![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY MY ONLY POST ABOUT JOSH DUGGAR
There is dithering about Josh Duggar. As there probably should be.
And I wouldn’t bother posting anything about it – I mean, do you really need me to tell you that molesting kids is not a good thing to be doing? – except that there is also dithering over POTUS candidate Mike Huckabee defending Duggar and saying his actions are not “unforgiveable”. And not just from Huckabee’s usual political foes – even his own fans have turned against him on that point.
As this story involves both child molestation AND politics, it’s impossible to have a rational discussion about it, and no one really wants to be rational about it. Also, I'm assuming there are probably more details about this that haven't yet emerged that could alter or invalidate this post. (They may have already, but remember I don't live in the weird 24/7 media bubble that passes for American pop culture these days.)
So I’ll just post a few bullet points here hat reflect my current POV and leave it at that.
1. The irony about Huckabee’s statement is that technically, he’s doing exactly what Christians are supposed to do in these situations. Grace is the core tenet of Christianity. That’s a hard nugget for most people to take (including most Christians) because it doesn’t come easy to humans, especially for something as heinous as child molestation. But we are called to offer forgiveness for anyone who really wants it. (Calm down and keep reading – this is not an apologetic.)
2. In Huckabee’s case, it’s hard to know how sincere he is, as he’s also a politician with a point to make. This also isn't the first time he’s defended sexual offenders – he even helped one get released from jail whilst governor of Arkansas (on the apparent grounds that conservative Christians at the time believed the man was a political prisoner of Bill Clinton – as you did back in the 90s).
But assuming Huckabee is sincere, in order for it to mean anything, Huckabee has to extend the same level of grace to all sinners: gays, liberals, Beyonce, and other people he has publicly complained about in terms of being morally terrible and dangerous people. Grace is for everyone, not select people you happen to know and/or like.
3. But however Huckabee may feel about it – and I can't really stress this enough – it’s really not up to him to forgive Duggar, and it’s not up to Duggar's parents who knew what he did and covered it up. It’s up to his victims. I haven’t heard either Huckabee or the parents say very much about the victims and how they feel about all this. Maybe they want to keep that private, though maybe it’s a little late for that. Which brings me to this:
4. For people who want to condemn Duggar’s parents for covering it up, it’s worth remembering that – in that respect – their actions were sadly typical of cases where parents catch one of their family members doing something like that. The instinct is to keep it quiet and (hopefully) seek help privately instead of calling the cops. That’s not necessarily the right thing to do for something like child abuse – and it’s certainly not an excuse – but people who are shocked and afraid don’t always make good decisions, regardless of their religious beliefs (or lack thereof).
5. Having said , most families who find themselves in that situation don’t go on to build themselves up as a national voice for Christian living and sexual morality, and warning everyone that LGBTs are dangerous pedophiles, much less start a “reality show” to let TLC document their lives. The nicest thing you can say about this is that it was dumb and irresponsible, and has done more to harm the image and core message of Christianity than promote it.
It’s especially dumb and irresponsible when taken in the context of the long and sad history of dumb and irresponsible decisions in the name of evangelical Christianity. Time and time again we’ve seen self-established leaders of Christianity scolding the nation about morality only to be revealed as failing to live up to their own standards – often dramatically so. I mean, come on, even the person who ran the “treatment center” where the Duggars took Josh turned out to be not the most qualified person when it comes to correcting sexual impropriety.
Well, nobody’s perfect. But if you’re going to actively promote a lifestyle based on a code of morality based on your religious beliefs and promote your own family as a model of that lifestyle – especially on national television – you have to be in a position to set a good example.
Some example. It’s no wonder so many people think Christians are joyless hypocrites motivated by vanity and pride who just want to tell people how to live their lives and get rich while telling them.
6. Although it hasn’t been mentioned in the media yet (as far as I know), it would be really really great to know if the Duggars sought help for Josh’s victims as well. If not, then one could argue their priorities are seriously misplaced (see Points 3 and 5).
7. One final point on forgiveness, because some people get confused on this point: grace and justice are two different things. Put another way, forgiveness is not a get-out-of-jail-free card. If you kill someone, the victim’s family may choose to forgive you. That doesn’t mean you don’t have to stand trial or serve any time. And it doesn’t mean it’s okay if you commit the same offense again.
