Snarky Gossip

87 opinions for How would you like to have 16 KIDS? The Duggars do!

• Gayla McCord
  May 6, 2007 at 16:31

  Oh dear lord. I can’t even imagine.

• Megan
  May 7, 2007 at 22:35

  16 kids is totally ridiculous. What a drain on the earth (unless they become 16 doctors)

• Phil
  May 17, 2007 at 01:00

  At least they’re a pleasant drain on the Earth, and not the product of a crack whore in the ghetto whose family of illigitemate children suck up food stamps and tax money.

• Deeon
  May 21, 2007 at 23:24

  WHAT’s your problem with this? They are a totally loving, caring and giving family with 16 totally giving and caring children. WHY is that a problem for you?

• alex
  May 22, 2007 at 07:03

  Megan.. you are very narrow minded.

• Pam
  May 22, 2007 at 19:08

  Wow!! I watch all your show’s on Discovery Health Channel! i praise God that you are raising them to Follow the Lord!! Thats Amazing! May God Furhter Bless you with many more!! lol

  In Christ,
  Pam

• Mandi
  May 22, 2007 at 19:43

  You go Phil! Seriously, are we THAT insecure about our own pitiful lives that we have to worry about other’s lives? Or are we just trying to take the focus off of our own screwed up lives by butting into theirs?

• Cherie M.
  May 23, 2007 at 12:08

  Pretty incredible to have that many children, though I do have the concern of children getting individual time with parents. They do seem to spend a lot of time together as an entire family, but I can’t imagine that the kids get much time with just one parent.

  Best of luck to them all though.

• Alice
  May 26, 2007 at 12:32

  The Duggars do annoy me more than other quiver full families. Probably because they are pimping their lifestyle on TV for money and publicity. It bugs me. I admit it fully. Especially when you throw in their tax-exempt status. (I really do need to start worshiping Mighty Mouse and form my own home-based church so I too, can enjoy this little benefit) It just sickens me. They pimp themselves to a world that they don’t even approve of. How much more hypocritical can someone get?

  I don’t have a problem with the stereotypical gender roles that they adhere to. I don’t even have a problem with the Little House on the Prairie wardrobe. I have a problem with a group of hypocrites who are pimping themselves on national TV…not only for the money because it is individual people’s choice to watch the show or not, and if people don’t want to watch, then they wouldn’t be on, but also the whole political aspirations of Jim Bob being furthered by this. So, it’s okay to appeal to the outside world of which they don’t approve, as long as it furthers their crazy aspirations? Either stick to the lifestyle and live it, or admit that they are a bunch of hypocrites. Other quiver full families don’t attempt to mainstream themselves. They know it’s their personal choice, don’t seek public approval, and just continue on.

  And I really have a problem with children raising children and taking care of the household, while mom sits on her tush cranking out the next one. I get no impression that Michelle is a hands on mother after those children hit 3mos. old. Once they hit that age she hands them off and starts working on the next one. It’s sick. The human body wasn’t made to handle it either. She’ll be dead by the time she’s 50, and her uterus will be gone long before then. It isn’t healthy, nor something to aspire to.

• Kristy
  May 26, 2007 at 13:12

  I’m gonna have that many chilren as ell, maybe even more! I am only 13 years old, but allready know my decition for life. My boyfreind and I will start at around age 18. [of course we’d be married!]

• Cristina
  May 28, 2007 at 23:33

  Megan, I hope that they do become 16 great docotrs. I also hope that you don’t need them one day.

• Soy
  May 31, 2007 at 13:21

  I wonder what it’s like to live in tha tfamily for a day. I would like to try an expirement and be one of them for a day and see how it turns out.

  Good luck to them!

• The Duggar$
  Jun 10, 2007 at 23:22

  I agree with Alice on this one. I mean, from what I can see, they don’t even own a TV.. they think TV is a sin… yet they media-pimp their kids on TV and on the internet.

  Could you imagine Jesus saying to the prositiute.. “Go thy way and sin no more… unless you are giving your earnings to me… in which case it’s perfectly fine..”

  The mother looks worn the heck out. She smiles but her eyes look tired and sad. The more children you have, the greater your risk is for certain types of cancers including breast and uterus. Mommy Duggar will be lucky to see 50 years old. Who is going to raise all of those kids then? THEY are.. that’s who. The kids will raise eachother just like they are not. With only 18 months between children on average, she hasn’t had time to properly parent even one of them…

  And is it legal for kids to home-school other kids? Don’t the parents have to be the ones teaching?

  And since when is it ok to assign a 13 year old child to make lunch for 15 other people every day?

  Talk about some issues… these kids will have issues like you wouldn’t believe. Imagine being the GF of one of those young men.. and trying to fit into that family between him and his sisters somewhere.

  “Honey I know you are my fiance… but she is my sister.. I raised her like one of my own…”

  Imagine his reaction to learning you don’t want to lay on your back and spend 25 years as a baby factory for him before you die at 50.

  Imagine going to his house for dinner and afterward the dad tells you, “Well.. it’s your night to do the dishes!”.. or his parents calling you to babysit.

• Brittany
  Jun 16, 2007 at 10:40

  I would love to have children but i am not sure of how many yet. i am only 19 years old so i have a while to figure that old. i have to find that someone first! LOL….. i happen to think the oldest Joshua is really cute! LOL
  But as for the family life i have no idea how they seem to stay debt free with all the children!

• Jenn-Erin
  Jun 18, 2007 at 11:11

  All children are a blessing from God the Creator of our Universe. I think that there is absolutely nothing wrong with a person having 1, 6, 16 or 60 children as long as they are raised in a loving and God centered home, being taught the proper ways of servant hood and how to live a life like Christ (from their parents!!!). As a mother of 7(6,6,4.5,3,3,&1.5) at the age of 25, my HUSBAND(married since June 1999) and I are so completely blessed by our 5 boys and 2 girls that if God intends on more there will be and considering I am expecting # 8 in September it will be so. We have no problem with spending “quality” time with our children and personally there is nothing morally right or wrong with having so many. Some may think it is a “drain” on society like on writer has already said, but more likely it scares you because it is not the “typical” 1.8 children we have in the United States per dysfunctional-family and the all so common 50% or more divorce rate in this country that use to pride itself on propriety as a CHRISTIAN nation and values as such. But ponder this fellow Americans is it the fact that the Duggars have so many children that you think is wrong? Why is it wrong? Does it hurt you as a person? As a citizen of the USA? Does it make you bleed? NO IT DOESN’T!!!! So lay off. You are just afraid of the unfamiliar, and from childhood we are taught to all be the same so there will be no reason to be different or have a unique personality or have a way of thinking that might be “subversive” in today’s way of thinking.

  I will end my rant as so many will call it in two quotes that may possibly shed some light on this for all of you objectionists out there.

  “…by saying that our history will be what we make it. If we go on as we are then history will take its revenge and retribution will not limp in catching up with us. Just once in a while let us exalt the importance of ideas and information. Let us dream…”
  -Edward R. Murrow 1956

  “Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. For they will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.”

  The word of God through his servant David
  Psalm 127:3-5

  God’s mercy on you who challenge him in his plans for us in the place, for he will one day seek his own retribution on all who mock and jeer at him.

  J.E.

