Man, is it just the South, or did summer happen really suddenly? I mean, it’s going to be 100 degrees here tomorrow. I’ll be over at our new house for most of the day, painting and putting down the hardwood floors and scrubbing the gross old oven again, and you know, I might like to wear a tank top. Maybe even shorts if I’m feeling feisty. It’s going to be hot as hell, you know?
But then I read this blog by Michelle Duggar about “modesty and bathing suits,” and I guess I have to put on the ol’ turtleneck and denim skirt.
Seriously, here’s how the thing starts off:
It’s officially summertime, and swimming in a pool and wearing modest clothes came up the other night at mealtime in our house. Early on in our family the topic came up when some of our now-older kids wanted to talk about our decisions to wear modest dress.
We discussed all the reasons why we wear clothes — sometimes as a uniform or for work, for protection from the elements (especially for avoiding a sunburn), for distinction (determining whether you’re a man or a woman by looking at someone) and for modesty.
We were searching through scripture, and we found where God talks about a covering — what His idea of that would be. And in our heart before the Lord, we really came to a conclusion for our family about wearing modest clothes.
This isn’t for everyone, and we don’t push this on anybody. And we don’t judge anyone that doesn’t have this perspective, but for us, we felt like we needed to be covered from our neck to below our knees mainly because God talks about the thigh being uncovered, and how that’s nakedness and shame.
Ok, thighs aren’t shameful, thighs are shame. I glad we were able to make that distinction.
And please, you can’t tell me that Michelle Duggar wouldn’t judge a woman for rocking a bikini. Or, ok, maybe Michelle wouldn’t judge if the woman showed her a handwritten note from her husband allowing her to wear the bikini, but even then, there would probably be at least a little judgement. You can’t really say that something is shame and then say “but no big deal if that’s what you’re into.” That’s like Kirk Cameron saying that gay people are ruining civilization, but his gay friends are totally cool with him. It just doesn’t work like that.
That up there was just the first part of Michelle’s lovely writing though, so read on to hear about how she doesn’t let her kids go swimming, all right?
And so in our dress — whether we’re doing activities that require us to climb, ride a horse, bike, swim, whatever — we just want to keep the thighs and torso covered; we don’t want to play peekaboo so that there’s a visual element that might defraud someone.
For us the definition of the word defrauding is to stir up desires in someone else that cannot be righteously fulfilled. Now, granted there are a few people out there who could be stirred up by a cardboard box all the way from head to toe, but regardless we want to maintain modest dress.
The Reason We Don’t Swim in Public
We typically don’t go to the beach in the summertime. And in general we don’t do a lot of swimming events where swimming suits are worn because it’s just too hard for the guys to try to keep their eyes averted in those situations.
We have some friends who allow us to use their swimming pools. Or we sometimes visit a creek or a lake that’s private. And in those situations the kids are always wearing modest clothes.
Growing up I would wear a bathing suit or shorts and not realize that it was revealing. When I got older I really felt convicted about my responsibility for how I was causing others to be defrauded. And I began to cover up because I felt responsible for my part in that.
I realize that you can’t keep somebody from having wrong thoughts, but I do think you have control at least on how you present yourself. So as the older girls and guys grew up they became sensitive to their clothing choices. The girls would say, “Do you think this is too low-cut or should I put a pin here? Or what do you think about this? Is this too short?”
We really do know that this isn’t for everyone; this is just our personal conviction before our Lord. And this is what our family does. There are some families that are much more modest than we are, while others families may feel like modest dress just isn’t a conviction for them.
Yeah, super glad I’m not a Duggar. Again.
I can’t think of a single circumstance where anyone would want to see Michelle Duggar’s thighs, so covering up as much as she can is a kindness to us all, Amen.
I agree plus there isn’t a bathing suit big enough is this whole world that would cover that saggy hanging uterus of hers!!!
They are not a family. They have a cult mindset. Scary. Sad.
To say you choose to do something but you don’t feel that others who don’t make the same choice are wrong is ridiculous. You
either make a choice because you think it’s the right thing to do (in which case, people who don’t do it are automatically wrong) or you make it randomly. They have given all of their reasons, so it was not a random choice.
Maybe I don’t agree with her, but I also don’t agree with attacking her for her decisions which are thought-out, discussed with her family, and explicated.
The problem with her decisions is that they affect people who have no say (her children).
Michelle Duggar has a deep sense of inner shame and dirtiness from her own childhood. She and her hubby are always pointing out HER many sins as a teen- from dating “several boys” in her past, to having gotten caught stealing on one occasion, and now this experiencing of “defrauding others” because of her revealing clothes in the past. I truly believe that her actions- being so submissive to her husband, being so passive in the area of reproductive health- are related to her sense of personal shame and dirtiness. I think she believes this will cleanse her somehow.
And BTW, just who are the guys being defrauded by the girls’ revealing swimsuits if they never go swimming in public? Is Michelle seriously concerned that the girls will sexually ignite their own brothers? Eww.
One more question: If God created Adam and Eve and made them gloriously naked (and supposedly the Garden of Eden was all about them frolicking joyfully in their nakedness), then why on earth would God say in the Bible that the thigh is “nakedness and shame”? God is the creator of the naked thigh after all. Wasn’t it Adam and Eve who created clothing when they fell and discovered shame?
Ok, its been a longtime since I’ve indulged in any bible rehashing. As I recall, in Christian theology/mythology, Adam and Eve had no reason to feel shame, ie: they didn’t know they were naked. When they ate the fruit in willful disobedience, they fell from grace and were suddenly ashamed of being naked, thereby dooming all mankind with “original sin.” Duggars are a goofy bunch with more money than most people will ever have, but its the life they’ve chosen to live and to raise their children in kind. I can’t help but wonder about the kids…. I mean, statistically speaking, there’s got to be at least one gay child, right? That would be the show to watch!
The only reason people tear others down (like is being done in this blog) is either insecurity of themselves or they think they are better. So while you are accusing michelle duggar of thinking she is right and better than everyone else… At the same time you are putting yourself above her by tearing her down, making you the one who thinks you are better. But bullying others is just all in fun right….?