Jinger Duggar Vuolo Says Her Parents Were 'Well-Meaning' with Teachings from Her Former Church

Mar. 15, 2025

Jinger Duggar Vuolo (left) and her parents Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar.Photo:Vivien Killilea/Getty;Duggar Family/Instagram

Vivien Killilea/Getty;Duggar Family/Instagram

Jinger Duggar Vuolodoesn’t hold any ill will towards her parents for her religious upbringing.

TheCounting Onalum, 31, reflected on her parentsJim BobandMichelle Duggar’s decision to raise her and her 18 siblings in the controversial, ultra-Christian organization, theInstitute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP)after being outspoken against IBLP’s teachings and its minister,Bill Gothard, in recent years.

While answering fans’ questions on the latest episode ofJinger & Jeremy Podcast, the former reality star was asked if she felt “angry” towards her parents for following IBLP teachings.

“No,” she responded. “And I can say that very clearly because I see how so many families … wanted the guarantee for success for their kids. They were promised it. And they said, ‘If you do this, your kids will turn out.’ And so I think that a lot of parents who walked into [IBLP], they were well-meaning.”

Jinger Duggar Vuolo.Jinger Vuolo/Instagram

Jinger Vuolo/Instagram

However, thePeople Pleaser: Breaking Free from the Burden of Imaginary Expectationsauthor admitted that “there will be challenges and struggles that I face” due to her upbringing.

“It’s not always easy. … And looking at it as a parent now, I can see how easy it was for my parents to get wrapped up in that teaching because they were well-meaning,” she explained. “They went into it thinking, ‘This is how we’re going to teach our kids to love Jesus.’ And who doesn’t want that?”

“Because as a parent, you want to make the best decisions, pray through what you’re supposed to do, and I really believe my parents sought to do that for us kids…I don’t have any anger toward them for it because, I mean, I just see [that] they did their best,” she said. “They did what they thought was right in the moment.”

Jinger Duggar with Husband Jeremy Vuolo.Jinger Vuolo/Instagram

The mother of two — who is expecting her third child with husbandJeremy Vuolo— reflected howthe teachings of IBLP impacted her self-confidencein an interview with PEOPLE.

“I will just say a lot of it started when I was in the teachings of Bill Gothard, because there was so much that was drilled into you through what he said about trying to please your husband and if you don’t, he’s going to leave you, because you don’t have a perfectly clean house or maybe you don’t make the dinner on time or you’re not joyfully available to him at all times,” she shared at the time. “It was all so focused on, ‘Do this, do this, do this, do this,’ otherwise, you’re not going to be enough for him.”

“Even having differences, because arguments don’t equal rejection and that’s something that I’ve learned over the years,” she added.

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People Pleaser: Breaking Free from the Burden of Imaginary Expectationsis available wherever books are sold.

source: people.com