EXCLUSIVE: Why Did Josh Duggar Do It? Former FRC Analyst Explains Conservative Christian Hypocrisy

Josh Duggar had it all: money, celebrity, family, and power. Yet at every step he chose hypocrisy. Why? A former Family Research Council analyst and Exodus leader pulls the curtain back and looks at conservative Christian hypocrisy.

The mounting revelations of Josh Duggar’s sexual transgressions, from molesting little girls when he was a teenager, to paying for two accounts on the adultery web site Ashley Madison, to fostering a porn addiction, to allegedly engaging in rough sex with a porn star, raise serious questions: Why did he do it? Why did Josh watch porn and seek extra-marital affairs while working for the notoriously anti-LGBT Family Research Council, and flouting the values he claims to represent? 

As an ex-member of the religious right and former policy analyst for Family Research Council, I was not surprised that Josh Duggar was involved in this sort of duplicity. 

There are plenty of examples of this type of hypocritical behavior. Back in 2010 one of the founders of Family Research Council, George Rekers, was caught with a young gay escort he met through Rentboy.com. I personally know of several “ex-gay” spokespeople who declared their freedom from same-sex attractions while secretly liaising with gay lovers. All while fighting against gay rights and telling gay Christians they could change, too. 

When you are in a position of authority in the evangelical Christian world, appearances are key. I know pastors who cheated on their wives and stole money from their churches, while telling their congregants to be sexually pure and to shun greed. 

People love these pastors because they preach charismatic messages from the pulpit, and say the right things. It’s all about image. When a friend of mine in campus ministry suffered a broken engagement, the pastor said, “It looks like your best dog just died. You need to wipe that look off your face and show others you have faith!” 

There is no room for weakness among the Christian right. To glorify God, you need to buck up and feign perfection. 

In the church I attended, young men wore rubber bands on their wrists and snapped them whenever they had “impure” thoughts or looked at an attractive woman for too long. Girls and boys were taught impossible standards of purity and expected to sublimate every urge. Any attraction was met with the same response, “Lay it down,” meaning, pretend it isn’t there. 

Josh, like the rest of us, was likely taught to hide whatever “evil stirrings” he had. To do things in secret was how he learned to handle his urges. Feelings of shame and inadequacy arise in response to sexual sublimation and being told constantly that sexual feelings are dirty and of the devil. At the same time, to feel inferior isn’t manly. To show weakness isn’t a “good witness” for the Lord. The mixture of inadequacy and the pressure to appear superior is a potent concoction that often leads to acting out.

People in positions of Christian leadership also tend to feel privileged. Where there’s privilege, entitlement isn’t far behind. 

If God didn’t wink and nod at their illicit behavior, why would he give them positions of authority, they believe. Josh, without a college education, or any known skills that are marketable in the real world outside of conservative politics – he was literally a used car salesman – was offered a leadership position at Family Research Council. Like most non-profits, FRC is always looking for ways to raise money. To hire a young man in his mid-twenties with no education does not make sense for a high-profile organization that deals with matters of morality. That is, unless the young man is a reality TV star with a huge following of fans willing to send your organization money. 

How could Josh pass up the opportunity to be the star of the show, and cast aside his role as the elder son and side-kick? God was surely blessing him and uninterested in his sexual indiscretions. 

Josh Duggar isn’t the first conservative Christian who has lived a hypocritical double life, and given the toxic mix of Christian shame, sexual denial, image and privilege, he certainly won’t be the last.

 

Images via Josh Duggar/Instagram