Unforgiven,
This is dF
And I wouldn’t bother posting anything about it – I mean, do you really need me to tell you that molesting kids is not a good thing to be doing? – except that there is also dithering over POTUS candidate Mike Huckabee defending Duggar and saying his actions are not “unforgiveable”. And not just from Huckabee’s usual political foes – even his own fans have turned against him on that point.
As this story involves both child molestation AND politics, it’s impossible to have a rational discussion about it, and no one really wants to be rational about it. Also, I'm assuming there are probably more details about this that haven't yet emerged that could alter or invalidate this post. (They may have already, but remember I don't live in the weird 24/7 media bubble that passes for American pop culture these days.)
So I’ll just post a few bullet points here hat reflect my current POV and leave it at that.
1. The irony about Huckabee’s statement is that technically, he’s doing exactly what Christians are supposed to do in these situations. Grace is the core tenet of Christianity. That’s a hard nugget for most people to take (including most Christians) because it doesn’t come easy to humans, especially for something as heinous as child molestation. But we are called to offer forgiveness for anyone who really wants it. (Calm down and keep reading – this is not an apologetic.)
2. In Huckabee’s case, it’s hard to know how sincere he is, as he’s also a politician with a point to make. This also isn't the first time he’s defended sexual offenders – he even helped one get released from jail whilst governor of Arkansas (on the apparent grounds that conservative Christians at the time believed the man was a political prisoner of Bill Clinton – as you did back in the 90s).
But assuming Huckabee is sincere, in order for it to mean anything, Huckabee has to extend the same level of grace to all sinners: gays, liberals, Beyonce, and other people he has publicly complained about in terms of being morally terrible and dangerous people. Grace is for everyone, not select people you happen to know and/or like.
3. But however Huckabee may feel about it – and I can't really stress this enough – it’s really not up to him to forgive Duggar, and it’s not up to Duggar's parents who knew what he did and covered it up. It’s up to his victims. I haven’t heard either Huckabee or the parents say very much about the victims and how they feel about all this. Maybe they want to keep that private, though maybe it’s a little late for that. Which brings me to this:
4. For people who want to condemn Duggar’s parents for covering it up, it’s worth remembering that – in that respect – their actions were sadly typical of cases where parents catch one of their family members doing something like that. The instinct is to keep it quiet and (hopefully) seek help privately instead of calling the cops. That’s not necessarily the right thing to do for something like child abuse – and it’s certainly not an excuse – but people who are shocked and afraid don’t always make good decisions, regardless of their religious beliefs (or lack thereof).
5. Having said , most families who find themselves in that situation don’t go on to build themselves up as a national voice for Christian living and sexual morality, and warning everyone that LGBTs are dangerous pedophiles, much less start a “reality show” to let TLC document their lives. The nicest thing you can say about this is that it was dumb and irresponsible, and has done more to harm the image and core message of Christianity than promote it.
It’s especially dumb and irresponsible when taken in the context of the long and sad history of dumb and irresponsible decisions in the name of evangelical Christianity. Time and time again we’ve seen self-established leaders of Christianity scolding the nation about morality only to be revealed as failing to live up to their own standards – often dramatically so. I mean, come on, even the person who ran the “treatment center” where the Duggars took Josh turned out to be not the most qualified person when it comes to correcting sexual impropriety.
Well, nobody’s perfect. But if you’re going to actively promote a lifestyle based on a code of morality based on your religious beliefs and promote your own family as a model of that lifestyle – especially on national television – you have to be in a position to set a good example.
Some example. It’s no wonder so many people think Christians are joyless hypocrites motivated by vanity and pride who just want to tell people how to live their lives and get rich while telling them.
6. Although it hasn’t been mentioned in the media yet (as far as I know), it would be really really great to know if the Duggars sought help for Josh’s victims as well. If not, then one could argue their priorities are seriously misplaced (see Points 3 and 5).
7. One final point on forgiveness, because some people get confused on this point: grace and justice are two different things. Put another way, forgiveness is not a get-out-of-jail-free card. If you kill someone, the victim’s family may choose to forgive you. That doesn’t mean you don’t have to stand trial or serve any time. And it doesn’t mean it’s okay if you commit the same offense again.
Unforgiven,
This is dF