‘Counting On’ Fans Just Made It Clear That They’ll Never Forgive Josh Duggar For Abusing His Sisters

The Duggar family is one of America’s largest families, but it’s their deep ties to religion that make their lives so interesting to viewers. Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar are Baptists, and they raised their children to live for God. But when Josh Duggar’s sexual abuse scandal came to light, many thought Michelle and Jim Bob were hypocrites.

These days, there are certain people who follow the show and have still not forgiven Josh Duggar for what he did to his sisters. And they just made it clear that they probably never will.

Josh Duggar’s sexual abuse scandal came to light in 2015

The Duggar family had reached reality fame shortly after their show, 19 Kids and Counting, premiered back in 2008. People were intrigued with the family’s large number of kids but also with their very strict rules and values. However, everything came to a halt when news broke that Josh Duggar had sexually abused his younger sisters more than a decade earlier.

Josh admitted to his parents back in the early 2000s that he had inappropriately touched his sisters on different occasions. Though the family had dealt with it years ago, it turned their worlds upside down once more when it was published in 2015 — this time, though, it was in the public eye. 

Since then, Josh has not filmed for the family’s show

Once the public found out about Josh’s past, they called for the show to be cancelled. TLC immediately pulled 19 Kids and Counting, but there were plenty of Duggar fans who still wanted to keep up with the other kids’ lives. A short time later, TLC developed a new show called Jill and Jessa: Counting On, which mostly profiled the lives of Jill and Jessa Duggar now that they were married and starting families.

Though Jill left the show in 2017 and TLC changed the title to Counting On, Josh has still never been allowed back. His wife, Anna, and his six children have all made appearances.

‘Counting On’ fans made it clear that it would take a lot to forgive him

Those who follow the show took to Reddit to discuss what it would take for them to personally forgive what Josh had done. And the requirements by some fans made it clear that they will likely never forgive him.

The original post was deleted by Reddit, but most fans said there would need to be actual changes to the law in order for them to look past what Josh had done. One user said that unless the statute of limitations were to change and allow Josh to be prosecuted, then he’d never fully pay the price, and the user would never fully forgive him. Others said that Josh should volunteer with victims of sexual assault and release public apologies to each of his siblings and any others who were affected. 

Michelle and Jim Bob seem to have swept their son’s past under the rug

When fans called for the show to be cancelled years ago, it wasn’t only because of what Josh had done — it was also because of what his parents had done. Michelle and Jim Bob had knowingly swept the issues under the rug. Though they did send Josh away for help, it appears they didn’t do much to help their children overcome the abuse. And these days, critics still consider the two hypocrites for allowing Josh back into their family’s home and allowing him near children.