Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar have been invited to be keynote speakers in the upcoming Alberta Home School Convention. News and comments about the Duggar family have surfaced both from media and Alberta community, prompting the Alberta Home Education Association to review its decision which it defended initially.
The Duggar family has been surrounded by scandals and controversies since May following the admission of the eldest son, Josh Duggar, that he molested girls as a teenager, including four of his sisters. This led to the cancellation of their reality show "19 Kids and Counting."
Jim Bob and Michelle were booked to speak at the event two years ago, way before the scandal broke out to the public. They were originally invited to talk about their experience of homeschooling many children at once.
According to CBC News, in an interview on Thursday, Paul van den Bosch, president of AHEA, defended the decision, saying, "We don't look for absolutely perfect speakers because, well - we're human. Someone who is perfect? That's unattainable."
"We were getting many more positive emails and calls from our members who still wanted to hear the Duggars," he added. "[They] basically said, you know, this did happen 10 years ago and it was the son, not the parents, so please don't punish the parents for the sin of the son."
Van den Bosch believes the Duggar parents will also speak openly about childhood sexual abuse. He said, "We hope that the Duggars will speak about what happened, what they learned, what they've done to prevent further incidents like this."
AHEA also said in a statement, The Huffington Post reported, "The AHEA does not condone Josh's behaviour but wishes to follow the example of the victims in this situation who have expressed a desire to 'forgive and forget.'''
Meanwhile, the association posted a statement on its website following the interview, which reads, "AHEA is aware of recent media stories and comments on the Duggar family. AHEA values the feedback from those within the Alberta home education community and from others also. We are currently reviewing our speaker arrangements for the 2016 convention and we expect to make a decision early next week. Thank you for your patience."
