An Impossible Situation is Made Clear as Day

Wow! That's mum holding the baby? She looks great for someone with 19 kids! I've never really heard of these people before so I'm not sure what the fuss is all about (well except for the fact that they're Christian - which is apparently the new "smoker", and they leave a carbon footprint of a size that should be reserved for real celebrities).

I actually came here to comment about Turkey Bacon! It sounds delicious, I love turkey and I love bacon - ergo turkey bacon must be food of the gods! I'm going to have to see if I can find any in the shops here.

Ted, I only count 15 kids. The lady in the middle is some TV person, not a Duggar. And Mom is holding the baby. Not that I'm arguing with any of your points, but the photo does need a bit of explanation.

I'm not against the whole thing - they are an oddity, after all, kinda like a circus freak show, and probably don't cause vast environmental damage.

As a group, they seem to exhibit a mind-numbing sameness in that photo, and I only counted 16 children there. I guess if they do run out of money, they'll always have a food source close at hand.

The telling thing about this photo is that neither mom nor dad is holding the baby, but one of the elder daughters is. I noticed the comment about people who send their kids off to daycare, but these people created their own daycare.

Oh, you leftist fascists. So self-righteous with your concern for the planet and future generations, like this family is single-handedly going to destroy the future of humanity. This family is not asking you to pay for their lifestyle, so what do you care? So they have a lifestyle that isn't for you - Aren't liberals supposed to be tolerant, even if you don't agree, or is that just a front?

Thank you for helping to confirm what I already know: That liberalism is just as much a belief system as any religion, complete with its own brand of fundamentalism.

Nothing worse than a family like this having this many kids and raising them without government assistance. This woman even has the audacity to have these kids with the same man, her husband. It's too bad she didn't do it the liberal way by having each with a different father and living on welfare. Then, she and her family could be held in high esteem by the left.

Did you guys know that 10% of Americans can trace their ancestry back to those who came here on the Mayflower. Can you imaging the gall of those 102 (+ one baby) that came here to escape persecution and live how they wanted to and most of all, be free. Imagine the selfishness of them greedy jerks who are now contributing to 10% of Americas carbon footprint and ultimately, global warming. If only they had decided to stay in Europe, where they could have lived their lives in misery and be persecuted for their beliefs, our world would be so much better off, and cooler too.

So for you idiots that are spouting off about Duggar carbon footprints and that other nonsense...just think. There is a one in ten chance that you would not be here today if the people on the mayflower had to live by the very guidelines you set for the Duggar family.

So, the Duggar parents are horrible because they do not have the exact number of children that some hateful commentor says is the normal number? Then there are others saying that the children "are told what to believe, rather than developing their true beliefs". Well, being told what to believe is called GOOD PARENTING. Children need guidance and a strong family foundation built with love and respect for others. And it looks like these children are told properly on how to be a decent person. I'll bet that all of them grow up to become decent people and good parents themselves.

At least the kids aren't being told that they should run from the police or that they shouldn't trust another person based on their skin color, or that all of life's problems are due to racist attitudes of others.

As for the "carbon footprint" complaints. I would rather have hundreds of properly educated, well adjusted, respectful Duggars fill my world than even one "woe is me, I'm a victim of society, welfare sucking leach who was allowed to form their own beliefs due to bad parenting" child. If you really believe your carbon footprint nonsense, then please, do the right thing and don't have any children since they are obviously killing the planet and as for yourself, if your own lifestyle is not "carbon neutral" for the sake of mother gaia, you need to stand by your beliefs and take care of that.

The Duggars are happy, healthy, and decent people supporting themselves and raising happy, healthy, decent children and you have a problem with this why?

I think celebrities that fly around the world to promote their films probably waste more (fuel, etc) than the Duggar family do, don't you?

This may be an extreme model of family life in America but at least it IS a model and not a freak show, like the kardashians. The Kardashians make sex tapes, get married and divorced, and publicize their most intimate secrets and body parts all for fame and money. Now THAT's a great way of life to aspire to.

The Duggar children are clean, fed, educated, sheltered and their parents are self-sufficient. What a horror.

You know, feminism isn't about telling women to only have an ''acceptable'' number of children, it's about telling women that they can make their own choices. Give me the Duggars over octomom any day of the week.

few can provide as well as him and far fewer could administer a household like her I say more power to them and if you have negative opinions of them based on anything I am aware of you are likely a reprobate

I find the "it's sad because the kids can't believe what they want to believe" argument a little...thin. There are millions of only children who are brought up the same way - and worse - and we're complaining about the Duggars? At least they truly seem to love their children.

