Long before the world learned what a sick freak Josh Duggar is, there was considerable talk about the odd fashion in which the Duggar children were raised and the potential damage it might cause.
In particular, there were concerns about the ways in which Jim Bob and Michelle instilled in their children the idea that anything related to sex is evil, unless it takes place within the confines of marriage and for the purposes of procreation.
Josh is the oldest of their 19 kids, so we can see how well that belief system has worked out.
But while Josh’s predatory behavior has received a great deal of coverage, there’s been very little talk about his victims and how they’re faring these days.
Yes, before he was arrested on child pornography charges, Josh was vicitimizing members of his own family.
In 2015, Duggar fans were shocked to learn that while he was still in his teens, Josh molested five young girls, four of whom were his sisters.
To this day, the family attempts to keep as tight a lid on the scandal as possible, but fortunately, we know that at least two of Josh’s victims have distanced himself from the parents who allowed such abuse to take place under their roof.
Jill Duggar has cut ties with her parents, and she seems to delight in publicly disregarding the asinine rules that governed her behavior for far too long.
But before Jill could walk, Jinger Duggar had to crawl.
Yes, Jinger was wearing shorts in defiance of the family dress code and generally flipping the middle finger to her ultra-strict upbringing back when her other siblings were still doing their best to stay in Jim Bob’s good graces.
Now that it’s finally fashionable to rebel against Jim Bob, Jinger is still leading the way and raising the stakes.
In fact, just this week — possibly in subtle celebration of the fact that Josh might finally be facing justice? — Jeremy Vuolo posted what many are calling the most defiantly revealing pic of Jinger’s career.
Now, she’s still a Duggar, of course — which means the pic is not actually very revealing at all.
But it’s not the sort of thing that Jinger would allow to be posted if she were still concerned her father’s opinion.
“Is that… is that a thigh?! My virgin eyes!” one fan jokingly commented, according to UK tabloid The Sun.
"Whoa – for a daughter of JB and Shelley, that’s a lot of leg. Nice to see her so comfortable with herself (and you)," another follower wrote.
"That’s actually a perfect picture of her," a third chimed in.
Jinger has been violating her family’s dress code for years, but it’s a topic she generally avoids discussing publicly.
But last month, Jinger and Jeremy released a memoir entitled The Hope We Hold: Finding Peace in the Promises of God.
In the book, Jinger offered the first detailed explanation of her decision to disregard the dress code with which she was raised.
"My mom had always dressed us girls in skirts and dresses, a standard that was taken from Deuteronomy 22:5, which says, ‘A woman shall not wear a man’s garment,’ (ESV) and I never really questioned it," she writes.
"Modesty was a huge topic in our house, and we believed that wearing skirts instead of pants was a central part of being modest," Jinger continues.
"But I wanted to discover for myself what the Bible had to say."
Jinger says her beliefs began to change once she married Jeremy and started "digging into" the Bible.
"Growing up, I had a set of standards that I took as givens," she writes, adding that once she "reexamined and compared them to Scripture, [her] convictions were changing."
So contrary to popular belief, Jinger didn’t start wearing shorts strictly because she had Jeremy’s permission to do so.
Instead, it seems there else a scriptural justification for her decision.
Looks like Jeremy — a Bible scholar who is currently attending ministry school — is more knowledgeable about the Good Book than his father-in-law.
No wonder Jim Bob doesn’t like him!
As for how Jinger and Jeremy are dealing with the news of Josh’s arrest, it comes as no surprise that they’re experiencing some very mixed emotions.
"Being a family themselves, the idea of these kinds of charges against Josh are a horrific thing. Jinger is having a hard time coping with it," a source close to the situation tells People magazine.
One of the saddest things about Jinger’s situation is that she continues to care about her tormentor.
We hope that in time, she’ll be able to find the peace and healing that she so richly deserves.
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