During a speech at the 2014 Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa, former reality television star and current executive director of the Family Research Council's legislative affiliate Josh Duggar said that attendees need to be as courageous in the face of President Barack Obama's agenda as the Benham brothers were when HGTV cancelled their reality show.
Duggar opened his speech on Saturday by making light of missionary work, saying "I had a friend who went and lived among headhunters and cannibals, and so I prayed to the Lord, 'Please don't send me among headhunters and cannibals.' So He sent me to Washington."
"The Lord has opportunities for those of us of our generation," the 26-year-old Duggar said, before listing off a series of conservative positions to thunderous applause.
"What we're seeing here today," he continued, "as we're looking at the discussion for 2016, our work is clear -- our mission is before us. We have an administration that has taken a direct assault on us. This is not just about a disagreement. This is not just saying, 'This is our opinion, here's your opinion, let's have a discussion.'"
"This is about an agenda against people of Christian faith, to not allow us the room to speak or even believe what we know to be right," Duggar said. "When you talk about the issue of life, marriage, or religious liberty, I submit to you that every issue is moral."
"It's even wrong to tax people at a massive percentage of what they earn," he said. "It's wrong to force businesses to buy a good or a service that they don't want or need. We have a Christian and moral obligation to be involved in this process."
He then introduced the Benham brothers, Jason and David, whose show with HGTV was cancelled after controversial comments about same-sex marriage and Nazi Germany came to light. Duggar characterized the reason for the show's cancellation as "their Christian beliefs," then admired their "courage" in the face of the cancellation.
"We must be that courageous," he concluded, "because courage breeds courage."
Duggar, who was featured on TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting, was hired by the Family Research Council's FRC Action outreach group last year.
Watch Josh Duggar's entire speech via Caffeinated Thoughts below.
