For the past several months, Jim Duggar has been locked in a bitter feud with Derick Dillard, the husband of his daughter Jill.
To the surprise of fans, the beef between the two men in Jill's life has been escalating rapidly, with no end in sight, and it's reached the point where Derick is now lodging damaging accusations about Jim Bob stealing from his own children and living a life motivated by greed.
Not surprisingly, the beef has created a major rift between the Duggar and Dillard families.
For many observers, the severity of the conflict became clear only when the Dillards celebrated Christmas on their own and did not make their annual visit to the Duggar compound, despite living just a few miles away.
Shortly thereafter, Jill criticized her mom -- or seemed to -- with passive-aggressive remarks about the manner in which she was raised.
By this point, the truth of the situation had become abundantly clear:
Jill and Derick had effectively been cut off by her parents -- they would receive no financial assistance even in the case of an emergency, and currently, it looks as though the two couples are no longer in contact with one another.
And this isn't the first time Jim Bob and Michelle have taken such drastic action.
Last year, they allegedly "disowned" Jinger Duggar after she committed the unpardonable sin of moving to Los Angeles, a city that they believe to be a bastion of liberal heathenism.
Clearly, the Duggars are not averse to pursuing the nuclear options in their relations with their adult children.
This, of course, raises the question -- why haven't they cut ties with Josh?
We probably don't need to tell you that the Josh Duggar sex scandals nearly brought down the family media empire -- and with good reason.
In 2015, the world learned that Josh had molested five young girls, four of whom were his sisters.
And that was just the first of several bizarre scandals, including the revelation that Josh had used a dating profile to try and cheat on his wife.
At the time of his offenses, Jim Bob and Michelle helped Josh avoid prosecution.
When his crimes came to light, they offered him solace, despite the fact that his behavior did irreparable harm to the wholesome image his family had worked so hard to build and maintain.
So why has Josh been shown so much more leniency than his sisters despite being guilty of far more egregious misconduct?
The answer is simple -- the Duggars value loyalty and obedience above all else.
Loyalty to Jim Bob is paramount, of course, but they also place great importance on loyalty to their faith, their worldview, and the set of strict rules and regulations that they feel holds the family together.
Josh may have committed unspeakable acts, but in Jim Bob's view, he redeemed himself by accepting the punishment offered by the Duggars' church and stepping away from the spotlight in order to help preserve the family legacy.
Josh did unspeakably awful things -- but his victim was not Jim Bob.
And of course, gender enters into all of this, as the Duggars proudly live in a patriarchal society with unbelievably backward rules and beliefs.
From a young age, girls are taught that if a man cheats on them or sexually assaults them, it's their fault, as they either failed to meet his needs or inspired impure thoughts through their actions and behaviors.
And so, in Jim Bob's mind, it's Josh's wife and sisters who are truly to blame for his behavior.
As appalling as it sounds, Jill's failure to make amends may have entered into Jim Bob's decision to cut ties with her.
