Sweet Fellowship: Duggars and Friends (aka the Bates Family and Other Featured Families Thread)

[Kiss my mutt]

I was told in Sunday school that Santa was Satan. "See kids, just move the letters around like this!"

And I also watched Thief in the Night in church as a kid and didn't sleep for weeks.

[Gweilo]

I was told in Sunday school that Santa was Satan. "See kids, just move the letters around like this!"

If you'd been English it would have been Father Christmas, and I don't know how they could have anagrammed that. There DEFINITELY would have been a fart in there, heehee!!

[Skittl1321]

If you'd been English it would have been Father Christmas, and I don't know how they could have anagrammed that. There DEFINITELY would have been a fart in there, heehee!!

Matriarchs Hefts

 

That definitely sounds like an assault on their religion.

 

Or "March is Farthest", which is probably some statement about the unimportance of the Easter season?

[SopranoKris]

I was told in Sunday school that Santa was Satan. "See kids, just move the letters around like this!"

And I also watched Thief in the Night in church as a kid and didn't sleep for weeks.

 

OMG, did we go to the same church?  They made us watch "Thief in the Night" and "Sound of Thunder".  It scared me so much as a kid (this was in the 70s, mind you), that I was going to be boiled alive in hot oil (thanks for the nightmares!!!!)

 

Back to the PK discussion:  While I wasn't a PK, my mom was the church secretary, so we were at church pretty much 7 days a week.  The PKs were usually the WORST kids to be around.  They wanted to be rebels and would do things behind people's backs that would make their parents cringe.  I went to the mall one time with a PK and she started shoplifting.  I couldn't believe it.  All she wanted to do was get in trouble because she was tired of having to put on a sweet, angelic face all the time at church.  So, if Kelly Bates was a PK, I wonder if there might be a wild side to her we don't know about?  From my experience with PKs at several churches, I'd be willing to bet on that.

[GEML]

I wasn't PK, but I know what you mean. The pressure of those families could be enormous. I still hear people talk about some today, people who are in their 40's and 50's, and church people will say, "I don't know what went wrong. His father was the preacher. You know he was raised right." In some settings, you never escape it.

[msblossom]

I grew up AOG where my dad was a deacon and both my parents grew up as PKs. I was expected to be in church every Sunday morning and evening and on Wednesday nights. Lol, we were shown Thief In the Night on a Sunday night; I can still hear Larry Norman singing I Wish They'd All Been Ready in my head, scared the snot out of me! Anyway, we celebrated all the major holidays with Trick-or-Treating, Santa, Rudolph, Frosty, and the Easter Bunny. We got 1 gift from Santa, and all the other gifts came from mom and dad. We didn't ever have a big revelation about Santa not being real, it just sorta evolved and we grew out of it slowly. Our mother died when I was 10, and my brother rebelled and got in a ton of trouble. I rebelled 4 years later when dad remarried someone no one liked and ran away. I got into drugs and drinking and was sent across the state to live in a Catholic girl's home run by nuns -- I was bitter to say the least, I never came to live in my dad's house . I was told I couldn't unless I lived my life like a "good Christian girl". No way would I give into their pressure. I nearly became a Catholic just to piss my dad off -- that said, I know a lot of Catholics whose faith in God is quite remarkable and many of them were the nuns who took me under their wing. I found my way to God not through the threats of my dad and stepmom, but in the quietness of my room late one night. It's taken years for me to forgive my folks.

Edited June 3, 2015 by msblossom

[GEML]

That would have been a hard road, MsB. Glad you found a smoother path.

[msblossom]

Man, GEML, you talk about grace and forgiveness -- now there's a woman who epitomizes that. It took her awhile to get there too, we can't all be like Betsie, her big sister.

[DoctorWhovian]

This had me dying laughing. His audience was way too young and really, isn't it enough to cram the bible down their throats every day, could you really not just let them find eggs with candy in them one day a year? TFDW's comments and corrections were priceless too. 

 

Would've caused riots at my Easter egg hunts. 

