Anna Duggar has not filed for divorce from Josh Duggar.
This is really the only thing we know for certain about the former reality star's marriage to an admitted child molester and cheater.
And yet ...
... based on this simple fact alone, some man named Simon Brooks (shocking that it's a man who thinks this) feels that Anna is an especially strong woman who deserves to be applauded and admired.
Writes Brooks this week for Moms (dot) com in an article that really must be read to be believed:
"I give a toast to Anna, who continues to have spunk amid all the drama and controversies surrounding her husband, as well as her marriage."
Why does Brooks think Anna has "spunk?" Because she's smiling in the occasional Instagram photo, we suppose?
Brooks goes on to read Anna's mind, despite having never met her or talked to her or having any kind of real-world insight.
"I will not be the one to judge that Anna made a mistake to marry Josh, because she does not think so," he argues.
Presumably with a straight face, he adds:
"Anna's demeanor, along with her frequent posts on her Instagram page, introduces you to a lively and spirited person, who seems really fun and very forgiving."
It's so true, you guys. When you think of Anna Duggar, the first word you think about must be... fun, right?
Whether or not Anna is a forgiving person is a matter left up to the individual, we suppose.
Has she expressed forgiveness in public toward Josh? After he confessed to molesting his own sisters and also confessed to cheating on her through the adultery website Ashley Madison?
Yes.
At the height of these scandals, back in early 2016, Anna posted the statement below:
Many have asked how I am doing. So many have asked that its actually humbling and touching. 2015 was the most difficult year of my life.
Yet, amazingly I’ve found that in my own life crisis God has drawn near to me ("He’s near to the brokenhearted” Psalms 34:18) and my faith has been more precious to me than ever before...
I want to thank all of you for your prayers and your messages of hope.
I can never express how your kindness and prayers have brought encouragement when I needed it most - outpacing the grief and discouragement at every turn. I trust that God will continue to show His love and tenderness toward us and bring beauty from ashes - somehow - as only He can do.
Please continue to pray for me, Josh and our children.
This statement, of course, was posted on the official Duggar family website.
We have no reason to think Anna actually wrote it - and we definitely have no reason to think she wrote it without intense pressure from her in-laws, who control every detail of their children's lives.
Jim Bob, in particular, doesn't seem to get along with many of his relatives due to his demanding (some might say outright cruel, inappropriate and even illegal) nature.
Might Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have threatened Anna?
Could they have made it clear that any attempt to divorce Josh and thereby sully their last name would result in her own name being dragged through the mud and their own high-powered legal team making life a living Hell for poor Anna?
It seems extremely plausible.
Brooks, however, believes Anna has not filed for divorce due to a "vow" she made to God and writes:
I admire her courage in holding to what she strongly believed in.
Most of the time, when life’s challenges hit hard, most people let their beliefs fly out the window, and shut them out until all is calm, or for good – until they can adapt to new ones.
Now, yes, it's possible that Anna has remained in her marriage due to her strong faith and religion.
But then it must be asked:
If one's religion forces one to continue sharing a bed with a man who molested his siblings and who often slept with strange women he met through a website behind one's back... shouldn't one maybe rethink this faith?
At minimum, such a God-based decision should raise questions about the basis for said decision -- not admiration for the person who made it.
None of this is to say that Anna should be negatively judged for staying with Josh.
She should be pitied. She's basically been sucked into a cult here. We feel awful for her.
But Brooks holds her on a pedestal based on absolutely no information at all outside of what he reads on the Internet.
(Note to Simon: We work and live on the Internet, dude. It's not always the most reliable narrator.)
"Being Anna Duggar requires having a strong mental muscle," he writes toward the end of a piece he probably thinks is very profound.
"It means not blaming your character when things go wrong, not putting others down to lift yourself, not over-thinking everything and certainly not desiring, or insisting on perfection."
And he concludes:
"More remarkably, Anna does not measure happiness against other people. She knows most people criticize and judge her for her decisions, but she does not compare herself to other people.
"In addition, as all the strong women out there, she steps up to the plate and challenges herself to grow a little stronger every day."
This is one take on the situation, absolutely.
Another is that social media is not reflective of real life and nearly every user on these platforms paints a far prettier picture of him or herself than exists in his or her actual world.
This could especially be the case when the user in question is living under the roof of a misogynistic family who views women as nothing more than walking and talking wombs that only exist to squeeze out as many children as humanly possible and who have actively covered up disgusting sex crimes by that user's husband over the years.
That's our take on the situation, anyway.
