Duggar surprise?

[MaryAnnDVC]

And honestly, what are the chances that there are 20 kids and not one of them is gay? I'll admit I haven't really watched the show much, but have they addressed their beliefs on homosexuality at all? I'm just curious if they had a gay child, if it would come out or not because of their parents.

I'd be willing to bet JimBob and Michelle have addressed homosexuality with their kids, along with all other "inappropriate" behavior.

I'm guessing that a gay Duggar would live his/her life the way they were raised. There are homosexuals who live a heterosexual lifestyle, to varying degrees. My sister's BIL got married and had a child, but in later years had issues with alcoholism and "straying" outside the marriage, contracted AIDS and died. I'm sure there are other homosexuals who manage to live a better life in a heterosexual lifestyle than he did. Just think of how many people before the 20th/21st century must have been gay and married someone of the opposite sex. I'm not saying they were happy (and I'm not saying they weren't), but I think they lived they way they were expected to live, and I think that's what a Duggar would do.

Personally, I'd think it was awesome if a gay Duggar came out.

 

[3prettyprincesses]

I'm so curious to know which of the kids is going to run from their parents beliefs and do whatever the heck they want. I would love to see one of them go head to head with them. I would think it would be impossible to have 20 kids be all so compliant with their crazy rules (like no dancing!)...

I'm curious too. My thoughts are that it will be one of the girls since they seem the most oppressed. Jinger strikes me as having a slightly rebellious undertone already, she does alot of eye rolling! Personally, I like her as it seems she has a mind of her own.

But with the Duggars, their rules are all wrapped up in legalism. They're concerned with the outer appearance....no dancing, no repetitious music, no pants, no dating, etc. They focus so much on the outward appearance rather than the inward heart of their children IMO. Granted I'm just going by what they show on an edited reality TV program but still, the mentality seems to be there. Legalism is probably how they define their religious beliefs. The more they adhere to the outward, the more they feel they are reinforcing their religion. Almost like a holier than thou check list in a way.

 

[AshleyW]

I'd be willing to bet JimBob and Michelle have addressed homosexuality with their kids, along with all other "inappropriate" behavior.

I'm guessing that a gay Duggar would live his/her life the way they were raised. There are homosexuals who live a heterosexual lifestyle, to varying degrees. My sister's BIL got married and had a child, but in later years had issues with alcoholism and "straying" outside the marriage, contracted AIDS and died. I'm sure there are other homosexuals who manage to live a better life in a heterosexual lifestyle than he did. Just think of how many people before the 20th/21st century must have been gay and married someone of the opposite sex. I'm not saying they were happy (and I'm not saying they weren't), but I think they lived they way they were expected to live, and I think that's what a Duggar would do.

Personally, I'd think it was awesome if a gay Duggar came out.

Me too! My great uncle is gay, but married a woman and had a couple kids.. he stayed with his wife for about 20 years, until after my great grandpa passed a couple years ago, and then he divorced and came out. I guess as long as my great grandpa (his dad) was alive, he felt he had to live how his dad expected him to. I don't think he was necessarily unhappy... but he's definitely happier now.

I might have to tune into this show more. I have a feeling it's kind of like a train wreck where once I start watching, I won't be able to stop.

 

[pigletgirl]

Me too! My great uncle is gay, but married a woman and had a couple kids.. he stayed with his wife for about 20 years, until after my great grandpa passed a couple years ago, and then he divorced and came out. I guess as long as my great grandpa (his dad) was alive, he felt he had to live how his dad expected him to. I don't think he was necessarily unhappy... but he's definitely happier now.

I might have to tune into this show more. I have a feeling it's kind of like a train wreck where once I start watching, I won't be able to stop.

Its interesting watching people live in a bubble in the 21st century. Did anyone see Michelle's response to, if they liked the Beatles... Not sure if she was kidding or not.. Finally JimBob got a clue...

 

[Carina]

Anyone catch Jim-Bob's statement about the myth of population explosion?

