Jinger Duggar admits she feels GUILT for promoting ‘terrifying’ teachings in reality series 

Counting On star Jinger Duggar has laid bare the ‘lasting’ trauma that growing up in a household run by a ‘cult-like’ religion had on her – and admitted that she feels guilty for promoting the ‘terrifying’ teachings in the family’s reality show.

Jinger’s parents, Jim Bob, 57, and Michelle Duggar, 56, are devout followers of the Institute in Basic Life Principles – a bizarre Christian group created by shunned minister Bill Gothard, which contains a set of incredibly-strict rules that controls almost every aspect of members’ lives.

Now, Jinger, 29 – who rose to fame after starring in the TLC series 19 and Counting, as well as its spinoff, Counting On, alongside her parents and 18 siblings – has spoken out about the negative impact that being a part of the ‘fear-based’ organization had on her, admitting that it ‘warped’ her view of God and left her terrified that her life would be a ‘disaster’ if she strayed from the intense regulations. 

‘It was based on superstition, manipulation, control, and so my view of God was warped,’ she told ET recently, while discussing her new book, Becoming Free Indeed, which dropped today.

Jinger’s parents, Jim Bob, 57, and Michelle Duggar, 56, are devout followers of the Institute in Basic Life Principles – a bizarre Christian group created by shunned minister Bill Gothard 

 Now, Jinger (seen as a child with her siblings and parents), 29, has spoken out about the negative impact that being a part of the ‘fear-based’ organization had on her

She admitted that it ‘warped’ her view of God and left her terrified that her life would be a ‘disaster’ if she strayed from the intense regulations

‘I was promised that if I followed these teachings from Bill Gothard, this man, that my life would be a success and God would bless me.

‘But if I didn’t follow every principle that he taught, then my life would be one disaster after another.

IBLP contains a set of incredibly-strict rules that controls almost every aspect of members’ lives. Bill, the head of the group, is seen

‘The teachings of Bill Gothard, they have lasting effects, so I am still working through a lot of that.

‘Even though it’s hard that I’m having to walk through all of this, I can see it as God carrying me through.’

The Duggar children were not allowed to partake in any physical touching with their significant other before marriage – which meant no front-facing hugs or hand holding – all the kids were homeschooled, and women had to wear floor-length dresses at all times, since pants – as well as showing off any part of their legs – were strictly prohibited.

Jim Bob and Michelle also read their text messages, told them what they were allowed to watch on TV and what music they could listen too, and they even had a say in who they were friends with.

But Jinger wants people to know that she doesn’t blame her parents for the extreme measures, since she said they were made to believe that the rules provided by Bill would ‘bring their kids success.’

She added that they were ‘loving and faithful parents’ who ‘sought to give’ her and her siblings ‘their best.’  

‘It was based on superstition, manipulation, control, and so my view of God was warped,’ Jinger (seen as a child with her dad) told ET recently

The Duggar children were not allowed to touch their significant other before marriage, all the kids were homeschooled, and women had to wear floor-length dresses at all times

Jim Bob and Michelle also read their text messages and told them what they were allowed to watch on TV and what music they could listen too. Some of the kids are seen

But while the restrictions put in place by Bill were technically based on Biblical verses, Jinger previously told Fox News that she believes he manipulated them to suit his own agenda. 

‘Bill would take one verse of the Bible and make it say whatever he wanted it to say and he would make up his own man-made rules and say, “This is the Bible,”‘ Jinger explained. 

‘And then he would have you vow to God to keep this principle. It was very binding. He would say, “Never break your vow before God.” It was fear-based.’

According to the 29-year-old, Bill said IBLP members were not allowed to listen to any sort of rock music, and he even told them that they would die if they accidentally heard a song that had a specific drum beat in it. 

She revealed: ‘He said anything with this specific beat in a drum is harmful. It’s dangerous. 

‘He told the story of a young man who was in a car accident and died because he was listening to music with drums. 

‘I remember one time we were on our way to one of the seminars and somebody turned on music with drums in the car. I was freaking out. 

‘I just thought, “Goodness, this is it. We’re going to have a car accident because somebody turned this on.” I was so fearful. It just consumed my life.’

After marrying her husband, Jeremy Vuolo, 35, in 2016, Jinger officially parted ways with IBLP, however, she did remain a ‘strong Christian.’

But Jinger (seen with her family) doesn’t blame her parents for the extreme measures, since they were made to believe that the rules provided by Bill would ‘bring their kids success’

After marrying her husband, Jeremy Vuolo, 35, in 2016, Jinger officially parted ways with IBLP, however, she did remain a ‘strong Christian’ 

She is now sharing her journey in her new memoir, which she hopes could help others who may be struggling to leave a religious group. She is seen with some of her sisters 

She told Fox that she started to question Bill’s teaching after Jeremy ‘challenged her thinking’ while they were watching some of his seminars together.

She said her husband would point out that Bill’s teachings weren’t ‘accurate’ to the Bible, and when Jinger discovered that he had ‘twisted’ the versus to ‘make them say whatever he wanted,’ she was ‘shook.’

‘I thought, “How is this possible?” I always thought Bill was a Bible teacher. And that was a lightbulb moment,’ she added.

‘It helped me to become free. I was no longer bound by this one man. I wasn’t going to follow one man – I was going to follow Jesus. I was going to follow the word of God as I saw in the Scripture.

‘I was gripped by fear every single day. And I’m not anymore… Those burdens have been lifted. And I began to see the beauty of who Jesus is. It freed my heart.’

She is now sharing her journey in her new memoir, which she hopes could help others who may be struggling to leave a religious group.

‘It’s something that is always in my mind, and that is the driving force and motivation behind this [book],’ she added to ET.

‘That has been in my mind, thinking if I can help one person to come free, that would be worth it all.

 The former reality star added that she’s been honest with her parents about her book from ‘very beginning’ – and that she doesn’t want people to think of it as a ‘tell-all about her family’

‘This story is my faith journey. I feel a responsibility to share it as well, because I promoted those [IBLP] teachings [on the show],’ Jinger (seen with her husband) said 

‘Hopefully, in spite of all the things I’ve walked through, it will be helpful to someone.’

She also said she feels it’s important to speak out about what she went through after spending years ‘promoting the teachings’ on the show.

The former reality star added that she’s been honest with her parents about her decision to leave IBLP from the ‘very beginning’ – and that she doesn’t want people to think of her book as a ‘tell-all about her family.’  

‘I love my family. I’m so thankful for how they sacrificed so much for me,’ she concluded. 

‘This story is my faith journey and how I wanted to share this story, and I feel a responsibility to it as well, because I promoted those [IBLP] teachings [on the show].

‘It’s interesting, different [family members] are still in that setting, so some were more excited for me to share this story, while others may agree to disagree because they have their own opinions.

‘I know there [will be] some who probably will speak up once they read the book and will have stronger opinions, but initially I’m really grateful for the good response.

‘I’ve grown up in the public eye, so I know that even speaking publicly- I know that can be twisted in headlines.

‘I don’t ever want that to come back negatively on my family, and so that’s been my heart in all of this, is just to speak truth and do it in a loving way.’