• Concerned
  Jun 19, 2007 at 15:32

  To Kristy: Please explore other options before you automatically decide to have a flock of children starting at 18. Children are a blessing but there is way more to life than becoming a baby factory!

• The Duggar$
  Jun 19, 2007 at 20:34

  Instead of the mother…

  Has anyone considered what would happen to these children if the FATHER died tomorrow?

  Is there anyone here who actually believes the kids would support them selves?

  Or should we rely on the old.. “The lord will provide” thing?

  Because there are millions of children in this world for whom the lord doesn’t provide shit.

  Perhaps we should be more specific and say “The taxpayers will provide….”

• Perplexed
  Jun 20, 2007 at 12:35

  The most worrisome of all, is the total lack of individuality. What teenagers want to be dressed exactly like their toddler brothers and sisters? Why do ALL of them play violin? Didn’t anyone want to play trumpet, drums, cello, bass guitar? Do they even want to play music? Do some want to go to school and play football, volleyball, take art class, play in a marching band? This is upsetting…Michelle is like a child playing with her little dollies here-dressing them all alike, making them be what she wants, not what they want to be! And they are probably brainwashed to the point of not even knowing what they want to be. I have five children, all as different as night and day…two athletes, two musicians, an artist…THEIR choices of interests. I can’t imagine even trying to mold the five of them into the same person, much less 17 of them! The Stepford Children, anyone?

• The Duggar$
  Jun 20, 2007 at 14:37

  Perplexed has a good point. Child psychologists steer parents away from naming twins alike and dressing them alike.. etc. because it leads them to struggle for individuality and can eventually lead them to rebelling negatively in order to be different than their twin.

  Here we have 17.. all named alike… all dressed alike… all allowed to explore the same talents but given no opportunity to explore talents other than those already chosen by their parents… learning only from their own immediate family members and never being exposed to anything not already fully explored and accepted by every other member of their family…

  I notice the supporters of this lifestyle are all evangelical christians. Would they be as supportive of it if these 17 children were being raised exactly the same.. same clothes, names, violins, etc… only without having religion taught at all. What if this was a family of 17 walled-off home schooled, cookie-cutter kids being bread like rabbits and raised by devout atheists, who’s reason for doing so was to keep them from being exposed to other belief systems?

  Would you still think it is healthy for the parents to go so far out of their way to keep their kids from being exposed to things the parents do not believe?

  At what point do the kids get to decide for themselves?

• Perplexed
  Jun 22, 2007 at 09:45

  I just want to read that one or more of the little clones rebelled! Maybe Jinger will change her name to GINGER, the way it should be spelled. Maybe Jeremiah and Jedediah will get tired of writing all those letters and change their names to Bill…and Todd. Or how about a couple of the girls go really crazy and don a pair of (gasp!) blue jeans!

• Jenn-Erin
  Jun 25, 2007 at 09:18

  what’s wrong with being different

  why do we all have to fit in the same little mold outlined by todays (immoral) society

  the name your parents choose for you typically has some kind of meaning to it, or a name they particullarly like, so what is the differnce to you whether or not they name their children John or Max or get creative and go with Creative spellings and names, it doesn’t matter. Because they are not YOUR responsibility so why bother with them

  J.E.
  25, mother of 7(+1)
  married since June 1999

• Perplexed
  Jun 26, 2007 at 15:46

  But sticking a kid with a name like “Jinger” is just mean. Everyone’s first reaction must be:
  Jinger? Rhymes with ringer? or finger?
  Of course I suppose if you never deal with the outside world, you don’t have to worry about your name being mispronounced.

• poly
  Jul 6, 2007 at 13:08

  No, these kids won’t become doctors. The boys will be fundie preachers and the girls will start having babies right away, like J.E. below. That’s if the mother allows them to leave the house before the youngest child turns 18, because remember, the girls are the ones who clean, cook and take care of the kids.

  Why do they have to wear the same colors and have an awful haircut? Is that part of their beliefs?

• fundie-NOT
  Jul 6, 2007 at 15:36

  A recent conversation heard at the Duggar house:
  Hairy Mamma: Come on kids, gather ’round; before we do Daddy Bible time, we are going to choose a name for the new baby!
  Jessa: Well, we could name her Jessa, but I think that is already my name…and it’s kind of wierd.
  Justin: How about Suzy! Or Brenda?
  The Clan: GASP!
  Daddy: Justin, Do not speak such evil. If you can’t think of another J name, you may go sit on the rug.
  John-Boy: But, Daddy, I reckon we dun used up all the J names that was ever made.
  Daddy: Well, then we make one up…like we did with Jinger.
  The boys: How about Jane?
  The girls: How about Jennifer?
  Hairy Mamma: Jennifer it is! Now, girls, tomorrow you will head to the sewing machines right after you do the 72 dishes sitting in the sink, and sew a nice pilgrim dress with apron for little Jennifer.
  Daddy: And boys, we will start building a cradle from scratch tomorrow. And as soon as this young’un is birthed, Jana will become it’s surrogate mamma and me and the missus will start on number 18.
  The clan: YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

• The Duggar$
  Jul 6, 2007 at 15:48

  RE: Jenn-Erin

  “what’s wrong with being different

  why do we all have to fit in the same little mold outlined by todays (immoral) society”

  You are asking this question in defense of a family of 16 children… who all dress the same.. wear the same hair cut, play the same musical instrument, are home-schooled so that they are never exposed to anything or anyone different, and are named so that all of their names begin with the a “J”.. like their dad’s name… even if their parents have to grossly misspell their names in order for it to begin with a J.

  Apparently… to these people… it is a sin to be different. Uniqueness is foreign to this family of paper doll cut-outs.

  There is nothing original or cute about denying your children the ability to be sucessful members of the society into which you chose to bring them. There is nothing healthy about turning a child into a number in his or her own home. There is nothing adorable about children being saddled with the burden of raising the attention-starved identity-lacking masses of “Christian Soldiers” their parents choose to continue to create out of pure ignorance and lack of regard for the children they already have.

  There is nothing emotionally fufilling about “training” your children to believe the notion of “Yourself Last” is a POSITIVE THING. Anyone who does not love their self FIRTS cannot fully love anyone else. They can only obssess and function as they have been trained to function… like an army of ants.

  There is absolutely nothing loving about plastering this fiasco all over the television.. so that these children will never be able to escape it even if they do break away and develop their own personalities.

  Poly - Why they all dress the same… She buys the cheapest fabric she can get and the older girls make the clothes most of the time.

  Their hair.. the girls arent allowed to cut it at all.. and the boys look like they either use a bowl or a flow-bee to cut their hair.

  Basically.. they have to look as much like their parents as possible.

• Armando
  Jul 10, 2007 at 14:08

  This is COMPLETLY SICK…!
  What is this for? a Guiness records Book? The most Inrresponsible Family in The World?
  USE A COMDOM…!!!
  We are too many in the World, help others ones…!

• hmmm.. how interesting
  Jul 11, 2007 at 20:35

  You keep talking about them all wearing matching clothes.

  That honestly makes me want to die laughing (actually, I did die laughing).

  Just a little side note, all the pics you’ve seen of them wearing matching clothes…. are… get this folks…

  PICTURES!!!!!!!!

  Wow! Unbelievable, isn’t it? That they maybe possibly DON’T wear matching clothes every single day of the year…..

