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Josh Duggar Loses Support from Family Member over Ashley Madison Scandal

  • Veronica Neffinger

    Veronica Neffinger wrote her first poem at age seven and went on to study English in college, focusing on 18th century literature. When she is not listening to baseball games, enjoying the…

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  • Updated Sep 01, 2015

Michael Seewald, a member of the Duggar’s extended family, has stated that Josh Duggar’s involvement in the Ashley Madison scandal has brought shame to the name of God.

Seewald is the father of Ben, who is husband to Josh’s sister, Jessa. Seewald had supported Josh even after it was revealed earlier this year that Josh had molested five young girls when he was a teenager, People.com reports.

However, after it was revealed that Josh Duggar’s name was on the list of clients who had paid money for an account with Ashley Madison, an adultery website, Seewald stated that “Josh Duggar’s greatest sin is a byproduct of the sum total of his secretly sinful lifestyle. That is, that by his hypocrisy, he blasphemed the name of God.”

“He claimed to be a Christian,” Seewald continued, “but by his deeds he has suggested otherwise.”

Seewald condemned Duggar’s hypocrisy in hiding his pornography addiction while saying such things as “Our family is like the epitome of conservative values” and working on the Family Research Council which, Seewald stated, “exists to promote the traditional family” while Duggar was “undermining his own family by violating his marriage covenant.”

Duggar has since left his wife, Anna, and their four children at home while he checked himself into Reformers Unanimous, a rehab center in Rockford, Illinois.

Seewald does not believe that Duggar has truly repented of his sin.

"True Christians fail often, but their lives are truly being conformed to the image of Christ," he said. "Do not look at Josh and justify your own sins by dismissing the reality of genuine faith and a holy God." 

Publication date: September 1, 2015