How Jinger Duggar Hopes To Help Others Who Endured Religious Extremes

Jinger Duggar is opening up about how the religious practices of her childhood upbringing negatively affected her life.

The “19 and Counting” star was born to parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, who dedicatedly trained Jinger and her siblings in strict Christian rules. Part of the rules included wearing skirts, not reading romance novels, and shunning pop culture. 

However, the TLC star began to break free from such strict rules she was brought up with and even documented a memoir on how she had found freedom. And now, the 29-year-old recalled her childhood experience growing up in her highly religious home.

Although the Duggar family documented most of their lives in their reality show, there was more behind the scenes. Jinger revealed how the stern Christian doctrines had impacted her life. 

"Fear was a huge part of my childhood," Duggar said in a report from PEOPLE. “I thought I had to wear only skirts and dresses to please God. Music with drums, places I went or the wrong friendships could all bring harm."

This inbuilt fear affected her even when her family went to play a sport called broomball. According to the reality star, she had felt “terrified" that she wasn’t acting according to God’s will. "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." 

Jim and Michelle were ardent followers of the Institute in Basic Life Principles, an organization founded earlier by disgraced minister Bill Gothard in 1961.

The TV personality revealed some of Gothard’s doctrines, saying, "[Gothard's] teachings in a nutshell are based on fear and superstition and leave you in a place where you feel like, 'I don't know what God expects of me.’ The fear kept me crippled with anxiety. I was terrified of the outside world."

Jinger changed her perspective in 2017 when she began to see that the ways she was brought up were harmful and started to see the negative impact on the lives of the people she grew up with. "There are a lot of cult-like tendencies,” Jinger disclosed. 

Although she is still a strong Christian, she no longer abides by her parent's beliefs and is intent on liberating others, too, through her memoir “Becoming Free Indeed.” 

"The teaching I grew up under was harmful, it was damaging, and there are lasting effects. But I know other people are struggling and people who are still stuck," the mother-of-two explained.

Jinger is more than inspired to share her story and believes strongly that "it will help even just one person to be freed."

Previously, we reported that the influencer had talked about the memoir and promised that the book would reveal secrets about her toxic upbringing. Jinger, who described the journey of penning the book as "the hardest thing I have ever done," noted it will detail her "journey of detangling faith from fear."

She continued, "In it, I share stories from my life — stories that nobody saw while the TV cameras were rolling: stories of fear and uncertainty but also of discovery and hope."

The solo book from the author is set to hit the bookshelves on Jan. 31, 2023.

Fans would have noticed that Jinger is already breaking free from the strict rules that governed most of her life.

As previously reported by The Blast, the media personality and her husband, Jeremy Vuolo, celebrated last Halloween. This act was a far cry from what her father preached. 

The family of five dressed up as characters from a children’s book. The couple disguised themselves as Mr. and Mrs. Brown, while their first daughter dressed as Henry and the second daughter as a jar of marmalade. 

However, some fans took to criticizing Jinger for celebrating the spooky season. One fan condemned Duggar, writing, “Pastor like you should know the history of Halloween I’m quite disappointed you celebrate this,” while another emphasized, “Halloween is not for Christianity.”

While some other followers opined that Jinger did nothing wrong. One fan had encouraged the author, commenting, “Don’t let anyone bring you down. You did not sin by wearing your costumes and trick or treating.”

This isn’t the first time Jinger has done something contrary to the conservational beliefs she was brought up in. She was the first among her sisters to ditch the traditional denim skirts they were known for and start wearing shorts. Also, she began to listen to mainstream music, sharing a Spotify playlist with her fans.