An elephant in the sanctuary: Duggar family?

[righteousdude2]

How should the church be handling the Duggar family scandal, especially Josh and the actions of his parents in the handling of the acts of molestation?

Should the church circle the wagons around this family and Josh; or, should the church divorce itself from them for their sins? In other words, should the church do what it's been accused of doing in the past with those who fall and repent and get back with living for God ... and that is "kill their wounded?"

Their is an elephant in the sanctuary, and what will the true, forgiving church do? :type:

 

[matt wade]

What church?

 

[annsni]

I believe our response should be:

* What Josh did was wrong. I do not believe he is a pedophile but he was a bit of a screwed up kid with some screwed up teaching. He DID admit to doing what he did and I do believe he repented of it.

* What Josh's parents did was very wrong. No, I don't believe they should have run to have Josh arrested but I do believe that the second and subsequent times should have never happened. Sending him to a friend to do a lot of manual labor was good but where was his good solid Biblical counseling by a licensed professional? How about for the girls as well? Where were the protections put into place to not allow Josh to do this to the girls again?

* I believe that the church should have stepped up and gone more professional and protective with this and I do wonder if they were a mandatory reporter in this case.

I really believe, had this all been handled properly, it still would have come out eventually but it never would have escalated the way it has because there would be pretty much nothing for the news media and "world" to hang on.

As for our response now? I believe it is right to say what happened was wrong and it was wrongly handled but it has been repented of and now instead of pointing fingers, we can say "What can we do differently to handle this better in our own families/churches? What resources do we have in place for something like this if were to happen in our own church?"

 

[Calypsis4]

Notice that both the Duggars AND the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas are very much hated by the left wing, liberal, pro-gay, same-sex, LGBT crowd. That group of hateful individuals doesn't care if Christians are hypocrites with a bad attitude or nice Christians with a decent, loving attitude. They hate anything that smacks of biblical Christianity.

But if I were asked which one I think better represents our Lord Jesus Christ, the Duggars get the vote. No question about it. They aren't perfect but they are pretty good people.

 

[Revmitchell]

The Westboro folks are neither Baptist nor Christian. The Duggars do not belong in the same conversation with them.

 

[Thousand Hills]

What church?

I may be wrong but I was thinking they worshiped together at home or possibly with another family. Not sure that they are under the authority of a local church?

 

[matt wade]

I may be wrong but I was thinking they worshiped together at home or possibly with another family. Not sure that they are under the authority of a local church?

What's what I'm asking. The Dude is acting like there is some world wide church that should or should not be taking some action. I'm looking to clarify that.

 

[Salty]

I did find this link which included this statment:
While it might be easy to assume that the Duggars go to one of those huge Southern megachurches, they actually attend the exact opposite. According to a blog from a woman who claims to attend the same services as the Duggar family, they meet in a small, nondescript storefront every week.

and one more link with some interesing info:

 

[Zaac]

I believe our response should be:

* What Josh did was wrong. I do not believe he is a pedophile but he was a bit of a screwed up kid with some screwed up teaching. He DID admit to doing what he did and I do believe he repented of it.

I believe Josh should have been removed from the home immediately and the parents questioned. The behavior came from somewhere.

And as he and his family have set a pattern for deception, I see no reason to believe any story that they tell.

They had 10 kids at the time and went on to have another 9 with him in the house. They never asked for the show to be halted in the midst of this. Instead they kept putting their kids on display for money.

I can't imagine what those girls were going through while still having to smile for the cameras.

* What Josh's parents did was very wrong. No, I don't believe they should have run to have Josh arrested but I do believe that the second and subsequent times should have never happened. Sending him to a friend to do a lot of manual labor was good but where was his good solid Biblical counseling by a licensed professional? How about for the girls as well? Where were the protections put into place to not allow Josh to do this to the girls again?

I don't trust anything they say.

* I believe that the church should have stepped up and gone more professional and protective with this and I do wonder if they were a mandatory reporter in this case.

I don't believe the church can step up to what it doesn't have the full details about. These folks were trying to stay on tv. They weren't telling everything to the people who could help.

I really believe, had this all been handled properly, it still would have come out eventually but it never would have escalated the way it has because there would be pretty much nothing for the news media and "world" to hang on.

Perhaps. But they now look like money-loving opportunists who didn't give a rat's patooky about the welfare of their daughters.

As for our response now? I believe it is right to say what happened was wrong and it was wrongly handled but it has been repented of and now instead of pointing fingers, we can say "What can we do differently to handle this better in our own families/churches? What resources do we have in place for something like this if were to happen in our own church?"

Molest your sisters, and you get to repent and all is well.

Sell some cigarellos, and the cops might just choke you out of the world.

 

[Thousand Hills]

From the blog link that Salty posted....

Who do we think might really enjoy this church?

