenty more behind the "selfie" that meets the eye. Furthermore, it was JILL who initially outed Josh to Jim Bob back 12 years old when she walked in on Josh molesting one of the younger sisters - according to the Police Report.