Jinger Duggar's been busy promoting her new book, which drops on January 31, and that means she's spilling the beans about some of her controversial family’s religious convictions. It appears Jinger thinks her sister Jana has a spiritual reason for continuing to live at home at 33. If true, it paints a sad picture of what goes on behind closed doors at the Duggar compound.
Jinger let the deets slip in a new podcast interview.
While chatting with Allie Beth Stuckey, Jinger broke down some of the details surrounding controversial Institute in Basic Life Principal's family hierarchy. According to Jinger, the teachings describe an "umbrella of authority" within families, putting the patriarch as the head of the house.
With their fathers at the helm, women had no choice but to stay home until marriage.
For the women of the IBLP, the only way to leave your family home was to marry so that authority could be passed from a father to a husband. "Even if you’re 40, you should remain at home," she explained.
Jinger's sister Jana is the oldest female out of the Duggar children at 33, and as far as we know, she still remains unwed and at home with parents Jim Bob and Michelle.
According to the IBLP, leaving home without marrying leaves a woman open to 'attacks.'
"If you get a job or move out, you're opening yourself up to Satan’s attacks because you don't have an umbrella to protect you," Jinger continued to explain, justifying her own choices growing up. "So that's what I believed wholeheartedly, and that's why I stayed."
And it's true — Jinger didn't leave home until she and husband Jeremy Vuolo were married, which is exactly what all of her sisters have done so far too.
This isn't the first time she's described being taught to live in fear.
Jinger opened up about a heartbreaking time in her childhood when she thought she should turn down the chance to play with her friends or risk god's wrath coming down on her.
"I thought I could be killed in a car accident on the way, because I didn't know if God wanted me to stay home and read my Bible instead," she recalled in an interview with People magazine.
Although she didn't name Jana directly, it does seem like she was talking about her sister.
Given that all of the Duggar women have followed the same pattern of waiting for marriage before moving out, it stands to reason that Jana is also planning to live at home until she can fall under the protection of another umbrella by way of finding a husband.
We can't help but feel bad that the Duggar kids were raised to be so afraid of the outside world. Hopefully Jinger's book helps lessen some of that fear for the rest of her family, paving the way toward a happier life for all of them.
