Following his transphobic rants against TLC’s Jazz Jennings on social media, Counting On‘s Derick Dillard just can’t seem to stay away from controversy.
On Monday, the 28-year-old husband of Jill Duggar took to social media to share his thoughts on the solar eclipse by posting what seemed to be an innocent tweet injected with a dose of his religious beliefs.
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“On a day when so many will be looking to the sun, let’s not miss the Son,” he wrote alongside the hashtags, “Solar Eclipse 2017” and “Jesus Christ.”
On a day when so many will be looking to the sun, let’s not miss the Son. #SolarEclipse2017 #EclipseSolar #JesusChrist
โ Derick Dillard (@derick4Him) August 21, 2017
However, some fans didn’t take too kindly to the message with one writing, “The difference being that [Solar Eclipse 2017] is actually verifiable and [Jesus Christ] is not.”
Do we need to have a history lesson on the FACT that Jesus of Nazareth was a historical figure? I want to put it gently, but this is true. https://t.co/JWrHmXm59p
โ Derick Dillard (@derick4Him) August 22, 2017
The father of two fired back to the user with what seemed like he was furious, capitalizing one word in parrticular to help get his point across, writing, “Do we need to have a history lesson on the FACT that Jesus of Nazareth was a historical figure?”
Retweeting the user’s response, dozens of his followers followed up with their own, some agreeing with Dillard and others not so much.
The user that he had retweeted wrote back, “Historical Jesus is unverified. There is not a single source at the time that documents him,” as another retorted to Dillard, “Nobody is disputing He was a historical figure. They’re disputing He’s the Son of God [and] did some of the things they claimed He’s done.”
Others followed up writing, “There’s no doubt that Jesus existed, it’s just if he’s the son of God that is debatable,” while another chimed in, “I think [Jesus’ existence is] irrelevant because his followers act nothing like him.”
Dillard has not been shy to share his religious beliefs and has been incredibly open about it for years. But some fans believe his decision to go nuclear on a response that could spark debate and civil discourse looks more like compulsion of his beliefs.
The new season of Counting On airs Sept. 11 on 9/8 CST on TLC.