  Seriously, this is shocking… how can this be??? That they are not a family of little clones!!??? Someone call…. well…. the police won’t care… in fact, I’m trying to figure out why YOU guys care.

  They are just a family raising their kids the way they see fit. I see a family of happy kids, who are learning good values and principles every day.

  Don’t mind me, go back to what you were doing saving the world adopting the poor homeless children that the Duggars’ are ignoring by raising their own.

  Judge not lest ye be judged.

  Seriously though… I am the oldest of 7 going on 8 kids, no, it probably doesn’t even compare to 16 going on 17, but it’s still bigger then the norm. Let me tell you guys, we typically wear matching clothes for family pictures. I think they are great pictures! And after we take the picture I go home and change into something else. I am also homeschooled. I am learning just fine. We use the buddy system. I rarely have to keep track of my buddy (and someone who has been in the Duggar household for a day can say the same about them).

  All of our names end with “N”. I do not feel in anyway feel that I have not been given a chance to be an individual because of it. In fact, I love my name. I was named after my grandmother. All of my siblings names have a very special meaning to them as well.

  I am just a normal person, living life like any old normal teenager would (minus partying, and drinking, and all the rest of the trash) I love hanging out with my friends, riding my horses, I am running 2 horse camps this summer with my friend, to make some money and help teach kids about horses. I’m using many principles through these camps that I probably wouldn’t know if I had just one sibling. I chat with friends on the internet.

  I’m just a normal person, as are the Duggars.

  You say the parents do not let the children be individuals, but I see you generalizing them quite a bit IMHO.

  Once again, just my humble opinion.

  Tally Ho!

  (btw, no, I have not been brainwashed, just a FYI…. haha)

• cmc
  Aug 1, 2007 at 01:49

  OK, although I understand everyone’s arguments, what about overpopulation? Are these people, including J-E above, really encouraging others to have upwards of 16 children? Where do you think we would put all these people? I think that portraying reproducing so much as a positive is dangerous and disgusting. I can’t even imagine being the doctor delivering her 17th. I’d tie her tubes and take the malpractice suit that follows based on principle.

• The Duggar$
  Aug 1, 2007 at 13:19

  “hmmm.. how interesting … matching clothes”

  They have several TV shows where they talk about these things. Yes they wear matching clothes the majority of the time… on camera and off.

  As to the noption of them just being a family raising their kids as they see fit…

  These types of families weren’t always the norm in older times. They became common upon the abolition of slavery and they stopped being common when the need for so many children went away… because FARM EQUIPMENT WAS INVENTED!

  They are NOT *just a normal family raising their kids as they see fit*… Mom and dad aren’t raising anyone and haven’t raised anyone since the oldest child reached a point where he could care for his younger siblings… I’m guessing.. 7 years old. Dad is working, mom is in a state of perpetual gestation… and the kids are raising each other.

  It is not normal or healthy to expect children to raise children.

  Anyone who disagrees with that must think teen pregnancy is a WONDERFUL thing…. I mean if it’s healthy to expect a 13 year old girl raise her 10 younger siblings… why not a few children of her own?

  That’s right… people used to have 10 to 15 kids for the purpose of working the family farm… share-cropping, etc. When

• wow
  Aug 3, 2007 at 10:41

  wow, are they mormon??

• Laura Debty
  Aug 3, 2007 at 10:46

  I guess I can see the good points and the bad points of the Duggar family. I think it is wonderful that they truly love and care for each other, and teach their children right from wrong. I do worry, that the children are being much too sheltered. I cannot imagine never getting to socialize with anyone outside my own family. I wonder how these children will react when they step out into the “real world” and realize that life is not all all the way the expected. I will say that I think these children are very educated and will grow up to do wonderful things. I agree with the comment that Phil made because at least these children have both parents and are not illegitimate! I am a firm believer that you should not have children you cannot afford, but if they have the time and the money I think it is their business. I think we should reserve the birth control for the people who have children just to continue and keep government assistance. It is not the Duggar family who is “bleeding the system”!

• The Duggar$
  Aug 3, 2007 at 15:24

  What on earth makes you think they will ever *step out in to the world*…?

  The oldest is 19 years old. He should be in college but he is busy driving his family on cross country trips and changing diapers.

  They will marry other people from families just like theirs and continue the tradition of turning wives into baby factories and isolating their children in the Arkansas mountains.

  Think about it.. on college application forms.. under *extra curricular activities”.. these kids will have nothing to list but church functions and changing diapers.

• Maraleah
  Aug 3, 2007 at 20:35

  I think it’s great that this family exists and has been shown on Discovery. They are well behaved, productive individuals. Why do people think that children having responsibilities to the family and household is a bad thing? At least these kids won’t enter the world expecting it to revolve around them. They will understand what it is to have a good work ethic and to support yourself and your family without government hand outs.

  As shown on one of the shows, they each have different interests and goals in life and they each have their own personalities. However, they also know the love and care of their wonderful, large family.

  God bless the Duggars!

• Coyoteshawn
  Aug 3, 2007 at 23:22

  I am sorry, but having that many kids is just irresponsible. Go ahead with the religious whacko rantings as I could care less, it is irresponsible. If everyone did what they did the world would over populate and we would start to starve. But, like the late comedian Bill Hicks once said, “We are a virus with shoes.”. This just proves we need a lincense to breed. Besides the “What if?” questions posed in earlier posts like “What if the dad died?”, just because you have the right to be selfish and irresponsible does not mean you should. Despite them not living off the system, this is still a religious, “If God says so!”, mindless, backward way of thinking. Oh well, don’t bother to comment about my post for two reasons, the first and foremost is I AM RIGHT!!! this is NOT an opinion, second I don’t care because if you think this is “OK.” then you have the same issues as these poor mindless fools.

• Sandi
  Aug 4, 2007 at 17:05

  I have no problem with these people having 17 kids. Love is infinite.

  I do, however, have a problem with the fact that the mom and dad don’t raise the children…the older kids do. I remember the first time I read about the Duggars. The mom had just earned a “Mother of the Year” award. I read the story, looked up at my husband and said, “The mom doesn’t deserve the award…the kids do.” Apparently, all mom and dad do is propogate, the mom breast-feeds for a while, and then the new child is passed on to an older sibling to raise.

  I also have a problem with the seclusion in which these children live. They will have a terrible, maybe even impossible, time adjusting to the world outside their family when they become adults. Family togetherness is wonderful–-I just got home from a two-week driving vacation with my husband and two kids–-but children need contact with the outside world, too.

  But…it’s their lives. I can’t help but feel sorry for the kids, though. Of course, they don’t know anything different…

• KxWaal
  Aug 5, 2007 at 00:44

  Any father with that many children is a pedophile.

• The Duggar$
  Aug 5, 2007 at 19:13

  “Why do people think that children having responsibilities to the family and household is a bad thing? At least these kids won’t enter the world expecting it to revolve around them. They will understand what it is to have a good work ethic and to support yourself and your family without government hand outs.”

  I had responsibilities as a child.. To clean up my room and any other messes I made and help with the dishes, etc.

  Here we have a 13 year old child who, while the rest of her siblings are either learning or teaching school.. is making lunch for 15 other children. How much schooling do you think the little “family lunch-maker” gets?

