It changed yet again. This is at least the 3rd version:
Statements From Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and Josh Duggar August 20, 2015
Statement from Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar: Please see the statement below from our son Josh regarding recent media stories about him. When we learned of this late last night our hearts were broken. As we continue to place our trust in God we ask for your prayers for Josh, Anna, our grandchildren and our entire family.
Statement from Josh Duggar:
I have been the biggest hypocrite ever. While espousing faith and family values, I have been unfaithful to my wife.
I am so ashamed of the double life that I have been living and am grieved for the hurt, pain and disgrace my sin has caused my wife and family, and most of all Jesus and all those who profess faith in Him.
I have brought hurt and a reproach to my family, close friends and the fans of our show with my actions.
The last few years, while publicly stating I was fighting against immorality in our country I was hiding my own personal failures.
As I am learning the hard way, we have the freedom to choose our actions, but we do not get to choose our consequences. I deeply regret all the hurt I have caused so many by being such a bad example.
I humbly ask for your forgiveness. Please pray for my precious wife Anna and our family during this time.
Guys, Anna isn't ever going to leave. She's bought in. She believes, as strongly and as sincerely as he does, that God will forgive him because he admitted it. And her capacity for forgiveness and keeping the family together will make her a rock star in their community. I am willing to bet that she believes it was the corrupting influence of DC that got him, and God devised this as a test of their vows. He is the master of their family and she's not going to develop any independence now or ever.
There's a little video on People.com talking about the Duggars being totally stunned at how much backlash they've received from the initial molestation stuff being revealed and they were all seeing the anonymous person who released the docs as being to blame, not themselves or Josh. They (and Anna, by extension) are just going to circle the wagons more and send a few more kids off to ATI camp to atone for family sins and that'll be that.
His statement may or may not be sincere but it won't change anything for those holier than thou bigots. Because he's confessing his sin and repenting and hugging Jesus, it's okay because he's sorry. The gays will still be ruining the sanctity of marriage because they aren't sorry for being in committed loving MONOGAMOUS relationships. They make me sick.
And it's just fucking depressing. None of those kids ever had a fighting chance and it will be just be a vicious continuing cycle. Josh Duggar is a grown man, but his attitude about sex is a direct result of the repressive, fucked up environment he grew up in. It's all on him now because he's had plenty of time to figure that out, but his parents are guilty too.
Say what you will about Catholics and sex but at least they teach you that it's supposed to feel good and that God wants you to enjoy the hell out of sex with your partner lol. I mean, there are some things that are screwy, but the overall takeaway I got was that sex was normal, natural, good and something to be shared with someone special/your spouse. Contrast that to these idiots who teach their kids sex and desire is bad and don't kiss just hold hands, it's dirty and wrong and women are evil temptresses or whatever the fuck they say...
None of them will ever have normal fulfilling sex lives; they've been set up for failure. Jim Bob and his wife are truly despicable people and terrible parents.
He is right on the edge of fundie-speak. They often consider p0rn in and of itself to be unfaithfulness so reading his statement in that mindset makes me think he's trying to dismiss the allegations of actual affairs and go with "yep I looked at porn" . Because, you know, he can write a book in four years about how his marriage is stronger than ever after he submitted to the will of God to help him overcome a porn addiction.
/cynic.
I'm a cynic too. He focused on the porn and just quickly admitted to the cheating, but in a way that makes it seem like his cheating consisted solely of viewing porn. I wouldn't be surprised if we hear in a few months that they're pitching a show on porn addiction and his journey back to God or some crazy shit like that. They'll definitely eventually put out how great their marriage is because Anna turned to God and he prayed his addictions away. The apologists will eat it all up too.
Post by EloiseWeenie on Aug 20, 2015 13:52:03 GMT -5
Here's the cached version of his first draft apology
Statements From Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and Josh Duggar August 20, 2015 Statement from Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar:
Please see the statement below from our son Josh regarding recent media stories about him. When we learned of this late last night our hearts were broken. As we continue to place our trust in God we ask for your prayers for Josh, Anna, our grandchildren and our entire family.
Statement from Josh Duggar:
I have been the biggest hypocrite ever. While espousing faith and family values, I have secretly over the last several years been viewing pornography on the internet and this became a secret addiction and I became unfaithful to my wife.
I am so ashamed of the double life that I have been living and am grieved for the hurt, pain and disgrace my sin has caused my wife and family, and most of all Jesus and all those who profess faith in Him.
I brought hurt and a reproach to my family, close friends and the fans of our show with my actions that happened when I was 14-15 years old, and now I have re-broken their trust.
The last few years, while publicly stating I was fighting against immorality in our country, in my heart I had allowed Satan to build a fortress that no one knew about.
As I am learning the hard way, we have the freedom to choose to our actions, but we do not get to choose our consequences. I deeply regret all hurt I have caused so many by being such a bad example.
I humbly ask for your forgiveness. Please pray for my precious wife Anna and our family during this time.
Post by anastasia517 on Aug 20, 2015 13:52:36 GMT -5
I feel so bad for Anna. I doubt she knew exactly how he had "transgressed" when they got engaged, because it was probably played off as consenual kissing of a pre-teen girlfriend. There's no way she is getting out of this, especially not with the help of her parents. Her father is creepy and her mum is frighteningly submissive to him.