He claimed the whole world's population could be fit into the city limits of Jacksonville, FL.

As many of us know, the world population has reached a staggering 7 billion!

For some, such as myself, this is a hard number to fathom. Thankfully, in order to better understand exactly what seven billion people amount to, National Geographic has done a great job of putting this number into better perspective.

The author of the article, Nigel Holmes, has used the following premise in order to show exactly how much physical space would be required if all seven billion people got together.

The premise is simple:
Let's imagine we are having a party and invited all seven billion people to attend.

Questions:
Exactly how much space would be needed to host such a party?
What size venue would be required to give everyone enough room to dance?

Holmes uses a space the size of six square feet per person.
In comparison, elevators and subways generally allow approximately 2 - 3 square feet per person.
As stated above, it's a party so the figure six square feet will give every party-goer enough room to move around and dance a bit. OK....so how much space would be needed for all seven billion people to have six square feet?

7 billion people
6 square feet
= 42 billion square feet

or, 1506.5 square miles

To make things a little simpler, let's use 1500 square miles as the size of the venue.

Now, if we look at areas of this size, we are left with quite a few choices, some of which I have listed below:

-- the city of Multan, Pakistan
-- the state of Rhode Island (some people would need swimsuits since a portion is now covered by water)
-- the emirate of Dubai
-- Juneau Icefield, Alaska

Pretty cool, no? If we wanted to get everyone in the world together we could simply have everyone meet right in Rhode Island, and surprisingly, we would fit with a little personal space included!

Now, if we merely wanted to take a picture of all seven billion people, and had everyone standing shoulder to shoulder, we would only need approximately 500 square miles, or simply, the city of Los Angeles.

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread768621/pg1
from here - scroll past the stuff/links at the top

 

[princessmom29]

Speaking of dating, did they say JimBob knows more than his own girls what he is looking for in a guy for his own girls? What a controlling freak. Seriously.

It is the norm in that kind of society. The kids are groomed form day one about who is an acceptable mate and if the marriage is not totally arranged by the parents they are presented with a very limited selection of acceptable choices. Their "homeschool conferences" are really more about this kind of thing than about actualy school. They are shopping for mates for thier kids among other like minded families. They kids are only allowed ot socalize seriously with the acceptable choices.

Honestly, I don't think any of the girls will be allowed to marry until mom is done having kids and the littel ones are old enough to take on some of the load. Michelle certainly isn't going to do it.

 

[hereyago]

I'm pretty sure it was just the fact that she had dated someone before him.

And bruised his little ego.lol And i forgot about they-er he really believed because Michelle can't think for herself-that you give away a piece of you heart when you date others. what kind of bull is that? I wasn't giving my heart away for each guy I dated.

 

[DianeV]

Geez it isnt hard for their children to be little 'angel's when they are not allowed into the real world. Just like a criminal can have perfect behavior in jail. Well yes its pretty easy to.

They arent giving these kids any real chance in life except to continue the process of having more kids too. The girls are given a few career choices but are not allowed to have their own wants and future. They know perfectly well they will do exactly what their mom does. Keep having kids and listen to whatever their chosen husband says

I think its pretty sad and all signs of a cult

 

[Hannathy]

Geez it isnt hard for their children to be little 'angel's when they are not allowed into the real world. Just like a criminal can have perfect behavior in jail. Well yes its pretty easy to.

They arent giving these kids any real chance in life except to continue the process of having more kids too. The girls are given a few career choices but are not allowed to have their own wants and future. They know perfectly well they will do exactly what their mom does. Keep having kids and listen to whatever their chosen husband says

I think its pretty sad and all signs of a cult

and kept to busy being slave labor as maids, day care workers, tutors and nannies and seamstresses.

 

[pacrosby]

I think someone already mentioned on here, that 10% of the population is homosexual, so for them that would be 2 of them are. I would hope they would arise above the label and love their child unconditionally as a parent should. Ugh, I hope they wouldn't shun them away...but I have a feeling that might be a possibility and they would try to "fix" the homosexuality.

