"Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate."
Seven years ago we first learned of a movement called Quiverfull, primarily because of the Duggar family. Not long after we started blogging, we addressed this growing movement in a post called Be Fruitful and Multipy – Mantra of the Quiverfull Movement. (see screen shot below)
When we began researching the Quiverfull movement, we came across a 2007 Nightline broadcast cleverly called Why Having Kids is a Religious Experience. Here is a screen shot from the program's transcript that sheds some light on this movement.
The Vision Forum crowd (Doug Phillips and his cohorts) was also into being fruitful and multiplying. We learned of the Geoffrey Botkin family, who were close friends of the Phillips. Two of the Botkin daughters heavily promoted quiverfull, as we explained in our post entitled Sisterhood of the Stay at Home Daughters. Of course, Vision Forum is now defunct because of Doug Phillips' indiscretions.
And now the Duggar family is in a very deep hole and may not be able to dig themselves out. This reality TV family, which in our opinion created highly scripted shows, opened themselves up for inspection the moment they began cashing in on their growing family. And just because they call it a 'reality show' does not make it so.
From the start Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have held themselves up as 'role models' to be emulated. In show after show they have presented an image that in reality is fake. As Dee has previously pointed out, they have two kitchens – the one that is show-worthy and the larger one that is usually hidden. Guess which one this is…
Have you heard the Duggar version of the term "Nike"? The female members of the Duggar family would blurt it out if an inappropriately dressed woman was approaching. Upon hearing it, the male members of the family were to look down at their shoes in order to avoid temptation. So how did that work out?
And, of course, there is the daughters' modest appearance. When swimming the Duggar girls make sure they are covered from the 'neck to the knees'. Again, there were serious problems in the family despite this policy of conservative attire.
Finally, let's not forget the heavy emphasis on monitoring internet usage and the installation of filters by the Duggar parents. Apparently, Josh was able to maintain a private Facebook account for years without being detected…
Last year four of the oldest daughters wrote a book titled Growing Up Duggar. Incredibly, the subtitle is "It's All About Relationships". Here's their video promo:
Those are just a few examples of a family that claimed to be 'real' on its reality show; yet the reality is that this family has been deceptive from the start. Their TV image is just that, and we fear that some have been taken in by their portrayal of a wholesome Christian family. We are worried that some of our brothers and sisters in Christ have bought into the lie that God expects husbands and wives to produce a quiver of children. The Duggars used this scheme to make bank, and now the entire world has observed how it has backfired on them. We call it the Duggar Delusion, and we are grateful that the truth is finally getting out.
The Duggars have released a statement that comes much closer to reality than any of their TLC episodes. Here is a screen shot of what appeared on their website.
We hope you will join us in praying for Josh, Anna, their four children, and their extended families. May God's will be done in their lives.
Furthermore, we pray for those who have been negatively influenced by the Duggars. May they be discerning as they move beyond the images they saw on 19 Kids and Counting and prior episodes…