I Don't Think I Like the Duggar Family.

There. I said it. I don’t like the Duggars. It is with irony this statement comes out of my mouth, considering I watch their show on a consistent basis, and, with the rest of the country, was vaguely interested in a woman who spent so many years of her life pregnant/nursing/pregnant/nursing. I thought overall they were a silly family but pretty harmless until I started watching their show again recently. I like to watch terrible TV early in the morning. It’s something I don’t want you to judge me for, because we all do it. But lately instead of 10 Minute Trainer and juicer infomercials I have discovered that the Duggars come on TLC bright and early. Here’s the deal. I’m watching the show, which is supposed to be a “reality” show (of course we know now that reality is a broad, undefined term), and they have lunch. For them, lunch is a production, since they are feeding at least 22, and often more than that if a guest comes by. The girls start to work on lunch at some point mid-morning and then it’s served. On this particular day, there was a guest with Good Morning America (I think?) who was spending the day with them. So they fix him tater tot casserole. Essentially hamburger meat, tater tots, covered with cheese and baked. Sounds healthy, yes? Again, not such a big deal- I’m not going to judge anyone on food when yesterday I had both a Krispy Kreme Valentine’s doughnut and a frosted sugar cookie. Of course there was a side note that said they eat this meal approximately 50 times a year. I’ll have to start keeping a count of how many doughnuts and cookies I consume. So let’s sit down and eat. Then I noticed that they were using throwaway plates, utensils, etc. Again, I noted it and thought that it was a big waste of those resources but also figured that it was a visitor’s thing. They didn’t want to bother with dishes when they had a special guest. So I let that go. But then I started noticing there were many episodes where they were using paper. And, to be honest, I was shocked. As an avid environmentalist, I do believe you have a choice to live your life the way you want to. And if that life involves 20 kids, so be it. But to make that much of an impact on the environment just because you didn’t feel like using birth control? That seems…well, ungodly. To spend as much time as they do speaking about the wonders of God’s creation and then not to respect it is hypocritical. I can’t think of another way of putting it. Now we come to the question- should we have huge families if we are not going to be responsible for them? Or do they honestly believe that is the most responsible way to live?