Depending on who a person talks to, 19 and Counting was either a disturbing or inspirational show on TLC that featured a family that had enough members to start its own football team, in terms of numbers at least. Seriously, even with the kind of money it would take to keep such a large family safe and secure, there aren’t enough hours in the day to give one’s children enough time and care, which is one among many issues that people have had with this show. Older siblings were seen to be raising and ‘helping’ with younger siblings as Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar were more like supervisors that assigned lead duties to their eldest children and in turn, paid more attention to their eldest children more often than not. Many fans would likely chime in and argue that point, but the unfortunate fact, in this case, is that parenting is a tough thing to do at times with more than one child, and with 19, and grandkids no doubt on the way eventually, one would be hard-pressed to make sure that everything and everyone was taken care of in an orderly fashion without turning their family into a well-oiled machine in which the constituent parts took care of one another.
The issue at hand though isn’t the main show, which already ended its run a while back, but the spinoff, Counting On, which has been canceled at TLC after it was apparently found that Josh Duggar, who’s been a bit of a problem for a while, was in possession of child porn. As religious as this family is and as impossible as it would appear for them to be tightly-knit, any and all belief in this accusation has split the fanbase and made it evident to TLC that it was time to cut ties and ‘let the Duggar family handle personal matters’ or however the excuse went. In truth, it’s very likely that TLC will be waiting in the wings to see if this matter blows over and whether or not it will be safe to approach the family once again once Josh Duggar’s case is settled. One way or another it does feel as though the network might try to swoop in again, but for now, they’re definitely going to maintain their distance.
It’s too easy to say that there’s something fundamentally wrong with the Duggar family because, in truth, there probably isn’t, they simply lead a life that many people think is a bit odd and that some folks don’t agree with. 19 kids are too much in the opinion of many people, and some might even begin to call it a homemade cult at one point. But the beliefs and family practices of the Duggar clan aren’t what is on display here at the moment, it’s the actions of one of their number, Josh, that have colored the spotlight on the family at this time, since the explanation as to why he’s not in jail after the allegations of sexual molestation of several girls, a few of them being members of his own family. There are a great number of jokes that are bound to be made about this, but you won’t find them here. The fact that Josh Duggar hasn’t been brought to task, or that the matter hasn’t been remedied as of yet, is troubling since it would appear that someone has been attempting to keep things as quiet as possible over the years.
Sadly, that’s another mark against the Duggars in the eyes of many people that would be glad to see the family cast in the light they’ve felt was deserved for so long. The utter hatred that some people have for this family isn’t necessary since plenty of the Duggars haven’t done anything wrong. But the act of circling the wagons when a fault is found their otherwise calm and composed demeanor doesn’t help any since it makes them look even more complicit and thus grants even more ammunition to those that would love to see them fall. Personally, I stopped caring about the Duggars after watching a single episode of the show, as my own beliefs don’t align with theirs, and having that many kids feels highly irresponsible. But that’s my opinion, nothing else.
This matter isn’t bound to be settled quickly since to be honest the trouble with Josh has never been fully addressed it would appear, and if the Duggars have their way, it might not be this time either. Not thinking about the family is easy, but watching them being thrust into the spotlight once more is enough to earn a shake of the head and a serious snort of derision since like it or not, any ill or trouble that comes to this family was kind of a package deal when Jim Bob and Michelle started creating their family.
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