Hmmm....an insider-turned-outsider's perspective on the Duggar abuse case

I could’ve been a Duggar wife: I grew up in the same church, and the abuse scandal doesn’t shock me

Unlike most of the writers covering the Duggar sex scandal, I was raised in Advanced Training Institute (ATI), the fundamentalist Christian organization with which the family is affiliated. Joshua Duggar’s confession of sexually molesting young girls in his family’s home when he was a teenager didn’t surprise me, nor should it surprise anyone with any intimate knowledge about this organization, because ATI’s theological beliefs and practices cultivate an environment where women and children are more vulnerable to rape and sexual abuse. Ironically, the same theological beliefs and practices at the heart of this scandal are the same beliefs that created the Duggars as a media phenomenon, and drew viewers and fans to their TLC show “19 Kids and Counting.”

Personally, I don't get the appeal that the Duggars had for viewers. Having that many children, in my opinion, in a world that has birth control and where people know how to use it, seems insane, irresponsible, and environmentally disastrous. I think people like the concept of good, wholesome people who are God-fearing and the such. But I think that's just a concept, an ideal, in this case. I don't have an issue with most people's beliefs, so long as there is no one being harmed by those beliefs, but if there is harm, then it really has to be examined and made right. And while I'm not against homeschooling, by any means, I think there are people out there who quite frankly don't know how to teach, don't know the subjects themselves, and don't bother to teach children with the rigour they should.

I hope that viewers get a clue and stop supporting these type of shows. Reality TV in and of itself is not really true entertainment, and quite frankly is deplorable. It's fake, but claims to be real. It amazes me that there are people out there who are famous and fabulously rich because they starred in a reality show. Come on, Hollywood, use some creativity--give us stories that matter, yet are riveting, and not in a train-wreck sort of way. And people need to hear about the darker side of these religious groups, whether it be ATI, or Scientology, or Child of God, or any of a number of movements that hold sway over their members down to their very thoughts.

What I find most deplorable of all about this situation is that while some amount of concern was shown for helping the teen who was the perpetrator in these sex abuses--however weak--no attempt at all seems to have been made to help the girls who were abused. And that, in my opinion, is not just wrong, un-Christian, and so sad, but is monstrous. But then, apparently female lives don't matter, and male ones do, in the Duggar world. If that's true, then it is a horrible place, and it should be shunned rather than broadcast to the masses as entertainment, for it could be damaging to other young girls in terms of its supposedly wholesome message.