That said, I still don't think 19 children is advisable, if only for everyone's health, both physical and mental. I hope that they all do receive the love and attention they need, whether from the parents or other, older children (male AND female). And I truly worry about Michelle's and Josie's health, and other children probably also have health issues that are less public.

I have no problem with the Duggars. As long as the parents can support them, they can have as many children as they like. I have problems with parents who have a lot of children and then take public assistance.

The environmental impact bothers me, but mostly I feel sad because they are told what to believe, rather than developing their true beliefs. Worse than that though, is they are taught that anyone who doesn't believe as they do are going to hell.

What really gets me is that if what I've read is true, they are using mostly disposable dishes to save time on the dish washing. Imagine how much trash that makes in a week for a family of 19

I always find it funny how people bash this family, saying they can't possibly give all their kids enough love and attention. But those same people have no problem at all with parents shipping their kids off to daycare for 9-10 hours a day. I'm not saying it's wrong to send a kid to daycare. Parents do what they gotta do, but do you think that parent really has enough time either? Probably not. Jim Bob and Michelle have the luxury of being home most of the day. They teach their kids themselves. Is it still a challenge to raise 19 of them? I'm sure it is. But I don't think they're any worse off than someone who only sees their kids for a couple of hours at night and on weekends.

@Lewen - it's probably Isaiah 40:31 -

"but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint."

Hence the eagle in the middle of the shirt.

You population bombers are all talk and no action. If you TRULY believe that humans are an infestation on this planet, you can do your part to solve the problem. Believe me, you would be doing us all a favor.

You know, I've become so used to the Duggars they don't shock me any more.
But what bugs me is the boy in the back row's T-shirt.
The one with bible verse Isaiah 10:31 on it.
"Madmenah is in flight;
the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety"
WHat does that mean! Why is it on a T-Shirt?
Is this a fundy Christian's version of hipster?

According to the linked article, they spend $3,000 a month on groceries. For twenty people (only 18 kids live at home). So the family is four times the size of mine, and they spend eight times as much on food. They must be eating well!

I am the 2nd of five kids. I spent my childhood after the age of 10 doing chores, mowing lawns, shoveling snow, cooking, cleaning, and babysitting. But my mom got to have the big family she wanted.

This family makes enough money (thanks to reality TV) to feed them all. I wonder how other families in the cult are doing?

What a lovely example of abhorrent selfishness and blatant disregard for our planet and its resources. This might be proof of god, in that he/she still believes in plagues.
And she must have an iron uterus.

For all you bashers and enviro-weenies all upset about the Duggars, just remember this: they aren't on the government teat. They had the kids, raised the kids, fed the kids and housed the kids...on their dime.

I'd rather have 20 of them than 1 kid on the taxpayer's dime.

And I hope each of those kids has 20 of their own. The gene pool needs more of their "chlorinating effect" and they would single-handedly be raising the collective IQ of this nation in the process.

The Duggars believe children are a gift from God. Well, rain is also a gift from God, but when He sends too much of it, you wear rubbers.

I'd pick the Duggars over the Kardashians any day.

I'll be waiting to read the autobiographies. We can all guess and guess and point and eyeroll all we want but none of us really know. I'm curious to see how the kids really feel.

uh oh, theyre christian! better start feeling sorry for them for not having any freedom!

*massive eyeroll*

Be happy that they are being raised in a moral home with responsible parents. They will grow up to be great people.
considering the great effect good morals in the home has on children when they grow up, im surprised more of the commenters here havent set down their personal anti-religious biases and applauded a job well done.

He may be able to afford to pay for them (no thanks in part to the reality TV fees that America keeps shoveling over thattaway) but at least half his children are being reared by cameras rather than parents. There comes a capping point on the extent of familial familiarity and they reached it long ago. These aren't kids borne of love, they're borne of weird fundamentalism and the lack of personal restraint.

I feel bad for the kids, all of them for unique reasons. I can't imagine such a life nor being OK with granting it to my own offspring.

Perhaps Australia should look into capturing and releasing some Duggars into the western territory of the country as a means of pest control for their rabbit problem. They will out breed the rabbits and consume them for food ...problem solved. Of course then youll have millions of Duggars to eradicate.

If each of his 19 kids has 2 kids in the next generation Jim will have 38 descendants and if they all have 2 kids he will have 78 descendants.....then 152 and by the 10th generation he will have over 19,000 descendants and by the 20th generation he will have 19,922,944 descendants. All our future generations will be sprung from this man's loins. HE MUST BE STOPPED!!!!!!!

