According to the news, the former star on the TLC family show "19 Kids and Counting" is guilty of downloading and possessing child pornography (APnews-9 Dec 2021). The show was canelled in 2015 when it became public that he molested four of his sisters and a baby sitter.
Kate Shellnutt of CT included quotes worth reading to think about this crime in the context of Christian communities.
“For everyone who was abused within their households or in their religious communities where nothing was done, where the male was given a second chance, where there was some excuse or minimization used, seeing Josh Duggar go to prison gives them some vindication or maybe some hope that the right result can happen,” said Boz Tchividjian, a sexual abuse attorney and advocate who founded GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment).
“But the right result happened not because the faith community, not the family, or even the church, rose up and said, ‘Absolutely not. We cannot tolerate this type of crime.’”
See Christianity Today Dec 9 2021 for more.
Shellnutt quotes Sheila Wray Gregoire's response. Sheila talks and writes about sex. "I'm glad that the guilty verdict came down," she wrote on Dec 9. Sheila points to Tamar in scripture and recent evangelical celebs to make a point about cover up in the evangelical churches. She believes in the causal connection to a belief: "All men struggle with lust; it's every man's battle."
As support for her assertion, she quotes the widely popular author Gary Thomas and his reference to ethicist, Al Mohler comment: "there isn't a man alive who isn't bent in his sexual desires."
I like to see data. Gregoire includes some data from a survey. Check out her summary.
In our survey of 3,000 Christian men, we found that evangelical men were 81% more likely to believe “lust is every man’s battle” in high school than other Christians who don’t identify as evangelicals, and 46% more likely to believe it now than other Christian men.
Our survey of 20,000 women found something even more stark. Evangelical women are 85% more likely to believe “lust is every man’s battle” than non-evangelical Christians. And the more women attended church (both in high school and currently) the more likely they were to agree with the every man’s battle message.
ET online quotes Jill Duggar's family response.
People adds the story of Jinger (Duggar) Vuolo.
The Daily Mail quotes cousin Amy "Thank you Jesus. Justice has been served."
Beyond the Headlines
The sexual abuse of children is disgusting. I wish Gregoire's beliefs about causal beliefs were sufficient to guide churches and communities in what to do about sexual abuse. Unfortunately, those of us who have been clinicians have seen many people who have been abused and are aware of perpetrators who have not been convicted.
I have no reason to criticize Gregoire's work. I hope she helps millions of people. I would like to add that the Duggar story is about the sexual abuse of children--not the sexual abuse of adult women. I like her ideas (read them) but there are important differences when thinking about children and adults.
1. Christians must take the Duggar story seriously-- Here, I agree with Gregoire. There's no need for a witch hunt. There is a need to recognize the seriousness of child sexual abuse and to report allegations to local authorities.
2. Covering up sexual abuse does not protect the church or Christian organization. Cover-ups put children at risk for ongoing abuse. And cover-ups bring shame when the story leaks. And the story will leak eventually.
3. Christian parents must accept the responsibility to supervise their children and get professional help in cases of sibling sexual abuse or abuse by relatives. The Duggar example is just one reminder that abuse happens.
4. When crusading against porn, focus attention on people who are victims of coercion instead of consenting adults.
5. Insist on carefully vetting all clergy and church workers. Insist on professional evaluations. Predators easily deceive interviewers and themselves.
6. Read church and organizational policies to assess protection of your children. Do they have a policy concerning reporting child abuse? Do they provide supervision and monitoring of staff and volunteers? Do they insist on sexual abuse education?
7. All clergy and childcare workers should learn more about childhood sexual abuse -- here's a place to start read this from APA. And see their references for more.
8. Ensure all clergy and child workers have a basic knowledge of sex education.
9. Ensure all clergy and child workers understand and respect interpersonal boundaries.
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