cmr2014

They really aren't capable of doing anything that requires commitment or consistency (see the endless string of disappearing kittens and puppies). It's possible that Joy has some sort of exercises she's supposed to practice with Gideon, but they just never get done. It's far more important for her to create more children than it is to care for the ones she already has.

Honestly, I don't feel bad for her. As a fellow human being, I'm sorry that she's sad, and that something bad happened to her, but none of these people should have any more children. Jessa doesn't need any more children -- she can barely handle the ones she has already, and only puts in the least imaginable amount of effort in raising them. For people who are obsessed with the idea that God micromanages every minute of their lives, none of them seem to be able to get the message when God says "enough!" Maybe God has a different plan for Jessa, maybe something other than littering the Earth with her spawn? Maybe God wants her to feed the poor, or care for the sick, or something similar that Jesus actually talked about rather than dropping a baby every two years, and then forgetting about it until it's "picture time." If she's depressed, I would hope (pointlessly) that she'll get some professional help, but having babies doesn't cure depression, and I have a lot more compassion for her children -- both real and potential -- than I do for her.

I'm really confused. She was pregnant in the fall and miscarried, and now she' pregnant again? Is the fall pregnancy the one that @GingerGirlreferenced in her post? Is there a new pregnancy. I'm shocked, either way. Like @Lady Whistleup I don't think Ben and Jessa like each other very much, plus co-sleeping, I'm amazed that they keep the blessing train running so regularly.

I think that's kind of the point -- at least that's the Pearl method. You bait the child into doing/not doing something, and then beat him/her for doing/not doing what you encouraged. In this case, you give a young child a task that he may not be able to fully understand or perform, and them beat him for failing to complete it. And, of course, the more vicious and psychotic the beating, the more "Biblical" it is (e.g. making a 2-year-old scream vs whimper).

I don't think that Jinger wrote much of this book. I think it may well be a choice on the part of the ghostwriter to go easy on JB and J'chelle. The expected audience is Jinger's humper followers who may still percieve JB and J'chelle as good people. There's also nothing for MacArthur to gain by having Jinger badmouth her parents (honor your mother and father is in the Bible after all). This really isn't a tell-all about how horribly she was raised by her parents, it's meant to be an expose on how believing in the wrong Jesus can lead to bad outcomes -- like anxiety and depression.

This is my feeling about the whole concept of a "tell all" from any of them. What are they going to say that we don't know? JB and J'chelle weren't good parents? By any possible metric, we all know that. They covered up the sexual abuse of their own daughters for God's sake. J'chelle "didn't have a heart" for children. JB and J'chelle had "anger management issues." They used the Pearl method of "training up" their children. They didn't provide a healthy and stable home for their children? We know that, too. They covered up the sexual abuse of their own daughters for God's sake. They had 17(?) people crammed into a 3 BR house. Once they got a larger house, the continued to cram their children into "dorms" and specifically and actively provided them with no privacy. The children were seen scrounging for food, collecting "love offerings" left on the doorstep, and eating beans out of a can and cold oatmeal in a cup. That they belong to a cult? The biggest tell on this is that JB regularly states "I don't belong to a cult." Instead of contacting authorities when Josh molested his sisters, they went to Gothard elders. Their children aren't allowed out of the house and aren't allowed to mingle with heathens. Their comically bad homeschooling has been shown on national television, but is necessary to prevent their kids from learning any outside ideas. The girls wear long skirts -- with pants under them -- and style their hair in banana curls. They "court." They engage in "side hugs," and don't allow their toddlers to dance because it could stir up "urges." I don't know what a tell-all could give us that we don't already know. Maybe Josh molested more kids? Maybe they were beaten more than we know? I don't know, and I don't think I'd want to read about more abuse than I've already seen. The only value to Jinger's book, is that it gives us a window on how it acutally felt to grow up in that environment -- not good. I think that's why the humpers are so furious with her. Not for outing her parents and Gothardism, but for letting people know how scared and isolated she was. That's something that we can relate to . . .

Stolen truck? What's the story on that?

I think it's possible. It seems like all of the kidults have put some space between themselves and the TTH over the past year. Jill has obviously put some space between herself and the house. Jessa is among the heaviest kool-aide drinkers, but it doesn't appear that Ben is "teaching" there anymore. Family members have been to CA to see Jinger, but she hasn't been to the TTH in a while. There was a reported "blowup" between Anna and Austin. Josiah and Lauren have disappeared from SM, and they may (or may not) be spending less time at the compound. I don't think that Anna was ever very popular among Josh's siblings. She's obviously dealing with a lot right now, and she doesn't really have the emotional tools to do that. None of the Duggars has the emotional tools to help her (or to want to help her) since the only solution that they have for any problem is to "pray more." It wouldn't surpise me if everyone in the vicinity of the TTH wants out. It also wouldn't surprise me at all if the rumors about Anna wanting to move to TX weren't true. On the other hand, any assets the Josh and Anna own are probably under JB's control now. In order for Anna to move to TX, JB would have to agree to part with some significant cash. I think he's far more likely to sign off on all of his (male) children leaving the TTH than he is on selling property so Anna can leave.