  Again… if there is nothing wrong with expecting young teenage girls to be responsible for raising, teaching, feeding, disciplining, and cleaning up after their younger siblings… why is teen pregnancy a BAD thing? Why not allow them to marry at 13 and start making babies of their own?

• Granma to 6
  Aug 7, 2007 at 14:51

  I am so sad to read some of the comments callling the mother a baby factory, referring to this family in negative ways. Hasn’t anyone noticed that those children are happy? Hasn’t anyone noticed that those children are not selfish and selfcentered? My husband was one of 12 children. He is the kindest and most giving man I have ever met. You can have a large family or a small family and be totally screwed up. This family works so why knock it? I am a Christian but i don’t necessarily agree with everything they adhere to but compared to what most families are producing today, I’ll take the Duggars kids any day! They are polite, healthy, energetic, bright, and they respect others. The girls are taught modesty and respect for themselves. When was the last time you saw a modest 17 year old? They don’t curse and listen to hip hop and dress like street walkers so i guess they make most people uncomfortable or something. Some of my grandkids are homeschooled and they are the most well mannered, socially adaptable, and smart kids I know. They have chores on their 11 acre farm and they know how to work and they know how to play and entertain themselves without tv or video games. They are happy and well adjusted and a joy to be around. They are living counter culture. We support their decision to raise their children and school them at home rather than to let strangers do it. Oh and by the way, I bet that teenage girl who makes lunch for the family actualy enjoys doing it, imagine that? One more comment, someone said Michelle looked tired. Well she looks healthier than most moms, and with no makeup to boot! She is pleasant and joyful. I will admit i wondered why they were on tv, but then, they are showing the world it can be done, so why not? How sad that the values our grandparents shared are looked upon today as wrong or bad or harmful to children. What has happened to America, anyway? God help us.

• J.E.
  Aug 8, 2007 at 08:37

  RE: Gramma to 6
  I agree with you
  these are values and beliefs that need to be kept going in america

  oh and the rest of you
  i just had baby #8:)
  a little girl
  “just to perpetiuate the cycle”

• The Duggar$
  Aug 9, 2007 at 14:33

  J.E.

  Luckily you don’t get to decide what beliefs we get to have.

  PS.

  Put a cork in that thing. What will happen to the kids you already have if you die having this one?

  Oh ya… they will be someone else’s responsibility… ALL of them. Chances are they will be split up and live with other relatives… or in foster homes or worse.

  The more you have.. the higher risk there is that you will die from complications during birth. By continuing to have more you are risking the future of the ones you already have.

  Think of someone other than your self. Look at the ones you have.. be thankful for them.. and stop needlessly putting them at risk of being orphans, It’s not fair to them.

• CS
  Aug 9, 2007 at 17:24

  I do believe there is a recent study that says that the probability of a boy being gay is corollated with how many older brothers he has.

  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11534970&dopt=AbstractPlus

  I don’t have any problem with somebody being gay, but I think there is a corollary to be made about there being ten boys in this family. Add this to the fact that this is in no uncertain terms a Christian Family, and are about as diverse as the Borg.

  I certainly would hate to be that one boy (possibly two?) in the family who enters puberty and becomes absolutely horrified when he discovers he is gay, or otherwise becomes the black sheep of the family for being so.

• elizabeth livermore
  Sep 18, 2007 at 17:53

  elizabeth
  I am one of 12 children, raised in the country in a strict catholic upbringing and yes it was for the most part a rewarding situation(always a friend , in a sister or brother, near-by etc) But while my father was working hard to support us and my mother was looking after the babies, myself and three other sisters were being sexually molested by our sick older brother. Not that this may be happening in the Duggars family but how would the parents know they are too busy to keep track of everyone. Anyway i believe the father to be an egotistical, closet preacher who wants his own congregation to satisfy his yearnings.

• Maraleah
  Sep 19, 2007 at 13:15

  The Duggers aren’t trying to force anyone else to have as many children as they do. They are merely showing that, as they allow God to determine the size of their families, they are blessed and able to produced happy, healthy, well adjusted citizens who know what a work ethic is and who aren’t going to expect the world to cater to them.

  They only dress alike on trips (for very practical reasons) and for portraits. Much of the time on the shows, they are dressing differently during the day. Of course they don’t dress like streetwalkers or hoods but I, personally, find that refreshing.

  Nobody has to do what the Duggers do and don’t worry about over population…as evidenced here, few people are willing to trust God for their family’s size.

• Maraleah
  Sep 19, 2007 at 13:22

  By the way Elizabeth, I am one of only 3 children and I was sexually abused by my older brother. I guess the size of the family really doesn’t make a difference…my parents never knew and I know that if I had told them, I would not have been believed over him.

• jessica
  Sep 19, 2007 at 18:55

  i was homeschooled. i only had an older brother and myself. We did not wear the homemade clothes or anything and are pretty normal, i guess. We both have friends and have made it into the real world just fine, and are very good friends with our parents to boot. i think the Duggars might have gone on tv to show what a family like that looks like. i know i’ve never seen one like that before. It was interesting. They seem healthy and happy. There are several people thinking of what the “cons” could be towards having a big family like that, but really there are pros nd cons towards every family structure. They seem to have found the one that works for them. There are LOTS of people in their family, but they aren’t telling others to have 20 children: they’re just doing what works for them. i will probably only have 3-4 kids, because more would not work for me. So as long as everyone doesn’t do what they do, why is it a problem? They aren’t saying a single bad thing about others. Why is what they are doing a problem? Because it’s different? In a world where tolerance is imperative, people sure aren’t showing much towards these loving and gracious people. Grow up, guys.

• Mary
  Sep 20, 2007 at 06:18

  Ok they seam like good parents and
  all but I am sorry but every time I
  have seen a picture of these kids not only
  are they dressed alike but all their
  girls look like they dressed out of
  little hosue on the prairie.I don’t mean
  to sound rude but they lucky they are
  home schooled because in public they
  would be teased not only for that but
  because all their names begin with the
  same letter.

  I think these parents need to give their
  kids more of their own look and names that
  don’t all begin with J.Evan when you have
  twins they say you should give them their
  own look.And I am sorry but maybe they
  should give them a look that more today.

• Ben
  Sep 20, 2007 at 11:58

  I have seen the duggar shows and these kids don’t seam ready to take on the world.The oldest one is what 19 and he never talks about I might like to go to college or i would go to work doing whatever.He is 19 and not ready to take on the world.You never heard any of the kids talk about their furture or what they wanna be when they grow_up.Do they plan on doing anything beside be babysitters to mom and dad.
  And since they being hiden in this house away from the world how will they react when they have to go out into it.I mean come on here when i was 19 i was already working and going to school and had my own apartment.I mean he seams to have the skills to wash his own clothes and such but my question is are these kids to cuddled by mom and dad to come into the real world?Or to just plan to stay with mom and dady forever?Isn’t the hole point of raising children so they go into the world and make their own.

• Maraleah
  Sep 21, 2007 at 08:40

  Actually, Ben, at the beginning of one of the shows when they introduced each child, they gave their likes and dislikes as well as what they want to be when they grow up. If I remember correctly, the oldest boy is interested in Law. Each one had different interests and career choices, which I’m sure will change many times over for the younger ones!