[radishcake]

Guys I moved some posts re: crazy religious movies over to the "Old Time Religion" thread since they were veering off topic. :)

[Seashell Lover]

I was watching the Bates family on demand and boy was I shocked they gave front hugs.:)

Edited June 6, 2015 by Seashell Lover

[Fuzzysox]

I'll call it now. NO way are the Duggars going to be invited to Michaela's wedding. Kelly would never want to taint her daughter's big day nor their new found fame on UP TV.

[Zahdii]

I'll call it now. NO way are the Duggars going to be invited to Michaela's wedding. Kelly would never want to taint her daughter's big day nor their new found fame on UP TV.

 

Kelly had probably already invited the Duggars, but with everything that's going on now...time to cut the Duggars loose.

 

Regarding the wedding, Kelly and Gil have 'prayed on it', and have 'been convicted' to pass on the Lords in.struct.tion that the Duggars stay home and tend to their own fight with the liberal media and the various ungodly types that are attacking the precious Duggar family and brand.  The Bateses will pray for them, but I bet their most fervent prayers are that the Duggars stay away and forget they ever knew the Bates family.

[Churchhoney]

Kelly had probably already invited the Duggars, but with everything that's going on now...time to cut the Duggars loose.

 

Regarding the wedding, Kelly and Gil have 'prayed on it', and have 'been convicted' to pass on the Lords in.struct.tion that the Duggars stay home and tend to their own fight with the liberal media and the various ungodly types that are attacking the precious Duggar family and brand.  The Bateses will pray for them, but I bet their most fervent prayers are that the Duggars stay away and forget they ever knew the Bates family.

They might also feel like praying for TLC to cancel all future Duggar shows, since they've got a Duggar kid essentially in their household now, and I'm pretty sure at least some of the Joe Goes to Clown College story was slated for airing when the show returned to broadcast. Wonder what they're feeling about that right now. 

[JoanArc]

I'm sure the Bates are praying the the angel of cancellation passover their house. All overt connection to ATI and the Duggars would've been promptly severed.

[JoanArc]

 

Not so fast. Gil and Kelly are both headline in-person speakers at this summer's IBLP Family Conferences. One's in Sacramento and the other's in St. Paul. BTW, the Duggars are featured speakers, but via video, not live. And the Bates have much higher billing than the Duggars. Heck, David Waller has much higher billing.

That's why I said overt. The Bates will mainline the kool aid until they die. It's just a bad time for the media to realize that Gil was one of Gothard's yes-men, or that Josh hung around the little Bates kids.

[becca3891]

Not sure where to post this, but has anyone seen this outrageous statement Gothard put out in denial of his 30 plus cases of sexual harassment? He took it down but thank goodness someone saved it. Well worth a read, but basically, he says that he now realizes that when he would counsel young women and form a bond with them, when he moved on to the next young woman, the previous one would become hurt and jealous. The subtext reads, and they then angrily made up identical lies about poor innocent Bill to get revenge on him for his abandonment. It is actually stunning that he can be so arrogant and so blatantly deceptive. How horrifyingly demeaning it is to reduce women to creatures who can do nothing but fall in love, and then lash out when they feel scorned. He in no way admits his guilt.

 

http://gawker.com/insane-duggar-cult-leader-posts-new-statement-immedi-1708747235

Edited June 7, 2015 by becca3891

[Churchhoney]

Not so fast. Gil and Kelly are both headline in-person speakers at this summer's IBLP Family Conferences. One's in Sacramento and the other's in St. Paul. BTW, the Duggars are featured speakers, but via video, not live. And the Bates have much higher billing than the Duggars. Heck, David Waller has much higher billing.

 

Here's what the event sites say about them:

 

"As parents of 19 kids, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar teach invaluable lessons about equipping and releasing their children to follow what God has called them to do." 

 

"Gil and Kelly have seen God take care of their family of 19 children. They delight in sharing testimonies of God’s work in their lives."

 

Who's "equipping and releasing" now?

 

Well, good for JB and M, I guess. They're obviously unafraid to throw themselves into jobs for which they have absolutely zero experience.

