Jinger Duggar Vuolo opens up about 'harmful' religious beliefs: 'Fear was a huge part'

Jinger Duggar Vuolo isn’t afraid to face the demons of her past.

Vuolo, who starred on TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting” and “Counting On” with her large Christian family the Duggars, opened up about the damaging aftereffects of her family’s strict Christian faith in an interview with People magazine published Wednesday discussing her upcoming memoir, “Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith From Fear” (Thomas Nelson, 240 pp., out Jan. 31).

“Fear was a huge part of my childhood," Vuolo said. "I thought I had to wear only skirts and dresses to please God. Music with drums, places I went or the wrong friendships could all bring harm.”

Vuolo was raised on the teachings of minister Bill Gothard, who founded the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), a Christian organization “dedicated to giving clear instruction and training on how to find success by following God’s principles found in Scripture,” according to its official website. Gothard resigned from IBLP in 2014 amid a series of sexual harassment allegations.

“(Gothard's) teachings in a nutshell are based on fear and superstition and leave you in a place where you feel like, 'I don't know what God expects of me,' ” Vuolo explained, adding that the teachings were “so harmful.” “The fear kept me crippled with anxiety. I was terrified of the outside world.”

"Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith From Fear" at Bookshop for $27.89

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Vuolo talks about the role her husband, former pro soccer player Jeremy Vuolo, played in reexamining her faith in her new book. She said Jeremy encouraged her “to examine Scripture, think for myself and come to my own conclusions.”