  I used to homeschool my two sons. They were exposed to so much more especially on field trips. If you’ve ever chaperoned one of the public school field trips, you know that the actual time spent investigating the destination is very limited. The buses must wait until all the schools’ children have been delivered for the day before they show up at the school to transport the students for the field trip. By the time you get to the destination (maybe the zoo?), there is little time to explore before meeting for lunch and then it’s back to the buses to get them freed up for transporting students home from other schools.

  I actually timed it once and we spent a total of one and a half hours at the zoo. How much do they get out of the whole experience besides a day off regular school? When I took my boys on a field trip with other homeschoolers in the group we belonged to (group rates applied), once inside the venue, we were on our own to really explore. My sons were exposed to so much more during those trips.

  They also learned to interact with people of all ages. They weren’t divided into age-related groups, as they are at school. They learned to structure their group play so that the oldest to the youngest could participate…and this all on their own without adult interference.

  As for those saying that Michelle does nothing while the kids raise themselves, tell that to the CEO of a company. While he delegates to others, he still works hard himself, if he wants to keep his job and company. She buddies up with the youngest child. The “poor” girl who makes lunch actually LIKES to do it! The one who supervises dinner actually LIKES to do it. At least they are doing what they enjoy.

  They are fine. It’s not for everyone, but let’s let others live their own lives in freedom…that’s what America is all about.

• Ben
  Sep 21, 2007 at 09:19

  Well if that really is the case why is he not going to college now.He is 19 and should be done with school.And as for the field trip thing I have went on schoool field trips before we sent over 4 hours at the zoo and saw everything we wanted to see.I wonder if these kids have friends outside their home.Do they get to go to the mall and hang out with friends.Will they know how to react when they go college and are around kids that different from them.I agree with letting people live their own lives but lets face it they can’t possible know what they going to face once they step out the front door and see what the world is really like.

• mary
  Sep 21, 2007 at 09:59

  Althrough I agree with some what you said Maraleah I can’t agree with you that public school field trips are short and you learn nothing.I went to public school and went on long trips they were normaly all day and we learned alot.We went with other classes from different age groups.We also played with kids every day on the playground with kids of different ages.I agree that people be able to live their life. But I have to agree that kids are mean if they walk into college not knowing the world the way it is today they will be attacked the chicken in the pack that is smaller then the others.and through I don’t agree with it people tend not to like whats different.And none of no matter what we agree with or disagree with can’t change that.

• Beth
  Sep 21, 2007 at 10:00

  To have a family this large is unusual in today’s world, but the amount of hostility that people have toward them is unwarranted.

  No doubt their family has problems, but every family does regardless of size and religion. My friends are athesits with only one or two children, and their children are all MESSES! On the whole, these children are very well-behaved and know the value of work and responsibility. I don’t see them becoming self-centered delinquents, welfare-dependent, and/or drug-addicts like the “normal” kids in my community.

  OK, the family gives me the creeps–but I can recognize my visceral response as the anti-evangelical, pro-Planned Parenthood bigotry that it is. :)

  If in 10-20 years, we hear that most of the kids turned out to be basket cases and criminals, then our disapproval may be merited. Until then, our disgust is unwarranted judgmentalism.

  This is America! We get to be free to have (or not have) a religion; to have (or not have) children; to be (or not be) hypocrites, etc. Live and let live. I don’t see the Duggars trying to push their standards on me, so I will not push mine on them.

  I may not like what they are doing, but it is their right in a free country. I cannot assert my freedoms while simultaneously desiring to deny theirs.

• julie
  Sep 22, 2007 at 19:47

  First, I feel like dropping the letter J from my first name. My grandmother had 14 kids and said she would have been the 1st one in line for birth control had it been available. But she could have practiced abstinence too. But I dunno, my grandparents were Catholics. This is where religion comes in and encourages people to over-procreate so the church can gain more power by numbers.

• Maraleah
  Sep 24, 2007 at 18:19

  “Althrough I agree with some what you said Maraleah I can’t agree with you that public school field trips are short and you learn nothing.”

  Mary,
  Please reread my comment and don’t misquote me. I never said they learn nothing.

  My experience with school field trips has been in large metropolitan areas. Each school level (elementary, middle, high) were on different shifts. If we had a field trip that parents could drive to, it was different but those were not the norm. The amount of time the buses were free was very limited as the middle schools (the last to be delivered in the mornings) began at 9:30, which put the buses at the field trip school at around 10:00. Drive time was usually 45 minutes to an hour which put us at the venue by 11:00. We gathered for lunch at noon and by 1:30 had to be on the buses to go back to school so they would be free to pick up the high school children at 2:30 to take them home.

  Even if lunch only lasted 30 minutes, that gave us a grand total of 2 hours to tour the zoo or Seaquarium or what have you. Of course that’s if everybody was ready to leave on time and there were no delays anywhere.

• mary
  Sep 25, 2007 at 06:25

  I lived in the city as well.I was not trying to
  misquote you in anyway.Everyone has their
  own way of doing things.And you have seen
  it in a different way then i have.I grew up in
  single parent home and my mom couldn’t
  get off work alot of the time or had the money
  to take us to place like the zoo or the rain
  forest.So a school field trip was exciting and
  fun for me and my sister.It gave us a chase
  to get to go some place and see things we
  may only see on t.v. So for me I quess it
  was fun time where I learned alot.So I
  quess what I am tryng say is for your
  kids maybe you were able to find have
  soemthing you felt was better but for
  some kids this an exciting time that they
  wait all week for.

• Crystel
  Oct 2, 2007 at 15:23

  I happen to be the 15th of 16 children. I’m the 8th daughter and have 7 brothers, all from the same two parents. My parents raised us on the scriptures and taught us morals and values that every single one of us adhere to. I have never had a problem with individuality, though instead of a 20 year span like the Duggars there is a 30 year span between the oldest and youngest. We all have our own ideas, likes and dislikes, and we all do the most with what interests us just like anyone would. Especially if they know how to work for what they want.
  My mother was the hardest working mother i have ever met, as i’m sure Michelle Duggar is. There is no way you couldn’t be with having that many children, even if the older children did help raise them. Everyone in my family is happy. Not one of my siblings or parents have ever been to jail or done anything that might put them there. We were all raised to respect one another as the Duggar children are. Although my older brothers and sisters did help change my diapers, they have much much more to put on their resumes. The boys all learned how to work at an early age, (very few boys know how to now days) and because of that they were able to grow up and own their own businesses and pay the taxes that many families are using today because they are too lazy to earn their own living. The girls learned how to work, too and recognized the men that they married as hard workers that would be able to provide for them in the future. And they have.
  My parents have never forced us to believe anything. They taught us the morals and ethics that they valued and we took it because we were able to recognize the difference it made in our lives. Maybe some of you guys should try it.

• The Duggar$
  Oct 3, 2007 at 12:41

  Please understand that being forced to believe something is not a case of being told *you must believe this or else!*.. it is simply the case of taking a child and raising it with exposure to only one belief system.. so that by the time they are adults they have no other options that seem realistic to them.

  As you said, you were “raised on the scriptures”. Your parents likely gave you no indication that those scriptures may in fact not be true. They probably never told you that the original texts of the 4 gospels in the NT were written in a language Jesus and his disciples did not speak… GREEK. They probably never told you that the bible was cannonized because politicians were not happy that several different religions were being practiced peacefully… so they told church leaders to come up with ONE religious text.. he didn’t care which books they kept or which they threw out… and the religious leaders threw out the ones they didn’t like and kept the ones they did.