[NikSac]

Not so fast. Gil and Kelly are both headline in-person speakers at this summer's IBLP Family Conferences. One's in Sacramento and the other's in St. Paul. BTW, the Duggars are featured speakers, but via video, not live. And the Bates have much higher billing than the Duggars. Heck, David Waller has much higher billing.

 

Thank you for the warning! The Sacramento one's not far from me at all. I'll be sure to avoid the area on that weekend.

[truthtalk2014]

Thank you for the warning! The Sacramento one's not far from me at all. I'll be sure to avoid the area on that weekend.

Why avoid?  If you start now, you could begin sewing that red prairie dress, get fake tan, rent a big gas guzzler and of course perm that hair.  That's how daddy likes it!  

[NikSac]

Why avoid?  If you start now, you could begin sewing that red prairie dress, get fake tan, rent a big gas guzzler and of course perm that hair.  That's how daddy likes it!  

 

lol... I think you just answered your own question!

[Happyfatchick]

I read the pecan story on David loves Priscilla, and watched the Easter video. Now I'm reading here that TFDW is a speaker? At a convention? What does he actually DO for a living?

p.s., Truthtalk - I'm pretty sure I have that prairie dress pattern from the good ole days if you want to borrow...

Edited June 8, 2015 by Happyfatchick

[Micks Picks]

They actually have some sort of a street preacher conference in Sacramento.  One year I was treated to many preachers screaming from everywhere.  Along with the guy in the bus who drives around with the big anti abortion signs on it.  Then a theological disagreement developed between 2 of the preachers and I was treated to a fist fight over this difference.  One of my more memorable lunch hours.  The fight was on K street.  Glad I wandered over there; I usually just walked the capital perimeter during lunch.  Go to it NicSac, it was fun.

[NikSac]

They actually have some sort of a street preacher conference in Sacramento.  One year I was treated to many preachers screaming from everywhere.  Along with the guy in the bus who drives around with the big anti abortion signs on it.  Then a theological disagreement developed between 2 of the preachers and I was treated to a fist fight over this difference.  One of my more memorable lunch hours.  The fight was on K street.  Glad I wandered over there; I usually just walked the capital perimeter during lunch.  Go to it NicSac, it was fun.

 

I am now thinking I might have to check it out. I vaguely remember a street preacher fight a few years ago too, my Dad worked downtown at the time and I remember both parents dragging me away from the screaming people ASAP. If I do go, it'll be the free version, but I promise to report back.

[Micks Picks]

Ok course you only do the FREE stuff.  The downtown area is a real hoot.  Loved it.  I had lunch with Jesus Christ one day.  That's who he said he was, he was a carpenter, just let out of jail so he was being persecuted.  He was good looking, nice guy, you'd have thought he was normal.  No preaching, just talking as nice as could be.  

[Muffyn]

I am really tempted to go to the Sacramento conference.  I could see David Wallace in action.  I want to be a fly on the wall but I'm not sure how well my poker face would hold up.  And I would need to find some long, incredibly unflattering skirts.  Can this atheist lesbian find a way to blend in?  Suddenly it feels like some kind of Scooby Doo-esque caper.

[Micks Picks]

Oh do go Muffyn, it would be fun and an experience to remember and snark about for years on end.  And I don't think anybody would convert you.

[mbutterfly]

They actually have some sort of a street preacher conference in Sacramento.  One year I was treated to many preachers screaming from everywhere.  Along with the guy in the bus who drives around with the big anti abortion signs on it.  Then a theological disagreement developed between 2 of the preachers and I was treated to a fist fight over this difference.  One of my more memorable lunch hours.  The fight was on K street.  Glad I wandered over there; I usually just walked the capital perimeter during lunch.  Go to it NicSac, it was fun.

I hadn't thought of it before, but now a street preacher fight is on my bucket list -- with the provision that the cause of the fight is actually over a theological point. 

[NikSac]

Ok course you only do the FREE stuff.  The downtown area is a real hoot.  Loved it.  I had lunch with Jesus Christ one day.  That's who he said he was, he was a carpenter, just let out of jail so he was being persecuted.  He was good looking, nice guy, you'd have thought he was normal.  No preaching, just talking as nice as could be.  

