Churchhoney

Then I'd be self-plagiarizing! I don't know why people don't get on Jim Bob more for that. Once, in my life, I posted something in a comments section and -- looking for it the next day and having the impression it had disappeared -- I posted a slightly revised version of what I thought was the vanished comment in the comment section of another forum. Turned out that it hadn't actually vanished -- the first forum was just down temporarily. And when it came back up -- Man, people were all over me about plagiarism and idea theft, impugning my character right and left, no matter how much I tried to explain, and even after I went back and deleted the first comment. Yikes. But Jim Bob is kinda getting away with that. (not getting away with his "ideas," though, thank goodness.)

Good explanation. Makes perfect sense. I do kind of think that there's a possibility they'll grow out of it eventually, though. I think that one reason they are acting so much like teenagers is because they really are way behind what we think of as normal social development because they were raised in such a sheltered and constricted fashion. That being the case, I think that there's a good possibility that their current state really is just a stage to some extent, as it is with most teenagers, and that they'll move on from it at least partly in years to come...... I have firsthand experience with being far behind in social and emotional development because of my upbringing, and while I was behind for a long time, I eventually did grow out of most of the same things that other people grow out of -- only most do it a lot earlier. So I think there's hope. ... Of course, I guess there are always people who get stuck in every phase, too! For little Spurgeon's sake, we'll hope that his parents don't.

It's hard out here for a ministry.

I'll be interested to see what little Spurgeon's family members call him as time goes on. It's hard to imagine that it'll be Spurgeon. It sounds like an insecticide. It's like naming your kid Rumpelstiltskin.

Everything in the media is a cautionary tale. Except for 19 Kids and Counting and its prequels and spinoffs. They present the ideal of family life in America. Remember that.

Yep. Plus no educations among all those that JB and M raised, and not one actual paying job among them, even including the three in-laws. But JB still thinks he's a big success and recommends his methods to all.

Was just musing on what Jim Bob’s and Michelle’s parenting-skills report card looks like at the moment (since People’s republishing their advice and all…). Just focusing on the kids who have attained adulthood, here’s what they’ve churned out: Josh, age 27 – serial child molestation, congress with sex workers, sloppy computer work leading to revelation of same, main paying job – spouting hypocrisy to national media, ignominious exit from said job, disappearance. Jana and John David, age 25-almost-26 – unpaid slave labor, no romantic relationships or visible friendships, apparent complete extinguishment of personality. Jill, age 24 – complaints about demands of gainfully employed husband’s day job end in him leaving said job, five-plus years of studying childbirth leads to committing every misjudgment possible during own birthing process, solicitation of cash to support mission work in Central America eventually finances apparent long-term vacation supplemented by middle-school Spanish lessons and attempts to convert Catholics to Christianity. Jessa, age 23 – unemployed husband takes hiatus from school to stay home with wife during entire pregnancy, only visible accomplishment is daily Twitter and Instagram posting of Bible verses that point out the irredeemable nature of all humans. What’s the parenting grade on that? D+? A generous C-? They’d better step up their game for the next 14 or they’ll lose their status as America’s top parental role models.

And the worst thing is that it's kind of the recommended life for young women in the Gothard (and some other groups, such as the remnants of Vision Forum) families. She may actually feel lucky to have it, since if she stayed home she'd be doing what? Cleaning the kitchen cabinets all day? It's really pitiful. And there are an alarming number of these huge families with, now, a bunch of young adults in them, and they mostly seem to go on preaching that this whole awful life is great and what God wants of them. Beyond pitiful.

Of course, they're also cooking, cleaning, mail handling, helping Grandma with the wash and, probably, running most of the errands as well (except for the ones that require driving within a block of a Starbucks). Because I'm pretty sure Michelle isn't doing any of that stuff, either, since it's apparently been years and years since she did. Plus, they're probably doing some cleanup and tiling and so on at Jim Bob's mighty properties. Cause I'm absolutely certain Michelle isn't doing any of that -- with her missing back muscle and everything. And we've seen photos of the girls doing it. Michelle essentially takes zero responsibility for her family now that they're all over six months old. I assume she's still Jim Bob's "buddy," though. I'd also love to know which one Michelle dubbed the best math tutor. Or flashcard flipper, which is apparently what she meant by that. ... Since we've seen Jill flipping those flashcards, it seems as if she might have been the mathy one. Yikes.

