The Brutal Takedown of the Duggar Family's Evangelical Crusade

[demmiblue]

A disturbing new docuseries investigates the “19 Kids & Counting” clan, whose TLC reality show sparked an obsession with Christian fundamentalist life.

The Duggars, stars of TLC’s 19 Kids & Counting, were superficially presented as an eccentric real-life version of the characters from Cheaper by the Dozen. Yet beneath that façade, they were always religious zealots who adhered to an extreme brand of patriarchal Christianity that opposed abortion, disapproved of LGBTQ+ rights, and manipulated women through scripture that encouraged them to be incessantly pregnant. Prime Video’s four-part Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets is a brutal takedown of the Arkansas clan, led by testimony from two of its own.

It’s also, however, an exposé about the Duggars’ role as chief promoters of a sexist evangelical crusade designed to denigrate, dominate, and disempower its female members, as well as to spread its message all the way to the corridors of U.S. political power. As such, it’s additionally a damning indictment of TLC and its parent company, Warner Discovery, which helped spotlight a regressive and deeply misogynistic movement.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/shiny-happy-people-duggar-family-secrets-docuseries-exposes-the-tlc-stars-abuse?ref=home

[AllaN01Bear]

1. this is indoctronaization .

[2naSalit]

4. Sure is! n/t

[bottomofthehill]

12. This is what grooming really is.

[Maru Kitteh]

2. I plan to watch it soon. nt

[Johonny]

3. But watching Disney movies in school is grooming . . .

[malaise]

5. Why plays their family friends

The Fuckabees.😀😀

[niyad]

6. Thank you.

[cyclonefence]

7. I watched "Nineteen Kids and Counting"

And I don't believe it was ever presented as a "Cheaper by the Dozen" in real life. Sure, they bought socks all one color and divided chores, but the main point from the show was to demonstrate modesty in clothing and demeanor (for the females) and decisive action by the males.

They were a member of "Full Quiver," which was a group dedicated to having as many Christian babies as they could--no birth control, ever, because it was up to god to decide when and how many babies OfJimBob should bear.

Snarky online discussion groups eviscerated this bunch better than any documentary could, I'm sure.

It was a disgusting, and absolutely fascinating, show to watch.

[dflprincess]

11. It was & I did enjoy some of the discussion groups (I recall one with a forum "Quiver full of snark"

I'm going to enjoy this show and wallow in the schadenfreude of it.

[justgamma]

15. I watched it once.

It just seemed so creepy to me. I couldn't watch it again.

[Solly Mack]

8. K&R

About to watch it now.

[lonely bird]

9. This Full Quiver stuff

Is just Man playing God.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

10. are Chip and Joanna Gaines' Magnolia part of Warner Discovery?

They come across as ambitious, religious, and benign. Also charming and brilliant business folks.

[Baltimike]

13. TLC has long been a right wing grooming site.

"Sister Wives"..."19 kids..." et al normalize and groom that behavior

[keithbvadu2]

14. And when the child molesting was discovered, it was 'protect the image' over protecting the children

And when the child molesting was discovered, it was 'protect the image' over protecting the children.

Very common in different religions.

[crickets]

18. 👆👆

[Chicagogrl1]

16. Well theres this

https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-magazine/july-2016/institute-in-basic-life-principles-hinsdale/

[crickets]

17. Quote from the show: "The girls were really the engine that kept this juggernaut going."

And they weren't paid a dime. TLC and IBLP owe those girls a LOT. The first episode was hard to sit through, especially knowing what we know about the family now. Josh, in particular, is tough to take, along with all of the patriachal and culty garbage the family is steeped in. Apparently the Josh situation was not unique in the culture. It's an open secret. I don't know whether I'll get through another episode or not.

How a new docuseries pieced together the most damning exposé of the Duggars yet
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2023-06-01/shiny-happy-people-prime-video-duggar-family-documentary
No paywall: https://archive.ph/s5tr5

If you casually watched an episode or two of “19 Kids and Counting” on TLC in the 2010s, you might have assumed that parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar had it all figured out. The show presented a cheerful, sitcom version of life in a huge, fundamentalist Christian family in which the biggest problems were logistical: Just how did Michelle Duggar do 10 loads of laundry a day [she didn't - Jessa did] or grocery shop for a family of 21?

That wholesome illusion was punctured in 2015, when allegations that eldest child Josh Duggar had molested numerous young girls, including several of his sisters, became public. And it unraveled completely in December 2021, when Josh, by then a father of seven, was convicted of possessing and receiving child pornography, charges for which he is now serving a 12½-year prison sentence.

New docuseries “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets” goes beyond the placid reality TV façade to examine the family’s connections to the Institute in Basic Life Principles, an ultraconservative, highly influential religious ministry. Its founder, Bill Gothard, promoted total female submission to male authority, urging his followers to shun birth control, short skirts and public school. He resigned in 2014 amid allegations of sexual misconduct involving numerous women and girls.

Premiering Friday on Prime Video, “Shiny Happy People” makes the case that “19 Kids and Counting” and spinoff “Counting On,” which aired for a combined 21 seasons and were among TLC’s highest-rated programs, put an anodyne gloss on the Duggars’ extreme fundamentalism and essentially functioned as a televised ministry for IBLP.

[tenderfoot]

19. "sparked an obsession with Christian fundamentalist life"

Uh? What?

[orangecrush]

20. Kick