 

It's cracking me up that I know Sacramento really well. I've mostly grown up here and I feel like I've seen a lot of walks of life - both sane and insane.  I figure most cities have a good mix of both. I think it might be entertaining to find the really "out there" people and try to hang out with them. I think I have a new challenge for the next week.

[JenCarroll]

Oh man. I never have lunch with Jesus Christ. Some people have all the luck!

[Cherrio]

Oh man. I never have lunch with Jesus Christ. Some people have all the luck!

You can if you get one of those toasted cheese Jesus presses.  :)

[Cherrio]

For the next best thing, there is this. :)

 

[GeeGolly]

One thing I thought was very telling about Michelle, as well as her 'friendship' with the Bates was when she was filmed helping Kelly(?) in the church kitchen for Erin's wedding. Sometime later I saw a photo of the exact scene - minus Michelle. Michelle was in the kitchen only for filming that shot, and someone in the Bates' camp was bothered enough to take a photo of the actual truth.

I'm sure if a savvy poster poked around they could find both the filmed scene and the still photo.

[Nysha]

Have any of the Duggar's 'friends' spoken up in their defense? I would think true friends would be coming out of the woodwork to let the heathen media know that Josh had changed and they had no problems letting him be around their little girls.

[Aethera]

Have any of the Duggar's 'friends' spoken up in their defense? I would think true friends would be coming out of the woodwork to let the heathen media know that Josh had changed and they had no problems letting him be around their little girls.

 

 

if you read back through this thread, you'll find some info on & links to statements from Ben's father, Mike Huckabee, and a few others.

[truthtalk2014]

I've seen a few references here to Kate Gosslin.  I had never watched her show but couldn't sleep this morning and was curious as to what it was about.  I watched an episode on Youtube.  Wow!  That is one controlling woman.  I don't know much about them- but the reason I brought her up was that during the episode, she made some comment using the word purposed.  Cracked me up.

 

Is there something about having multiple children that makes you use that phrase in a strange way?

[Joe Jitsu913]

I've seen a few references here to Kate Gosslin. I had never watched her show but couldn't sleep this morning and was curious as to what it was about. I watched an episode on Youtube. Wow! That is one controlling woman. I don't know much about them- but the reason I brought her up was that during the episode, she made some comment using the word purposed. Cracked me up.

Is there something about having multiple children that makes you use that phrase in a strange way?

It's called'Christianese'. The Duggars are more fluent in it than Khate.

[Aja]

I know that the intellectual powerhouses that are Huckabee and Palin have been vocal about their support of the saintly Josh Duggar, but what of the Bateses? (Batess? Bates'?) I'm just curious because I always got a weird vibe about the supposed friendship between the two families. I've only caught the show here and there, but I vaguely remember something about how the Duggars "helped" "remodel" the Bates home, which turned out very typically Duggary, and a lot of ham-fisted editing on the part of TLC to insinuate some kind of romance between John David and Erin. I just didn't get an overwhelming warm and fuzzy feeling whenever the two families were together--it almost came off like they were tolerating each other for the cameras. Since the scandal broke, however, I have become aware of how (apparently) impossible it is for Jim Bob and Michelle to sound like they're holding a natural conversation, so maybe that played into it--but yeah, you'd think their "besties" and "only other comparable family in America" would have something to say if they feel that the Duggars are, you know, righteous.  And correct-hearted. 

[Churchhoney]

I know that the intellectual powerhouses that are Huckabee and Palin have been vocal about their support of the saintly Josh Duggar, but what of the Bateses? (Batess? Bates'?) I'm just curious because I always got a weird vibe about the supposed friendship between the two families. I've only caught the show here and there, but I vaguely remember something about how the Duggars "helped" "remodel" the Bates home, which turned out very typically Duggary, and a lot of ham-fisted editing on the part of TLC to insinuate some kind of romance between John David and Erin. I just didn't get an overwhelming warm and fuzzy feeling whenever the two families were together--it almost came off like they were tolerating each other for the cameras. Since the scandal broke, however, I have become aware of how (apparently) impossible it is for Jim Bob and Michelle to sound like they're holding a natural conversation, so maybe that played into it--but yeah, you'd think their "besties" and "only other comparable family in America" would have something to say if they feel that the Duggars are, you know, righteous.  And correct-hearted. 

