Tasya

There may be no set of fundie children I feel sadder for than Jill R's bunch. The schoolwork they are always shown "completing" is at such a basic level, I wouldn't be surprised if they can't read through a grade school level chapter book. My son is in 4th grade, and they are doing sentence diagramming, multi-digit multiplication/division, fractions and decimals, critical thinking etc. Granted, he's in private school, so it's likely a little more advanced but still. It's so sad that she equates being a good Christian (which I consider myself to be) with her ignorant beliefs and her woefully inadequate approach to education.

It looks like they've been playing, hair will get mussed. Jeremy clearly loves and is actively involved with his daughters.

I wasn't targeting any specific poster, but ok... Again, why does she deserve a pass and her sisters do not? I'm genuinely curious as to the thought process regarding Jill's positive narrative vs that of her sisters.

Question: Is there any personal growth in there related to them becoming more tolerant and/or changing their abhorrent beliefs? If not, this is really just a money grab. It's an expose who's sole purpose is not about personal growth but about exposing her parents because her husband knew it would sell well. I've continued to be puzzled by why Jill gets such a pass when she has co-signed every nasty thing Derrick has said, beliefs/believed in instant obedience and blanket training and is just as bad as any of the rest of them. I really believe it's because a lot of women see themselves in Jill. On the surface she seems like your standard suburban stay-at-home mom, but she's still a Duggar.

I think JB and Michelle are reprehensible and that excerpt from the book reads like pure fiction dictated by Derrick. Are we truly to believe that Jill, who excused away Josh's abuse and went along with the "we don't even remember it, it was all above our clothes" BS, really stood up to her father that way? That entire passage just reads very afterschool special. I'm willing to bed that 90% of this book is Derick's interpretation of events.

I personally don't think Claire and Justin's "marriage" has been consummated.

You can see Ivy for sure in the parade shot. She has on a dress that looks quite formal and stuffy, unlike Felicity's weather-appropriate little skort set. I also noticed that Felicity is quite vocal and doesn't seem rehearsed or that she has to be fed her lines. This next year should be either preschool or kindergarten for her (I forget), so it's going to be interesting to see what happens come August/September. There is a big difference between children attending parochial/religious schools and the homeschooled religious set.

Aren't both of those kids required by law to be in child safety restraints? It would be a shame if someone reported her.

I guess I don't understand this thinking. To me, Derick is worse than Jeremy, and Jill and Jinger are on equal footing. I think Jill's "changes" are far far more dangerous than Jinger's. She's all hippy, dippy in her appearance and I believe that leads to people thinking she's more open and potentially understanding. However, I think her brainwashing comment, pulling her kids out of school and general support of Derick during the entire Jazz thing, speak volumes. I don't wish Jill and Derick any more success than any other Duggar. She already tends to get a pass and people don't react as rabidly to reporting her to sponsors and getting her dropped because she "seems" nice. I will never forget that Jill was the snitch and daddy's little girl, well into adulthood. I don't think that just magically goes away.

Her kids' eyes are absolutely dead and it's extremely sad. Even Samuel who is a "man" and should be by their ideals fully embracing their idealogy looks like he hates everything about his life. Only Janessa looks happy, and that's because she's still experiencing life as a spoiled "baby".

2 out of 4...I do not think Spurgeon has remained as cute as he was when he was smaller and Fern is very plain. Henry and Ivy are cuties.

Gothardism is definitely a cult, however many posters here love to say that "Jinger traded one cult for another". As if her going from following Gothard to practicing another form of Christianity is also cult-like. Thus the feel as if basically posters are holding that any tenet of Christianity is a cult, because it espouses beliefs that some may not agree with it. As to saying that the statement re: homosexuality/cult I made a point to say that I do not feel that way myself. In fact I do not believe that homosexuality is a sin, and also in fact, it may surprise many that there are plenty of Christians and churches that embrace homosexuals and preach acceptance and tolerance for all.

I'm curious as to why it's A'ok to refer to Christianity as a cult, but if someone was to say ohhh being LGBTQ is cultish (I am NOT saying that), there would be a huge uproar. It would be really great if Christians could feel that their religion wasn't constantly being attacked on this forum.

Tuition at a private Christian school that is not a top tier (DC area, think St. Albans, Georgetown Visitation etc.) around here can be as low as 5k per child, with sibling discounts. So I can imagine that a school in Arkansas is going to cost much less than that. They can certainly afford private school, and they would also potentially qualify for financial aid. I make close to 6 figures and my son will be attending private school next year and we are receiving aid, so Derrick and Jill would definitely qualify.

The thing is, with a store like 5 below, there simply is no excuse for being so terrible with gifts. You could spend $15 on each child and still get some very nice things. You could definitely do all of your Christmas shopping at that one store. It's a shame that JillR is so careless with her "blessings".