Ummm......the statistic 1 in 10 does NOT mean that out of EVERY group of 10, 1 will be gay. It just means that in a very large group 1 in 10 is 'likely' to be gay.

Sorry.....just drives me batty when people don't seem to understand how statistics work in the real world

 

[iheartdisney]

Geez it isnt hard for their children to be little 'angel's when they are not allowed into the real world. Just like a criminal can have perfect behavior in jail. Well yes its pretty easy to.

They arent giving these kids any real chance in life except to continue the process of having more kids too. The girls are given a few career choices but are not allowed to have their own wants and future. They know perfectly well they will do exactly what their mom does. Keep having kids and listen to whatever their chosen husband says

I think its pretty sad and all signs of a cult

OK, this kind of thinking just really gets my goat sometimes. Since when is "continuing the process of having more kids" no longer an admirable choice for a woman?? I know plenty of working moms who WISH they had the choice to be a stay at home mom, but life had other plans. There is NOTHING cult-like about or subservient about men and women taking on different roles in a family. Not everyone wants to burn their bras and be liberated. Some of us like our kids and like raising them ourselves.

Ummm......the statistic 1 in 10 does NOT mean that out of EVERY group of 10, 1 will be gay. It just means that in a very large group 1 in 10 is 'likely' to be gay.

Sorry.....just drives me batty when people don't seem to understand how statistics work in the real world

One of my favorite arguments, right behind "Correlation does not prove causation."
Especially if homosexuality is biological. Will anyone cry if there aren't any gay Duggar genes?

 

[KristiKelly]

Geez it isnt hard for their children to be little 'angel's when they are not allowed into the real world. Just like a criminal can have perfect behavior in jail. Well yes its pretty easy to.

They arent giving these kids any real chance in life except to continue the process of having more kids too. The girls are given a few career choices but are not allowed to have their own wants and future. They know perfectly well they will do exactly what their mom does. Keep having kids and listen to whatever their chosen husband says

I think its pretty sad and all signs of a cult

I agree!

OK, this kind of thinking just really gets my goat sometimes. Since when is "continuing the process of having more kids" no longer an admirable choice for a woman?? I know plenty of working moms who WISH they had the choice to be a stay at home mom, but life had other plans.

Keyword: CHOICE. I think the difference here is that these girls aren't really given the chance to choose if they want to have a career or be a SAHM. The dad finds them a husband that has the same upbringing & beliefs, they are sheltered from the world not knowing any other life besides the life they have lived. Will those girls be given the choice to go to a 4 year college, live on campus... to see if they want to lead a different life other than what they have known? Or will they have to live the life their dad has chosen for them?

 

[tlbwriter]

Keyword: CHOICE. I think the difference here is that these girls aren't really given the chance to choose if they want to have a career or be a SAHM. The dad finds them a husband that has the same upbringing & beliefs, they are sheltered from the world not knowing any other life besides the life they have lived. Will those girls be given the choice to go to a 4 year college, live on campus... to see if they want to lead a different life other than what they have known? Or will they have to live the life their dad has chosen for them?

Exactly. Michelle is living her choice (actually, I think her older children are living her choice, since they're the ones caring for those babies she keeps having, but let's not go there right now). Will her daughters be able to make their own choice? Or are their parents going to make it for them? If Jinger says "Please take the money you've earned from my part of this TV show, and the money you would have spent on my wedding, and send me to college instead," is that going to happen?

Ummm......the statistic 1 in 10 does NOT mean that out of EVERY group of 10, 1 will be gay. It just means that in a very large group 1 in 10 is 'likely' to be gay.

Sorry.....just drives me batty when people don't seem to understand how statistics work in the real world

Oh, I think we all understand how it really works. It's just fun to point out that there's a pretty good chance of one of them is gay.