If you believe that children are a blessing and trust God with your fertility, this is for you.
If you homeschool and believe it is God ordered to do so, this is for you.
If you are serious about raising children who love the Lord, this is for you.
If you believe in dressing modestly, this is for you.
If your family is your first ministry in life, this is for you.
If you are a dad who has given up career goals for your precious family, this is for you.
If you want a simple church that is not like the worldly churches of today, this is for you.

Who do we think would not really "enjoy" this church?

...those who believe children should be entertained by teachers instead of staying with their parents in church.
...those who do not see children as a blessing. (Seriously, please don't go if you don't like children....we had one horribly hateful experience with a woman like this and it really hurt our youngest child.)
... those who just want to go to stare at the Duggars! (1. That's rude. 2. They are absent a lot during filming season.)
...those who want fancy churches, business connections, or even comfortable seats!
...those who have a worldly family only out to gain what the world offers.
... those who are not serious about raising a family that follows Christ in ALL things.

Two that stood out:
If your family is your first ministry in life, this is for you.
If you are a dad who has given up career goals for your precious family, this is for you.

Do Jim Bob and Michelle fit this criteria? Is their fame and the money that came with it more important than their "quiverfull"?

 

[matt wade]

I believe Josh should have been removed from the home immediately and the parents questioned. The behavior came from somewhere.

And as he and his family have set a pattern for deception, I see no reason to believe any story that they tell.

They had 10 kids at the time and went on to have another 9 with him in the house. They never asked for the show to be halted in the midst of this. Instead they kept putting their kids on display for money.

I can't imagine what those girls were going through while still having to smile for the cameras.



I don't trust anything they say.



I don't believe the church can step up to what it doesn't have the full details about. These folks were trying to stay on tv. They weren't telling everything to the people who could help.



Perhaps. But they now look like money-loving opportunists who didn't give a rat's patooky about the welfare of their daughters.


Molest your sisters, and you get to repent and all is well.

Sell some cigarellos, and the cops might just choke you out of the world.

You realize the molestation took place in 2002-2003 and they weren't on TV until 2008, right?

 

[Zaac]

Do Jim Bob and Michelle fit this criteria? Is their fame and the money that came with it more important than their "quiverfull"?

Sure does appear that way to me. Again, they had 9 more kids and never stopped the show to really deal with this. It's sickening.

 

[Thousand Hills]

You realize the molestation took place in 2002-2003 and they weren't on TV until 2008, right?

Regardless, they should have known that as their popularity grew it would come out at some point. If they didn't want it to come out they should have slowed down some and faded into obscurity, or if their fame is really supposed to be about their values they should have revealed it themselves and used the situation to somehow help others. All it looks like now is that they are doing damage support to keep their popularity.

 

[Zaac]

You realize the molestation took place in 2002-2003 and they weren't on TV until 2008, right?

I do realize when the tv show took place. I also realize that I don't trust a word of what they are saying and that he may have molested long past this time.

As a result of their desire for that fame and fortune, their daughters now have to go through the shame and humiliation gain when mom and dad could have just chosen to keep the family out of the limelight and dealt with this as a private family.

 

[Zaac]

Regardless, they should have known that as their popularity grew it would come out at some point. If they didn't want it to come out they should have slowed down some and faded into obscurity, or if their fame is really supposed to be about their values they should have revealed it themselves and used the situation to somehow help others. All it looks like now is that they are doing damage support to keep their popularity.

100% correct.:applause:

 

[annsni]

I believe Josh should have been removed from the home immediately and the parents questioned. The behavior came from somewhere.

And as he and his family have set a pattern for deception, I see no reason to believe any story that they tell.

They had 10 kids at the time and went on to have another 9 with him in the house. They never asked for the show to be halted in the midst of this. Instead they kept putting their kids on display for money.

I can't imagine what those girls were going through while still having to smile for the cameras.



I don't trust anything they say.



I don't believe the church can step up to what it doesn't have the full details about. These folks were trying to stay on tv. They weren't telling everything to the people who could help.



Perhaps. But they now look like money-loving opportunists who didn't give a rat's patooky about the welfare of their daughters.



Molest your sisters, and you get to repent and all is well.

Sell some cigarellos, and the cops might just choke you out of the world.

All of this happened years before they were on TV.

 

[Van]

Clearly the mass media controls the topics of our minds. Clearly these people have fallen short. Lets stone them. Who will cast the first stone.

 

[Zaac]

All of this happened years before they were on TV.

Yet they still sought the notoriety that would expose their daughters and their family to this scrutiny.

A staffer at the Oprah show got wind of this in 2006 and canceled the family's appearance. The show started in 2008. So why set your daughters up for this instead of just letting it be something with which the family privately deals?

The love of money.

 

[Zaac]

Clearly the mass media controls the topics of our minds. Clearly these people have fallen short. Lets stone them. Who will cast the first stone.

Nobody is saying stone them. I just don't think they have the credibility at this point to warrant believing their version of anything.

 

[Van]

Hi Zaac, in the digital age we cast "stones" by posting aspersions.