"Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets"

I never watched any of the Duggar family series or specials.  But I did watch this three part mini-series.  It is part of an ongoing quest of mine to understand these extreme Christian faiths and the people who are involved in them.  Watching it was far more of a roller coaster of emotions than I expected, and the content was far more ranging than just the Duggar family.  I began with a sense of bemusement -- how could anyone buy into what the IBLP was selling?  But, like all cults, there was an appeal.  Safety in a scary world.  Security that you are surrounded by people who support you and love you (so long as you tow the line).  The promise of a reward, albeit after death, for the suffering we experience.  Okay.  As the series went on, it became both interesting and more personal.  The breakdown of the IBLP was fascinating.  I liked how the producers made it clear that the structure of the organization almost invited abuse (and agree with that premise).  It was interesting to hear from the spectrum -- those who had left the organization ranged from sad Christian to very angry atheist.  In the end, I connected more than I realized.  In my dysfunctional childhood there was a veneer of propriety.  I don't think there were many people outside of my family unit who knew what was going on behind closed doors.  This documentary is kind of an indictment of the "Father Knows Best" and "Leave it to Beaver" idealization which is still hailed by conservatives.  They glorify a lie which they see as truth.  And maybe that's the core of these kinds of religions.  Believing what you are told instead of what you actually experience.  Which is ... not a happy place.