She does have a sister who had a baby out of wedlock though. I don't know what kind of situation the sister is in, but I hope she reaches out to Anna.
Hmmm so they took out the part about the p***. Don't admit to more than you need to Joshy.
I'm going to be forming a lobbying group called Focus on the Not-Creepy Family. If anyone would like to join, we will be tirelessly crusading against Duggar immorality. LGBT friendly.
Post by barefootcontessa on Aug 20, 2015 14:17:53 GMT -5
Adultery is grounds for divorce even in evangelical circles. I feel so bad for Anna. She is what -- 27? -- with four kids and no education? She has to feel trapped. If I were her, I would be especially upset that he went trolling on a website for a one-night as opposed to hooking up with someone he actually knew. Both are awful, but the first seems worse to me because it was so intentional.
And yet I'm sure they think I have no morals because I'm agnostic.
Right? The same people that still hold Monica Lewinsky against Hillary will forgive Josh in 2 seconds because Satan made him do it and praise Anna for not giving up on their marriage.
1) Josiah Duggar (the "gay" one) was courting a cute girl named Marjorie Jackson earlier this year. Marjorie and her sisters sometimes *gasp* wear pants. They were pretty cute together, though, although they are both only around 18. Anyway, they are no longer courting. I can't blame her from running far away from this train wreck. Josh is making it harder not just for Jessa to get paid for her baby photos, but for any of the Duggars to, like, get married. They WERE fundie royalty. Now? It's messy.
2) I think both Anthony Wiener and Michael Vick are thinking, "Imma let you finish Josh Duggar, but Joe Smithson is by far NOT the best sex alias of all time."
Post by Skyesthelimit1212 on Aug 20, 2015 14:39:46 GMT -5
I think the thing that is the saddest for me, or at least from what I can observe, is that Anna actually loves him. Not the my family is telling me I should and I'm brainwashed to feel this way, but I think she genuinely loves him.
1) Josiah Duggar (the "gay" one) was courting a cute girl named Marjorie Jackson earlier this year. Marjorie and her sisters sometimes *gasp* wear pants. They were pretty cute together, though, although they are both only around 18. Anyway, they are no longer courting. I can't blame her from running far away from this train wreck. Josh is making it harder not just for Jesa to get paid for her baby photos, but for any of the Duggars to, like, get married. They WERE fundie royalty. Now? It's messy.
2) I think both Anthony Wiener and Michael Vick are thinking, "Imma let you finish Josh Duggar, but Joe Smithson is by far NOT the best sex alias of all time."
Tin foil hat time......What if this was all orchestrated by......The Bates Family to be the IT Family, but Satan made them do it......hmmmm, hmmmm
Post by decemberwedding07 on Aug 20, 2015 15:18:14 GMT -5
I think he's just trying to blame porn. I have some fundie relatives who volunteer for a crisis helpline to keep people from looking at porn. Yep. A 24/7 hotline.
I think he's just trying to blame porn. I have some fundie relatives who volunteer for a crisis helpline to keep people from looking at porn. Yep. A 24/7 hotline.
That is... something. Are your parents close to these relatives or are they the sort you pretend you don't have, if you don't mind me asking?
I'm not even a little surprised. I'm sure Jim Bob is on there, as are many prominent politicians. Most of them were probably smart enough to use a fake name, but Josh isn't smart enough to think of that.
This is off-topic, sorry, but a Wisconsin radio talk show host was talking today about how 300 people with Wisconsin government e-mail addresses were on the list. Don't know yet if any of them are big names.
I'm not even a little surprised. I'm sure Jim Bob is on there, as are many prominent politicians. Most of them were probably smart enough to use a fake name, but Josh isn't smart enough to think of that.
This is off-topic, sorry, but a Wisconsin radio talk show host was talking today about how 300 people with Wisconsin government e-mail addresses were on the list. Don't know yet if any of them are big names.
Haven't heard about Ohio yet.
That's just plain stupid. Open a hidden gmail account FFS!
This is off-topic, sorry, but a Wisconsin radio talk show host was talking today about how 300 people with Wisconsin government e-mail addresses were on the list. Don't know yet if any of them are big names.
Haven't heard about Ohio yet.
That's just plain stupid. Open a hidden gmail account FFS!
Having an alternate email is probably considered real world life skill and, sadly, the Duggars don't have any of those.
Radar Online is reporting that Josh had an extra Facebook account with his Joe Smithson alias going all the way back to 2004 - chockablock full of strippers and lingerie models. He would've been 16 then. So tell me again, Ma and Pa Duggar, how Pray Away the Pervert Camp totally healed your precious Joshie from all his unnatural sexual urges.
I wish he would recognize his issues and divorce Anna to protect her and their children. But if he actually ended his life, we would be subjected to another 20 years of made for TV miniseries about the Duggars because you know they'd capitalize on the liberal media pushing their persecution so far he committed suicide. So for purely selfish reasons, dear God I hope not.
Post by tacosforlife on Aug 21, 2015 9:58:30 GMT -5
I don't think a Facebook page for him could go back to 2004. FB started in 2004, and you originally had to have a college or university email address, which Josh Duggar presumably wouldn't have had.