melanie

I was hoping that Alicia would pick up Tobias on the radio. He will definitely be the cult favorite character on this show, I think.

Strand and Shane are very similar characters to me -- able to see what the others can't. He is kind of ahead of his time for some reason and seems very prepared for the apocalypse. Strand will perhaps let us see how the Shane character may have played out without the Lori obsession which was really his downfall -- all of his motives were questionable because of that. They are definitely ungrateful and they do act very strange and make extremely inappropriate comments. I do enjoy the idea of a water escape during the apocalypse. I just hope they make more out of the opportunity than they did with LA. I just felt like that could have been done so much better. BTW -- I really enjoyed Hozier on TDD. He was actually one of the guests that did seem invested in TWD franchise and was familiar with both shows and the characters. Love his music. He was adorable.

I agree, but someone should keep an eye on Alicia. How was it that no one saw or heard her talking on the CB radio? I would think if Strand was that worried that he would keep communication equipment under tight control.

I thought the zombie lost interest in Nick because it heard Travis yelling.

Didn't Denise just tell Tara a couple of episodes ago that she couldn't go out because she was needed by the community? What changed? I don't get it at all. I also would have appreciated a little bit of conversation in this episode about what happened previously. Do they all think they killed Negan and this is over? I really would like to know. I get really tired of the writing. When I hear people say things it is like they are in riddles and I wonder if people actually lose their ability to speak clearly in the ZA. Rick deserved an explanation from Carol about her decision to leave. I get that he would have tried to talk her out of it, but now they are going to go find her and nothing good will come of that.

Did anyone catch what Deanna wrote on the bottom of her random map that she was drawing? It looked like Latin, maybe, because I couldn't make it out and refuse to re-watch the episode.

Did we ever find out who took the guns that Rick hid before they got to Alexandria? I can't remember. Did we find out that it was Nicholas? Or is the possibility that it is the wolves still out there. Maybe Ron didn't want a haircut because he wanted to look cool like Carl.

Aaron had the pictures to show to new potential recruits for Alexandria. He showed them to Rick.

I thought Morgan said chain maker -- did any one watch with captions?

The cigarette lady was at least smoking outside and not inside the house which was what Carol requested. She must have really wanted some homemade pasta.

Morgan should be able to recognize that threat though. It was ultimately his inability to take our his wife/Duane's mother as a zombie that led to Duane's death, IIRC. I think Rick sent Morgan back to Alexandria to let them know what had happened.

SnoGirl, the comics are not a predictor in any way of how a character will turn out. All of the characters in the TV show have their own life apart from the comics.

I was disappointed that Carl hesitated to kill the wolf out in front of his house. It almost got him killed and probably should have. If Enid is with the wolves, then they would not have needed Aaron's photos. She seems like more of an opportunist to me. Survive at all costs using whatever tools she has at her disposal.

Could the early breach have been planned by the same people blowing the horn? Both just seem a little too coincidental. If these enemies force them into their plan early catching them a little bit off guard and then sabotage them they might have a better chance at catching the community off guard. Just a thought.

I still get sick thinking about him singing to Anna at the wedding. I think that was JB's idea, but it was so weird and uncomfortable that I could not even watch it.

The whole anti-alcohol thing is very American and very Protestant. There was a very good multi-part documentary of PBS that talked about Prohibition and the social roots of the movement and additionally the involvement of the churches. My point was that when that or anything else becomes your theology, you have to rationalize passages in the Bible that are inconsistent with that belief. There is no other logical way that you could prohibit the reasonable consumption of alcohol at a social event such as a wedding if you did not do that because then you would be stating basically that Jesus had sinned by creating wine and the would open a whole new set of problems. The Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox churches, and many others have no such prohibition on alcohol, so no problem with Jesus doing what he did. The "New Wine" explanation that the Pentecostals provided was the most unique rationalization that I have ever heard. They do have a very interesting way of worship.

This "water into wine" story is the original rationalization story in many denominations around where I live. I have friends (I guess I should say I had friends) who are Pentecostal and they refer to the wine that Jesus created as the "New Wine". Somehow they relate this to how they become "drunk" through the Holy Spirit. That is why their services often involve the dancing and running around and wailing and even to some extend the speaking in tongues. They are absolutely against drinking any kind of alcohol and if they find that anyone does, they can be thrown out of the church for that. They gave me all kinds of insight into their church when they thought they could convert me, but stopped speaking to me altogether when I made it clear that I was not interested in their form of Christianity -- just to clarify. I know that the Duggars are not Pentecostal and do not worship in the same way, but I am sure that Independent Baptists have some similar rationalization about that story -- it just does not go along with their worldview.