  Your parents probably didn’t tell you that what religion you believe and which god you worship depends not on what *the lord puts in your heart*.. but into which part of the world you are born and which religion you are exposed to as a child.

  Indoctrination of children is forced religion. It isn’t forced through threats of physical abuse. It is forced through mental and emotional manipulation… exposing them only to what you want them to believe… and making them scared to explore any other ideology… through threats of eternal damnation.

• The Duggar$
  Oct 3, 2007 at 12:46

  Also

  You and your sisters… who chose men who could provide for them…

  Did it ever occur to you that you can provide for yourself… that you can get an education and be anything a man can be… that you are adults who should not have to seek permission to do what you want… that you can be self-sufficient and independent… that you can be perfectly happy without being under the *servant leadership* of a man?

• Maraleah
  Oct 3, 2007 at 14:33

  “Indoctrination of children is forced religion”

  Every parent “indoctrinates” their children in their values and morals…good or bad. Do you think the atheist parents would allow their child to explore theistic ideas? The child would be afraid of being called ignorant or stupid or superstitious by their own parent.

  I have faith in God. I am convinced He exists and that He loves us all. Why wouldn’t I pass that faith on to my children since I believe it to be true? I raised my sons in the Church. Now that they are grown men, they are free to decide what they believe and what they don’t. Of course I pray they will both be men of faith, but right now they are not practicing any religious belief.

  Most mainline Christian parents don’t teach their children to be afraid of God. We teach our children that God loves them and wants a relationship with them. While they were minors in my home, they obeyed me and attended Church with me.

  This is no different from any other discipline parents give their children while they are growing up…clean their room, be home by curfew, don’t do drugs, etc. Children need boundaries and only the parent who cares nothing for her child would refuse to give that child boundaries and guidelines to live by.

  Once a child is an adult and on his/her own, s/he is free to decide which values and morals s/he wishes to keep from the parents and which to change for her/himself.

  I would rather see 100 sets of parents giving the guidance that the Duggers give their children than one set of parents letting their children run wild. If you want to see the contrast, tune into “Nanny 911″ just once. I’ll take the Duggers any day over most of the parents on that show!

• The Duggar$
  Oct 4, 2007 at 09:42

  Every parent attempts to pass on their morals and beliefs… the VAST majority do not quarantine their children away from EVERY OTHER POSSIBLE BELIEF SYSTEM their ENTIRE CHILDHOOD AND TEENAGE LIVES in order to do so.

  It is not the passing on of their beliefs and morals that creates FORCED religion… it is the absolute REFUSAL to allow any information to the contrary to reach their children.

• The Duggar$
  Oct 4, 2007 at 09:47

  Atheist parents DO allow their children to be exposed to other ideas. Atheists do not build schools where only other atheist attend.. schools which teach that children will spend eternity in pain and anguish if they choose to explore other possibilities. Atheists do not refuse to allow their children to be around people who believe differently.

  Fundi religious people are the ones who do all of that.

• The Duggar$
  Oct 4, 2007 at 10:13

  People here speak as if the only choices are total immersion and indoctrination… or allowing children to raise themselves, place no expectations on them to be moral and decent people, allow them to join gangs.. use drugs.. and kill people.

  Those are the extremes… and for the kid involved… one is JUST as bad as the other. The vast majority of American children are not raised EITHER way and grow up to be perfectly normal, happy, healthy adults with multi-faceted beliefs and ideologies.

  Using fear of eternal damnation to scare a child into doing what you want is just as damaging as raising them in neighborhoods where other people use fear for their lives and fear of rejection by their peers to get them to do what bad people want them to do.

  Either way you are turning your children into mindless maze runners who will go on to relive YOUR life rather than raising them to exercise free-will with responsibility, free-thought with logic and reason… and allowing them to live their own lives.. regardless of whether or not they agree with YOU.

• Maraleah
  Oct 4, 2007 at 12:58

  “Using fear of eternal damnation to scare a child into doing what you want…”

  I raised my sons in the faith and NEVER used “fear of eternal damnation” to keep them there. I taught my sons God’s love for them…that He loves them even more than I do and that says volumes to them. I don’t know what groups of Christians you’ve been associated with, but “fear factor” Christianity went out a long time ago.

  The Duggers don’t teach their children fear of damnation. They teach them God’s love. If they taught their children to be fearful all the time, they certainly wouldn’t be as happy and calm as they are. They’d be nervous, frightened children.

  I’ve been involved in both evangelical Protestant congregations and now am back in the Catholic Church. In my 52 years, I never heard a preacher or priest or teacher try to scare the hell out of people. God wants us to freely choose to love Him because He loves us, not because fire and brimstone await anyone who messes up.

  God forgives us out of love for us. He is not waiting to zap us for stepping out of line. He is always there wanting the best for us and a relationship with us. THAT is what we teach our children. It’s not brainwashing…it’s loving them into the Kingdom. And if they choose to stray, we don’t reject them hatefully; we pray for them and love them even more because that’s what God does when WE stray.

• Crystel
  Oct 5, 2007 at 09:55

  so tell me, “the Duggar$”, how do you know that my parents didn’t let me have any other options? I have family that doesn’t believe even remotely the same things me and my parents do, and my parents treat them the same way they treat me: with respect for what i believe. Also, my sisters and their husbands are equal companions, as will my husband and I be. No one is going to be under anyone’s “servant leadership”. God took a rib out of Adam’s side to make woman. He didn’t take it out of his feet or his head. My 8 sisters and their husbands and my 7 brothers and their wives make decisions together. They have better marriages than most people in the United States because they respect each other’s opinions, they compromise, they are selfless, and they have integrity. I’m choosing by myself to have a companion because i feel like my role in life is to be a mother and a homemaker, and a faithful one at that. There are certain roles for men and women to play that are of equal importance, but very different. God made women mothers because they were nurturers.

  By the way, did your parents ever teach you anything? Did they teach you manners? Where’s the line between that and indoctrination?

• Crystel
  Oct 5, 2007 at 10:00

  P.S. I don’t recall my parents ever telling me that I can’t be around people that believe differently than me. I have some pretty strong relationships with non-christians that they have never disapproved of.

• The Duggar$
  Oct 5, 2007 at 11:52

  Crystal

  I understand.. growing up the way you did.. it would be nice to have all of this be about you. The attention would probably be a welcome change…

  But this thread is about the Duggars.

  The only non-familial social relationships their children are allowed to have is with church members from their own religion. They do not go to school so that they can meet children who are different than their family and church members.

  Again… I can see that you are desperate for attention. That is understandable considering your childhood. However… don’t assume everything said here is about you. it isn’t.

  What was said in response to you… was the part you did not address… asking you if your parents.. while teaching you what is INSIDE the bible… also taught you the history of the bible itself. How it came to be… where the texts came from… the books that were left out of it and WHY those books were left out… (Here is a hint… anything that indicated that the church was not necessary… was left out by the elders of the church.. go figure)

  I will ask again… Did your parents tell you that the original texts of the 4 gospels in the NT were written Greek.. a language that was not spoken by Jesus OR his disciples… and the oldest of the texts dates back to around 100 years after the death of Christ… which means none of them were written by anyone who ever met Jesus?

