Why We Hate the Duggars

The Duggar Family. Also known as "The Dumb Family" and "Those Idiots Who Don't Know When to Stop Having Children." If anyone might be annoyed with them, it would be large families. The Duggars, a family of 21, are often the measuring stick the world uses to relate to families with many children. That's not always a good thing. Sometimes it's offensive.

Like when I'm laying on the table in the hospital, three days after giving birth, getting prepped for a spinal in order to get rid of a spinal headache from having a c-section, and the nurse looks at me, asks how many children I have, and after hearing the answer replies, "What are you trying for? A t.v. show?"

"Yes maam. I've been through more physical pain than you've probably ever known just so I can possibly have a t.v. show in which my whole life is recorded for the God-hating public to see. That's the REAL reason I have so many children. 'Cause I want to be like the Duggars."

Please.

They do and believe crazy things, you know. They say, "God, we'd love to have ALL the children you'll give us." They have their children dress modestly. They don't incur debt. They teach their children at home. They believe they're sinners who need Jesus. They live much of their lives in front of the camera. They give to others.

They recently experienced the pain of a late miscarriage.

And they disgust us.


Don't believe me? Just search the internet, and you'll find bitter, ranting posts against this family, and some of them are written by our own brothers and sisters in Christ.

One Christian blogger lists each of the character traits the Duggars teach their family and then exposes how the Duggars fall short of living up to those traits.  Who of any of us perfectly lives out the truths we believe? We are all being conformed into the image of Christ daily, and I'll be the first to say that if you put my life under a microscope, you would witness failure after failure.

You would also see God's grace and mercy, because anything I actually do get right, is only because of HIM.

Now the Duggars never profess to be perfect. They don't tell you YOU have to wear dresses or have lots of children. They do know what they believe and they know why. And if you spit in their faces, they'd be the first to offer you the coat on their back. They have the loving part of Christianity down much better than many of us.

I disagree with the Duggars on many issues. I think ATI is dangerous business and in many ways theologically, we're worlds apart, but this is a family who is displaying before a lost world the beauty of a large family who loves Jesus. It's no wonder that the world hates them, but Christians, too?

Why do we hate the Duggars?

1) Because as a culture, we, including Christians, really don't like children. They're a bother, an inconvenience. Ever had people stare at you in horror when you're out in public with ALL of your children? Ever had a church tell you you can't worship with your children because they'll be a DISTRACTION to others? Ever have people leave a table at a restaurant because you sat down with your large family?

2) When we watch others live intentionally for the glory of God, even if we disagree with their methods, we're convicted about our own laziness. Laziness in discipling our children, in reading our Bibles, in showing discernment about what we watch and read, in working out our salvation with fear and trembling, etc.

3) They're sweet and kind and loving and culturally detached. That makes for boring television and boring lives. We want to see fighting and destruction and ugly words. And those of us who "engage with the culture" find this family too simplistic and "goody-goody." We forget that they've probably shared the gospel with more people than most of us who spend our time reading or watching stuff so we can relate to others who read and watch the stuff before we finally share the gospel.

Yes, this family has chosen to put their lives on television and sometimes their syrupy sweetness seems hard to swallow. (But is that because they're fakes or because our hearts prefer darkness to light?) Whether we agree or not with their decision, it's true they boldly speak of the love of Christ in the midst of extreme ridicule and point to His sustaining love in the midst of every disappointment.

The truth is that we don't have to watch them for one nanosecond. BUT, if we belong to Jesus, we do have to love them.


With love,
Trisha