Jinger Duggar Vuolo and Jeremy Vuolo had a speedy courtship, but Joy-Anna Duggar and Austin Forsyth may outdo them. The TLC "Counting On" stars started courting (Duggar-ese for dating) earlier this year, were engaged last month, and plan to be married on October 28, 2017. This date also happens to be Joy-Anna's 20th birthday. Why is the reality television pair rushing to the altar? Their parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, are thrilled, but others are worried about the accelerated relationship.
Duggars do courtship instead of dating
Courtship is the fundamentalist Christian equivalent of dating but without touching.
It's hands-off to prevent pre-marital sex, procreation before marriage, and divorce. Courtships are chaperoned and parent supervised. "Counting On" dad Jim Bob Duggar quarterbacks while Michelle runs interference -- literally putting herself between the courting couple. It's also supposed to better prepare the couple for marriage. But for all the expectation of maturity, they start courting young. On "19 Kids and Counting" Ben Seewald courted Jessa Duggar when he was only 17. Joy-Anna is 19 and Jinger Duggar was young too. Would less supervision be needed if teens held off on courting until they were older like Jana Duggar who is single at 27?
Duggar courting, short engagment make strange bedfellows
Courtship is a Georgia Satellites thing --"keep your hands to yourself till I get a wedding ring." It's probably sped up to help couples avoid temptation. That would make sense if it equalled engagement. But for the "19 Kids and Counting" courting is the get-to-know-you phase.
It's supposed to help them decide if they are compatible, so it seems strange that both of these periods are so short. Joy-Anna Duggar will be wed within months, just like Jinger Duggar and Jeremy Vuolo. How can the reality TV couples get to know each other so fast with mom, dad, and siblings hovering around?
Duggars marry in haste, repent at leisure?
Once courtship starts in the Duggar family, it's a short trip to the altar. In the "Counting On" family they're almost arranged marriages. Most of the married kids seem to be faring okay. Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard married young and courted quick, as did Ben and Jessa Seewald. But it didn't go so well for eldest Josh Duggar. His sex addictions, pedophilia, pornography and cheating revelations put his wife Anna Duggar through misery. He essentially killed TLC's "19 Kids and Counting." And what made it worse was the family's push to have many children. Now Anna is pregnant at 27 with their fifth child with her husband just months out of sex rehab.