  Did they tell you that the bible was canonized because politicians were not happy that several different religions were being practiced peacefully… so they told church leaders to come up with ONE religious text.. he didn’t care which books they kept or which they threw out… and the religious leaders threw out the ones they didn’t like and kept the ones they did?

  Did your parents tell you that what religion you believe and which god you worship depends not on what *the lord puts in your heart*.. but into which part of the world you are born and which religion you are exposed to as a child?

  Did your parents not teach you that there is a place called HELL where the souls of sinners burn for eternity?

  The fact that you actually believe the literal version of Genesis’ depiction of creation.. yet say that it doesn’t mean your sisters and their husbands aren’t equal partners… is laughable. Genesis clearly states that the man is to rule over the woman. The bible states that the man is to love the woman and the woman is to OBEY the man. All things religious you must ask your husband about at home… for it is a shame for you to speak in the church. The bible states in Deut. that if a man kidnaps a woman and shaves her head and keeps her away from her family for a month… he can rape her and call her his wife.

  Paul says Jesus changed the laws so that the laws of Moses no longer apply….

  But Jesus said “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill”

• The Duggar$
  Oct 5, 2007 at 11:58

  Maraleah -

  If you did not teach your sons about hell.. you would be the only Christian I know of who did not. The rest of them teach their children that a god who loves them more than mommy and daddy… would send their souls to hell if they do not believe in him.

• Beth
  Oct 5, 2007 at 12:29

  I know plenty of Christian families and churches who do not emphasize the doctrine of Hell. Many Calvinist churches do, and they are currently the predominant voice in America; however, the Protestant churches that used to be “main stream” or “main line” (before the rise of the Religious Right) often do not bother to mention Hell, and when they do, I’ve heard things like, “There may be a Hell, but we are not required to believe that anyone is there.” :)
  As this thread and its flame demonstrate, the culture wars in the US enter around religion. Those who oppose the Religious Right often forget that there is a liberal Christian tradition in this country. By painting all Christians as fundies and extremists (and thereby buying into the right-wingers attempts to limit Christianity to only their conservative views), secularists weaken the position of their natural allies in the cuture wars, namely moderate and liberal Christians.

  I went to seminaries (Protstant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox) whose professors ARE the researchers who write the books that reveal the history of the Bible in a complex, scholarly way. Thoughtful Christians for centruies have known better than to take the whole Bible at face value; it is only since the 19th century that an anti-modern, ant-intellectual movement arose. The movers and shakers in in revealing the historical context of the Bible and church history are (gasp) frequently Christians.

  Not all Christians are fundamentalists, and not all evangelicals are obnoxious. The left wing can be just as narrow minded and offensive.

  I suggest that the personal attacks and the flame war subside.

  “The Duggar$:” you pointed out [quote] “But this thread is about the Duggars.” Perhaps you would take the discussion back on point for us.

• Crystel
  Oct 5, 2007 at 20:27

  Yes. My parents did teach me all those things. The original books of Genesis were compiled and written in hebrew. If you want that history of how the texts came to be I can give it to you. After the Israelite captivity by the Babylonians, however, most of the Jews spoke Aramaic, so the Bible was translated into Aramaic. Therefore, the Hebrew scriptures were an enigma for most Jews unless translated for them. Then Alexander the Great came along in and the Jews were dispersed even further into Egypt. Since Alexander’s conquests had spread the use of Greek through a very wide area, the Bible was translated into Greek around 250 B.C., but it was far from being the original language. It was still in its Greek form by the time Christ came around. The basic scripture of the earliest Christians was the Septuagint, what we know as the Old Testament, the Hebrew record translated into Greek.

  As for texts that dated back to around 100 years after the death of Christ, they came about through the same means as the rest of the Bible: Revelation. They didn’t need to know christ personally because it was the doctrine they were teaching, not his biography, though they did testify of Christ. The historical part was written by people that DID know Christ personally, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in Greek, since that was the international language.

  And who exactly are “they” or the “politicians” you’re talking about? be specific. The books of the old testament were gathered and restored by Ezra. They had been lost along with the ark of the covenant after the captivity that the babylonians put them in. The New Testament records of the King James version were translated by his Majesty’s special command directly from the original Greek.

  And you are right about one thing, the religion that I know to be true did depend on me being born in a specific part of the world, but that doesn’t make it any less true in other parts. And I was taught about hell, but not a place where the souls of sinners burn for eternity. They are in a state of hell because they can’t be around anything good. They can’t stand to be in the presence of Christ because of His perfection. There is no actual burning going on. That’s a metaphor.

  And I would like to say that I believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. The Bible went through too many hands with too many erasers and ink bottles. It is not a perfect book, but it is of great worth.

  And I do take the creation literally. Is it coincidence that men have one few rib than women? I think not. Also, Genesis does not state that man is to rule over women. It states that “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh…. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and THEY SHALL BE ONE FLESH.” It says that Eve was a help meet for him, too, but it never says that man will rule over woman.

  As for the scripture in Deuteronomy it does not mention rape anywhere. I think you are just misinterpreting it.

  Your last point was a good point, although I cannot see how it helped your cause. Paul did say that because of Jesus, the law of Moses no longer applied, and Jesus did say that he did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. He did exactly that. He suffered for every single sin that any of us did ever or will ever commit. Animal sacrifices were no longer required because he made the ultimate sacrifice. The higher law was announced. Instead of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, it was love thine enemies, bless them that curse you, and do good to them that despitefully use you and persecute you.

• The Duggar$
  Oct 6, 2007 at 11:28

  Actually… outside of biblical claims… there is absolutely no evidence that the Jews were ever slaves in Egypt.

  The things you have been taught about the history of the NT are lies. The things you have been taught about men and women today are lies. If you used your head for something other than a container for bullshit… you would have questioned these things for yourself by now.

  Case in point….

  Men do not have one fewer rib than women. We have the same amount of ribs. You are clinging to lies that have been taught to you by your parents just as a child clings to the easter bunny.

  Put down that fiction novel of yours and read an anatomy book.

• Beth
  Oct 6, 2007 at 13:10

  So much for ceasing the personal attacks.

• The Duggar$
  Oct 6, 2007 at 20:21

  Look… I could continue to debate this with you…

  But when she.. an adult… claiming to be intelligent and informed… claiming that her parents told her the truth about the bible… makes a statement like…

  “And I do take the creation literally. Is it coincidence that men have one few rib than women? I think not?”

  … well… what is the point in me saying anything else?

  A grown woman who actually BELIEVES that men have one fewer ribs than women…. because her parents and the church said so… so she took their word for it to the point that neither she nor her brainwashed sisters EVER even so much as questioned it… NEVER checked it out for themselves.. NEVER cracked a science book and read up on the workings of their OWN BODIES…

  Yet I am supposed to believe that her parents told her ANY truth that contradicts anything that is written in the bible…

  She has just PROVED my point for me. She has just shown EVERYONE that her very reason for belief is a LIE that she accepted as a child and has lived her entire life never questioning it’s validity. She has shown what happens when children are raised in houses where they are part of a heard instead of part of a family… they become mindless sheep with no freedom to question anything.