This was a good choice for them, and they did a good job. I'm guessing that WalMart sent a film crew who tried to make it look like a home video. Jessa always half-asses everything, and there's just no way she did this -- much less got the big smiles out of Ben. It will be interesting to see if there's any blow-back on this. WalMart isn't exclusively in small rural areas anymore and being associated with bigots might not be something that they want to avoid. Jessa could be pregnant, but it's more likely just the hideous, shapeless dress she's wearing.

I think it's probable that they're in school and she's taking pictures with the workbooks because she wants to shill workbooks. It's all part of the "they suck as 'influencers'" theme. There is no context here. They're not part of a narrative about Jill homeschooling. They're not presented as being an enrichment activity to their public school work. They're just a couple of photos of some kids with workbooks with a caption "love these workbooks!" and dropped into her feed. I'm sure that she's under a lot of pressure to homeschool them from her family, and maybe she is, but I think these photos are about shilling workbooks, full stop.

It's only the Duggar daughters who are shilling on SM. The DILs stuck their respective toes in the water a bit, and have pretty much disappeared from SM. I assume that the "jobs" that the sons have at Duggar Enterprises are making enought for them to provide for their families. Ben is an outlier, though, the only SIL still tied to the TTH. I've always assumed it was because Jessa and JB are controlling assholes and won't give him any space (and I'm sure that's true), but I wonder if that's the whole story. Michael Seawald is a pretty big asshole, and it's not unusual for teenage boys to have issues with their fathers -- especially giant assholes like MS. I've always assumed that Ben and Jessa's limited interactions with the Seawalds were because of Jessa, but maybe they're because Ben wants to limit contact. While he always appears genuinely miserable to me, he is getting what he wants out of this deal: he gets sex with the "hot" daughter; he went to school (when none of the Duggar sons got that opportunity); he's "working" as a pastor, etc.

It just doesn't even cross their minds. They're all terrible at being "influencers" because they don't really understand the concept -- and are totally unwilling to learn. I would bet a million dollars that Jessa doesn't follow anyone else to learn anything about how a successful influencer presents content. I would also bet that none of them will ever read a book or take a class to learn anything about what they do to put food on the table. I do believe that Jinger and Jeremy hired someone to help them with their presentation (or MacArthur did), but that's it. If this was part of Jessa's long running narrative about the joys as well as the trials and tribulations of raising kids while trying to remain "separate" from the mainstream, secular world she might have an audience. She (and her sisters) can't seem to nail down the narrative, and it's hard to follow because there's no plot and no point to her random posts.

I agree that Ben (and Jeremy) are definitely barking up the wrong tree with the goal of becoming a pastor. Religious affiliation in the US is dropping rapidly, and evangelical affiliation has dropped below that of mainline Christianity for the first time in a long time. That doesn't mean that there's no one in the pews, but the numbers aren't good, and neither of them has the skills (or the message) to turn that around. They live in a bubble, though, that allows them to believe that this is a valid career choice, and no one seems to have clued Ben in that his poor speaking skills and dour message make him unlikely to succeed.

I don't see how Ben can be getting any salary from that church. The congregation is tiny, and what little money they collect from the parishoners probably goes to keeping the lights on. I think it's likely that the house is his compensation. I wouldn't be surpised if Ben wasn't still "working" in some capacity for JB. I think Jessa sticks tight to the TTH because their dependence on JB gives her control in the relationship. I think that Ben has been trying to break out for a while now, but JB has the thumscrews pretty tight.

He can't even pretend to look happy when he looks at Jessa -- maybe he's just pissed about the haircut. Maybe he said something like he didn't like the haircut and wanted to go to a professional, and Jessa said "I'll post a picture on SM and see what my followers have to say." Then she'll get a bunch of "Likes" from humpers and tell him "see, it's a great haircut."

Aren't all of their assets in Anna's name? In order to move, Anna would need to cash out family assets. She'd need to cash out more to pay for food, utilities, etc. for the next 10 years since she can't work because of Jesus. I don't think JB will pony up for a house in TX while she has a place to live and food on the table since he's already provided her with a luxe spread at the warehouse and she's probably eating the same canned Aldi food that he feeds his own family. I think the issue is that Anna feels unwelcome at the TTH, and she probably is. I don't think J'chelle or the older daughters particularly like her; I doubt that JB and the older sons even notice her; I wouldn't be surprised if she was just lonely and uncomfortable there. I do think JB'd consider it if David Waller was going to pick up some of the slack in supporting her. She'd still be in the Gothard fold with an acceptable headship and it would probably remove a significant source of stress from his household.

