The Duggar Interview - With Megyn Kelly

[Lillybee]

MSNBC is covering the interview right now.

[SassyPants]

They are grown ass adults two are married with their with

own chikdren. They have traveled the world, had numerous wordly people filming them in their house for nearly a decade and are much more knowledgeable of the outside world than you are giving them credit for. THEY CHOOSE to stay in this cult because they like the money, fame and the ability to judge others.

I completely agree.

[PracticeMakesProgress]

Wow, I take a break for a few days and BAM! Too many posts to adequately catch up...

I'm sure it's been hammered to death, but I can't believe this Jessa/Jill defensive "liberals are attackings us and MAKING us victims!" crap. I fully concede that deep down they may entirely have reconciled and forgiven and filed the events away, and are otherwise unaffected, but I have a hard time believing that with everything else they've been exposed to, some stuff doesn't get stirred up.

Case in point: My mother was molested by her grandfather when she was between the ages of 4-7...she had successfully repressed most of these memories until I came to be about that age. Then, all of a sudden, she shut down emotionally, physically, and only had an inkling of what was going on, because all she kept having were these terrible recurring dreams about me being kidnapped and/or hurt in some way.

She pursued help (THANKFULLY) from a professional counselor, who helped her work through much of this trauma. It took YEARS, after the 30+ years that had transpired since the incidents. And when did I actually find out about this? When did she have the courage to talk to me about it? 10 years after the last year of regular counseling. In total, more than 50 years after the initial occurrence. You sure are quick to speak, Duggarlings....

So, the absolute LAST thing I want to hear is fundie princesses sit and posture about "victimhood." Have some decency and respect. Maybe (and hopefully) what you experienced hasn't materially affected you, but I will for damn sure bet many of those long-time, ATI friends and acquaintances are hiding things so dark, they don't even realize how truly terrible it is. You'd only be helping if you brought to light the true evil that is occurring within your own ranks, not redirecting the focus to this faceless liberal media you scorn so severely...

[chelleinchicago]

My guess would be that the girls would "seek counsel" from their parents and share concerns that their headships might not be thinking clearly. I can easily picture a JB & M intervention. I think that, if they DID leave, the girls would be condemned and froze out of the family unless they came back and begged JB for forgiveness. I've read a few comments where people who were also raised in extremely religious lifestyles detailed exactly what happened when someone "lost their way", and I don't think the Duggars would be any different.

I think that if the girls were able to become close with fundie-lite families, however, they might start to see an alternative to their current belief system - one that they might view as still being in line with their parent's teachings.

I hope all of the kids are able to break free, but in reality, I think it's the youngest who have any chance at all. The others have been raised in this extreme belief system, and it's saturated every aspect of their lives. I think the little ones might have had a bit more freedom (but who really knows).

I don't know if you or anyone here has read Lawrence Wright's excellent book Going Clear which is about Scientology, but it explains the cult mentality so well. One of the best accounts is that of Academy Award winning director Paul Haggis, who got into Scientology in his early 20s. When he finally got out several years ago, he explained how it was when you're so invested in a belief system that you feel it's in your best interest to avoid anything negative online or elsewhere. That's reinforced by those in charge, of course, but eventually it's just second nature. He didn't look at anything on the internet that was critical of his "faith"! This is a very intelligent man, but it's also a man whose wife was a Scientologist, their kids were born into it and they surrounded themselves with friends and acquaintances that were all invested emotionally and financially (big time). They knew the program and how people were absolutely cut out of their lives if they became critical or broke away. They had it happen in their own family.

I say this because I think this is how it is for the kids and the fear of anything upsetting their world as they know it must be terribly unsettling for so many reasons, one of which might be the dissolution of their family unit which is all they really know because their parents have isolated them ON PURPOSE. Then there's their fundie community where they're celebrities.... I'll bet they learned long ago to self-police, like most cult members. Hell, they're so easily manipulated at this point they'll act as apologists for their brother who molested not only them but their five year old sister. This is why TLC needs to cut ties immediately rather than continuing to be complicit in their exploitation. We all know their father won't stop.

[happy atheist]

Part 2: viewtopic.php?f=87&t=26249