  She has done more to show what is wrong with that type of environment than I could ever have done.

• Crystel
  Oct 6, 2007 at 22:01

  well I’m 17 but I’m flattered that I sound like an adult.

  I have questioned these things and put them to the test. They make sense to me. But I guess the rest of the world got history wrong. I bet the Pharaoh built the pyramids himself. Besides
  everything that my government-funded public school taught me about Alexander the great conquering the Jews and spreading them into Egypt and all that apparent nonsense, and all those crazy new scientific findings of ancient scrolls and all that, you’re right; there is absolutely NO evidence there were ever Jews in Egypt.
  By the way, say all you want about the public school system. I’ll probably agree with you.

  And shame on me for trusting my parents. I’ve got some nerve.

• The Duggar$
  Oct 6, 2007 at 22:23

  I knew men and women had the same amount of ribs at 12 years old.

  At 17 years old… you should have learned the truth by now. You shouldnt have had to learn it from a stranger on line.

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• roxanne
  Jan 21, 2008 at 19:54

  why is everyone picking on the duggars,they work are debt free and dont rely on govement assistance,god has blessed them with the no of children they are to have they are healthy happy,they could have had different names i agree,but at least its easy to remember.ive got 5 children,would have wanted more,it was out of my hands,good luck godbless.roxanne in australia

• Kaye
  Jan 28, 2008 at 21:31

  They disgust me. Stop having babies! Be responsible! I’m 22, been married 4 years and I have *0* kids. Because unlike this delusional jackass I don’t pop out babies just because I can.

  I want to be able to give my children everything, take them to amazing places, let them see new and wonderful things, experience different cultures and decide who they are and what they want to be –something the Duggars will never do for their children. I feel bad for their kids living such boring, demanding, colorless lives. What will they do when they are thrust into the real world? How will they even be able to handle college? Or a job for that fact? They’re never allowed to make decisions and that will screw them in the end.

• Ken
  Feb 5, 2008 at 00:54

  You guys are all nut cases if you put any more effort in the Duggars other than watching their show for entertainment. Don’t worry about other people’s lives and be sure that you can be as happy as the Duggar family appears to be before you judge them. . . you nut cases.

• Nafeesah
  Feb 17, 2008 at 09:19

  Kaye,

  Your point is on time because you would wonder how these children would even function in the real world. I wouldnt put it past anything that they would have a hard time making friends, dealing with heartbreak from a relationship, and learning about things that makes them grow into separate individuals. If I brought a boyfriend home and he saw my mom looking like Michelle Duggar he would run because she doesnt look like she cares for herself if she wears her hair unbrushed and looking matted.

  I know a girl I went to high school with who’s from a family of 11 and it’s affected her because by the time she was 8,9, 10 years old her mother was pregnant again. She didnt get a lot of time with her mother which has affected her socially since we don’t talk anymore and she’s very stand-offish. Even sadder she’s not learned how to drive and she’s in her 30s and hasnt married or had children yet.

  It’s a hard life and my grandmother was from a family of 14 so she too didnt get a lot of time with mom so it’s affected her as well she’s not a pleasant person to be around and she’s got living habits that are not normal she hoards a lot and takes other people’s things and uses them without asking. It’s all messed up and to not get enough time with your mother is detrimental.

  My limit will be 3 because anything past that is too many and you’ll wear yourself out mentally, physically, and financially. Michelle Duggar looks well into her early 50s because she’s had so many children it’s aged her significantly. Plus most parents want their lives back after raising kids to be able to travel when they want and to do things they couldnt do when raising kids.

  I can understand why some people think this is crazy because it’s hard enough to raise 1-5 kids, but 17 is too freaking many. They maybe debt free now, but at the rising cost of going to college they can kiss every penny of their retirement good bye because it’s going to cost well over $100,000 per child to send them to college and them being homeschooled they may not even get into college because most colleges want to hear from students that did things like the school newspaper, academic clubs, and other school related activities.

  If you look at the average college application they don’t ask about church activities. they want to hear what you did in school. I went to a catholic college and they asked me school related activities. I highly doubt these kids can really relate to much of anything since they all look like cutouts of the Ingalls family giving the fact they dress alike.

  Most of us women arent going to stretch our cootchie out for the sake of following religious doctrines.

• Vanessa
  Feb 18, 2008 at 08:01

  I must say, if I had the finances, I too would love to have a larger family. We are intelligent, normal people…and that’s the problem. Is we stopped at 2 kids because we know where our finances finish when it comes to kids.

  Then we have the low-income ignorant families having all the children who are not going to be the Doctors, but the mass broods of losers the idiots have bred. And are all the kids on Welfare.

  The Duggars are not on welfare and support their own…so you all should be happy they are smart enough to pay for their own kids.

  I feel, if I had more money, it would be Gods will for us to have more intelligent children brought into this world. If God truly wanted us pregnant again…he can find a way around birth control.

  God Bless

• roxanne monro
  Feb 18, 2008 at 15:19

  every one still picking on the duggars,leave them alone,stop the negitive,oppinions,large families are few and far between,the older ones want to be doctors lawyers and nurses.it will be interesting to see them at the end of study what they become,i think the mom and dad deserve a holiday by themselves for aweek,a child free zone,congratulations.michelle,&jimbob.australia

• PAMELA
  Mar 17, 2008 at 20:43

  Why don’t you idiots shut the hell up.It ain’t none of anybody’s business how many kids they have.Besides that their children are well behaved.Unlike most of your kids I’m sure.So shut up you idiots.

• Daphoenyx
  Mar 18, 2008 at 16:57

  It’s true what you say, that is none of our business how many kids they have.

  Or, better said, it WOULD be true, if they didn’t decide to get in the media attention and go to shows, have articles published etc. THEY are the ones who accepted and wanted to be in the media, and that means: people talking, commenting, discussing and making assumptions on your life and lifestyle.

  Let’s not forget about that.

• Trish
  Apr 17, 2008 at 10:20

  i think it is selfish for them to have more children. it does not seem like the mom cares for the little one’s the older children do. its a parents responsiblity to raise their children. the older children have no choice and know no better. its like having a cult of your own all nice and controlled. i watched them on tv all i saw was the older children cooking, doing laundry careing for the little ones… where the hell is mom???? did she just want a bunch of slaves? its the parents choice to keep having children but for “GODS SAKE” let your children be children and take care of your babies!

• Lena
  May 27, 2008 at 23:50

  I think the Dugger family has gone way over the top with so many kids. Poor Michele she will be dead in a few years if she doesn’t stop having kids. The human body is not designed to have 18 kids, I hope this will be the last. They are Hvery lucky also that their children are all healthy. Also how will all the children do in the real world their live is not normal.

• roxanne in oz
  May 28, 2008 at 14:24

  everyone still picking on the duggers,some good comments and bad,are they jealous or something.i cant wait to see the next showq on them to see how things are going,wow no 18 cool i hope its a girl to catch up to the boys,hope the baby and michelle are healthy as well.it would be interesting to see the ones who wanted to be laywers and doctors if they become one ,and how they coped being away to study tht field ,congrats michelle,jimbob,roxanne down under in oz.australia

• Daphoenyx
  May 28, 2008 at 16:23

  Well I don’t know if you heard, but she’s pregnant with the 18th…

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