 

[Coconut36]

OK, this kind of thinking just really gets my goat sometimes. Since when is "continuing the process of having more kids" no longer an admirable choice for a woman?? I know plenty of working moms who WISH they had the choice to be a stay at home mom, but life had other plans. There is NOTHING cult-like about or subservient about men and women taking on different roles in a family. Not everyone wants to burn their bras and be liberated. Some of us like our kids and like raising them ourselves.


One of my favorite arguments, right behind "Correlation does not prove causation."
Especially if homosexuality is biological. Will anyone cry if there aren't any gay Duggar genes?

It's one thing to make a decision because it is what you want and desire and another to do it simply because that is the only option you have in life because you know nothing else and your spouse has been hand picked by like minded people and expects this of you. It's about choice vs lack of choice IMO and the Duggar girls don't have a choice at this point unless one of them manages to break away either now or after years of unhappiness in her "arranged" marriage.

I enjoy being a SAHM but the difference is this was a choice I entered into with my spouse..not what I was told my role was to be or that it was all I was able to do with my life.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

This:

Oh, I think we all understand how it really works. It's just fun to point out that there's a pretty good chance of one of them is gay.

And this:

I enjoy being a SAHM but the difference is this was a choice I entered into with my spouse...not what I was told my role was to be or that it was all I was able to do with my life.

 

[herdtoDisney]

The girls in this family have traveled outside the country, have done mission work in other countries, and are certified first responders and volunteer firefighters.

It's not like they are chained to the washing machine

They seem to have friends and aquaintences everywhere, cell phones, and driver liscences. So it's not like they could not leave if they wished to. They don't seem in a huge hurry to marry, and at least one of them is doing some sort of college (Jill, who wants to go into nursing).

I'm just not seeing where they are forced to be domestic servants and married off to Dad-chosen suitors. They also don't seem isolated, given their extensive travel, and having other people in their home (the tlc people).

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

It's one thing to make a decision because it is what you want and desire and another to do it simply because that is the only option you have in life because you know nothing else and your spouse has been hand picked by like minded people and expects this of you. It's about choice vs lack of choice IMO and the Duggar girls don't have a choice at this point unless one of them manages to break away either now or after years of unhappiness in her "arranged" marriage.

I enjoy being a SAHM but the difference is this was a choice I entered into with my spouse..not what I was told my role was to be or that it was all I was able to do with my life.

How do you draw this conclusion?

 

[tlbwriter]

at least one of them is doing some sort of college (Jill, who wants to go into nursing).

Okay. That's good.

 

[Coconut36]

How do you draw this conclusion?

Because it's pretty clear they don't venture outside of the circle of people who share their views/beliefs and their kids don't socialize regularly with people who don't share their beliefs and wasn't there the comment about how Jim Bob "knows what he is looking for" in regards to a spouse for his girls? How can you not come to such a conclusion?

 

[Hannathy]

The girls in this family have traveled outside the country, have done mission work in other countries, and are certified first responders and volunteer firefighters.

It's not like they are chained to the washing machine

They seem to have friends and aquaintences everywhere, cell phones, and driver liscences. So it's not like they could not leave if they wished to. They don't seem in a huge hurry to marry, and at least one of them is doing some sort of college (Jill, who wants to go into nursing).

I'm just not seeing where they are forced to be domestic servants and married off to Dad-chosen suitors. They also don't seem isolated, given their extensive travel, and having other people in their home (the tlc people).

They have done none of this on their own. They have done none of this outside the carefully selected circle of approved people they may speak to.
If you honestly believe those girls could take those cell phones and get in a car and drive to the mall and socialize with whoever they please, go get a pizza with a boy not chosen by her father you are very mis informed.

Of course they aren't chained to the washing machine! if they were how would the cooking get done? or the beds changed, or the babies changed and feed? or the floors cleaned!

You can go all over the world and still be completely isolated if you are never allowed to be with anyone outside your immediate family and few chosen family approved acquaintances.