Shiny Happy People

Like I suppose many people I only had heard of the Duggars, I knew they had lots of kids, I knew they had been on a reality show which I never saw, but I knew nothing about the core belief system that guided them. This docuseries, four parts on Amazon Prime, digs into all that. The main interview contributors are some of the Duggar children, now adults, and friends and relatives who know them well.

Jim Bob and his wife Michelle came to be Fundamental Christians on their own, but then were greatly influenced by the IBLP religion espoused by what many now call a cult leader, Bill Gothard. A basic tenet is the husband is the absolute head of the family and the wife submits to him. Plus children are home-schooled as a way to shield them from the many sins of society.

But a deeper and more sinister goal was for couples to have as many children as they could (19 for the Duggars, with at least one miscarriage) as an ultimate goal to have armies of followers to infiltrate government, and especially the Supreme Court, as a mechanism to converting, over a few generations, the country into a deeply Christian country embracing only fundamental Christian values.

The problem with a strong leader and his cult is that eventually a few, or many, will see the light and the truth and will break away. That is the source of this docuseries, former IBLP devotees who now are eager to expose the truth. Jim Bob and Michelle, as well as Gothard, all declined input into this series but now that it is out issued this statement, "The recent 'documentary' that talks about our family is sad because in it we see the media and those with ill intentions hurting people we love," and calling it "derogatory and sensationalized."

My wife and I found the series fascinating. In some ways it reminded me of a documentary a couple of years ago that revealed sexual abuse of minor girls in some cult-ish Amish communities, covered up and never reported to authorities.

Streaming on Amazom prime in four parts, roughly 3 hours total running time.

I'm still reeling after watching the whole series (accidentally, it just happened). I was raised very similarly to the Duggars and we were aware of their show, although ironically our family was so strict we didn't have access to the their show (no cable, only PBS and CBS). I'm the oldest of 8 and could have easily ended up like Josh. It was such a disservice to shelter us so completely and not explain "the birds and the bees". It was treated as the most taboo subject and anything remotely related was heavily censored and suppressed. Any abuse in our community was swept under the rug. My father was "the king if the house" and anything he ordered was on the level of God ordering it. His rules were absolute and could not be questioned. I'm now 31 and no longer in that belief system. I've carried guilt and trauma for many years and I'm very sad that this BS still goes on around the world. People use the Bible and Christianity as a cover or smokescreen to justify and hide a tremendous amount of evil.

If you think that drag queens, trans folks or anyone from the LGBTQ+ community are out to harm your children, think again. If you think this buckle up. I highly recommend that you watch this mini series. Bill Gothard, Jim Bob Duggar, Josh Duggar and folks like them that are still part of the IBLP or anyone that is part of a fundamentalist Christian organization/cult or holds these harmful views, and there are many, are the real child predators. Not to mention how they treat woman. It's pure evil.

This is a very eye opening series to show how male power and ego can destroy peoples lives. Men that demand power and respect are cowards and weak. Full stop!

The blanket training that they preform on babies is sickening and made me angry and nauseated. If the video of the young boy being spanked at a seminar wasn't horrifying enough, that child predator old man's hand lingered way too long on that boys bottom should be. Why haven't child safety organizations, like CPS, swooped in and raided these places and took these children away? Clearly the system is broken.

These folks are being trained to infect politics throughout the USA as well as other parts of the world. The amount of coverups that this organization has goes WAY deeper than these 4 episodes can dive into.

I'm happy some folks have escaped this tyranny. Their CPTSD runs deep. I wish them well. Folks like Derick Dillard that escaped the IBLP are still spreading their hateful rhetoric and infecting people especially youth with their poison.

These people call themselves Christians but they couldn't be further from Jesus. Jesus taught love and compassion, forgiveness, acceptance, understanding, kindness and sharing for everyone. Not just for people that agreed with him. Jesus never taught whatever these people are teaching. They are teaching and living the compleat opposite of Jesus. I wish they would stop doing outrageous things then hide behind Jesus. I'm not religious but I can defiantly spot the hypocrisy here.

These folks and folks like them are the real monsters. There is no question.

I watched the Duggar's show from time to time when its was airing. I always thought they had too many children, mostly because the older ones (particularly the girls) had to parent their siblings and did not have their own needs met. I always thought that Michelle's little baby voice was creepily childlike and submissive, that the children were almost certainly not getting a real education, and that by making sex and the body itself so taboo, they were just going to create problems.

So, when Josh Duggar was found to have molested his sisters and other girls, and then to have moved on to actual child pornography, I was somewhat surprised but not entirely shocked. Like one of the escapees interviews said, monsters are created. They taught him that women should submit to men and children to adults, then built a giant wall around the subject of sex to the point that he grew up with a warped view of it. They also used corporal punishment (I didn't know how bad it was, yikes). I'm not excusing him. The guy belongs in jail. But it is certainly largely his parents' fault that he ended up like this.

I just felt heartsick and angry on behalf of all of the people interviewed who had to live like that for so many years before escaping. Cults like this really do give religion a bad name. I know plenty of people who grew up in large families and/or religious households who were treated with respect and love and grew up to be happy, productive, decent adults. I also know people who were home schooled who got good educations and went on to go to college and be successful. Notably, they were always given social outlets through sports and other activities.

This movement is rotten on every level. And yes, that includes the political wing. Peaking behind that particular dark curtain was pretty disturbing. If a couple wants to have a large family, that's their choice. But it should be a choice, not a method of keeping women barefoot, pregnant and beneath the heels of their spouses and fathers.

I did not grow up in IBLP and have never met the Duggars or Bill Gothard. However, I did grow up in a different cult, and I know people who have met Gothard and/or grew up under his teachings. Every issue that the show highlights-authority (especially patriarchal), the submission of women, instant obedience from children, spanking, the elevation of servant hood, child labor, the constant fear of breaking a rule or causing someone else to "stumble," etc-I have seen in the lives of those who experienced the teachings of IBLP. Even my family's watching of "19 Kids and Counting" impacted my parents' decisions toward my dating (sorry, courting) experience. The important thing about Gothard's influence, and the show does a fantastic job of highlighting it, is IBLP's influence on American society at large. People need to know that this isn't a freak occurrence: this is real, it's now, and it has lasting consequences on individuals and society as a whole. Well done to the creators of the show, and thanks to everyone who has the courage to be involved. Your voice makes a difference.