Sunday, November 23, 2014 (LifeSite) – Last week, a growing petition on Change.org demanding that TLC yank the Duggar's popular reality TV show “19 Kids and Counting” leapt into the national spotlight after huge mainstream media outlets like The Huffington Post, E!, and the Washington Post reported on the petition effort.
Meanwhile, a counter-petition supporting the Duggars started by LifeSiteNews just three days ago has received almost no media attention, relying instead on the power of grassroots support for the Duggars. (Read the petition here.)
Today, Duggar fans proved that they are a force to be reckoned with.
Earlier today the pro-Duggar counter-petition easily breezed past the Change.org effort, amassing 168,000 signatures as of this writing, and still growing.
Meanwhile, the months-old anti-Duggar petition has more or less stalled at around 160,000 signatures.
The Change.org petition specifically criticizes Michelle Duggar, the mother of the large Christian family featured in TLC's “19 Kids and Counting,” for opposing a “transgender” bill in Fayetteville.
It also criticizes Josh Duggar, one of Michelle's 19 children, for taking a job at the Family Research Council, a large conservative think-tank, which the petition describes as as “a hate-filled, anti-gay organization.” The FRC is a prominent supporter of traditional marriage.
Meanwhile, among those supporting the pro-Duggar petition have been the Benham Brothers, whose own reality TV show on HGTV was canceled after gay activists launched a campaign highlighting their traditional Christian views, and social media star and former Fox News contributer Steven Crowder.
The Benham Brothers have condemned the effort to remove the Duggars as being part of “the same intolerant agenda that attacked our family.”
That agenda “is now demonizing one of the most wholesome families in America,” said the brothers. “The Duggars have always been an example of Christian love for each other and society. It’s time for Americans to stand with them against this latest manifestation of anti-Christian bullying.”
The pro-Duggar counter petition, addressed to TLC, reads: “I 100% support the right of the Duggars to express their traditional family values, which they have always done with love and compassion, and which simply reflect the beliefs of the majority of Americans.
“I demand that you ignore the ongoing campaign by a minority of liberal extremists to silence the Duggars, and stand with the family against this absurd attack.”
