Jinger Duggar Vuolo says her childhood was filled with “anxiety,” due in large part to the “cult-like” tenets of the religion she followed.
“I thought I just had to wear skirts and dresses to please God,” the former 19 Kids and Counting star, 29, told People on Wednesday.
“Music with drums, places I’ve gone, or the wrong friendships can hurt.”
Vuolo said she was so scared that she was reluctant to leave home to pursue non-religious activities like broomball.
“I thought I might die 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 said.
Vuolo, her 18 siblings, and her parents, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, rose to fame on TLC©Discovery Channel/courtesy Everett Coll/Everett Collection
Vuolo and the rest of the Duggar family were staunch supporters of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), a non-denominational Christian organization founded by Bill Gothard, a disgraced minister accused of sexually molesting dozens of women. He has denied the claims.
“[Gothard’s] In short, the teachings are based on fear and superstition and leave you in a place where you feel, ‘I don’t know what God wants me to do,'” Vuolo told People. “Fear has crippled me with fear. I was afraid of the outside world.”
The Counting On star said Gothard’s teachings were “so harmful” and she now recognizes they have “cult-like tendencies” with “lasting effects”.
The reality star said she’s speaking out because she knows “other people are struggling” and “still stuck.”
The Duggars had a very conservative upbringing due to their beliefs. Getty Images for extra
Vuolo, who wrote about her experiences in her new book, Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith From Fear, after leaving the organization in 2017, concluded, “I want to share my story, and maybe it will even help only one person can be freed.”
Vuolo’s father, Jim Bob Duggar, was once listed as youth minister at IBLP, but after Gothard was exposed, he and his wife, Michelle Duggar, issued a joint statement saying, “We do not agree with everything that Dr. Bill Gothard teaches, or IBLP, but some of the life-changing biblical principles we learned through the ministry of IBLP have helped us deepen our personal walk with God.”
They also told NBC News in February 2022, “The public allegations against Dr. Gothard’s recent years are unsettling and painful. However, our belief in God is not based on following a fallible human being. … Truth is truth, even if the messenger fails.”