Ok. I think I understand a little bit more. Can "Gothardism" for lack of a better word be an individual thing? Wouldn't someone following these teachings want to be surrounded by others who believe the same things. I guess since C of C are autonomous there could be some of them that are kind of different and maybe they seek out churches that believes the same things? My friend's family has done a lot of C of C hopping through the years and is now attending one at least an hour away from where they live even though there are a ton of them here locally. Her oldest child just graduated from high school with my youngest child and she is planning on going to college, but her specific goal is to pursue a course of education that will enable her to be a stay-at-home mom and run a home-based business. Also, in our state a homeschooling parent who is the primary educator must have a college degree or there are a lot more state requirements. So, this could just be to enable her to homeschool her children without state interference. That is just so weird to me because my daughter doesn't even know if she wants to get married or have children. The family also has been convicted to have more children recently (in her mid 40's) and is about 7 months pregnant now after suffering several miscarriages over the past few years. This sounds like Gothard to me or at least something very similar. They also attended the San Antonio Christian Film Festival run by Doug Phillips and Vision Forum a couple years ago. I don't know what his connection is to Gothard, but I think he has one. I would love to be enlightened because right now I am just putting pieces together. Thanks everyone! On a different note, I attended Catholic schools as a non-Catholic and no one ever tried to convert me. I don't know if that is universal, that was just my experience. The musical about The Book of Mormon looks hilarious. I would love to see it. I love when people can laugh at themselves. We should all do that more and not take ourselves so seriously.

I live in an area that is dominated by the Church of Christ -- literally there is one on every street and they are named after the street they are on. Until I moved here, I had never heard of them. My question, as it relates to the Duggars, is that I have a friend who has made several major changes over the course of time that I have known her and her family. These changes are very Gothard-like and I know that she admires the Duggars. Is it possible that a Church of Christ member could be in the Gothard cult or is that only for the Independent Fundamental Baptist types? I literally do not know anything about the Church of Christ except that they do not believe in any musical instruments during their church services. Other families that I know around here (and a majority of them are C of C) do not follow the "rules" about skirts for girls, etc. I am just curious about how denomination-specific the Gothard organization is. Thanks for any insight. I really am curious.

I have been trying to think about all of the different missionaries that I have personally known and what they did/do. One man is a dentist who visits Haiti six months out of every year. He works in the states basically to fund his missionary work. I don't think he is beating anyone over the head with a bible, but if anyone asks him why he does what he does, he is not bashful about his faith and how he feels called by God to share what he has with those less fortunate. Some "mission trips" that I have been asked to help fund just seem like an excuse to go on vacation to some exotic location to me. Most missionaries realize that you cannot teach someone about Jesus or any other religion if they are hungry or sick or homeless. Isn't that Maslow's hierarchy of needs? So, I think that they try to remedy those situations before they preach the gospel. Also I think that is what Jesus told his followers to do. I don't know any Mormons personally that have gone on a mission, but from what I have read, those missions are strictly to convert people and spread the Mormon faith. Please correct me if I am wrong. That is the only religion that I know of that requires all of its members to participate in missionary work.

I think that if you consider yourself to be a Christian, then no one else has the right to tell you that you are not. Different people have their beliefs about what being a Christian means, but that is between the individual and God. I do not think we have to justify how we define ourselves to anyone. It is just a matter of being respectful and understanding that none of us is God and therefore we do not have all of the answers.

Upon reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church which is on the Vatican's own web site -- purgatory is still there as a final purification of the elect. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a12.htm

Usernamefatigue -- They wear so much makeup because they want people to notice and focus on their "countenance" -- the thing that the rest of us call a face. They were wearing a little more than usual. The one thing that stuck out to me was that when they described Josh after his magical transformation through his stint in construction rehab, they described him a both changed and humble. They used the word humble several times -- I am sure they were coached to do this. Has anyone seen Josh act in any way that can be described as humble? He did get the nickname Smuggar for a reason and it was not for his humility. If the new and improved Josh that we all got to see was the "new creature" with all of the humility, can you imagine what he was like before? Everyone keeps asking about "Where's Josh?" and that is a valid question, but I am extremely concerned about him and his mental health at this point. These allegations come out, he loses his job, has 3 children and one on the way, feels responsible for destroying his dad's little empire, etc. etc. etc. Men have cracked under much less stress. He was also never really allowed to grow up. His dad still pulls all the strings, so emotionally he is probably still a child. That which does not kill us makes us stronger and hopefully in Josh's case this will also make him a little more humble.

Muffyn, I do not think that the Catholic Church got rid of the idea of purgatory. John 6:39 is probably one of the most diversely interpreted scriptures, IMO. It states: And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up on the last day. My Baptist parents use it as a justification for their "One saved, always saved" belief.

I feel terribly for the girls. The police report was obtained legally, IMO, but it should have been redacted better. However, no matter what because of the isolated lives they led, it would have led to the identity of the girls involved. So, in that sense I can see the argument of erring on the side of protecting the girls by completely withholding the police report from the media. These issues are never black and white. But, like a previous poster claimed, normal people that are not seeking to make money by being famous generally do not have to worry about revelations like these being made public. They chose to live this life (at least Jim Bob and Michelle) did and that is all that most of these children know. Famous people deal with this all the time. They want to make movies or sing or be on TV, but they want to have private live too and our society just does not work that way. People want to know everything about celebrities and it leads to tabloids looking into their pasts and paparazzi following them doing normal every day things. It is a trade off, but one I fully believe this family made with their eyes wide open. It is a tremendous risk/reward proposition and they are on the losing end right now. Being famous isn't about being famous only when you want to be and showing only what you want to show.