so i've been off the grid for a few weeks and come back to this and nothing on tidefans?
I see from media matters that Fox barely covered it but it's got to be out there everywhere else
Jim Bob Duggar was campaigning for Senate while saying "incest should be punishable by death" all while knowing his son had been molesting his daughters
Josh Duggar, the molester, has been running the lobbying arm of the Family Research Council, you know the group that tells us to be afraid of gays because they are pedophiles. I guess it's ok though, they were girls so at least he's not gay.
Mike Huckabee comes to their defense on facebook to be slammed by his own followers.
Now Hulu has pulled the show and TLC is dumping them too while advertisers run away as fast as they can.
so what does the tidefans crowd think?
I hadn't paid any attention to it at all, but I read this link, which is the
breaking of the story (basically).
1) For starters, one reason I doubt this falls under the typical pedophile is because Josh has NEVER DENIED this (as far as I can see). In typical cases, it's denial, denial, denial, and still denying while serving a prison sentence. Because of that and the fact it was when he was 14-16, I'm tempted to put it into the "youthful offender" category, along with the notion that perhaps it was a perverted part of growing up.
2) The Dad turned the kid into police - which hardly sounds like a cover-up to me. We're then told the "shocking" thing was that the Dad waited a year to turn him into police. The first time, Jim Bob (this has to be a nickname) was made aware by a girl. A few months later, THE SON CONFESSED it to the father, who disciplined his 14-year old. Then - after either a second or possibly THIRD offense (it's a bit unclear from reading).....the father got the police involved. I dare say very few of us would have done that just because of what it does to you publicly. He also informed the church, which may have been even more difficult than calling the cops.
Josh was curious about the opposite sex at about the age that happens. Not defending anything he did, but to hang the pedophile label on him seems a bit more legal terminology than moral judgment at some point. Now.....if it comes out that he did this as an ADULT or years later then that's another thing altogether (and it certainly would not surprise me).
What I find sort of amusing about this is the parallel response of some commenters (no reflection on anyone here). I don't know how many of you heard about this girl Paula Cooper, who committed suicide in recent days. She was a 16-year old sentenced to death for a murder she committed at 15. All I've been reading (and rightfully so) is about how it was so wrong for her to have been treated as an adult and endure that time on death row for a murder at 15. Fair enough.
Why the double standard for what Duggar did at 14, then? I've not heard one comment (I'm sure there have been some somewhere) say that Cooper's actions were typical of blacks, but it sure seems fine to slam the Duggars and those actions as typical of religious people then hiding behind the cloak of God.
It seems to me that holding BOTH these people to adult standards is probably ridiculous in the extreme.
And let me give you another example of this, the story yesterday with this title in the NY Daily News:
Arkansas state trooper first alerted to Josh Duggar molestation claims refutes Jim Bob’s version of events
Now I do find it funny that the same paper squeezed in Josh being a minor AFTER the words "accused of sexually abusing 5 girls" - nobody reads the ENTIRE headline when it's long and what do they see? Duggar as pedophile.
But look above. First, the trooper did NOT REFUTE Jim Bob (refuting means he
proved it to be wrong - but he didn't, he CONTRADICTED what Duggar said.
And secondly, I would note that for some reason the NY Daily News didn't put this headline:
"
Convicted Sex Offender Says Duggar Not Telling The Truth About Sexual Abuse"
Or you could put "child pornographer" or any other accurate epithet.
I'm not even saying they should have for the same reason - it's prejudicial to someone reading the headline. One gets the idea that at least in the case of the NY Daily News, they hold the Duggars in such contempt that they'll take any allegation from any source.
I've never seen the Duggars show and never will (just like I've never seen Duck Dynasty). I don't care. I have no dog in the hunt, but it appears to me that in light of him telling the truth (I've not yet heard a denial) and the Dad informing law enforcement and the church about an offense by his 14-year old, it's pretty hard for me to get overly worked up. The one thing I find a bit......over the top.......is the invoking of God as a cloak to prevent penetrating scrutiny. "Well, this happened long ago and God has forgiven it, etc." All true. Nor do I want my worst sins paraded before the world as if they are the norm for me because I did some things even at 19 I wish I could undo (and not to get self-centered, but it gets horrifically hard with my memory to ever wash it away - I condemn myself more than anyone else ever could).
I believe in a Christianity that concerns itself with both mercy (both within and without) AND judgment (particularly within). Do I think SOME of the venom comes from folks hating Duggar's religion? Yeah.
But so what? Make yourself a target and the reason why doesn't really matter.
