After the molestation scandal in which it was revealed in May that Josh Duggar had molested five females when he was a teen, many thought nothing else could further tarnish the Duggar family image. After the information was made public, he confessed that he had molested four of his sisters, including Jill and Jessa. But just three months later, the Ashley Madison scandal broke in which it was revealed that eldest son Josh had Ashley Madison accounts. He confessed to cheating on his wife and mother of his four children, Anna. He also confessed to having an addiction to pornography, according to People magazine.
Some sources are now saying that Jim Bob Duggar is to blame for the family’s woes. Unnamed sources state that Jim Bob’s militaristic parenting is to blame for their son not growing up like normal children, not having normal sexual discussions, and instead having normal urges strictly repressed. A Duggar family acquaintance indicated that Jim Bob rules with an iron hand and often tells his children that they cannot discuss sex. There is even a claim that he would not let his children listen to certain music and removed the batteries from certain music-playing toys, so that the children wouldn’t move their bodies a certain suggestive way. The source said the following, according to WebProNews.
“They don’t talk about sex. They don’t talk about sexuality.”
A source believes that Jim Bob’s approach made his children worse , not the pure souls he was trying to parent. A key idea in their fundamental Christianity is that sex and sexuality are forbidden topics in the home. The family source stated the following, according to People.
“Jim Bob’s favorite word is ‘no.’…He’s like a dictator. He once saw a guy kissing a girl before marriage and confronted him about it. And the guy said, ‘Jim Bob, show me that verse in the Bible that says we can’t kiss. Get out your Bible.’ And Jim Bob was like, ‘Uhhhh…’ because no one ever confronts Jim Bob. No one.”
Amazingly, they even have a key word that is meant to have men avoid lustful thoughts. In their 2014 advice book, called Growing Up Duggar , four of the daughters–including Jill and Jessa–dished that the word “Nike” was used to help the male Duggars avoid lustful thoughts when an attractive woman was in their vicinity. They stated the following.
“That’s a signal to the boys, and even to Dad, that they should nonchalantly drop their eyes and look down at their shoes as we walk past her.”
The Duggar family source said that the men respond in an almost robot-like manner, dropping their glance away from the potential woman they would lust after. The source stated the following.
“They say it, and all the boys look straight down to the floor every time. It’s like an automatic military thing. Things like that blow my mind.”
Do you think that the strict manner in which the Duggar children are raised creates problems later in life? Do you think that it had had any bearing on how Josh turned out as an adult? Please leave your comments below.
[Photo By Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images]