 

They mentioned somewhere that they were praying for them. There's a post about it somewhere on here. I don't think they said anything more than that.

[Aja]

Thanks for the info, Churchhoney. That actually strikes me as a good response.

[dillpickles]

Who would have thought the bateses had more gray matter in their skulls than Huckabee, Palin, and the Seewalds combined?

[Lemur]

Here you go:  Bates family 'praying for our dear friends' the Duggars

 

Yeah, they're praying all right.  Praying no one ever asks them if/when they were informed.

[JenCarroll]

Who would have thought the bateses had more gray matter in their skulls than Huckabee, Palin, and the Seewalds combined?

I might have. Not that that's saying much. Oops -- did I write that out loud? I'll show myself to the prayer closet now.

[Absolom]

I might have. Not that that's saying much. Oops -- did I write that out loud? I'll show myself to the prayer closet now.

I'll have to join you.  Whatever else they are, Gil and Kelly have never struck me as completely lacking brain power. 

[Nysha]

I was thinking more their ATI friends, like the Bates and others, not the girls' inlaws or politicians.

[DangerousMinds]

I read on FB today that Jessa's recent "20 weeks" closet selfie was taken in the closet at the Bateses home. So some of the Duggars/Seewalds may be hiding out there. Maybe to avoid Josh at the TTH?

[GeeGolly]

I read on FB today that Jessa's recent "20 weeks" closet selfie was taken in the closet at the Bateses home. So some of the Duggars/Seewalds may be hiding out there. Maybe to avoid Josh at the TTH?

IMHO, I don't think any of the Duggar kids are avoiding Josh. I really believe this was all behind them, until the scandal broke.

 

On a side note, the Bates have seen Josh sporadically since the molestations happened, they may seem him differently than the public does. They may truly feel bad for the Duggar family and as they have stated - are praying for them..

[Lemur]

No, they're hiding from the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.  They can be sure there are no Lesbian Agenda Secret Agents in the Bates's closet.

[Literata]

I think the two families were thrown together for the cameras. IIRC, they said early on that they'd become familiar with one another at ATI conferences, but I don't think they really had any kind of friendship going on. Then TLC undoubtedly came up with the idea to throw some giant families together, and there you go. I remember the first "Meet the Bates(es)" episode; they arrived in the middle of the night, and Kelly had just done a pregnancy test in a truck stop (!). And the conversation was very much the way conversations go when you're meeting someone you really want to be friends with -- "Ooh, I do that, too! I can't believe we have that in common! We're so much alike!", etc.

 

And the kids all seemed to get along, but I genuinely think Gil and Kelly -- who are fundamentalist/Gothard, no doubt, but don't strike me as particularly stupid -- were less enamored as they got to know Boob and MEchelle. As we've said, Gil and Kelly genuinely seem to know and love their kids, and in that household, the older kids undoubtedly help, but they don't actually raise the younger ones. The kids also seem to be pressured less to adhere to strict Gothardite standards, especially after they marry.

 

Based on the Gil/Kelly/kid relationships we've seen on the various Bates shows and on 19KC, my guess is that any molestation would have been handled differently in the Bates house. I can see Gil and Kelly having compassion for the molester, certainly, and being much quicker to find him some help. And I certainly imagine they'd be far more protective of their girls.

[Barb23]

Literate - I agree with you. In the episode where the Duggar & Bates girls go camping, Kelly& Michelle were discussing the new chapters of their lives (weddings, grandchildren etc). Michelle seemed totally zoned out, like she didn't want to be there. To me she came across more of an acquaintance than a friend, yet alone good friends that haven't seen each other in a while. Same for the kids - as they got older, you could tell they weren't that interested in being around one another.