I can't disagree with "they're just pathetic," but . . . People develop their tastes in food from what they eat in childhood (I still like American cheese singles; I have a friend whose father really enjoyed Spam with his breakfast; etc.). We know that J'chelle was no kind of cook, and they ate a lot of canned food growing up, and despite traveling the world, I think they all have very limited experience with food. Jinger (and all of the Duggars) are not terribly adventurous people (remember Jessa's RBF at the Indian restaurant?). I'm not surprised that "steak salt" is more than enough seasoning for her -- I bet it is for a lot of her followers, too. The thing is, she doesn't love to cook, or love food, or have any interest in learning. She doesn't have a warm and engaging, or entertaining personality that makes us want to join her and learn with her. She's just a lump of dumb who is going to presume to teach others something she doesn't know how to do herself, and the reason we should watch is --- Jesus? It's pointless to suggest it, but it would be really nice if at least one of these idiots would WATCH a video and LEARN a thing before they tried to teach it.

I think that Anna has some idea that they will strengthen their "spiritual bond" while Josh is in prison -- hence the relationship books. They will pray together and talk about the various devotional exercises in the books, etc. I also think that Anna's presence isn't comforting for Josh at all. If he had any hopes of loosening his parents' control over him, they've been completely thwarted. He has no hope of finding a job or a place to live outside the TTH orbit once he leaves prison. If she won't leave him now, she's never going anywhere, and the end of his sentence just means back to his "life" pre-prison.

I don't think Josh expects to win his appeal. I think he doesn't want Anna to move any closer and to visit more often. Relationship books only have value when both parties want to work on a relationship. I think Josh has zero interest, and I don't think that Anna thinks she has been anything less than an ideal partner.

I think that Jessa's emtions (like any of ours) are complicated. I think that all of the kidults (and probably all of the kids, really) have a desperate need for affection and attention both because they got none as children and also because I think it's a family trait (see JB and Amy). I think she desires intimacy and warm as much as anyone, but also pushes it away because she's deeply fearful -- a combination of the insecure tattling culture of her home, and her own emotional fragility. They have all been told a lot of magical stories about marriage within the cult, and I agree that Jessa and Jill in particular had their parents' marriage as a model and expected their husbands to model themselves after JB. I don't think it occurred to either of them that their husbands had their own fathers, and their own family history, and their own role models. Ben, also, was engaged in magical thinking and simply projected a lot of personaility traits onto Jessa that she simply didn't have. I don't think there's anyone out there who would have been a better match for Jessa (or Ben). Their problems are within themselves, and they both would benefit from individual, and couples, therapy.

I think she wanted someone like JB: someone who thought she hung the moon. She wants to be fawned over and admired for her looks and her ability to produce children, and to have all of her flaws glossed over and defended. I think that her original view of Ben (and his sappy poetry) was that he was that guy. But, over time (a relatively short time, at that), he's lost interest at groveling at her feet. He has interests of his own and I think he wants and expects some kudos of his own for his accomplishments -- and I doubt he get it from her.

They are seriously awful at this. I assume that Jeremy wrote this since it tracks 1:1 with his ridiculous sermon title. The picture is awful and out of focus. They couldn't take the time to take a second photo? If they want to be "Influencers" they need to put in the time and effort to create a compelling narrative that people want to follow. No one follows them because they're interested in their lifestyle. They follow them because they're Christian and because they want to know when the next baby is coming. I'm unable to believe that anyone is following them to learn about their Christian? candle/hat business, their children's books, or where they get their burgers. If they're being paid to show that hip, happening young people follow MacArthur, they need to create a cohesive narrative that they're hip, happening young people, not this incoherant mish-mash that they've been presenting for YEARS now.

I think we all would, but we're not Jana. She's been programmed her whole life to believe that her sole purpose is to become a help-meet and mother. I was raised in a progressive household, and received a good education, and always believed that I could be whatever I wanted to be, but I've always felt a huge amount of pressure from society at-large to tie my self-worth to being married and having a family. I don't know why Jana hasn't found a husband among the fundie creeps of her aquantence, but I bet that it weighs heavily on her.

It's not just toys. Amy is all about conspicuous consumption. She and her husband lived in a McMansion they couldn't afford, and then moved into another big, splashy place with much more room than they need. Her living room is cluttered with "decorative" items and a big screen tv.

All of the Duggars are, IMO, competative, and I do think that Jessa is jealous, to some extent of Jinger (and her other siblings, and other Gothard women, etc.). Not that Jinger has anything better, but in that it's too close for comfort. The houses are about the same square footage with a similar number of BRs and BAs, and open floor plans. Jessa is winning with 4 kids to 2, and Ben is a preacher, not a student. Since the Duggars place zero value on education, Jeremy's advanced degrees don't mean anything.