But they are Duggars. Maybe they could periodically fly in Jana and JD for a week or so. They work. And are put to use by pretty much everyone in the family on a daily basis, it seems. Jill and Derick could lend them to the local nonprofits.

As I recall, the main entrance is just a flat door in a flat wall of the big big big main room. I don't recall seeing an entryway of any kind. I think you just walk in and you're in the front of that huge room. So while it doesn't have a reception desk like a dentist's office, it doesn't give off any welcoming vibe or even any "main entrance" vibe either, as I recall. It's sort of like walking into a big high-school gym, with the high ceiling, the sort of empty huge-room feel -- and all the students. (course I don't watch the show either, so this is a vague memory of a short clip I saw of maybe Derick's family arriving for a Mother's Day meal or something? ... It could be 100 percent inaccurate.)

They do have a couch arrangement that's very reminiscent of a cross-country bus station, though.

Maybe they'll dress him like his namesake instead of like Santa. They're both bearded chubby men, only one is grumpy. And has a VIctorian version of Jim Bob's hair.

You nailed it here. .... I guess I have to apologize to Jim Bob and MIchelle, though, realizing this. I always say that as home educators they've taught the kids nothing. But they taught them this.

They'd stand up naked and poop on stage for money. Or masturbate, if they knew that was a possibility

I'm pretty sure they're the most clueless people ever born. And that years of being licked by leghumpers due to Reality TeeVee has actually multiplied their initially bottomless cluelessness about a million-fold. In addition to the cluelessness they picked up from Gothard's reimagining of all of human vocabulary into a tool to conceal truth. So I'm going with -- clueless.

Jana's probably got the baby over at the mail desk.

You've, ummm, heard talking heads from the adults living in that home, right? Maybe somebody threatened to charge them with educational malpractice if they went with DIY homeschool. : -) Homeschool regs are lax, though. So it's probably just what you're thinking. Pure laziness.

All the Duggar kids seem to me to be less mature than a lot of other kids their ages are. Even the ones that are in the role of caretakers for younger siblings nevertheless come off really immature to me in their speech and social presentation, even if they do a lot of work and are mature in that way. .... Maybe because he's a boy, Jackson had no responsibilities for the younger sisters, so he didn't get that maturing process. And of course, he couldn't be one of the "leader" males since there are too damn many other males ahead of him on the roster. As you say, he's lost. The mob is so big that there's no room for him to have a role, poor guy. Somebody mentioned "boy band." Wouldn't surprise me if something like that isn't in Jim Bob's head. There have been Duggar videos of them fake-singing, you know.

Have we ever seen one of them turn down a grift ... I mean gift?

Michelle and Mike Farris may have met somewhere between Arkansas and Virginia for a high five. And I'll bet you're right about Tabitha Paine not getting paid. JB and M probably figure she's on a perpetual vacation at the Duggar Kid Farm. Just like Jana.

Drug-induced haze?

I don't think it's true any more that a parent or guardian is supposed to do most of the schooling. The law was loosened in 2007. To wit: 'On April 2, 2007, Governor Mike Beebe signed into law House Bill 2394, changing the definition of a “home school” in Arkansas. Prior law defined this term as “a school primarily conducted by parents or legal guardians for their own children.” The new definition for a home school is “a school provided by a parent or legal guardian for his or her own child.” ~ Kay Brooks' So, basically now anybody can do the actual schooling as long as the parent makes the decision to have the kid not be in an external school. They're in the clear. http://a2zhomeschooling.com/laws/united_states/arkansas_home_school_laws/

Now that you mention it, I'll bet this is a big reason why all the Duggars yap about having "ministries." Once you have a "ministry," not only are you freed from the rule about keeping your relationship with God private but you actually have a duty to brag about it noisily. Since your job is to lead all the heathens in the right direction. (well, a duty in the minds of these asses who are always advertising their "ministries," at any rate.)

"People" really needs to change its name to "Idiots."