We’re still almost a week away from the release of Jinger Duggar’s memoir, but the book is already making quite an impact.
In published quotes and promotional interviews, Jinger has continued to take responsibility for her own family.
Having grown up in a dysfunctional household, Jinger has severed ties with the church responsible for her family’s ultra-conservative views.
Now, others who have been impacted by the teachings of the Basic Principles of Life Institute are coming forward to share their own stories — and praise Jinger for leading the way.
In a recent interview with people magazine, Jinger described the moment of clarity, in which he realized that religious teachings not found in the Bible come from man, not God.
“The word of God is enough,” he explained.
“It doesn’t talk about it, so I don’t need to talk about it.”
In a move that may anger her family, Jinger also spoke out against her brother Josh Duggar and the crimes he committed by protecting the church and his parents.
“My heart goes out to the victims and their families, and everything they’ve gone through,” Vuolo said.
Jinger isn’t the first person to claim that Josh was raised in a culture of abuse that fueled his crimes.
In 2014, IBLP founder Bill Gothard was forced to resign amid allegations of sexual harassment.
Now, one of Gothard’s accusers has come forward to praise Jinger for speaking openly about a difficult topic.
“For Jinger to really come out against something that her parents still actively support-I mean, that’s just another level of courage,” Emily Elizabeth Anderson said this week in an interview with a website called The Roys Report.
“I’m just so proud of him.”
Anderson went on to explain that he and Jinger had similar experiences at IBLP, and that he respected Jinger for using her platform to run the organization.
“I like to use them – I think it’s a more accurate term for my journey, and his journey, than deconstruction,” Anderson says.
“He stayed in the faith, and so did I,” he continued.
“However, we need to remove the true and fear-based teaching, and divide it.”
So far, Jinger hasn’t responded to all the praise she’s received as a result of her press tour.
In all likelihood, he’ll have more to say when the book comes out.
And in the meantime, we are sure that others who have suffered abuse due to religious extremism will continue to praise him.