In the weeks to come Josh Duggar and his wife Anna will welcome their fifth child.
The happy news has been tainted by controversy, of course, thanks to the highly-publicized Josh Duggar sex scandals that continue to provoke shock and outrage, two years after coming to light.
But the latest controversy, while pertaining to Josh’s children, has nothing to do with the sex crimes that nearly brought down his family’s reality TV empire.
In photos posted to Facebook over the weekend, Josh and Anna’s sons, Marcus and Michael, are seen engaging in some brotherly bonding.
A caption presumably written by Michelle Duggar explains:
“Marcus has been learning to ride his bike and sweet Michael was so happy to help! Way to go, Marcus!”
Doesn’t seem like the sort of thing that anyone could get outraged over, but fans are up in arms over the pics for a surprisng reason.
As you can see, Michael is not wearing a helmet in the photos.
While such safety precautions are certainly a good idea, especially for children who are just learning to ride, in the case of the Duggar, such oversights provoke not gentle admonishments, but seething vitriol:
“Seriously?? No helmets?! Yes it’s cute that big brother is helping but let’s teach safety and avoid serious injuries let alone something worse,” wrote one fan.
“I can tell you a helmet saved my life so get those kids helmets!” echoed another commenter.
Of course, the Duggars have almost as many cultishly loyal fans as they have critics.
As a result, there were those who came to the family’s defense, as well:
“What did we all do BEFORE the paranoid ‘helicopter parents/ started imposing the safety helmets, elbow/knee pads, mouthpieces, and goggles?” commented one such follower, adding:
“EXACTLY what these two happy adorable little boys are doing in the pics…We had a BLAST while learning how to ride our bicycle!!! …and we survived it.”
Of course, helmet’s aren’t really what’s at issue here.
Anything Josh-related is sure to provoke some sort of argument in the comments section, a reality to which the Duggars will simply have to grow accustomed.
Watch Counting On online for more from reality TV’s most controversial family.
