David and Jason Benham (AP Photo)
“Since when is it considered ‘fear mongering’ to say that God designed a man to be with a woman, or that kids deserve to have a mom and a dad, or that the ladies room should be for biological females?” David Benham told CNSNews.com. “Saying the Duggars are inciting people to hate is simply propaganda.”
An activist launched a Change.org petition on Aug. 20 entitled “End LGBT fear mongering by the Duggars” after matriarch Michelle Duggar spoke out against an ordinance being considered by the city council in Fayetteville, Ark., that would allow transgender people to use any public restroom. The petition said she was “spreading ignorance and hatred.”
Activists also targeted her eldest son Josh Duggar, who works for the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian advocacy organization, in the petition. Media reports have made references to the controversial Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which has labeled FRC a “hate group.”
“Truth is considered hate to those who hate the truth,” Jason Benham told CNSNews.com. “George Orwell said it even better, ‘The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.’”
“The FRC is a fine Christian organization that is quite the opposite of hateful and has actually been the object of hateful attacks by those that hold to the SPLC's beliefs -- to the point that a man went in to commit mass murder at the FRC headquarters in D.C,.” Jason Benham said, referring to the 2012 attack at the organization’s Washington, D.C. headquarters by gunman Lloyd Corkins, who said he found out about the FRC through the SPLC’s website.
On Sept. 19, 2013 the U.S. District Court for D.C. convicted Corkins of three felony charges, including domestic terrorism, for his attack. Leo Johnson, who was acting as security on the day of the attack, was shot but was able to prevent Johnson from harming anyone else.
Less than a week ago, LifeSite News launched a petition in support of the Duggars that quickly gathered more signatures than the anti-Duggar petition.
On Wednesday, the Life Petition in support of the Duggars totaled 200,104 as this story was posted as compared to the 171,291 signatures on the change.org petition.
“The real extremists are those who are demanding that a TV network penalize America's beloved family because they support the truth about family, which they have always expressed in a loving, compassionate fashion,” the Lifesite petition states.
When asked by CNSNews.com about why the Duggars enjoy so much public support, Jason Benham said it is because they are a model of “a loving and healthy family.”
“Americans enjoy the wholesomeness of the Duggar family,” Jason Benham said. “That’s why the show is so popular, and the polls reflect this.”
“Not everyone believes the same way the Duggars do, but everyone knows that they are a family that has modeled what a loving and healthy family looks like,” Jason Beham said. “They are America's family, and Americans are defending them as such.”
And, David Benham said, celebrities should speak out on behalf of the Duggars – and religious liberty – but many are reluctant because of the very intimidation the family is facing.”
“If celebrities speak out on other moral and social issues, they should speak out on this, and not allow this fine family to be bullied or intimidated,” David Benham said. “What’s at stake is our freedoms.
“Yet there is a lot to lose if they stand up for what they believe,” David Benham said. “To do this would require a ‘whatever the cost’ attitude, and unless they are willing to lose their reputation and/or future jobs on the big screen, celebrities will continue to remain silent. ”
The Duggars reality TV show, centered on Jim Bob and Michelle and their 19 children and now some of those children’s spouses and children, is in its sixth season.