Seriously though I don't really have a problem with this . He wanted 19 kids and he can afford to pay for them so what is the problem? I personally like having a small family so that I can focus more of my attention and resources on a few kids to help them prosper instead of having my kids raising themselves or each other. His kids don't really have a childhood... the second they are out of the womb they have to help raise the next one.

Amen Colt.

Dion, I find it so cool you already know that this one family will be the destroyer of future generations. Practice what you preach. Please, for all of us, get sterilized. Anyone who speaks ill of this family for "overpopulation" who doesn't immediately sterilize themselves is a complete hypocrite.

Remember, suggesting that a family with the socioeconomic background like the Duggars should stop at one or two kids is "thinking of overcrowding and the future generations."

Suggesting that a single mother with an opposite socioeconomic background who started having kids at 13, with 8 or 9 or ten kids supported by the government dole(by the taxpayers folks) stop having kids after one or two is...racist....classist...a supporter of eugenics... cwhutididthur?! zomg!

Let's find out what happens when overpopulation really becomes an issue! Yeah, science!

Thank goodness whiny people don't reproduce. It'd be the death of civilization.

@BR

What's it like in the future?

I find it so cool that you already know the end to the Duggar saga, where every kid is a success and their mission flawless. No problems ever.

EYE ROLL.

Overcrowding, people. It's no joke. Time to think about future generations.

Overbreeding is a sickness.

I really don't see what all the criticism of these people is about. The kids seem happy, healthy, responsible, and loving. So they don't do it your way. So what?

I don't see much of an improvement on the differently raised, my own kids included!

As for the fossil fuel argument - oh pulhleeze. Unless you are going to tell India and China to cool it with their fossil fuel use and deforestation programs, cool it with the Duggars. They plant trees. Lots of them, that they pay for.

I think maybe a lot of us really are afraid they might have something good that we don't and that pisses us off. I have had to examine my own motives for past criticism of them and I wasn't crazy about what I saw reflected there!

What does that add up to every day? Week? Year?

We can't all live in Soviet-style flats in large government-planned blocks with our one child per family.

They raise their children how they see fit and without public assistance. They pay cash for nearly everything. They shop secondhand stores or make what they need themselves. Their kids seem to be intelligent and well adjusted despite being more sheltered than most of us. I'm not entirely sure where the animosity comes from, save the fact they've had 20 kids. They are giving birth to the future funders of those handout programs both political parties are so fond of...be gateful they have picked up the slack.

Gryphon, I'm with you. I'm one of 9 (parents were religious and my mom liked being pregnant) and there was never enough love and attention. Of the 9 of us, 5 have major mental illnesses and two are alcoholic. The two 'sane' ones are the youngest, who spent their formative years after everyone else moved out of the house -- for them, it was a family of four.

The Duggars are not only environmentally damaging, but are also damaging to their children.

They are uncaring and foolish in fundamental (and fundamentalist) ways. Too bad Neatorama is giving them publicity!

If I had nineteen kids to take care of, there'd be some liquor on that list for me.

the thing that really disturbs me is that I don't think there is any intellectual freedom at all in that household. The kids all have to believe the same thing, according to the parents' religious beliefs. What if some of them are gay? Statistically, some probably are. How will they feel? Also, there is no way one mother can spend enough time w/ all those kids. The truth is, the older kids are raising the younger kids. The mother is forcing a large amount of parenting on the older kids. There is just not much freedom in general there.

Praise Jesus for large carbon footprints! God is no doubt proud they're burning through as much resources as 4 families.

I absolutely love the Dugger family. They are what I like to call true christians. They don't go around preaching and trying to convince people to join their religion. They live a good life and I see nothing wrong with getting older kids to help out with younger kids. This sort of life will give older girls the idea of how to look after kids and babies, and would therefore teach them responsibility. They are not on welfare and they plan and manage their money wisely. Which is also good for the kids to learn. They are a great family. At least the they aren't out getting drunk and in to all kinds of trouble. They are caring children who show respect to their wonderful parents and each other. I wish them the best for the future.

Wow. Mrs Duggar must be pretty adept as a short order cook.

Not a terrible menu I guess. Seems fairly healthy.

That's not a family photo, that's an environmental disaster.

I wonder how many dirty dishes they have to wash in a day.
Oops, sorry for posting an unclean comment. ;)