Jinger Duggar and Jeremy Vuolo have made great strides to distance themselves — in every sense — from Jim Bob.
They don’t abide by many of Jim Bob’s extreme rules. They live in Los Angeles. Jeremy has directly addressed their differences.
But people, especially public figures, don’t always share their true feelings, not when the truth could cost them money and fans.
When you want to know how the Vuolos really feel, look no further than their weekend plans.
The Duggars have a long history of covering their true natures under a thin, sanitized veneer.
The most obvious example is the active cover up of Josh Duggar’s sex crimes to help him evade justice.
Josh’s history revealed in 2015 — and this year, the full ramifications of that saw Counting On finally, finally canceled by TLC.
But even beyond that, the entire purpose of the Duggar family’s reality career was to offer up an almost palatable promotion of their lifestyle.
They were fundamentalists living on the fringes of society and isolating their children from the real world, yet open to cameras.
The goal was simple: to mask their extreme beliefs on sexuality, on gender roles, on parenting by seeming accessible and almost normal.
But the Duggars were never normal. They’re an abusive family that attends an extreme church and is part of a toxic cult.
Jim Bob and Michelle promote bad people and bad causes, and it’s not a mistake — it’s because they are bad people who support bad causes.
Given how isolated their children were from other people and ideas, it’s no real surprise when the apples don’t fall far from the tree.
Jinger is one such apple, and the geography and superficial freedoms of her life with Jeremy in Los Angeles are just another mask.
She and Jeremy can drink alcohol at brunch. Jinger can bare her arms and her calves and dye her hair blonde.
But that doesn’t mean that she and Jeremy are any better. They’re just more marketable.
This weekend, Jeremy Vuolo will be a speaker at an anti-abortion rally.
He is listed as part of the schedule for the Gospel Life Rally on Saturday.
That on its own is controversial — it’s an entire event organized around opposing some pretty critical fundamental human rights.
But what makes this not just malicious but downright insidious is that Jeremy isn’t exactly promoting it.
He and Jinger love promos — he shares clips from his sermons. They promote their podcast and their brand all of the time.
Yet, with this speaking gig coming up on Saturday, Jeremy’s latest posts are about a podcast, a new pen, and about sports.
The event is no secret, so there’s only one explanation for why Jeremy isn’t hyping it up on social media.
He knows that it would hurt his image with, well, a lot of normal people who don’t share his extreme views.
Most Americans support abortion rights — and Jeremy and Jinger don’t want to alienate three-quarters of the country.
"No mention because they’re actively trying to portray this young, hip, and laid back LA aesthetic," commented one redditor.
"Meanwhile," the Reddit denizen continued, "they’re the same bigots they’ve always strived to be."
And it’s not just about fans, either — it’s about money.
"They want sponsors to see their page and think young hip Christian family, not hateful bigot family," another wrote.
"People have contacted sponsors before to let them know they’re working with hateful, prejudiced bigots," the commenter noted.
The redditor added: "Jeremy is trying to avoid that."
"If they feel so strongly about something they should be loud and proud about it," another commenter suggested.
"Not that I agree with their beliefs of anti abortion," the Reddit user clarified.
"But," the redditor explained, "I really dislike how disingenuous they are about everything and anything."
Jeremy and Jinger aren’t all that different from Jinger’s parents.
They don’t have the awful perm or the weird clothes or the brood of kids, but they harbor many of the same unsavory beliefs.
Jeremy and Jinger know that if they’re outspoken about them, however, they can’t subtly market themselves as effectively. That’s twisted.