“God-given authorities can be considered ‘umbrellas of protection."

The Duggars had a close relationship with Bill Gothard. He had to resign from Institute in Basic Life Principles after allegations of sexually harassing women who worked at his ministry and failing to report child abuse cases.

Gothard had a belief in an "Umbrella of Protection."

Family values: Fundamentalism wounds, but don’t let the Duggar scandal make hypocrites of us all

The Duggars are also acolytes of Bill Gothard, a fundamentalist preacher who resigned from his ministry last year after multiple women accused him of harassment and assault. Before his disgrace, Gothard founded an array of extreme ministries that promoted his views to thousands.

Those views provide some context that’s currently missing from most discussions of the Duggar family’s internal structure. Consider, for example, Gothard’s “umbrella of protection.”

“God-given authorities can be considered ‘umbrellas of protection.’ By honoring and submitting to authorities, you will receive the privileges of their protection,” says the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), one of Gothard’s many projects.

Step outside that umbrella, though, and you’re asking for trouble. “If you resist their instructions and move out from their jurisdictional care, you forfeit your place under their protection and face life’s challenges and temptations on your own,” IBLP warns.

The umbrella really functions as more of a pyramid, with husbands at the top, then wives, and then children. According to individuals who left the ministry, Gothard originally called it the “chain of command,” and men clearly control it. Strict rules on female modesty and behaviour exist to reinforce that structure.

There is a strange juxtaposition at the heart of Gothard’s theology. First, it preaches sexual repression, especially for women. We see this manifested in Jim Bob’s much-publicized decision to read texts between his daughters and their boyfriends, and in the fact that the Duggar boys (including Josh) acted as chaperones on their sisters’ dates. At the same time, it’s a theology completely centered on sex. Quivers don’t fill themselves, after all.